The Bee Dungeon

Belissar suddenly remembered that features didn't just include the beehouses and the traps, but also most of the flowers! Making the flower more resistant to fire made the perk far more appealing than he had first realized. Though…the flowers used as traps were mostly in the Bog at the moment, which was already harder to set on fire. More importantly…the hive of hives had expressed their preference and the Third of the Sixth was zipping around in a happy dance. It wasn't worth it to Belissar to kill her joy.

So, he moved on to the next choice.

"Ready to pick a new room?"

Belissar opened the choice to a wave of salute dances.

Please select a room:

- Phoenix Forest (Rarity: Rare, Type: Fire, Nature, Field)

- Ever-Burning Crater (Rarity: Uncommon, Type: Fire, Toxin, Field)

- Dragonvein Volcano (Rarity: Epic, Type: Fire, Ground, Magic, Field, Resource)

Belissar's eyes bulged a little. An epic! Epic! The rarest room he had ever seen! The God of Fire was pleased indeed!

He glanced over at Urubran, who had much the same expression. Urubran then fell to the ground, clutching his head.

"How?! Why?! How did the bee guy get that in, like, twenty years, when I haven't in two hundred?!"

Tarwantrad snuck up behind him and covered her mouth to hold in a giggle.

"Because…you never gave him mead."

Urubran groaned and rolled on the ground. Under the circumstances, Belissar decided not to correct Urubran on the fact that he had not been a Tower Keeper for months, rather than decades.

"Well…how about we start reading them?"

Phoenix Forest

- Type: Fire, Nature, Field

- Innate Features: Pyrophite Plants, Pyrophilic Regrowth

- Mana Upkeep: 30

- Description: Some forests fear fire, the Phoenix Forest craves it. Every plant within it actively promotes wildfires, from trees with dry, rot-resistant bark and flammable oils to grass that can burn green, meaning even a single spark can turn the entire forest into an inferno in an instant. The waves of Fire mana and nutrients this process releases then nourish the fire-resistant seeds, buds, and roots of the plants, causing the forest to rapidly regrow stronger than ever.

While the soil is rich and regularly re-imbued with Nature mana, the constant fires burn away any non-fire adapted life. The room is instead an excellent environment for Fire-type monsters and features.

Belissar clamped down his desire to rush through the descriptions. After all, he had skipped epic options before when other options proved more suitable, though never one that was specifically added by a god…in any case, he wanted to give the bees a chance to express their thoughts. So, he turned to them…and found the Third of the Sixth zipping about in an incoherent happy-excitement dance. It thus fell upon the First of the Fifth's First Daughter to report instead.

"Third of the Sixth loves. Gardeners and queen mother interested in new flowers, but hive of hives worried about fires. Think only Third of the Sixth and Third of the Fourth's hives can forage? Apiary soldiers think would be good for King's fire sticks, dangerous one's fire pots!"

Belissar could certainly see that. He imagined an intruder stepping into the room, only for a bee to drop a torch or a fire pot…and then the whole room going up in flames. Which should certain start one of those firestorms, shouldn't it? It would be like a much stronger, room-wide version of his first pit trap plan. Likewise, a bunch of new Fire related plants would certainly help the burning bees…and he imagined those supposedly highly-flammable plants would help Juosiutik with her fire pots.

All in all, a room of Fire plants would be a perfect fit for his Tower, an ideal way to blend Fire and bees. But, well, a god-given epic awaited. Belissar turned to Urubran to see what the Circle's resident Fire master had to say on the matter…and perhaps if he could help replicate a room like this as other Circle masters had promised during previous choices.

He found Urubran shaking his head.

"Skip. I have those kinds of plants and you have tree rooms. I'll give you the plants for free if you pick the volcano!"

Belissar stood there blinking for a second. He…hadn't had an advisor state their opinion so strongly before. A moment later, though, he made a small smile. It was refreshing in a way, Belissar could immediately move on to the next option without dwelling on this one further.

