TIME/TEP


Respects from the worthless wanderer Draomin,

 

Hear my plea O (Dev) Gods of Egypt!  - and please unlock the Song of the Golden Bees.

 

 

It is a well known fact that Royal Jelly (an actual product of hives) was consumed by the Royal family. Cultivated from hives by priests and beekeepers to the Pharaohs, it was forbidden for any save the Royal family to partake of this most regal of foods. The Queen bee herself is a worker except for the fact that she is fed this delight while in the larval stage. Workers are fed only a diluted version.

The Queen is stronger, larger, fertile and may sting as many times as possible without fear of dying. These super qualities are dependent solely upon her diet (while very young) of Royal Jelly. In modern times it is used as a super-food among the knowing. Hives which produce Royal Jelly may not be harvested for beeswax or honey. Small amounts of bee pollen may be harvested in order to stimulate the Queens of "Jelly" hives to produce more eggs in order to have a surplus of workers to defend their hive and supply it with the necessary nectar and pollen for the manufacture of Royal Jelly. This process takes a beekeeper of uncommon skill and patience. Royal Jelly is procured by athletes and persons looking for an extraordinary boost in immune support and energy. It increases production NADH, a mitochondrial product key in both immune and energy production.

 

 

"Harken all who have ears, the Golden Bees are singing. An errant ferry

brought them near and with no fear of stinging  'one with bag and smoke

on hand may glean a hive from a Golden Land'. With care and speed you may

succeed to house and rule the makers, you may also learn to calm this brood

and earn the title 'Taker'.  A text survived within a cave that teaches all that

you may crave. O, Listen well to the song they sing and the Golden Bees will

 

 

A ship wrecked upon a nearby shore has unleashed a swarm of bees intended for a far off land. In remote regions they have survived in inaccessible areas but with time they have sought richer fields of flowers. Reports of a strange humming have been repeated throughout Egypt but no eye has laid upon the source.

It has further been reported that the strange hum has worked it's way towards the

desert of Kush into the Oasis' of southern Fool's Paradise and elsewhere.

 

Pharaoh wishes his citizens to keep alert for what may be a danger to the peace

of our land. While our native bees are docile, the ancient texts speak of a bee

species that can incapacitate a person and possibly livestock as well. But the

texts also speak of an Ambrosia made by these bees, so regal that it was called Royal Jelly.

 

 

 

Hives would be used for several purposes since Royal Jelly has a wide-ranging array of effects.  The two products, Jelly itself and pollen are unique as they both cover a portion of the spectrum of nutrition and therefore effects.

 

Royal Jelly must be eaten fresh from the hive since there is no refrigeration in Ancient Egypt. Pollen however is portable but diminishes in potency as time goes on, perhaps 12 Teppy hours (pollen found in the pyramids was actually thought to be quite viable but since Pharaoh disdains portable potions...). So for 12 hours the timer weakens the effect of the pollen.

 

Hives can be constructed anywhere but a hive of Golden bees is best when planted near flowers or plants. If they are constructed in the desert they must be maintained by feeding of honey from other regular hives. Glass rods are used to harvest Royal Jelly and a silver screen is placed in the hive to collect pollen. These delights may only be shared by a person standing nearby the hive (at a safe distance). Yes, the bees will protect their products. A temporary loss of motion will affect any (except owner) who venture too near a hive of Golden Bees. (The alternative would be too warp the offender three coords back in the direction they came from. For this reason, no articles or buildings may be built near these hives) [3 coords].

 

Spouses may venture near each other's hives without penalty. Any undue and unintentional advantage (such as hiding cages nearby) would be impossible. Hives may not be guilded or given to other players. Hives must be clustered together within a coord or two of each other and each player may own a maximum of 6 hives in two locations. The presence of hives should not hamper normal game play of other players and may be appropriately invisible (audio only). Spouses may  maintain each other's hives.

