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BD - Side Story 188.2 - Compact Deli-Bee-rations
🕑 Added 2024-10-29 20:05:00 +0000 UTCTarwantrad sat at a large table, carved directly from the trunk of a formerly massive tree. The table was left where the tree once grew, surrounded by a small grove of trees barely taller than her that itself grew in a clearing between the giant fellows of the trunk table. The top of the table was covered in swirling, curved letters, the original terms of the Calwaskon Compact carved directly into its surface and occasionally glowing with a soft, green light.
The rest of her surroundings could be described as anything but soft.
All around her, men and women of many different shapes and sizes argued and shouted over one another. Tarwantrad had been brought before the signatories of the Compact and relayed what had occurred. The representatives had already been in an uproar over the opening of a nexus door by the time she reported on Belissar himself. Once it was revealed that a human reigned on the other side of the door, all hell broke loose.
Forgemaster Ughlarer, the short and broad representative of the black elves, scowled as he crossed his arms.
“Close the door immediately. There’s no dealing with those reckless fools. They must not be allowed to find us.”
Henilett, the pixie representative standing on the table itself due to her small size, narrowed her eyes with a predatory grin.
“There’s no need to be so frightened, Ughlarer. That very recklessness makes them all too easy to…persuade. I’m sure we could come to an arrangement that is beneficial for the Compact.”
Deludelig, the pale representative of the dusk elves, barely revealed her eyes between the black hair hanging over her face as she spoke in a raspy voice.
“Or we could just kill him.”
Tarwantrad clenched her fists. Belissar had been nothing but friendly to her, and the Compact’s first reaction was to deceive him? Or kill him, after Tarwantrad convinced him to assist them? She had apparently underestimated just how poorly the elders of the Compact thought of humans.
She had held her tongue till now, seeing as she was surrounded by those who had centuries of experience and wisdom on her. But if this was how they were going to react…she would not stand for it. She prepared to rise to her feet and join the shouting.
Only for a quiet, yet firm voice to somehow cut through all the noise.
“Are you done?”
All voices went silent and all eyes turned to Wardmaster Varilold.
“Yes, the humans survived the Hunger, somehow, because of course they did. And yes, humans apparently have access to dungeons as well as us, which they are no doubt using for stupid and dangerous ends. Yes, it is all very shocking and concerning. But we at this table are not children, so now that you have all had the chance to vent your fear, let’s get to business. You all know as well as I that humans are not known for their patience. Dungeon Master Tarwantrad has bought us some time, but we had best decide on a more formal arrangement before the other dungeon master grows suspicious of our intent.”
Forgemaster Ughlarer’s scowl grew.
“Wardmaster, surely you are not suggesting we deal with a human, much less leave the door to the Compact wide open to them?”
The wardmaster turned and met the glare of the forgemaster without hesitation.
“No, forgemaster, I am not suggesting. I am informing. And if the signatories cannot gather themselves from blind panic, then I shall command.”
The forgemaster narrowed his eyes.
“And what authority do you have to command us in a matter such as this?”
Wardmaster Varilold just waved her hand towards the table, causing the terms of the Compact to light up once more.
“This authority. This matter concerns the wards and the very survival of the Compact, which you would have known if you had paid attention rather than squawking like a flock of seagulls fighting over scraps.”
Forgemaster Ughlarer growled.
“Don’t snap at me, Wardmaster! I know what you said! Opening a nexus door between two dungeons can apparently bypass the Hunger and reinvigorate the land of the fair. But that does not mean we need to use a door that leads directly to a human dungeon master!”
Wardmaster Varilold gave him a stern look.
“On the contrary, it absolutely does. Loremaster Anyadre, explain how nexus doors work, since apparently the signatories have forgotten.”
The loremaster sighed. Forgemaster Ughlarer glared at him but he shook his head.
“The nexus doors lead where they will. Sometimes they take the desire of the opener into account, often they do not. You can open the door and step onto the road, but where it goes no one knows. So long as this door remains open, we know where it leads. If it is closed from either end, there’s no telling where or even if it will open again.”
The forgemaster scoffed.
“We know that! That’s exactly what I’m saying! Why don’t we just close it and reopen it to somewhere else?”
Loremaster Anyadre shook his head again.