Ever-Burning Crater

- Type: Fire, Toxin, Field

- Innate Features: Ever-burning fire spouts, gas veins

- Mana Upkeep: 20

- Description: A major vein of flammable gases that have been exposed to the surface and ignited. Fire spouts burn endlessly across the crater, creating constant sources of fire and Fire mana. More gas veins hide just beneath the surface, ready to burst out and create new fire spouts whenever and wherever the surface is broken. Note that the gases, if not ignited, are toxic for most creatures.

A perfect environment for Fire-type monsters and features, but hostile to all other forms of life not immune to fire and toxins.

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Well, ever-burning spouts of fire popping out of the ground certainly sounded impressive. Still, Belissar wasn't as excited about this one as the last, since this room didn't sound as good for plants. And indeed, while the Third of the Sixth was still zipping around as excited as ever, the rest of the hive of hives wasn't as interested in this one since it didn't come with new flowers.

So, Belissar turned to their Fire advisor to see if there was anything he missed…

"Skip. Your Lava Fields do a lot of the same things already. And Fire Spouts are a common trap, you can just buy a bunch of room feature choices to get those, then throw a bunch around your Lava Fields and boom, close enough. Now, read the volcano! Read the volcano!"

Niobee buzzed and Belissar nearly took a step back from the Juosiutik-like look in Urubran's eyes as he leaned forward. But, well, Belissar was also quite excited to see what the God of Fire had intervened to show him, so he gave in and began reading.

Dragonvein Volcano

- Type: Fire, Ground, Magic, Field, Resource

- Innate Features: Dragonvein, active volcano, mystic flames, elemental monster spawning

- Mana Upkeep: 300

- Description: When a tectonic hotspot crosses paths with a dragonvein, the world is set ablaze. Magma and mana flows intersecting create an immense and endless wellspring of Fire and Ground mana, pouring out into intense and spontaneous bursts of fire and wild magic. Volcanic eruptions and groundquakes are a daily occurrence, spontaneous conflagrations appear at random, lava flows in rapids and torrents as it pleases, and ash clouds may grow dense enough to blot out the sun. Powerful mana infuses all these phenomena and all fires within the room, creating mystical flames that burn past normal physical defenses and mundane fireproofing.

Everything in the vicinity of the dragonvein volcano, from living creatures to solid rock, is infused with immense quantities of mana, resulting in unpredictable transformations. The Fire mana is even dense enough that it may crystallize. This results in an environment perfect for the creation of powerful mystical resources, though few can survive long enough to find them, as the mana is dense enough that even mana storms may form on occasion.

The environment is utterly hostile to most mundane lifeforms, but perfect for monsters and magical creatures that require dense mana to grow. The Fire mana around the volcano is dense enough that some Fire-type monsters, such as elementals, may spawn spontaneously. These will be friendly to the dungeon but are otherwise wild and will not respond to any commands besides defending their home room.

Belissar just stared at the description with wide eyes after he finished reading it aloud.

"Wow…that's like…the volcano mixed with a mana storm?"

Urubran grinned as he shook his head.

"You got it reversed, Belissar. It's places where dragonveins spit out their mana onto the surface like this that form mana storms in the first place! And this one is all Fire mana! Oh, the things I could do and the blazes I could create with that much Fire mana in one place! It'd be like the God of Fire's domain brought down to the mortal world!"

That…certainly sounded impressive. A room that already could make mana storms on its own? That had so much mana it could spawn its own monsters? There was no doubt such a room would be a powerful asset for his defenses.

There was just one, not so tiny problem, as Belissar frowned.

"It's…really expensive, though."

Urubran walked over and clasped Belissar's shoulder, which made Niobee begin buzzing loudly. Urubran didn't back down, though, fixing Belissar with a serious gaze.

"Belissar, you're getting a dragonvein in your Tower. The arteries of mana through the world, what dragons once used to nest, as the name implies. That's a miracle, no other way around it. This is not something anyone less than a god could build, trust me, some of us have tried. Three hundred mana for one, even for just a small but functioning replica of one? That's nothing, that's a steal."

Belissar glanced to Tarwantrad and over at the bumblebee Finnakynne was hiding in.

"Is that true?"

