Saint of Bees
Our siblings in Varushka have called for Livardz to rise from the ashes. In peerless kinship, Highguard answers their call. In Loyalty, let all those who can be spared from their duties journey north to help erase the stain of the Cold Sun and support the pride and prosperity of Varushka, in accordance with judgement 80.
Sister Juliette of Balthazar's Vineyard, Highborn National, Winter Solstice 387YE, Vote: Greater Majority 474-22Citizens of Varushka, the Varushkan children at Anvil have been investigating the lack of bees in Karov. Honey Bee of the Sovereign's Head asked the coven 'Moonlight Finds the Mountain Pass' to petition Sung for aid in this endeavour. As a result of this investigation, the National Assembly of Varushka urges all Prosperous citizens to aid in re-flowering Karov. Plant flowers, send seeds. Make Karov bloom again.
Sillya Nikovitch Volkov, Varushkan National, Winter Solstice 387YE, Vote: Greater Majority 228-0
Overview
The stories of magical bees helping the virtuous in stories are, in a way, timeless. They were being told at bedsides and around campfires long before there was an Empire to speak of. Many Varushkan children grew up with the story of "the Good Tailor" where a swarm of bees helps a virtuous man create a wedding outfit for a cruel Boyar in a single night, both sparing the hero from death and delivering an ironic punishment to the tyrannical ruler who has grown lazy by stealing the labour of her people. Others recall with fondness being told the tale of "the Honey of Oloy" where an unassuming pot contains enough honey for the entire village to eat a spoonful a day during the Longest Winter, keeping everyone warm and healthy and strong enough to fight off rampaging wolves. A surprising number of wardens when asked about their calling mention the climax of that tale, when the bees join the villagers to fight off the thieving bandits lead by Old Wolf. There are dozens more like this - entertaining, but teaching valuable lessons about justice, happiness, working hard, sharing with those who deserve it, and other concepts that modern pilgrims would describe as Prosperity.
So when, in the wake of the attack of Cold Sun, the bees of Karov began to go missing, it was a source of obvious alarm. Last year Naomi of Virtue's Rest was commissioned to appraise the restoration of Delev, and gave some consideration to the bee question. She did not reach a conclusion however, but did uncover disturbing reports that there were also fewer bees being encountered in Wieliczka, Kamienczka, and Skoremujac as well as in Duzekani where the damage from the scions was greatest. In the months since, the folk of Malimorzi have also reported seeing fewer and fewer bees, and as the Equinox approaches there are reports from Livardz, Dupadealuri, and Kopevnost of hives deserted and a marked dearth of little black-and-yellow fellows industriously visiting the spring flowers. The problem is spreading from Karov to the rest of Varushka.
Naomi was at a loss to explain what was happening, and suggested either a proposal from someone better versed in magic than she, or that the Conclave speak to an eternal about the matter. When the Highborn arrive in Livardz to support the appraisal, they quickly learn of the bee-shaped hole in the Varushkan landscape. The National Assembly of that nation has already called out the urgent need to address the disappearance of the "Prosperous helpers" and given it seems that Graciana i Lòpez i Guerra has the matter of Volodmartz in hand, they turn their attention to a different problem. Bees, the lack thereof.
Too Few Bees
A few Highborn do look askance at the traditional virtuous animals. The argument of whether a beast can be virtuous or not has reached no firm conclusion. Many of those inclined to help in Varushka, however, take the view that the stories of the darkest nation teach virtue as often as not - they are parables and everyone knows that the bees mentioned in the stories are not real bees. Yet, at the same time, it's hard to deny that bees are industrious little creatures, tending flowers and creating honey that, in the eyes of the people who know them best, share the product of their hard work with those who in turn look after them, protect them from predators, and ensure their hives are well looked after. Perhaps there is more to the matter than just stories, even stories as inspirational as those Varushkan parents and grandparents tell their children?
