BEES

*Check Please!*

"**BEES**" is the 13th episode of the first season of *Check Please!* Campaign One. It was first released on October 19th, 2019.

*"Last time, our Heroes proved themselves to Siva and were tasked with finding out why the mines of Wittengen stopped producing iron. They also made a stopover in the Holy City to track down the last living Tellic heir. They've made it to Wittengen, and are now preparing to venture up into the mountains."*

## Summary

After interviewing the four surviving miners and receiving conflicting stories, the Party searches out the Witch of Wittingen for more information. Along the way, they encounter feral Frey creatures. Eventually, they arrive at the Deepcut Mine to investigate further...

## Synopsis

### Part I: Unreliable Narrators

#### Where Everybody Knows Your Name

In Wittengen, the Check Please! Party members prepare for their new quest by seeking out first-hand accounts from the four survivors of the attack on the Deepcut Mine. They head to The Broken Pick tavern, which they find packed with drunk and angry-looking people. Sol, attempting to more accurately gauge the crowd's mood and reactions, picks a corner and begins to play on Symphonia's Wit. They impromptu performance cheers up the downcast miners a little.

With the nerves of the miners now slightly soothed, the Party members begin asking around to find the four miners mentioned by Lord Mayor Graf von Bergen, with Lovette buying rounds for several of them. The sufficiently-lubricated patrons identify the four miners in question: Fritz, Niko, Walter, and Lothar, who are spaced out across the tavern in more ways than one.

#### Niko Niko Ni

Lovette asks Sol to take the lead, and they head over first to Niko's table. The miner, clearly traumatized, says that he can still see "them" every time he closes his eyes. Sol inquires what he means; Niko responds "hands", further elaborating that hundreds of disembodied skeletal hands attacked him and his companions. Beyond asserting that neither von Bergen nor the guards cared when he tried to explain the attack, Niko is unable to offer further details.

Sensitive to Niko's trauma and looking for the least-damaged of the remaining three, the Party members head over to Fritz's table and finding the man drinking with a few others while angrily gesturing towards the house of the Lord Mayor.

#### Fritzing Out

Fritz aggressively confronts Sol, demanding to know if they intend to laugh at his story and implying that others have treated him similarly. Sol is able to calm him slightly with a song, and asks for his story in return. Fritz insists that the attack took the form of an earthquake that opened up a passageway deeper into the earth, from which "whole tribes" of orcs emerged and began killing Fritz's fellow workers. Fritz fled back to Wittengen, where he maintains that he was too was disbelieved by the townsfolk, the guards, and the Lord Mayor. Lovette mentions that Niko had attributed the attack to skeletal hands; Fritz scoffs at the idea, then begins ranting about the need for political change, as the Party members politely withdraw. Vera suggests that given the differing accounts, some sort of illusion magic might be at work.

#### Waltered Down Truths

The Party members head over to Walter's table, finding the miner sitting and drinking quietly on his own. Surmising that they wish to hear his story, he asks for a drink in exchange; Markus generously obliges with a pitcher of good ale. Walter appreciatively offers his version of events: after a minor earthquake, the miners all retreated to the mine's exit per protocol, only to discover a massive red dragon ("big as a house and twice as ugly") blocking the entrance. According to Walter, the dragon proceeded to cook the rest of the miners alive with its fire breath; Walter barely avoided the flames and was eventually able to flee back to town, only to be disbelieved by the townsfolk given the conflict between his account and those of Niko and Fritz (whom he describes respectively as a "jittering mess" and a "drunkard").

#### Lothar to Give Details

Finally, the Party members approach Lothar, who is sitting alone drinking in a state of fury; he eyes the approaching group with disgust, anger, and bitter hate far exceeding that of Niko. Identifying Lovette an Sol as elves, he directs racist abuse their way. Sol sadly retreats to the corner, playing a sad song as they go, and leaving Lovette, Vera, and Markus to deal with Lothar. Lovette, enraged by this treatment, starts the timer to bring out Archie, but Markus is able to strike up some bonhomie, and Lothar gives his version of events: while outside the mine relieving himself, he witnessed a fireball impact the mountain, damaging the mine. Lothar attributes this spell-casting to the only person in the area he believes to be capable of it: "The Witch".