Tarwantrad slowly nodded, though she furrowed her brow.

"He is right on dragonveins, their rarity, and their value. He is right this is an exceptional room, Belissar, and I'd hesitate to pass it up even for my own dungeon. But…there is something you should consider. Introducing such a powerful source of Fire mana into a dungeon not dedicated to the God of Fire might unbalance it…"

Urubran jumped and immediately began shaking his head.

"No! It will be fine! You can just make more Bee rooms! I'll help you think of more Bee rooms! How about, um, making a giant hive! Like entire room that's just a huge hive with honeycomb everywhere! Or a meadery! You're already making mead, right?! Why don't you take a room and build a huge meadery there!"

Belissar blinked repeatedly.

"Wait, those are really good ideas."

Bee rooms? Bee rooms?! Belissar couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that before. Meanwhile, Urubran was nodding with all his might.

"See?! So don't you dare skip this one, just take it and then add as many Bee rooms as you need to keep your patron happy! Besides, you have the burning bees! If the bees settle a dragonvein, that'll definitely make the God of Bees happy!"

Belissar glanced over to the other Circle masters one more time. Tarwantrad made a helpless smile and shrugged.

"I'd feel really bad for Urubran if you didn't pick it, to be honest."

Finnakynne popped back out of the bumblebee fuzz to nod as well.

"I, um, don't want to mess with your decision or anything, Beely. But…this is a big one. Ury's this excited for a reason."

It seemed the dungeon masters were in agreement…but they were not the only ones here. Belissar looked up to the bees. The Third of the Sixth's temperature rose so much she caught fire, a shooting star zipping about in max-speed bee dances.

"HIVE OF ALL FIRE IN KING'S REALM?! AMAZING, INCREDIBLE!"

Well, Belissar knew what her opinion was. He chuckled and turned to the First of the Fifth's First Daughter.

"Battle queens like, think will be good against invaders. Gardeners wonder if good for flowers or not? Sounds dangerous?"

Urubran jumped in and shook his head repeatedly.

"Not at all! There will be tons of volcanic ash and all the mana they can drink! You'd need flowers adapted to fire and extreme mana conditions but you already have some! Imagine what kind of flowers you could raise with endless mana!"

The First of the Fifth's First Daughter's antennae lit up and Belissar could feel the hive of hives exchange mana as they considered that. Frelis and the gardeners danced with each other across the hivelink, consulting with the Third of the Fourth, the other burning queen, as well as…the Fourth of the Seventh's Second Daughter? Belissar was curious about why they asked her…but, then again, she was the only queen that lived in a Fairy Grove. Maybe because she lived in the room with the highest mana density?"

Once the dances had concluded, the First of the Fifth's First Daughter danced to Belissar once more.

"Hive of hives thinks could work! If new Fire flowers grow, would be amazing, incredible! Third of the Sixth likes best, so hive of hives agrees."

Belissar smiled.

"Got it, thank you all for thinking hard about it."

Belissar watched the "King is best king" dance wave that resulted before turning to his other advisers. Chief Rohsuak just had a massive grin on her face.

"I cannot honestly advise you, Tower Keeper, as I am extremely biased."

Belissar laughed, having expected that after the perk choice. Hirkolos just shrugged with a smile, while the First Spiderkin Queen was excited because Chief Rohsuak and the Third of the Sixth were excited. It seemed…the Tower was in agreement.

Belissar glanced back to find Urubran staring at him with a pleading expression. He found himself laughing.

"Ok, ok. The God of Fire specifically gave us this one, anyways. But let's follow up on those bee room ideas, ok?"

Firestorm Generation selected.

Dragonvein Volcano is now available!

Urubran threw his hands into the air, letting out a breath of fire as he shouted. His little pillar of fire rose through a ring of flames created by the Third of the Sixth's ongoing dance.

"YES!"

"AMAZING, INCREDIBLE!"

Even Chief Rohsuak had flames dancing in her eyes. Belissar grinned. He hoped the God of Fire was enjoying the mead, because his Tower and his friends were certainly enjoying the rewards.