trans_9 | Fish on! [Open]

The Kohaku River ran diagonally through most of the City, past Central Park, winding its way between Castle Wyvern and the Bathhouse and Awesome World, and finally ending somewhere in Escherville. Its pristine waters would therefore be an excellent vehicle through which to introduce a convenient new source of protein.

Or so Tarrant reasoned when he began the project. Now, about a third of the way through, the fry he'd introduced into the river earlier (or at least the ones that survived notice by the native carp) were growing rapidly, establishing themselves and their territories.

[The river is open for fishing! The fish species Tarrant is aiming for are the following:

ayu/sweetfish
trout
bass
catfish
whiting
croaker
freshwater eel
minnows and an assortment of small prey fish

They are not all exactly like their Earth analogues, and some may come from alien fish species with unusual colors, fin shapes, habits, or other physical attributes. With every successive generation, however, they will become more and more like their target species in behavior and appearance, barring a few changes to make them better adapted for life in this particular habitat.

Feel free to mess around in the river, fish, or bug Tarrant.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Honestly, the first thing Howard did with the fish was figure out which bait they responded to. To his credit, he's forward-thinking enough that he just throws them back to keep breeding and making more tasty protein when he's caught them, but he's been out here for a few hours with strips of beef, pieces of bread and dried worms (don't ask how or why he has fried worms).

He sees Tarrant and briefly considers pretending he's got no idea why he's holding a fishing line and has a bucket next to him. For all he knows, Tarrant might already have ~*rules*~ in place about the fish. He stands up and does a fakey little bow, less out of respect than out of 'oh hey Council guy I thought I'd never see again'.

"Mer Bassem." Howard's greeting this time came in the form of a brief but no less measured nod of the head. "My condolences on recent events."

He shifted his gaze to the fishing line and bucket. "I didn't realize you were such an avid sportsman."

"Oh, yeah. That." 'Condolences'. Howard guesses he can use as many condolences as he can rack up. Maybe he can collect them a la pokemon.

"I'm not. I'm just trying to figure out what kind of food they like. Although I'm guessing if you wanted to be super efficient you'd use nets instead, but that might kill too many at a time."

"Yes. That." Well, if it made Howard feel any better, at least there wasn't any pity coming off of Tarrant. Just contempt for the ham-handed way Yavek had handled the entire ordeal.

"A net, or some other trapping mechanism. I can make adjustments to the fecundity of the fish, if it turns out there's more interest than I anticipated. Within reason, of course."

Howard's down with contempt. Contempt is awesome. "Just means I'll have to be smarter next time."

Not that there will be a next time. For all Howard's talk, he's too scared to make another run for it. Next time Stacy won't be so kind.

"This is all because you ran a merchant city back home, right?" Howard curls up his legs under himself in a criss-cross applesauce pose. "We did fishing back home but it wasn't really my specialty. I did more salvage stuff."

And moonshine. Totally legal moonshine.

Tarrant shook his head. "Aristocrats don't generally learn husbandry or aquaculture. It was a personal hobby of mine. You see, Erna didn't have horses. Or cats. Or any number of domesticated animals. If we wanted them, we had to breed them."

Of course, Tarrant was better at the task than most. Even after all the time that had passed since his first life had ended, society at large had only been able to produce three-toed equines that grossly resembled the Earth horse -- and they'd had his own stock to work with, the animals he'd left behind when he abandoned the Church. In contrast, the horses of the Forest were true horses, down to their proportions and crescent-shaped hooves. It helped to be able to use the fae to guide their evolution.

"'Salvage'? Where I come from, that can be a disreputable occupation."

"Sounds familiar." Howard pulls at a piece of fishing line and cat's cradles it around his fingers before chewing on a part of it. "Wouldn't those be saltwater fishes though?"

Howard shrugs. "It's disreputable everywhere, but it's better than leaving stuff to go to waste."

"Not the ones in the river," said Tarrant, watching Howard chew at the fishing line. Odd habit, that. A little disgusting, actually. "Although with time, I'm sure I could adapt some saltwater species to live in a freshwater environment."

Tarrant considered for a moment. "What do you charge for your disreputable service, then?"

~~fishing line is not gross shut up Tarrant you eat human fear~~

"Depends on what you're asking for. Duh." Probably shouldn't say 'duh' to a Councillor. Oh well. "I got a lot of stuff, mostly just things anyone could have grabbed if they thought of it but a lot of stuff from off-ship too. The only thing I don't stock up on is Stacy credits."

Human fear was so neat and clean, though!

He smiled. "I'm afraid that if we do break away from the Daligig, 'Stacy credits' may no longer be something that we can count on anyway. I was thinking something along the lines of fish tanks, filtration systems. That sort of thing."

"You think the credits come through the Daligig?" Howard actually looks alarmed at this, biting down on one of his fingers as well as the fishing line. Maybe he should invest in dental floss. "Fish tanks? You don't have fish tanks?"

"Where do you think they come from?" Tarrant asked. "Unless the ship is involved in some sort of secret back-room deals, someone has to be providing us our war funds." He smiled darkly. "Plan for the worst, Mer Bassem, and avoid future disappointment."

He raised a hand. "I have fish tanks. But I could use more. Particularly if they're simply lying around somewhere and I don't have to buy them off-ship."

"I assumed they came from Stacy. Probably a stupid assumption." Howard tugs the line tight against his teeth as if flossing. "And you don't have to tell me twice. I got planning for the worst down like an art."

Howard considers for a moment. "How much will you give me for fish tanks?"

Fish on! [Open]

HI TARRANT HI TARRANT

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