#### The Witch of Wittengen

Explaining that townsfolk call her "Madam", Lothar explains that Hildegarde supplies the town with medicines and cures (which he claims are likely poisonous). He describes her as a monster, whom adventurers should slay outright; he suggests the Party kill her. Markus, sensing a way to make a few coins, offers to kill her for five gold. Lothar curtly dismisses both the idea and the Party.

Determining that the stories all share the common element of the ground rumbling and/or shaking, the Party members conclude that something definitely did happen. They decide to meet with the Witch, and ask the bartender for more information on her. He claims to have actually met her, with her having given him assistance on an unspecified problem – but also notes that she never enters the town anymore, and hasn't since at least before he was born. His grandmother, he says, did encounter the Witch, since in that earlier time she would come into town to purchase provisions; unfortunately, the Witch drew many eyes, and, uncomfortable with all the attention, ceased her visits. He identifies the Witch as "Hildie", short for "Hildegarde" – in his words, "a classy lady" – and directs the Party along a footpath from the base of the Bastion Mountains leading up to her cottage.

#### Into the Woods

Before departing, Lovette purchases a keg of cheap ale, giving it to Archie (now fully deployed) to carry. The Party members depart the tavern and the town of Wittengen, heading southeast to the edge of a forest bordering the mountains, where they encounter a portentous sign: "DANGER! DO NOT ENTER!" Ignoring it, the adventurers enter. In short order, Vera recognizes the woods, knowing their layout intimately. Soon thereafter, the Party members encounter a Fey creature: a satyr. Though appearing graceful and peaceful, when he catches sight of the Party, he lets out a roar and charges at them!

### Part II: The Feral Fey

#### We're All Gonna Get in a Fight!

As the Party members take defensive positions, Vera calls out in Sylvan (the language of the Fey), insisting that they are not enemies; the satyr nonetheless attacks. Archie is able to get in a solid hit, which the satyr returns in kind. Sol strikes up an inspiring song on their lyre, and also attempts to communicate with the satyr in Sylvan, but the satyr ignores them. Vera sends out Hummel to swarm the creature with bees. Markus makes an attack, but misses, as does Archie's next attack, and the situation gets worse as two feral pixies emerge from hiding and join the fray, brandishing (very short) shortswords. Luckily, their attacks against Lovette and Markus both miss.

Hurling Symphonia's Wit, Sol is able to slice off the hand of one of the pixies. Vera attacks and misses the satyr with her scythe, though Hummel is able to get in some stings. Markus takes down the injured pixie with his sling staff. Lovette unsuccessfully attempts to disarm the other pixie, which stabs her in response. Archie comes to Lovette's aid, heavily injuring the pixie; the pixie slashes back in return. The satyr injures Vera; Sol aims a blow at the satyr, heavily wounding it. Vera's bees then bring it to the ground. Vera, Markus, and Lovette all attack the pixie in turn, but all miss. Finally, Archie is able to disarm the pixie, which now attacks Lovette with its bare hands. Sol hurls Symphonia's Wit, then Vera flings Melifera's Sting, but both attacks miss. Vera's swarm of bees, led by Hummel, is finally able to drop the last pixie.

#### Soiled Satyrs

The Party inspect the downed satyr, which is covered in blood. Vera, drawing on her deep druidic knowledge of nature, conveys to the Party that these particular Fey creatures were acting in an extremely abnormal way, since they are usually either jovial, or else hesitant to engage with non-Fey beings. With Archie binding the satyr's arms, Vera magically stabilizes the creature, which nonetheless remains unconscious. Several Party members attempt healing spells, but are unable to rouse the satyr. In the end, Lovette simply takes his stone dagger. The Party prepares to continue on to find Lady Hildagarde, but Vera suggests a detour.