It is when talking to some of those who know bees - real bees - best that a new picture starts to emerge. Since the disappearance of the bees began to spread, there has been a barely perceptible fall in the health of plants across Volodmartz. It's still subtle at the moment, but it is slowly getting worse. Herb gardens in particular have been experiencing a decline. The plants still grow, but each successive generation is a little less potent than the one before. It is also effecting farms and forests, which a few economically minded Varushkans and Highborn predict may start to impact businesses that rely on such things if the problem continues.
There's no doubt among the Varushkans as to what is to blame - the problem started when Cold Sun invaded. While it is the goose and the spider that are more commonly associated with Vigilance, there's evidence that bees are quite sensitive to danger especially anything related to shifts in the flow of mana through a territory. When the forces of Oblivion attacked, the bees fled or hid just as their human neighbours were doing in the face of the scions. Perhaps bees are Wise as well, muses one Highborn with an interest in botany. Regardless it seems clear that a quiet catastrophe is unfolding in Varushka, the extent of which has so far gone unmarked.
While not every Highborn thinks ascribing virtue to animals is a good thing, they are resolute in the belief that virtue is contagious. Varushkans see bees as a symbol of prosperity, and symbols help shape peoples' approach to virtue. Restoring the bees to Karov - and hopefully stemming their decline in neighbouring territories - feels at least as important as dealing with the curses left behind in the wake of Cold Sun's invasion. It might also be a good idea to look at the other places Cold Sun invaded, places where bees are less central in the minds of the citizens, and see if they are suffering a similar decline.
It is also worth noting that Highguard - especially the folk of Reikos - are not strangers to the idea of tending bees. While honey doesn't have the same prominent place in Highguard culture as it does in Varushka, it is by no means an unknown art. The Gardens of High Chalcis have several large bee hives that help tend the herbs there, and it is common for a chapter to collect honey from smaller hives on their grounds. Those who have experience with bees have much to talk about here in Varushka, when it comes to the art and science of working with bees and honey, and it is some of those beewise Highborn who know the stories of Kvetmir of the Bees who first make contact with the priests of Zoloto.
Kvetmir of the Bees
In northern Skoremujac, in the vale of Zoloto, lives a religious community dedicated to the inspiration of the exemplar Kvetmir Kvetmirovic. Recognised by the Synod in the early reign of Empress Varkula, Kvetmir Kvemirovic predates the Empire by at least two centuries. Their stories are not widely known - they are by no means renowned - but the people of Zoloto keep their memory alive. Kvetmir is credited with revolutionising beekeeping and honey gathering during his life, and encouraging the keeping of bees as a way to ensure the health of a community beyond access to honey. He collected the "Golden Book" - a collection of folk stories about bees - copies of which can be found all over the Empire to this day although few realise it is the work of an exemplar. A practiced apothecary, he helped cultivate the use of honey in medicine to treat infection and burns. Even there he took the opportunity to inspire. He spoke in his letters about how hard he found the study of apothecary, being easily distracted and more inclined to spend his time watching bees than practicing his lessons. Hard work, he said, did not just mean hard labour. Any difficult task would bring rewards, and they would be all the sweeter the more arduous it was to achieve them.
He is also associated with two miracles. While travelling to a wedding, Kvetmir made a point of leaving little bowls of sugar water out for the bees each time his travelling party rested. When brigands sought to rob and murder the wedding party, the local bees protected Kvetmir and his family and blinded their assailants. When the "Bee Shepherd" was dying, all the bees in the surrounding area left their hives and came to the room where he lay. The story claims they came in such force they broke down the shutters, and covered him, keeping him warm in his final hour with their bodies quelling the chills that wracked him despite the physicks best efforts, allowing him to pass peacefully. Descendants of those same bees, by all accounts, continued to live in Zoloto up until the present day, and their honey (and the spirits distilled from it) built the vale into a prosperous and comfortable place to live.
Now, their bees too are departing. They invite Highborn to visit them to share what they know of bees, and working together a possible solution is discovered. The bees, say the bee tenders of Zoloto, are frightened. They have fled into the deep wilderness, and many of them have entered a state of torpor - similar to the way they cluster together in the Winter to keep one another warm. They need to be reassured that the danger has passed, and that their human allies will protect them if it returns. The inspiration of Kvetmir speaks not only of the rewards of hard work, but also of the need for those whose livelihood depends on living things - bees or trees or crops - to treat their plants and creatures with respect just as they would a labourer on their farm or a worker in their shop.
