icalos
patreon
BD - Side Story 320.3 - Bee-vering the Gods?
🕑 Added 2025-09-19 20:05:02 +0000 UTCAfter the meeting, General Rippotis immediately departed back to his Tower to make ready for his trip. He had already been prepared to join the Grand Subjugation beforehand, so his mount, his escorts, and his supplies were already in order and his Tower organized to continue on in his absence. There was just one matter to attend to he had not prepared before the Grand Subjugation began, a matter deeply intwined with the current state of affairs.
And so, not long after leaving, General Rippotis returned back to Heigiosa’s Tower. Heigiosa greeted him with a stern expression as he dismounted from his dragon onto one of her Tower’s platforms…though she struggled to keep the edges of her mouth from curling up.
“General Rippotis, what are you doing here? I would have thought you’d have departed for your mission already. Time is of the essence for your mission from the gods!”
General Rippotis smiled at her.
“I will begin my journey as soon as my business here is concluded. This is for the gods as well.”
Heigiosa raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? Do you have another mission?”
General Rippotis shook his head.
“No, but it must be done all the same.”
With that, General Rippotis gently unloaded three wooden boxes. One was empty, but as for the other two…
“Come out and present yourselves.”
At his command, two monster bee queens crawled out of their hives and took flight, their children following behind them. The two bee swarms arranged themselves into neat formations and hovered at attention. General Rippotis turned and found Heigiosa making a bitter expression.
“Monsters? Rippotis…”
General Rippotis made a helpless smile.
“I know you are not fond of monsters, Heigiosa, but please hear me out.”
Heigiosa gave him a look for a moment before sighing.
“You know I always will, so speak.”
General Rippotis nodded…then frowned.
“I’ve been thinking about Stadvolous’s words and he was right about one thing. I’ve failed to respect and honor the God of Bees as I should, absorbed as I have been with other missions. I wish to change that…but I cannot for the moment, since I must continue to attend to those missions. I’d like to request your help so that we may introduce the God of Bees to the pantheon as soon as possible.”
Heigiosa crossed her arms.
“Yes, that’s indeed a matter of great importance. I would be happy to promote reverence for a newly discovered god…but, monsters?”
General Rippotis cracked a small smirk.
“To worship the God of Bees requires bees. As I told you before, her mission to me was specifically to raise monster bees…and make them happy.”
Heigiosa blinked for a moment and then her expression softened.
“Yes, that is why I allowed it but…happy, huh? So…it’s not so much about monsters, but that the God of Bees wishes for us to care for bees as if they were people?”
General Rippotis nodded.
“I believe so. I’ve discovered they are far more intelligent than I gave them credit for, the monster versions even more so. They respond to our treatment of them, both good and bad.”
Heigiosa frowned and closed her eyes for a moment. She then took a deep breath and nodded.
“Ok. If it’s caring for the children of the gods rather than breeding an army of monsters…then I will accept. I will take care of them…and I will see to it that the God of Bees is honored as well.”
General Rippotis smiled.
“Thank you, Heigiosa. I’ve grown fond of them personally as well, so I’m doubly relieved to leave them with you.”
Heigiosa let out a sigh and then shook her head with a light smile.
“You were always one for your animals, weren’t you, General of the Dragon Banner Army?”
General Rippotis chuckled and then turned to the bees.
“Queen Commander of the First Bee Hive, Queen Commander of the Fourth Bee Hive.”
The queens immediately danced a salute.
“Yes, General!”
General Rippotis couldn’t help another smile. The monster bees had even wished to integrate into his army. He wasn’t prepared to start his own monster army like the wicked kings of old…but he found he couldn’t resist giving the bees their own ranks and commands. It had made them very happy.
“I am transferring you to Oracle Heigiosa of the Tower of Light. She will take good care of you, follow her commands as you would my own.”
That…made them less happy, if the drooping of their antennae and the slowing of their flight as any indication. The Queen Commander of the First Hive even slowly danced a question instead of a salute.
“Not part of General’s army, anymore?”
General Rippotis had to lean very hard into his experience giving difficult orders to keep his expression firm. Fortunately, though, he had a good answer to that question.
“I and the Dragon Banner Army swore to follow Oracle Heigiosa long ago. You will serve her directly and follow her on my behalf. I’m counting on you.”
The bees hovered in place for a moment before dancing once more.
“Oracle is…General’s queen?”
General Rippotis nodded.
“Yes.”
The two queens picked up speed and saluted once again.
“Ok! Will work for General’s Queen!”
General Rippotis saluted them back and then turned to Heigiosa. She had a cramped smile on her face.
“I’m a queen now, huh?”
General Rippotis shook his head.
“Bee queen, not Sorcerer Queen. The bee queen is the most important individual within their hive, so it’s their default name for their Tower Lord. You can ask them to call you whatever you prefer instead, as I have. They called me Queen too at first.”