#### Verifying Vera's Vision

Vera explains that these woods match the visions sent to her by Melifera, and that she needs to seek out the ruins, which she judges to be about an hour's distance away. The other members of the Party agree to accompany her. Following Vera's increasingly strong intuition, they eventually reach a stone building overgrown with plants and vines. It appears abandoned, and is in a state of great disrepair. Vera warns the Party that the building likely contains enemies of Melifera that must be destroyed; her companions are not enormously thrilled at the prospect of another battle. Suddenly, Vera and Archie hear a faint buzzing noise coming from inside the building. After a few moments of strategy discussion, Markus uses his Door Sight ability to get a view of the building's interior, which he is shocked to see is filled with a huge number of skeletal remains. Thankfully, the bodies don't appear to be moving.

#### The Temple of Melifera

Vera and Archie enter the building, now dimly illuminated with Dancing Lights provided by Sol. Despite Archie's best efforts to smash them open, many of the interior doors are jammed shut by age and disrepair. Exploring further, Vera spots a large organic structure resembling an enormous bee hive running across the ceiling. Vera calls on Markus to assist with his Door Sight, and Markus reluctantly crosses the threshold (with a few helpful shoves from Sol and Lovette). Vera, giving up on the doors, pushes further on into the building, into the main room. It is filled with broken pews, indicating it was once a temple of some kind. Against its northernmost wall is a large altar, with a pool at the top of a set of stairs; hovering in midair above the altar is a large golden honeycomb, pulsing with soft magical light and dripping honey into the pool beneath it. And surrounding this font and drinking from its contents are four crouching figures in rags.

#### Battling Bees

Noticing the approach of the Party members, the four figures rise and reveal themselves to be bizarre, horrifying human-insect abominations, with a twisted mix of human and bee appendages. They attack without hesitation. Vera, readying herself for combat, hears the voice of Melifera in her head, as she summons Hummel and her swarm of bees. Sol strikes up an inspiring song on their lyre. From the hive overhead bursts forth an enormous swarm of mutated bees, which attacks Hummel. Lovette fires off a crossbow bolt, heavily injuring one of the mutated cultists. Archie charges towards the attackers. Several of the cultists continue their attack, to varying effect. The Hummel swarm continues to battle the mutated bees, but with heavy losses; Hummel backs off, as Vera attempts to calm the mutated bees using one of her druidic abilities. The attacking bees slow, uncertain of how to proceed.

Sol hurls Symphonia's Wit, heavily injuring another of the cultists. Lovette fires off another bolt, but misses. As Archie takes heavy damage, Markus tries to hurl a magic stone at one of the cultists... and misses. The cultists flail around for a few moments, all of their attacks missing. Hummel withdraws to Vera's backpack apiary, as Vera unsuccessfully attempts to convince the mutated bees to attack the cultists. Sol retreats, once again strumming an inspiring tune, even as they take minor damage. The swarm of mutated bees remains indecisive, neither attacking nor helping.

Markus channels positive healing energy to help the Party. Archie, still hurting, continues attacking the cultists, managing to drop one of them; they respond by dealing out some more damage to several Party members. Vera once again tries to sweet-talk the mutated bees, and moves towards the altar. Sol retreats a few steps back, then finishes off one of the cultists with a critical hit.

Dropping her crossbow, Lovette pulls her pilfered stone dagger (effectively a sword, for a being her size) and lunges at one of the cultists, missing. Markus continues his healing, drawing both Archie and Lovette further back from death; unfortunately, Lovette is almost instantly wounded again, and Archie is taken down entirely; he folds back into his ball form. Vera drops another cultist, leaving just one, plus the mutated bee swarm.

Sol continues inspiring courage with their music, while Markus is relentlessly attacked by the mutated bees, leaving him poisoned. Lovette summons a clockwork eagle, which pecks at the final cultist. Markus, in poor shape and weakened by the poison, squeezes behind Sol and continues healing. The clockwork eagle is destroyed by the cultist. Vera, at the edge of the altar's pool of honey, tries and fails to placate the mutated bee swarm. She senses the honey seeming to call out to her.