Regal Beehives
The beehives of Zoloto are large, beautiful, intricate structures of weirwood. They stand amidst fields of marrowort, true vervain, and imperial roseweald that the beekeepers tend with as much attention to detail as they do their bees. Every Solstice and Equinox, even in Winter, the people of the vale come together for a celebration honouring the hard work of their black-and-yellow labourers. Songs are sung, shallow bowls of sweet water laid out, and stories of the exemplar Kvetmir are told.
In the interests of bringing the bees back, the folk of Zoloto are more than happy to work with the Highborn to share their techniques for handling frightened bees, and also to share the plans for their hives. This represents a two-pronged attack on the problem. The first will need liao, and quite a bit of it. The second will need a commission, to build "regal beehives" to encourage the missing bees to return.
Ceremonies of Prosperity
With the priests of Zoloto, and after some discussion with wise ones and storytellers, it is determined that the wayfarers and gray pilgrims of Highguard will work with their Varushkan kin to propagate the ceremonies used by the community of Kvetmir Kvetmirovic through Karov and the neighbouring territories. These simply ceremonies involve songs about bees and hard work which are easy enough to record, but are used in conjunction with the consecration of Prosperity, and the Hallowing of the Grateful Debtor. A mandate has been prepared to assist in this.
The prosperity of our Varushkan kin is threatened by the harm done to the bees of Karov. With hard work, we can help them quell the fear that has overtaken their bees, and with the inspiration of Kvetmir Kvetmirovic renew trust between that symbol of Prosperity and the people of the vales. We send (named priest) with 50 doses of liao to spread auras of Prosperity, and to support the work of the vale of Zoloto to right what the Cold Sun has unbalanced.
Synod Mandate, Highborn National Assembly
If this mandate is passed, it will help spread the inspiration of Kvetmir Kvetmirovic, and the expertise of the beekeepers of Zoloto. This will prevent the situation with bees in Varushka getting worse, and will slowly encourage bees to take residence in their hives again. It will take at least a year, and bee populations are unlikely to recover completely, but it will ensure there is no measurable impact on the prosperity of southern Varushka, and no lasting damage to the Prosperity of herb gardens, farms, forests, or businesses.
Regal Hives
| Regal Hive |
| Commission Type: Great work |
| Location: Malimorzi, Karov |
| Cost: 60 weirwood, 240 crowns in labour |
| Time: six months |
Effect:
|
| Availability: Until the end of the Winter Solstic 388YE |
- Regal hives could be built in Malimorzi in Karov to reverse the harms done to the bees of Karov
The beehives of Zoloto are truly impressive examples of the bee tenders arts which the vale folk claim were first built by exemplar Kvetmir himself. Hut sized structures of weirwood, surrounded by plentiful herb gardens and wild flowers alike, they house truly exceptional swarms of bees and produce some of the finest honey in Karov if not Varushka. These "regal beehives" are spoken of as being "fit for a Queen or an Empress" and they are even sometimes referred to as "Varkula's little palaces" in reference to the still-beloved Empress Varkula.
After a great deal of discussion and theory, Highborn and Varushkan alike come to the conclusion that the best place to build a set of truly regal beehives would be Malimorzi. Given that the problem of the bees is spreading into the neighbouring territories, this would represent a reasonably central spot from which to propagate the designs and encourage the bees that the danger has passed. Beekeepers could visit the site, as well as the vale of Zoloto, to share and discuss their techniques and learn from one another. The regal beehives would not only address the fear of the bees, but would reverse the trend. They would represent a level of investment in herb gardens throughout the territory, as healthy bees industriously tend to flowering herbs and produce valuable honey. This level of investment would give every herb garden in Karov an additional dose each of marrowort, imperial roseweald, and true vervain each season.
