The Bee Dungeon

Konilias sat on the throne in his Tower’s reception hall. He could not help but tap his fingers on the armrest.
Time was ticking. Hegiosa had called off the Grand Subjugation, all the armies of the Conclave that had been sent beyond its borders were moving to return. It would take them some time, many were in the midst of assaulting rogue Towers or else warring against local inhabitants, so they could not simply stop and begin marching home. Truces needed to be negotiated where possible, orderly withdrawals with substantial rearguards arranged where not. No army had returned home yet.
But that would not last forever. With each passing day, their window of opportunity shrank. If they waited much longer, their plan may soon become infeasible, then impossible. And the armies returning was not the only time limit they now faced. Heigiosa had begun her personal review of the Conclave, not content to rely on the Censors any longer, nor to respect the spheres of authority the High Councilors had carved out for themselves. It would not be long before she inspected one of their supporters…and learned of the preparations they had made.
One way or another, they would have to move soon. Konilias truly wished to know that General Rippotis was far away and hopefully dealt with…but he could not wait for news much longer.
His current guest, just entering the hall, would likely decide if they would move in confidence…or gamble everything on a hope.
“High Councilor Stadvolous, forgive me for dispensing with the pleasantries and do so yourself. Tell me, have you received word from Lord Starami?”
High Councilor Stadvolous knelt before him, then raised his head…revealing a grin on his face.
“I have indeed, High Councilor Konilias. Lord Starami has made contact with General Rippotis, just as he was about to reach his destination. General Rippotis is indeed far from home…and soon to be occupied.”
Konilias could not help a grin of his own. It seemed that fortune had favored him…perhaps even the gods themselves, given that it was their intervention that brought about this outcome. He chuckled to himself before speaking.
“Then…it is time. Send word to every Tower Lord loyal to humanity…and let’s begin.”
***
General Rippotis had to stop his mana from bursting into flames the moment he stepped into the tent. Queen Vanieskon had indeed survived…and was now standing before him face to face. But, with every ounce of discipline and courage he possessed, he held his mana down. It was beyond foolish to face the pixie queen without protection against glamours…but it would be equally foolish to deploy defensive magic under the current circumstances. If he wished to convince Tower Keeper Belissar, the fair folk, and their beastkin allies that he was not behind the army approaching their home, he would have to trust that they would not attempt to enchant him now.
He still could not help but feel he was making a grave mistake. The knowing smile the pixie queen gave him did not help.
But General Rippotis soon found his attention diverted by a hiss.
“King! Hive-Burner looks like Sorcerer King! Should kill?!”
There, glaring and hissing at him with fangs clacking and claws spread, was a spiderkin. A spiderkin half his height, newly hatched by the looks of her. General Rippotis found himself staring at her for a moment.
That a spiderkin was a part of this alliance was surprising enough, but it was her words that struck deep. A spiderkin, the most loyal and vicious of the Sorcerer King’s followers in the days of old…now wanted to kill him because she thought he was a Sorcerer King?
That right there drove home what the God of Light had told the High Council. The beastkin truly did not follow the Sorcerer Kings any longer. Apparently, they had such a falling-out that they would want to kill humans on sight solely out of association.
Which is exactly what the Conclave had been doing to them. Apparently, they had been fighting a war that had long passed its time. How long had it been since the beastkin joined them in rebellion? How long had they been spilling blood in vain? How long had they been fighting against those that had the same cause?
“No, not now. He’s going to help us against the others.”
And then, the general saw him. The man who had started this chain of events to begin with. Tower Keeper Belissar himself.
He was…just a young man. The same age range as many of the general’s troops. He was glaring at the general, but the general had trained men like him for countless years. Belissar clearly had some experience and the confidence that came with it…but ultimately, he was still trying to find his feet. The occasional shuffle, the slightly too intense glare…the Tower Keeper seemed like he was trying to project more confidence than he personally felt.
In that moment, General Rippotis could not help but see one of his young officers after their first battle. A young man, thrust into responsibilities he was not truly ready for, now with no choice but to do his best to rise to the challenge. And, in truth, Tower Keeper Belissar had not even been prepared as that. He was but a beekeeper in a small village before this and Starami had not bothered to educate the villages under his rule.
This was the man who had spooked the High Council so? Who they had called a Grand Subjugation to deal with, who they decided was too dangerous to leave unchecked? The man General Rippotis had worried was a Sorcerer King in the making up until now?
But the general had no time to deal with the swirl of emotions he now felt as one of the dusk elves taunted him.
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“Welcome, General Rippotis of the Dragon Banner Army. Now, tell us how we should kill one of your Tower Lords.”
General Rippotis narrowed his eyes and refocused.
“Starami embarked on this subjugation as penance for losing a Tower, so he will have brought a greater proportion of his forces than is usual, I would estimate he has several thousand Tower Guard he can deploy here, unless he is still assaulting other Towers along his path. His primary patron is the God of Dragons, his Tower Guard will be blessed with great might in both physical strength and magical power but will tend towards arrogance and aggression. Their coordination may break down if subjected to morale shocks. They will have a number of tamed dragonkin available as mounts, wyverns and drakes are the most common.”
A well-armored silver elf woman frowned.
“Wardmaster Varilold, overall commander of the Calwaskon Compact’s defenses. Will we be facing true dragons?”
General Rippotis gave her a grim nod.
“Starami has tamed at least one himself. The best of his Tower Guard are on the brink where it just might be possible, but I do not think Starami would have risked them. Likely one dragon, I’d be surprised if there’s more than two or three.”