“Because there’s no telling where it will open to next. Dungeon Master Tarwantrad was fortunate enough to open a door to a dungeon located in the realm of mortals whose master is not innately hostile. The next door might open to dungeon in the land of the fair that would not help our situation, or a dungeon master in the realm of mortals who is not willing to work with us. Or it may open directly to the Hunger and doom us all, for which reason the doors were closed and forbidden to be opened again. This time it managed not to connect to one of the corrupted nexus gates, but if it does next time…”
The loremaster gave Tarwantrad a sideways glance while Wardmaster Varilold took over.
“And that, signatories of the Compact, is exactly why I, in my authority as the master of the wards, am informing you that we must keep this door open. We know that this one works and has not resulted in our immediate doom. Attempting to open a new door risks the destruction of the entire Compact and I am not willing to bet our very survival upon luck favoring us twice.”
The forgemaster continued glaring but fell silent. Wardmaster Varilold turned a stern gaze to each of the signatories in turn, but none voiced any further opposition. She nodded.
“Then, now that we all understand our situation, we must decide how we will keep the door open. And before anyone says anything, consider that the other party, whatever else he may be, is a dungeon master, and the nexus in question appears to be a feature in one of his rooms. I am, therefore, vetoing all violent or forceful methods. The risk that he would be able to close the door on his end if we end up at odds is too great to bet our survival on, not when other methods appear to be viable.”
She turned and nodded towards Tarwantrad, and the rest of the table’s occupants did as well. Henilett grinned at her.
“Well then, don’t be coy, Dungeon Master. You’ve made a deal with this human already. Tell us about him.”
Tarwantrad took a deep breath and did her best not to glare at the signatories. She instead considered what she should say. She was under no illusions that she could convince the Compact to act in anything but its own best interest. Even with the wardmaster forcing them to negotiate with Belissar, the signatories would certainly try to get the best deal that they could for the Compact, with no consideration given to the dungeon master’s own well-being. She hadn’t interacted much with Belissar, but from what little she had he seemed like an earnest and kind-hearted individual. One who the signatories of the Compact would probably dance circles about and exploit for all he was worth.
She would not let that happen to the master of the bee dungeon.
“As a Dungeon Master in good standing, I nominate the master of the bee dungeon as an associate of the Circle of Dungeons.”
The table erupted into furor once more until Wardmaster Varilold forced them to calm down once more. Tarwantrad did her best to ignore them and focused on one person in particular. Dungeon Master Nenavann, one of the original signatories of the Compact and the founder of the Circle of Dungeons, a tan elf dressed in blue robes adorned with seashells and pearls. He rubbed his chin as he gazed at her.
“The Circle of Dungeons is indeed open to all dungeon masters that would treat well with one another and their fellow persons, I cannot say that a human should not be permitted to at least be considered. Yet, I cannot in good faith allow a human to associate with us without first addressing the concerns of my fellow signatories, which I must admit that I share. Humanity has a troubled history that has brought ruin to the world, Dungeon Master Tarwantrad. You have only interacted with this one briefly, so can you say, with full certainty, that he will not bring ruin upon us like the rest of his kind? That he will not betray the Compact to his kin, even if his own intentions are benign?”
Tarwantrad nodded immediately and met his gaze.
“I can. And for the second point, he is at odds with his former peoples, to the point of blows. I believe that if we treat well with him, he would instead place his trust with us. As he already has, by opening his doors to me and leaving them open even as we decide our own intentions.”
He stared at her a moment longer and she continued to meet his eyes. After an intense staring match, the other dungeon master nodded.
“Very well. It appears that, first and foremost, this is now a matter between dungeon masters and the duty of the Circle, so long as the wardmaster agrees to let us take the lead on this?”
Wardmaster Varilold nodded.
“I have no issue with that, so long as the door remains open whatever the results.”
Dungeon Master Nenavann looked across the rest of the table. Loremaster Anyadre looked to Forgemaster Ughlarer.
“This could work. It has not been done before since there has never been the opportunity, but there is no necessity for a member of the Circle to also be a member of the Compact. If we leave the association as one between dungeon masters, it would not be necessary for the Compact to treat with him directly until such time as we have taken his measure.”
The forgemaster scowled and then huffed.
“The wardmaster is leaving us little choice. If it must be done, then at least keep a dungeon between the humans and the Compact, on the Circle’s heads be the consequences.”
Henilett let out a disappointed “aw,” while the rest of the signatories slowly began to nod. Dungeon Master Nenavann nodded grimly.