There is nothing to prevent similar beehives being built in other Varushkan territories. While they wouldn't help stem the loss of bees - it is Karov where the problem originated after all - they would likewise cultivate large, healthy hives to help support the prosperity of the nation. Assuming there was no other great work benefiting herb gardens in the territory, they would have the same effect - additional herbs - for each herb garden.
Finally, once the regal beehives in Karov are completed, the Varushkan beekeepers suggest that in recognition of their hard work the bee tenders would come to Reikos and help propagate their knowledge. For a year following the completion of the regal beehives in Karov, the Gardens of High Chalcis would provide an additional dose of marrowort, true vervain, and imperial roseweald to every herb garden in Reikos.
Letting the Bees Go
- If the situation continues to decline it will impact the prosperity of Karov and eventually the whole of Varushka
- There are still opportunities to find other ways to reverse the disappearance of the bees
Right now, the dearth of bees is a matter for concern but only that. If the tide of bees deserting Varushka is not stemmed, however, the effects will begin to be felt more keenly. If nothing is done by the end of the Winter Solstice 388YE, then by next spring every herb garden and farm in Karov will have a -1 penalty to its production. By the end of the Summer Solstice 389YE, this penalty will have spread to forests and businesses in the territory as well. It's hard to say for certain at this stage, but events in neighbouring territories suggest that if the trend is not reversed it might spread disaster for the prosperity of the whole of Varushka.
Obviously, while the Highborn have worked with the Varushkans of Karov to address the situation through the lens of virtue, the proposals made by Naomi in the Outside the wall wind of fortune are still available. While its not clear that a new appraisal will achieve much beyond confirming that the Zoloto/Chalcis proposal will work, it could look at the root cause of the problem (the sunburned status of Duzekani). There are also several eternals that might be able to help. But the fact remains that time is running out. It's running out slowly... but it is still running out.
Kvetmir Kvetmirovic
The exemplar who inspires the people of Zoloto, and whose influence is felt by beetenders across Varushka and beyond whether they know it or not, has mostly been forgotten. Since their recognition two centuries or more ago, they have mostly faded from memory. The folk of Zoloto offer their support to resolving the bee situation without demanding a price. Yet they are also clear that they would very much appreciate it if the inspiration of Kvetmir Kvetmirovic were to be renewed and they believe the people of Highguard, and their own National Assembly, could both support this ambition. They would like to see an inspirational location built in Karov to serve as a place of pilgrimage not only for Imperial beetenders, but for the Prosperous of the Empire who wish to learn of their quiet patron. They believe the lessons of industriousness, of treating your workplace and workers with respect and sharing the benefits of everyone's labour, are just as relevant today as they have always been.
A writ of consecration would allow the hives in the vale of Zoloto, or the regal hives they propose for Malimortz, to become such a place. It would require a dose of true liao of course, and the approval of the prosperity assembly. They cannot, obviously, predict what the effect would be but they point to the powerful symbolism of bees and Prosperity in Varushka, to the role of honey in medicine, and to the stories that Kvetmir Kvetmirovic cultivated the rare realmsroot alongside the more traditional herbs with he help of his bees. A writ of consecration would determine if any of these opportunities might be realised.
There is a note of caution among the Highborn however, at least some of the more cynical. The Synod has recently been "burned" by a pre-Imperial Varushkan inspiration. Before anyone starts proposing a writ of consecration, it might be best if the Minister of Historical Research or even better the Lepidean Librarian looked into the life and times, and the inspiration, of Kvetmir Kvetmirovic. It would not do to create a place of pilgrimage, an inspirational location, and only then discover that the storied Kvetmir also urged people to enact merciless retribution against people who put their honey on their scones in the wrong way, for example.
Bees are pretty remarkable creatures, who've lived alongside humans for a very long time indeed. This plotline mirrors real world concerns about bees, and while that was mostly a coincidence based around the symbolism of bees in Varushka, there are real world concerns about falling bee populations. A fantasy live-roleplaying game isn't the best place to discuss a real world crisis, but if you are interested in learning more then this page from the World Wildlife Federation and this piece from Kew Gardens about keeping UK bees happy that might be of interest.