A Day in the Life of a Bayvak Scout

Fen is an average female Bayvak living in Flini, a small tribal nest on the outskirts of the Bayvan Jungles. She lives with 93 adult Bayvak of various ages and countless children. She works as a day shift Scout and Nest Protector, guarding the Bayvak tribe’s territory. She is 27 years old and hopes one day to become a higher ranked Scout and patrol the more important parts of the nest.

Fen is woken up from her sleeping cell at sunrise by Bayvak Scouts, who have finished their night shift. She licks herself clean with her tongue, then stretches out her wings. Fen then leaves her sleeping cell, sealing it off with a waxy secretion from her tail, and flies off to the Prayer Cell.

The Prayer Cell is a large, green dome which is open at all times, located near the centre of the Bayvak nest. Fen enters from a southern entrance alongside other day shift Scouts, and waits in line to access the offering tables in the centre of the dome. While she waits, she uses her waxy secretion to make small, wax flowers. Once Fen reaches an offering table, she will lay down the wax flowers she made, then wave her claws above them, muttering a simple spell that causes the flowers to glow. She then chants the Bayvak Morning Blessing and leaves.

Once outside, Fen meets up with her friends and fellow Scouts, and heads to the Feeding Cell, where the Sugar Keepers are serving bowls of Bayvak Honey, the main source of food in the nest. Fen quickly licks up her bowl, often rushing because she has spent too much time chatting with her friends, and places the bowl on a rack alongside all the other used bowls.

With breakfast out of the way, Fen flies up to the Central Post. The Central Post is a large dome above the nest, where the Two Kings and Two Queens reside. Also there is the Pro-Scout, who is in charge of security of the whole nest, and is Fen’s superior.

Fen and the day shift Scouts meet with the Pro-Scout’s assistant, who gives each Bayvak a patrol and a schedule. Fen’s normal patrol is based on the far western edge of the nest’s territory, guarding the workers who are gathering pollen to make honey.

Fen’s patrol starts at around 7am, starting at the lower pollen farms. She is accompanied by another Bayvak, always another female, and today she is patrolling alongside her friend Lifa. They each carry no weapons, and instead rely on the vast number of toxins, both in their saliva and on their claws.

Every hour during their patrol, they lick their claws in order to reapply more toxins, and also to go on short breaks. Fen’s particular toxins are paralytics, which can stun and paralyse a threat in under a minute if she manages to catch a major blood vessel. If toxins aren’t enough, Scouts can also use Magia, Bayvak magic, to create traps made out of vines, large web nets and more in order to subdue a threat.

Most days on Fen’s patrol are without any action. Fen and her fellow Scouts often go for weeks without incident, and today is no different. Fen and Lifa patrol the entirety of the western pollen farms without a single encounter.

At midday, Fen and Lifa briefly return to the Feeding Cell for a very quick lunch, before continuing with their patrol. Occasionally, Fen may be put on a different patrol, but today she remains on the western boundaries of their territory.

When the sun starts to set, Fen and Lifa finish their patrol and return to the Central Post to meet with the Pro-Scout, who signs them off for the day. They then head to the Sleeping Cells, where they find their evening shift counterparts and wake them up.

With her work over, Fen then flies to the Prayer Cell to make her evening tribute. This time, she makes small pots of wax and again makes them glow with a small spell. She chants the Bayvak Evening Blessing then chants a second blessing, the Flini Love Blessing, as a thank you for a hard day of work and the continued safety and well-being of her nest.

After her prayers, Fen then heads to the Cooling Cells, a large area where Bayvak honey is produced. Alongside other Bayvak, she spends an hour hovering over large vats of Bayvak honey, cooling it down and helping to speed up production. While she hovers, she chats with her friends to pass the time.

Once her duties to the Cooling Cells are dealt with, Fen travels with her friend back to the Feeding Cell, where she has a long dinner, spent chatting and eating honey. During the hot season, fruits are also available to eat, but during the wetter months, only honey is on offer, with the more luxurious food being kept for younger Bayvak.

Fen returns to her sleeping cell at 9pm, checks that the wax seal on her cell hasn’t been tampered with, then breaks it herself and enters. She then reseals her cell from the inside and goes to bed, sleeping through the night.