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Known as the Celestial Seat, Nyka is a religious city in Northern Sylira. Ruled by four demigods and traversed by a large crevice, the monk-city is both mystical and dangerous. [Lore]
Something twitched in the nerves of Gybe as he sat there on the bed. It was like a hiccup, but probably more a shooting nerve; most likely the harsh effects of a rough life.. He just paid it no mind and continued to pray to Laviku. Here he was to rise and go about onto the oceans and he knew that his god could hear him. In his right hand he clenched a small necklace of shells and shook them in anger. In his left he held a small bag of heavy rocks. He took in a deep breath and rose from his bed upon finishing. With a caring gesture he left his necklace on the pillow of the bed and stared at it a moment. Then with anger in his eyes he moved with haste out of his door with bag in tow and he grabbed his net to throw underarm. With a careful grace he tried to close the door as quietly as he could. No sense in screwing with whatever was in the darkness that the monks fought, nor making a lot of noise to get it's attention. He quietly snuck through the streets, through the Eastern district he lived in and to the docks. The faint smell of fish met him and it reminded him of a time long past. As he went down to the docks the stones on his back made quiet thuds and grinding sounds, a herald to his arrival.
The monks at the docks stepped aside and he gave them a nod, but not much more. They knew he was really pissy when he woke up, and even though they could kick the ever lovin' crap out of him, they kind of liked him when he wasn't pissy. He seemed to do extra for them and that always was a good deal in the Monk's sight. He would have considered how Xo and his girl were getting on, but he was focused. That conversation was for another bell and when the sun was light in the sky. The rocks on his back were heavy, but not overly so. Upon arriving at the boat he slung them into the little skiff and used his muscles to make sure they didn't punch a hole in the bottom of the boat. It also made the boat very balanced compared to how it sat high in the water. There were a few other fishermen heading out at his hour, but for the most part he was alone. With a somewhat unsteady balance got in the boat. It shook violently and he cursed himself as his own muscles were forgetting the feeling of balance on the water, something they had known from birth.
Calmly he took his seat and untied the rope with grace. With strength he began to row against the water. The splash of the water could be heard as he surged forward, giving a fair push-off from the dock. The boat creaked and groaned as he continued to pull hard at the oars. Eventually as the boat got up to speed it became more a measure of agility and a melody of stealth in his actions. He knew fish could sense him, so whatever he could do to reduce that meant he would be able to get closer to them without being felt though his boat's vibration.
Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts
Last edited by Gybe on July 8th, 2015, 2:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
He eventually made it out to a small spot in the bay a ways out. It was near to an outcropping of rock that reached out into the water to provide a sort of shelter for fish from the pull of tides. He observed the area with studying eyes. He knew fish could be here, though he wasn't sure. He had observed fish much of his life and had spent a lot of time studying their movements, but their tactics were another matter. He did know that these waters were abundant with life though so he didn't mind using his gift of Laviku to find them. He reached his hand over the side of the boat, balancing with the rest of his body to make sure that he didn't turn over the boat. It was a wide skiff and he could actually climb up on the front of it without overturning it, which was great because he loved to dive. He used his gift to sense the pull of the current. While to a normal person this might not be something that you think is a good thing to use to find fish, but he knew where there was no current, there were fish. He tactically positioned his boat so that it hovered just to the left of where he thought the fish would be. It was probably not too deep about these rocks and having gotten a sense of where the currents were he could tell where the rocks bent it. So he tried to throw where his net would not get caught. The last thing he wanted to do was screw around with a net in the dark.
Pulling it out he unfolded it and got it ready to throw. He made sure his tether was in the boat and underfoot so that when he threw it he could retrieve it and close up the net around the fish. He was not a profession fisher though and there were many people who were better than him. His only advantage was his mark, which was significant. Slowly he stood, trying to balance in the boat. Tactically he positioned his foot so that the weight of the rocks would be a balance focal point for his throw. He leaned backwards and then with a swift action he threw the net out. He twist his torso in one fluid motion in an attempt to have the net form a circle. Since he could not manage his balance as he used to, he saw the pattern of the net falter and the circle became an awkward oval with a large divot in it. He grumbled and cursed the people of Nyka for his failure. A few seconds passed and he pulled it tight, then began to haul it in. Once it began to come up toward the surface he could more steadily feel the jolting of the fish within. He had been doing this a while and he knew that not many were in the net.
As he pulled it up into the boat there were about ten fish inside, which was significantly a better catch than what the pole fishermen at the docks would get. That land there was barren of all life. Every child and parent with a fishing pole went there to fish. The poor beasts would waste hours out there waiting for a fish. "Okay, Okay. I'm going I'm going." he said to the fish as he opened the net in the boat. The sound of flopping fish erupted as the net opened and he overlooked the fish, observing which ones were too old and which were too young. He began to throw them back and was left with seven fish left of the school. He knew there were probably a hundred if he got this many from that crappy throw; that or he just got lucky. He then picked out the females who had eggs and returned the biggest and healthiest of them. Now he was left with four average plain fish who remained flopping in the bottom of the boat. He took the string that was in the bottom of the boat and fed it through their open gills and once hooked on he looped the string and set the fish into the water so that they could live as long as possible. Fresh fish was always better and it's what set the Haversham's table apart from others. He knew how to preserve them as long as he could.