“Very well. Then let us hope that this human cares about beings other than himself, for the sake of us all.”
Tarwantrad smiled at that.
“I think you will find that is not an issue at all.”
Author’s Note:
Ugh, more non-bees being silly. Don’t they realize that this door leads to bees, and is therefore their only hope of reducing their silliness? This is why you are not best dungeon master, Nena-what’s-his-name.
Anyways!
Will the Compact realize what’s important? Will a human join the Circle of Dungeon Masters? Can a human care about any beings other than themselves? Tune in next time, to find out!
Comments
Presten
Ahhh, I do love to hate the ever so self entitled and pompous fey. What a predictable order of operation for the fey, disregard, deceive, destroy.
HereForHFY
That feels like it could summarise every project meeting ever.
Darius Sanguna
Of course generalization is an issue here, they aren't dealing with a group of humans after all, but just one man. And they immediately apply all the stereotypes they have about humans to him and devolve into a terrified mob that wants to lynch him simply for being human. If that isn't a lack of wisdom than I don't know what is.
Darius Sanguna
conflict implies that humanity and the fair folk treated with each other in some kind of diplomacy, when the reality of it likely was that most interactions with humans were with individual Fey who had an interest in the mortal world one way or another. And given the stories those interests weren't exactly benign in many cases, at least from the human perspective. And the Fey at large just really didn't give a fuck because why would you want to deal with barely sapient naked apes who're going to die in the 30 seconds you pay attention to something else? They most likely only really registered Humanity as a threat and something to be taken seriously after they created the Hunger. Also yeah sure there might have been some humans who managed to actually resist a Fey and maybe even killed them, but from the perspective of the fair folk it probably wasn't much. Like if some dude goes off into the wilds unprepared and alone and gets mauled by a bear, do you start screaming about how bears are evil or do you go "lol that idiot got himself mauled by a bear!"?
phantom
That view is one sided. There likely was humans that screwed up things for the Fey before the Hunger. It is pretty much unheard of for all of history for conflicts to be one sided. But people sure love to write about things as if they were one sided.
phantom
The Fey said humans are shortsighted. That is correct humans are short sighted compared to them. It is not generalization that is the issue. The issue is that you assume that they actually care about the well being of humans to begin with. Tarwantrad even said when they figured out that Belissar was just a nice person they would proceed to exploit him. Humans are different and their regards to humans is basically that they are foreign and alien elements.
phantom
"Ugh, more non-bees being silly. Don’t they realize that this door leads to bees," Bees upon hearing the door leads to other bees: "I don't trust them at all."
Darius Sanguna
Nah the humans of this world don't suck any more than we do, they're just being humans for the most part. And the Fey are generalizing, the same as you do, demonstrating a lack in wisdom. Made worse by the fact that they are judging humanity through a very narrow lense.
Darius Sanguna
You say the fey rightfully don't like humans, but I'm fairly certain that before the hunger there was a not small group of fey who had a blast fucking with humans. And the fey at large probably didn't really take humanity seriously because they were just inconsequential mortals. As a consequence humans had an abundance of cautionary tales about the fair folk and only the desperate, foolish and greedy dared to treat with them, which only reinforced the fey's preconceived notions about humanity.
Fernando Oliveira
Thanks for the chapter. Loved it. Poor tarwantrad having to deal with, ugh, politics. *Shudders* lol. Silly non bees, belissar is best king, you should be begging him to join you. But that's okay, they're silly non bees, either they'll understand or they'll face the hive of hives.
Durphymcbob
I mean we know the humans of this world really suck. It makes since for the mistrust and fear.
Darius Sanguna
For all the years of experience gathered around that table there is surprisingly little wisdom to be found there.
Durphymcbob
thanks for the chapter! So many different kinds of Fey! and they and while they rightfully don't like humans im sure even belisar whould understand them being a bit wary of him being a human, but the king of bees is a bee at heart. Ans belissar joining a allience of dungeon masters will only be good for him! He can learn from people who know alot about the system of the dungeon and how it works. and all he has to do is keep the door open. He should probably build a small embassy for them on his side of the gateway, a few tables and chairs maybe a hexagon bee themed gazebo for them to to have some nice tea and honey while they talk. And i wonder what this circle of dungeon masters is.
Tsorov
Thx for the chapter!