Sol attacks the final cultist, heavily wounding but not dropping him; the swarm attacks both Sol and Lovette, leaving them both poisoned alongside Markus. Lovette summons a clockwork dog into the attacking swarm; it attacks the final cultist and misses. Markus channels more positive healing energy, then hides behind a pillar. The clockwork dog is destroyed by the swarm. Vera is again able to calm the mutant bee swarm. Lovette, running through the swarm, summons a clockwork snake and hurls it at the final cultist; its bite attack misses. Markus slings a magical stone, and misses. Sol manages to land another hit, disabling the cultist; the clockwork snake finishes it off. With his demise, the swarm of mutated bees dissipates, and the battle ends.

#### Melifera's Boon

Wasting no time, Vera kneels, cups a handful of honey from the stream, and drinks it. Filled with a sense of power, purpose, and inner peace, she also begins to change physically: her skin begins to harden, with smooth, shiny, chitinous plates of armor developing on her arms, legs, and torso; antennae grow from atop her head; four vestigial wings sprout from her back; and a thorax with a large stinger grows above her rear. Sol and Lovette are, to put it mildly, horrified and disgusted, and let's be honest, they can hardly be blamed. Vera, on the other hand, is overjoyed, and senses that Melifera is pleased with her temple being cleansed of its infection.

#### Witch Way to the Cottage?

Lovette retrieves her crossbow and the balled-up Archie, while Vera investigates the temple, finding all the doors now open. The three poisoned Party members find that their affliction has magically disappeared. Eventually, the members depart the temple, once again heading towards Hildie's's cottage without any further detours. Along the way, Sol promises to assist Vera in building up a base of new followers for Melifera. Before long, they arrive outside a "strangely idyllic-looking cottage". Alert for anything suspicious, the Party members assess the area, finding it deeply magical but apparently not deceptive. Sol, gleeful at the beautiful magic and the pastoral setting, approaches the front door, knocks, and briefly explains to the unseen figure inside that they're investigating odd happenings in the mountains. The door opens...

#### Hildie

... and out slithers the witch Hildegarde, apparently a kind of snake woman, with scaly green skin, four arms, a long tail, and vestigial wings, wearing a purple dress and a pointed hat. Though her race is unclear to Sol, Vera and Markus are able to identify her as a Serpentes, a particularly long-lived and powerful type of being that is very rare in Aedron, and about which little is known. Hildie welcomes the Party members in a warm and gregarious manner, instantly treating them as friends. In response to Sol's queries, Hildie explains that the problems with the usually-calm Fey creatures in the area began about three weeks ago, after a meteorite impacted the mountain; she posits that the meteorite's strange material is the cause. Remembering her manners, she invites them in for tea.

Discussing the situation further, Hildie notes that she has been hesitant to more closely investigate the meteorite herself, since she is uncertain whether or not she would be immune to its power. Sol suggests simply destroying the meteorite. Hildie concurs, stating that if the Party could gather certain reagents for her, she might be able to brew an "antidote" that could indeed destroy it, thus ending its rage-inducing effects and returning the Fey creatures of the area to normal. Lovette expresses regret over their earlier purchase of the keg of ale, since her plan – get crossfaded on booze and muse to avoid whatever mind-bending forces affected the miners – now no longer seems necessary.

Hildie, magically unfurling a map, instructs the Party to head to an area south of the Deepcut Mine, where she says they are likely to find something that will help with the cure. She is not specific as to its nature, impishly telling the Party that things would be "no fun" if she were to give them all the answers and details. Hildie bids the adventurers good luck, and they depart to continue this new stage of their quest.