The dusk elf grinned.
“And will we have your dragon to face it?”
General Rippotis stayed composed. Dusk elves always did get animated when death was near, he was aware her barbs might not be intentional.
“Yes, you will.”
Wardmaster Varilold thankfully remained on-task.
“That should address the dragons, then. We should avoid a head-on collision with the army until necessary and do our best to assault their cohesion. How will Starami deploy his forces, against both the purified area and the Tower?”
Second Queen Berbiya, one of the skunk-beastkin representatives General Rippotis had met, interjected.
“And is he going to assault my people? We are out in the Underway, alone!”
General Rippotis thought for a moment.
“Starami isn’t aware of your people, I wasn’t either until I arrived here. Is your home protected by the same glamours and wards as the tunnel Starami arrived in?”
Wardmaster Varilold confirmed as much, so General Rippotis relaxed.
“He will be sending out patrols to search for inhabitants, monsters, and external shortcuts, but that glamour should suffice against a standard investigation. It might be different if he was aware there was something to find, but the patrols won’t be looking for you specifically, especially down in the Underway.”
Tower Keeper Belissar couldn’t help an outburst.
“External shortcuts?!”
General Rippotis looked at him and nodded.
“Yes, a feature that allows a Tower to create multiple exits within its purified zone. The first step of a Tower assault is to secure the purified zone and identify any shortcuts or defenders left outside, then to prepare a camp outside of the Tower itself. From there, Starami will begin probing the Tower.”
Everyone waited for the general to continue, so he carried on with the explanation.
“Different Tower Lords may have their own methods, but the standard one is to send in a team of elite scouts focused on mobility and adaptability to explore the room. Once they have a handle on its dangers or run into an obstacle they cannot overcome, a larger formation will be deployed to secure the room, then will hunker down to guard against flanking attacks from shortcuts. The scouts will then move onto the next room and repeat the process. From there, it depends on the reaction of the Tower’s master. If they bide their time and rely on their rooms’ innate defenses, then the process continues in a slow, methodical advance. If the Tower master begins immediately deploying their forces to face the incoming threat, then the assaulting Tower Lord will deploy the bulk of their army at once to provoke the Tower master into showing themselves. The ultimate goal is to capture the Tower master, whether by locating them within the Tower or by drawing them out.”
An elf man, possibly one of the sea elves judging by his tanned skin and marine adornments, joined the conversation.
“Dungeon Master Nenavann, signatory of the Circle of Dungeon Masters. How will the attacker deal with changes to the Tower, remnants, or purifications?”
General Rippotis raised an eyebrow. That introduction, at least, confirmed that the fair folk indeed had Towers of their own.
“Changes to the Tower are limited where outsiders are present, so the assaulting Tower Lord can minimize the risk by occupying as much of the cleared floors as possible. Remnants are just part of the dangers of the floor…but purifications are a mistake.”
Did…the fair folk dungeon master not know that? General Rippotis assumed Dungeon Master Nenavann had been asking how the Tower Lords dealt with those situations specifically…but had he meant the question more generally? Did he…presumably the leader of the fair folk’s dungeon masters…not have any experience with Tower assaults?
Dungeon Master Nenavann waited for him to continue…indicating that he may indeed not know why a purification during a Tower assault was a bad idea. General Rippotis moved to explain once it was clear they were waiting on him.
“If the Tower master starts a purification while an assault is in progress, the attacking force will attempt to move out of the way. The Hunger corrupts the Tower as it passes through, disabling all features it touches and preventing the Tower master from making any further changes in those areas. The Tower Guard are protected from the corruption by their own blessing, so they can pass through the area relatively unhindered for the duration of the purification, using the shades to identify the defenses ahead. And an assaulting Tower Lord almost always has a larger Tower than the target, so their guard can handle stronger shades than the Tower under assault.”
General Rippotis frowned.
“Again, the goal is to draw out the Tower master, not to conquer the Tower in its entirety, unless it is very small compared to the attacking force, so anything that can potentially cause problems for the defending Tower is a boon to the attacker. Some Tower Lords even attempt to contain the shades without purifying them. When the Hunger’s shades are blocked from any further progress during a purification…the Hunger begins to fester and corrupt the part of the Tower it can access more heavily. The Tower can cleanse itself if this results from an ongoing purification, but if it’s an expansion or emergency purification, the Tower master will eventually be forced to deal with it…and the attacker’s forces will be waiting. I find intentionally obstructing a purification dangerous and immoral…but not everyone in the Conclave shares my assessment. Some even wait in the first room of the Tower for an emergency purification to start on its own, forcing that very situation.”
Queen Vanieskon gave him a pointed look as she entered the conversation.
“And this Starami might be one of those?”
General Rippotis resisted the urge to employ his defenses against the sound of her alluring voice. He felt no mana affecting him at the very least, so he focused back on task. He took a deep breath as he considered the question.
“…yes, in my assessment, he might.”
There was no question from a deeper look into Starami’s records that the man’s guiding principle was callous pragmatism. He demonstrated a lack of concern with collateral damage that did not impact him directly. And…this assault would be personal for him. Starami had lost much as a result of these affairs, including his own son, so General Rippotis could not rule out that he might intentionally choose destructive measures.
Wardmaster Varilold’s expression hardened.
“Then we cannot remain solely on the defensive.”
General Rippotis matched her with a grim look of his own.
“No, you cannot.”