 

 

These bees must be captured from a wild swarm which appear in trees and/or

remote locations too high to access. The eager beekeeper must be a Safari Initiate and have on hand:

 

1) tinder (used as a smoker)

2) fishing pole

3) linen bag (given from 2 linen when unlocking skill)

4) 20 honey

5) have the skill to capture swarm (500 wax - 500 honey at SHarmony)

 

 

 

Once captured the hive will only produce and be able to be harvested with:

 

6)  Golden Bee Cultivation (500 wax - 500 honey - one glass rod

and one silver screen at SWorship) The School fashions the harvest tools

from the glass rod and silver screen, "blessing" it at a UWorship will complete

the process.

 

Once the tinder is "lit" the Initiate must place hive within one RL day. Crowding must be extremely low (12% or less) and the production of the hive will be determined solely on initial crowding. The lighting of the tinder

can only be accomplished in the presence of a swarm and the swarm will automatically appear in the "Items" menu as long as the rest of the items needed are present. Hives may be maintained with 10 honey per day (from native hives only) until the skill to produce is learned. Travel by waypoint is not possible with a swarm. Chariot and Expedition travel is possible.

 

The swarm is spotted much in the same way as cicadas by sight and sound. The Golden Bee hives make a most delightful low hum as they are working but swarms have a characteristic vibratory buzz. The visual is a small whirling mass of specks that appear as one approaches. Persons not skilled only see the swarm for a second or two but can hear it in order to report their presence to other players. [One side note: I have noticed that there is very little "danger" in ATITD and I would prefer that the presence of a swarm may contain some sort of trial such as a sting or etc. This would increase the mystery and import of the presence of the bees.] One possibility is that if a stranger clicks and receives a warning, a second click will produce a temporary, negative effect.

 

 

Pollen will be produced much in the same way as soda during the picking of limestone and flint/clay. "The Queen has given you a strange yellow, grainy substance. You may find a use for this later." As the storyline develops the use of the pollen will become clear.

 

 

 

 

As in RL consuming Royal Jelly should be an uplifting experience and cause a bit of joy to the lucky one:

 

Upon the consumption of Royal Jelly one will see a menu with which to choose one attribute to increase either from skills, travel or a special quality which has not yet been solved (see Golden Bees Addendum). One may use the attribute of travel without penalty of decreasing Travel Time. This may be done only between hives.

 

The Increase Table:

 

STR  +4

DEX +4

END 1/4 (of timer)

SPD +6

CON +5

FOC +3

PER +1

FUM +2

 

Once a person's skill is maximized through normal game play the ability

to increase of course will vanish from the menu. The increase timer is as

follows:

 

STR/DEX/END/SPD    1 RL hour  (public digs will diminish it's STR timer by 1/4)

COM/FOC/PER   3 min

FUM is permanent (mainly for those who disdain the idea of even virtual

smoking.

 

 

Pollen can be used only for increasing the time of the effects of Royal Jelly and for "gifts" which  allow a lower level player to follow the giver at the same (native) speed for a determined amount of time prescribed by the amount. If the players stop for any reason longer than 20 seconds the "follow" is broken and another "gift" must be administered. In other words the speed of follow is never faster than the normal speed of the giver. Two "gifts" within 1 Teppy day is the maximum. The pollen does not appear in the receiver's item list and cannot be stored by any save the owner.

 

3 deben pollen will allow a 20 minute follow, allowing a maximum of a 40

minute follow with a second "gift". A pause of any length is possible between

follows but may not be administered again to anyone in that RL day.

There is a 6 deben limit to how much a person may carry but may transfer more

as long as they do not move with more than the maximum amount requiring a chest near the hive.

 

1 deben of pollen will allow a 5 minute follow.

 

 

 

Pollen will be used later in game to increase the production of Royal Jelly

and perhaps address the desires/needs of higher level play.

 

Royal Jelly also has a mystical power that allows users to split hives and

teach the skill. This is somehow controlled by higher beings and the number

of hives and persons one can teach has been limited by region and the whim of

these higher beings. Guilds of more than 40 members may contract the keepers

of these hives to establish and teach this skill to a member of the keepers choosing.

 

There is another attribute of Royal Jelly that has yet to be discovered.