## Key Points

### Plot & Lore

* Walther's story of a fireball through the sky tracks with Lovette's ongoing investigation of a possible meteor.
* Lady Hildegarde is introduced for the first time, as is her race, the Serpentes. Although Hildie is depicted as being very open and sociable, Serpentes are described as being secretive creatures in general, and also "effectively immortal", with some known to have been alive for at least 1200 years.
* Several kinds of Fey creatures indigenous to Aedron are shown for the first time.
* Pixies are about one foot tall, with toothpick-sized shortswords. They also release pixie dust when they fall.
* Satyrs and pixies are usually considered amongst the most jovial and fun-loving of the otherwise-elusive fey; at worst, they are pranksters.
* Lovette and Vera both add "stolen pixie dust" to their bulging inventories.
* A kingdom of satyrs is mentioned as existing a considerable distance west of the Party's location in Vil.
* Melifera is described as a "Lesser God".
* The freshly-cleansed temple enters into Vera's possession as a potential base of operations for the Party.
* An obligatory "be"/"bee" pun from Xeno, along with "carpenter bee" and "polination" wordplay from Beardy and Grem respectively.
* As Screwy points out, it's left unclear why the mutated cultists found in the Temple of Melifera went mad in the first place.

### Character

#### Sol

* Sol tells Fritz that they also seek solace in substances, referencing their use of Muse; later, in response to Lovette's offer of ale, Vera responds that they try not to drink.
* Sol seems particularly kind and gentle with the four surviving miners.
* Sol is averse to interpersonal conflict, and is inclined to retreat from racists.
* Sol casts Dancing Lights. Sol likes their Dancing Lights.
* Sol hesitates to let Vera enter the temple alone, wanting her to be safe; clearly, their relationship has become far less adversarial.
* Sol offers to help attract followers to Vera's temple.
* Sol is ecstatic about Hildegarde's cottage even before they pop a tab of Muse.
* Sol is instantly loving towards Hildie (and vice versa), reflecting their belief (stated by Keni) that everyone is secretly nice.

#### Vera

* Vera, presumably still wearing her hood, doesn't respond to Lothar's anti-elf sentiments; she does, however, on leaving the tavern, send Hummel and 10-20 bee drones to "meet Lothar", making her views quietly clear.
* Vera makes it to the woods seen in her visions, and eventually discovers the lost Meliferan temple, as instructed by her deity.
* Vera acquires pixie dust.
* Vera, eating the divine honey from the freshly-cleansed Meliferan Temple, is imbued with some of her deity's power, gaining additional abilities as she experiences her first form of Melifera's Boon.
* Vera accepts Sol's offer of assistance in building up a new following at the Temple of Melifera.

#### Markus

* Markus shows a level of generosity towards Walter that has not been seen before.
* Markus uses his sling staff, and manages to hit with it – in the first battle, at least. Sadly the sling and its magical stones prove far less effective in the second.
* Markus is tactless enough to (almost?) attempt to detect poison on Hildie's sweet tea... right in front of her.

#### Lovette

* Lovette's business-oriented mindset leads her to try to successfully ingratiate herself with the miners via a generous bar tab.
* Lovette admits to Sol that she lacks clarity in how to emotionally connect with others.
* Lovette ones again blushes at the slightest positive attention from Sol.
* In contrast to Sol's retreat, Lovette bristles at the prejudice directed her way by Lothar, responding angrily in kind.
* Lovette steals the satyr's dagger.
* Lovette notes that she's become somewhat accustomed to the sound of buzzing bees in Vera's apiary, likening it to the sound of clockwork.

#### Archie

* Archie is still in centaur form.
* Archie, though not displaying any particular reaction to the events in the temple, does show concern towards Vera, treating her as a friend.

## Running Gags & Callbacks

* Two "Sol"/"Soul" puns: one when the game franchise *Soulcalibur* is mentioned (with both Xeno and Grem chiming in with it simultaneously), and another from Keni themself, trying out a potential new catchphrase (it does not catch on). Notably, neither instance incurs pun damage.
* Shockingly, Markus's sling staff (in staff rather than sling mode) actually takes down an enemy; Grem still notes Lovette's dislike of such a primitive weapon (and then uses her own crossbow as an improvised club, so... something about glass houses and throwing stones?)
* Vera carries a ton of jars and containers, and collects everything – in this case, pixie dust.
* "Buzz buzz buzz buzz!" – Hummel, in response to any query.
* Vera will only drink alcohol with a ton of honey in it.
* Keni gets in a "being"/"bee" pun, without incurring damage.
* Beardy explains the rules of pun damage, and the nature of Xeno's exception: "Typically in this game all puns are considered damageable offenses. However, because of what's happened – bee-cause of what has happened – Vera now has carte blanche to make bee puns. Only Vera."

