Chapter 3: Doth Quoth the Bee
Well, calling a single story building a “tower” was a bit of an exaggeration, but Belissar couldn’t mistake the material, the perfectly smooth and round exterior, or the glowing sphere held by a ring of stone at the top. Descriptions of the Towers were taught to frontier children, illustrations filled every book on the subject, and stylized designs adorned the crests and banners of every Tower Lord.
Moreover...the moment he saw it in the sphere, and the “Dungeon Status” before his eyes, he knew. He could feel it...quite literally, in fact. The warmth inside him resonated and confirmed his thoughts. He was now aware that the Tower he viewed was the place he was standing in. He could feel the boundaries of the Tower like the edges of his skin. He could even feel the empty spot the flower meadow was waiting to fill. It felt like he was on the verge of sneezing or had something stuck in his teeth as the room was somehow there but not. Every inch of it had the same warmth flowing through it as did through the sphere and his body.
He, an unworthy peasant, was standing inside a Tower of the Gods...and yet he had not been smote.
No...that wasn’t all...
He looked at his hand, searching for the symbol. It responded and began to glow. His eyes widened as he saw the same symbol in the “Dungeon Status.” As he saw his name listed as the dungeon master.
And if this place was the dungeon...then a dungeon was what the strange words called a Tower. And if he was the master of the dungeon, then he was a...
“No no no, that’s blasphemy, Belissar!”
He grabbed his head and turned away from the sphere. It didn’t make any sense. The Towers of the Gods were special gifts granted to humanity to keep the Hunger at bay. And as gifts from the gods, only those specifically chosen by the gods were even allowed inside. And to become a Tower Lord? Only those truly favored by the gods were worthy of such an honor.
So Belissar, a random peasant from the frontier, certainly could not have become a Tower Lord. Such an event would go against everything he had ever been taught about Towers, the world, the gods, everything!