Heigiosa blinked and then laughed a moment later. General Rippotis extended his hand to her. Heigiosa took a deep breath and then took his hand. General Rippotis then transferred the bees over to her…his expression flickering only for a moment as he felt them leave his magical awareness.
Heigiosa then turned to the bees with a complicated expression.
“…hello. I…welcome you to the Tower of Light. And…please call me Oracle, if you would.”
The queens and their entire hives danced salutes.
“Ok, will! Will work for Oracle, like General said!”
Heigiosa took another deep breath and nodded, then turned back to General Rippotis. She let out a deep sigh.
“Us taking care of monsters, huh? Sometimes, I think the gods have a sense of humor. I suppose…well, I suppose we’ve been wrong about a lot of things for a long time, who’s to say we’re not mistaken on more?”
General Rippotis sighed, but did make a small smile.
“Indeed. But…at least the God of Light is setting us straight once more.”
Heigiosa brightened.
“Indeed, there is still hope for us after all.”
She stepped forward and clasped General Rippotis’s hand.
“Take care on your journey, General. We will need you when we right the wrongs in the Conclave. Be careful…around the Hunger and the fey both.”
General Rippotis nodded seriously and the two stood in silence for a moment. Then, General Rippotis cracked a small.
“Not to worry, Raklasi there will take care of me, won’t you, boy?”
The dragon on the platform let out a low rumble and a puff of smoke at the general’s address. Heigiosa laughed and let him go.
“I suppose if there’s anyone I can trust, it’s him. Take care of your partner for me, Raklasi.”
The dragon rumbled again. General Rippotis then turned and mounted the dragon. They flew away without any further delay.
Heigiosa watched them go until they flew beyond her sight. Then, she turned to the newest residents of her Tower and furrowed her brow.
“So…how do I make you all happy, then?”
***
While General Rippotis was meeting with Heigiosa, Stadvolous walked alongside Konilias. The pair remained silent until they entered the latter’s Tower. Once safely in a meeting room within, Stadvolous frowned.
“High Councilor Konilias…what shall we do? Should we call it off?”
Konilias halted, facing away from Stadvolous. Stadvolous waited as Konilias stood in silence for a moment. Then…Konilias began to chuckle.
“The God of Light’s intervention, after all this time, was certainly unexpected. But…I believe this may yet work to our advantage.”
Stadvolous furrowed his brow.
“Even with the God of Light’s message? With her now directly involved?”
Konilias turned to Stadvolous and made a smirk.
“Have you not noticed, High Councilor? The God of Light spoke of many things…but she said nothing of us.”
Stadvolous’s eyes widened.
“So…she approves of our plan?”
Konilias shrugged.
“That…or she is not aware of what occurs in our Towers, as we hoped. Either way, we have gone too far to back down. Heigiosa will now turn her full attention to the Conclave and we will not be able to conceal our preparations any longer, certainly not long enough to undo them. We are committed, one way or another. As for the God of Light…well, her priority is the survival of the world, is it not? Our interests are ultimately aligned; we will simply have to convince her…and hopefully her oracle…that this is for the best.”
He then began to smile.
“But beyond that…we have also been granted a golden opportunity, one unlike anything we dared hope for. General Rippotis is not only separated from his army…but he will be traveling with minimal escort and far from the borders of the Conclave, through lands infested with the Hunger, savage beastkin, and treacherous fey…”
Stadvolous blinked and then started to grin.
“And we already have an army near his destination.”
Konilias chuckled darkly. Stadvolous joined him and then lowered his head.
“What is your command, my lord?”
Konilias brought his expression back under control.
“We must move quickly and carefully. With the Grand Subjugation at an end, time is of the essence, but we must take care that we do not move too early. Contact Lord Starami, he must confirm General Rippotis’s arrival in the lands beyond the sea of Hunger. Once we know he is there…we shall begin. And as for Lord Starami…he should be most grateful. He will have the chance to regain his standing and then some…”
Stadvolous cackled and then bowed his head.
“All shall be as you command, my lord.”
Author’s Note:
Heigiosa, you silly non-bee. General has given you the most amazing, incredible gift he could! You should be far more grateful and far more happy! You can finally fix your egregious lack of bees! We even fixed enough of that egregious lack to get this chapter a bee-name again! So, you better take good care of those bees! The gods demand it!
Because even with those bees, we still have far too many silly non-bees here…
Anyways!
Can Heigiosa take care of the bees and make them happy? Will the God of Bees teach her the ways of best dungeon master? Will the other non-bees insist on being silly? Tune in next time, to find out!
Comments
Presten
1000 tortures appon those two would be tower kings.
Fernando Oliveira
Thanks for the chapter, loved it. Gonna be fun seeing the Oracle take care of bees. They're so cute! Lol. The general will both have to hurry and be careful since we've got human scheming. Ugh.