## Memorable Quotes

### Part I: Unreliable Narrators

* "Nico Nico Ni! I'll make your heart go 'Nico Nico Ni!'" – Keni. We were all thinking it.
* "Okay, so I think I am good at doing business and conducting deals, but I don't really know how feelings work. I don't know how to talk to these people." – Lovette, recognizing a potential issue with her talking to the traumatized miners.
* "Well, it's better than my wife can sing!" – Fritz, earning some displeasure from Sol/Keni.
* "The drink helps with that." "I too have my own ways of dealing with things." – Fritz and Sol, bonding over their unhealthy but necessary coping mechanisms.
* "It's two copper." "Fuck that! Get the good shit!" – Markus/Screwy, generously buying Walter a pitcher of good ale.
* "I'll give five copper if the next guy says 'kobolds' [killed the miners]." "But they're so cute! Okay, I'll take that bet." "Yeah, I'll take that bet." – Screwy, predicting Lothar's final version of events, with Keni and Grem willing to go for it.
* "I thought with ears that big you'd hear me." "I did... I'm so sorry. What's wrong with them?" "Obviously they're the size of boat sails, so why don't you catch the wind and go somewhere else?" – Lothar, being a racist bastard to Sol and Lovette.
* "As a DM, aside: I'm very sorry for that." – Beardy, having thrown his players for a loop with Lothar's vile attitude.
* "I mean, Sol kind of deserved it. They are an elf." – Xeno, not yet willing to entirely give up on Vera's animosity towards Sol.
* "I guess I'll go play in the corner." – Keni, doomed to be alone.
* "What? I didn't know they let children in the bar!" – Lothar, to Markus the Halfling, showing he's an equal-opportunity asshole.
* "What 'crazy story' do I got?! I don't got a crazy story, I've got the truth, you damn half-man!" – Walther, to Markus.
* "Five gold?! If I had five gold I already drank it! Get the hell out of my sight!" – Lothar. As the phrase goes: "Christ, what an asshole."
* "Bartenders always seem to have the most knowledge." – Screwy, correct about D&D and life in general.
* "I'm guessing she floats?" "Yeah, something like that." – Sol, misinterpreting the bartender's correction about Hildegarde never setting "foot" in town.
* "You see a man who appears to be naked from the waist up, wearing no shirt – but as you get closer, you realize that his legs are in fact covered in fur, and he has horns on the top of his head." "Oh, shit! It's Satan!" – Beardy, describing the satyr, and Grem's immediate conclusion.

