Session 006 - Honey B. Lovely

Before tasking them with something as important as spying on another Archmage, Arkemyr tasks them to travel to her bee farm in the north and correct their lack of production.
She pays them ahead of time and instructs them to find `Phoebe` who manages the apiaries.
The group agree to the task and begin the trek, resting for the night when the sun sets.

## Desnus 21st, 4724, Day 8

They find a quickly erected encampment of refugees from Novoboro and agree to help them.
Thaniel goes hunting for deer as the Austere performs meal preparation with alchemical scrutiny.
Athe goes to fetch fresh water before helping the Austere cook.
Kat goes around to heal a woman whose foot got caught in a bear trap, then going to speak with father and daughter pair that the woman mentioned needed help.
The father offers to sell his daughter's hand in marriage for some gold, a fate she has accepted as part of her duty to the family.
Kat chastises the girl, reminding her that her life is her own and should not be sold by someone else.
She hands her three gold coins and recommends that they sell some of their valuables in the next town and live modestly until they can get their feet back under them.
Thaniel has meanwhile hunted, skinned, and butchered two deer that the Austere and Athe have used to create a wonderful meal.

One of the refugees, `Jon`, offers them a gauntlet that finds its place along Kat's arm.
They head out and encountered a broken stone bridge leading to the farm.
The group manages to jump across the gap except for Kat who comes up short and lands in the water below.
Thanks to Thaniel's superb strength, he yanks her out of the river and back to land.

As they are readying to continue, Thaniel notices two wolves and runs up to them.
They are initially hostile, but become docile as Thaniel shows he is not a threat and offers part of his rations to them.
One wolf wanders back into the woods but the other follows Thaniel.
With a new furry companion, they continue on the way to the bee farm.

The bee farm is abuzz with activity from the multiple imps that have been summoned to maintain the simple parts of the area.
They follow the path to find `Phoebe` and learn that they have switched to a new queen bee in the experimental hive that produces the magical honey.
As Phoebe prepares to transport the group into the hive, Thaniel finds some lost pups that he instructs to return to Thorn and asks his wolf friend to go with them to become another protector of the sanctuary.
The group don some beekeeping uniforms and are shrunk by Phoebe and deposited into the hive.

Inside the hive, they find a chamber full worker bees, standing in rows and learn that they are waiting for the Queen to start her next performance.
The new queen, `Beatrice`, has taken the moniker of `Queen Honey B. Lovely` and has been continuously performing for her fans of bees.
The group is unable to convince her to have the workers produce honey in shifts so she can still perform the concerts she love.
She dismisses her fans and the group begins to battle against the queen.

They end the battle victorious with the queen yielding to them, but it is a hard-fought victory that saw Athe close to Death's embrace.
A near miss that points newfound anger at Beatrice when they leave the hive.
The group leaves the details of the issue vague when speaking with Phoebe but with enough hostile undertone pointed at Beatrice that she can likely surmise the problem.
They warn Beatrice that if honey is not produced consistently from then on and they needed to return again, then regicide would be their intent.
Phoebe offers them a honey potion as thanks before the group leaves.

The group decides to travel eastwards for a bit before heading back to Arkemyr.
The multi-hour journey filled with Kat continuously poking, prodding, and bandaging everyone has not done much to ease the tension from a near death experience.
Their irritation grows when the are met with a familiar face upon crossing a bridge towards some lost pups.
The old man begs for them to continue with releasing him from the disease he calls life and asks them three questions.
- What falls everyday but never breaks? ||Night||
- What can you put in a wood box that will make it lighter? ||A Hole||
- What question can you ask all day and get a different correct answer everytime? ||What time is it?||

With his riddles answered, their second battle of the day begins.
The old man proves to have developed new techniques and strengths but is defeated all the same, leaving behind a pile of goods for the group to comb through.
A glance at the sky reveals that it is midday and they could possibly return the Arkemyr that day if they hurry.