### Part II: The Feral Fey

* "Do you know what works on deaf creatures? Bees." – Xeno, agreeing with the principle that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like it needs bees.
* "'Caught Up in the Swarm' sounds like a cool album title." – Keni, very much in bard mode.
* "You've gotta roll the attack first. You can't just apply damage. You do have to hit him first. (roll) ... which you did not." – Beardy, ever-patient with his Players.
* "I've made a terrible mistake by naming Sol 'Sol'." – Keni, suffering the inevitable puns.
* Xeno: "I'm immune to my own swarm."
Beardy: "You are immune to your own swarm? Okay, excellent. In that case–"
Keni: "That's very scary! I don't like that!"
Beardy: "So you're just standing in the middle of a swarm of bees as they tornado around–"
Keni: "That's fucking scary!"
* "Vera's Level 20 armor is just gonna be a beekeeper outfit." – Grem.
* "Can we take his horns?" – Keni, all too eager to take a trophy from the satyr (who wasn't quite dead yet).
* "What kind of creature doesn't love fun?" "Dwarves." – Lovette, with Beardy's out-of-character answer.
* Sol: "If he was dead I'd take the horns, but he's not dead! I thought he was, but he's not!"
Vera: "Well, I mean, we can change that."
Sol: "No! Stop!"
Vera: "All right."
Sol: "Get some help!"
Vera: "It was just a suggestion."
Sol: "Eat chicken McNuggets!" – Sol and company, breaking the fourth wall.
* "'McNugget'? That sounds like a gnomish name." – Lovette, smashing the fourth wall some more.
* "You think you know where *it* is from here." – Beardy, to Xeno, drawing out the mystery.
* "You... worship your sister?" "It's kind of a title. More figurative." – Vera explains one aspect of the Meliferan faith to a confused Lovette.
* "I believe that there are enemies of Melifera that I must dispose of." "Oh. Couldn't you have told us that before we came here?" – Vera, to a less-than-eager-for-more-combat Sol.
* "I just like knowing if I'm going to kill something today, that's all." – Sol, honestly not asking for much.
* "It was a good plan... we don't like good plans." "We don't do good plans here." – Grem and Beardy, after Archie's scouting mission is scuttled.
* "Yay, Markus! His only usefulness is healing and Door Sight!" – Keni.
* "There's a buzzing in here. I don't like it." – Markus, still not a fan of bees.
* "I don't like this! There is death all around me!" – Markus, venturing boldly into the unknown.
* "Whoever made this fucking temple, they need a better contractor. Now I know why it failed: no one could fucking get in!" – Xeno, on all those damn stuck doors.
* Beardy: "At this point [Archie] seems more interested in protecting his friend."
Markus/Screwy: "Aww, you like me!"
Keni: "I think that was for Vera."
Markus/Screwy: "... oh."
* "That sounds amazing!" – Xeno, on the hybrid bug-people creatures. He's going to be very pleased with Vera's boon form.
* "I am going to [use] Fecund Familiar." "You know how many times I've thought you guys were saying 'fucking'?" – Xeno and Keni.
* "'It's time for some Sol music!'" – Keni, trying out a catchphrase to go with their use of Inspire Courage.
* "'Are you hungry for some Sol food?' Wait, that'd be pretty bad." "Eeew, no! Get away from me!" "Don't say that to the monsters." – Keni and Xeno, workshopping more catchphrases.
* "At one time [it] must have been a cultist. Now they're simply bees, and they're thirsty for honey and blood." – Beardy, charmingly upbeat about it.
* "And then I'll step back out of the bee swarm, because while I'm inclined to be a hero, I don't see any reason to just stand here and die." – Grem, pragmatic in their approach to playing Lovette.
* "If you become a mutant... I love you, but..." – Keni, to Xeno, leaving things better unsaid.
* "Fuck this shit, I'm out." – Keni, on Vera's mutated form.
* "Awesome. I love you, Beardy." – Xeno, on Vera's mutated form and its associated powers.
* "The taint was cleansed." – Beardy. Thank you, Beardy.
* "We really should BEE on our way." – Dammit, Xeno.
* "I love her so much." – Keni, on Hildie. Several times. It's cute.
* "Would this antidote require large amounts of ale?" "... what the fuck, Lovette?" – Lovette, and Keni's perplexed response.
* "She's gonna say 'Ya'll come back now!', isn't she?!" "Well, not *now*." – Keni and Beardy, on Hildie's Southern charms.
* "She's probably been pretty lonely since no one visits her anymore." "So she sets up scavenger hunts?" "Yeah!" – Keni and Xeno, speculating about Hildie's hobbies.
* "Is there anything there that might cause intense death?" – Vera, asking the most important question.
* "Wouldn't be fun if there weren't *some* danger." "I mean, it'd be kind of fun." – Hildie (seriously, what's not to love?) and Vera.

## The Dice

*These are estimates, since not all rolls are called or broken down out loud.*

* Sol's Critical Hits in both battles go unnamed, but the first involves slashing damage and results in the pixie losing a hand. Lovette's Critical Hit in the bee battle is similarly unnamed.
* Keni comments that their Nat 1 Knowledge (History) roll on Hildie is akin to an equally unlucky roll of theirs with the harpies.

## References

* Screwy jokingly suggests Sol play the legendary 80s power ballad (and karaoke standard) "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey when in The Broken Pick. Screwy has excellent taste.
* Similarly, Xeno jokingly suggests the band Blink-182 as fitting Keni's description of "calming but not dreary" music; Screwy chimes in with Linkin Park.
* Several of the Joker's lines from *The Dark Knight* are dropped, as is a reference to the "Martha" sequence in *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice*.
* Keni pulls out Nico Yazawa's catchphrase from the *Love Live!* anime. Twice. These will not be the last times.
* In response to the same moment, Grem's mind goes to the characters Roman and Niko Bellic from the videogame *Grand Theft Auto IV*, with Beardy responding in kind.
* Keni, underscoring Sol's sadness over in the corner, mournfully sings a few words from Daniel Powter's "Bad Day".
* Screwy drops an excellent Mickey Mouse impression.
* The fighting video game franchise *Soulcalibur* is mentioned, and immediately punned on.
* Screwy, jokingly assuming the form of one of the pixies, says "Hey, Archie! Your mother was a snowblower!", pulling a line from the classic 1986 robot film *Short Circuit*.
* The catchphrase "Move that bus!" from the TV show *Extreme Makeover: Home Edition* gets a nod.
* Screwy quotes from a classic meme video in which celebrity Oprah Winfrey maniacally unleashes bees upon her unsuspecting audience. The reference presumably led to this episode's title.
* Armor from the video game franchise *Metal Gear* is mentioned.
* Keni references Mr. Tumnus from *The Chronicles of Narnia*. Though technically a Faun, he's close enough to a satyr for it to count.
* For reasons passing this editor's understanding, Keni also references a yummy meal from fast food chain McDonald's.
* Screwy describes the limits of his healing abilities on skeletal remains: "I don't think the entire cast of *ER* could bring them back."
* Keni quips that doors are Xeno's worst enemy, "just like in *Resident Evil*".
* Keni offers a few lines from the song "Mad World" in response to Markus's comment about death being all around him.
* In response to the idyllic nature of the Witch's cottage, several Players make comments about it being made of candy and cookies, referring to the German fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel".
* Beardy jokingly floats the concept of a Wasp Whisperer TV show, in the style of *Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan*; Grem considers the concept too dark compared to *The Crocodile Hunter*.
* On Vera drinking the honey, Keni notes that they imagine another notorious lover of the sticky sweet substance: Winnie-the-Pooh.
* Grem posits that Vera's new transformation abilities make the show a magical girl anime; Beardy agrees.
* Keni puns on sweet tea being a "Southern Comfort", a brand of whisky liqueur from the city of New Orleans in Louisiana.
* Hildie's accent and mannerisms all draw on common cultural conceptions of individuals from the American Deep South.
* In response to Screwy/Markus complaining about having been poisoned by bees, Xeno quips "Should have brought your EpiPen!", naming a brand of epinephrine autoinjector used for the emergency treatment of severe anaphylactic reactions.
* Xeno, responding to Hildie's worryingly casual attitude towards dangerous quests, asserts a preference for missions that are "Less 'Death Mountain', more 'Lazy River'"; Keni notes that they personally are "more of a 'Splash Mountain' person".
* Keni refers to Br'er Rabbit, a trickster figure from African-American folklore in the Deep South.

## Trivia & Notes

* The pronunciation of Lovette's name varies from person to person.
* Markus's presence in the last half of Part II wanes comparing to Part I, owing to issues arising from Screwy's schedule.
* Beardy comments that the battle inside the Meliferan Temple is likely the toughest fight the Party has had yet in the entire Campaign to date.
* This first version of the Melifera's Boon form lasts one hour, can be used once per day, and grants Xeno/Vera a poison sting attack, +4 natural AC, and a slow fall effect.
* Vera's detour to the temple is considered a side quest.
* Numerous outside sound effects leak into the audio stream, including from at least one cell phone.
* Vera is the only player to ever be given any degree of pun freedom in one of Beardy's games.
* Beardy emphasizes that the tea is in fact actual sweet tea made in the Southern way, rather than simply a tea that is sweet or sweetened after brewing.