Once done he wiped the fish slime off his onto his fishing pants and then jiggled the fishnet up and down till it resembled a circle again and not a jumbled mess. He proceeded to gracefully fold it over and over till it formed a small manageable net to be thrown again. He figured the school had moved from where they were after his net had dropped on them. He closed his eyes and felt the water again to re-visualize what he had seen before. He observed how the currents turned around the rocks at another point and figured it possible that they could have gone there, though it would be a tougher spot to hit. A fish was not easy to track, nor to predict its tactics when escaping a human's net. If he knew a shark was after a fish that was a different story. For that it was swim swim swim FINDAHOLE! He cleaned the net a bit and then now that the sun was rising behind him he slowly and gently paddled closer to the other spot.
Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts
Last edited by Gybe on July 8th, 2015, 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
In position, Gybe brought the oars back into the boat. His movements in quiet moments like this were very graceful and slow. In one fluid movement he moved his feet tactically again to the edges of the boat, grabbed his net, and stood with as much balance as he could muster without shaking the boat. He made sure that his tether was in the boat and underfoot. Slowly he twisted his torso again and readied to throw. It was then he heard a loud scream off in the distance of the mountains. It made him throw his net off and to the right, right where he figured a rock might be. "Guhhh...." he hated this place. It needed to be stricken off the map and the sooner the better. He lifted up his tether rope and tightened the net as quickly as possible. The last thing he wanted was to have that net to be tangled up in coral and rock. It seemed as he pulled the net that it was coming up, but about halfway up it seemed to snag on something. He muttered some curses and gave it a few tugs just to make sure it wasn't stuck on something easy to get free. He then slowly pulled the rope in and thus made his boat hover right over where the net was. He gave it a tug and it still didn't budge. The element of stealth and tact was gone now, the fish would likely be far gone from the area due to his struggling.
He could see the sun was coming up slightly quick and could almost see the end of the net where it was connected to the tether, but it was still down a bit. He figured, perhaps if he moved the boat in the opposite direction the rope was coming up, then if he gave it some slack, it might free itself. So snagging his oars and sitting down he gave a quick couple of pulls to move the boat forward. The man gave the rope a bit of slack then and pulled. There was no budge. Gybe held onto the rope and planted his feet on both sides of the boat, then twisted his hips with the rope holding steady. He wanted to turn the boat so that it was pointing at where his net was. Once it was pointing the right way he moved to the flat front of the boat and grabbed his bag of stones. With the pull of a string he opened the bag and reached in to pull one of the stones out and then returned the bag to its spot. Planting his free hand on the bow (front) of the hull he leapt off the boat and into the water. The stone in his other hand immediately wanted to sink into the depths but he maintained his elevation in the water with kicking legs and treading water. In rapid succession he took in breath after breath, literally hyperventilating so that he had much more oxygen in his blood. Once he felt a little light headed he knew he was ready. The sun had shown up just in time and revealed the net to him in the clear waters below. He now pushed up in the water, heaving upward with his legs, and then let the stone pull him down to the bottom of the net as he held his breath.
The world around him was full of pressure, but he endured. It was a challenge to hold your breath for a long time, but and he had somewhat forgotten it from his youth where he felt he could hold his breath for minutes and minutes. Now his eyes adjusted to the swirling movements of water and he could see his net. It was stuck on some Staghorn coral, the weed of the underwater. He knew if he had tugged really hard the stupid net would have come off, but he didn't want to rip it on the off chance it was stuck on a rock. He gave it a good yank and the pop of the coral could be heard. Now the net drifted toward him and he swam upward far before it even got close. He knew that game and wasn't going to play it. As he surfaced he took in a breath and then drank some sea water in some big gulps. His mark let him convert it to fresh water, which was very handy for a seaman. He now reached up to the bow and with strength pulled himself up. He now tried to balance himself across the whole length of the boat as he swung himself aboard.
This time his balance was a bit of a success and he got in first try. He quickly grabbed the rope that was tethered to the net and pulled it up into the boat before it got stuck on any more Staghorn. It now was getting to actually be bright out and he figured now it was time for some real fishing. Once the net was put in the boat he folded it properly and cleaned it for the next time he was going to use it. It would probably be tomorrow most likely so he didn't clean it super well. He just made sure there were no holes in it. Once done he moved to the front of the boat again and took a large rock from the bag once more. He tossed it about in his hands back and forth, figuring that it was not good enough. Because of this he tossed it over the side and then reached for another. Finding a much larger one he nodded and got ready with his hand on the bow and a foot on the edge of the boat. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what he had seen below when freeing the net.
Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts
Last edited by Gybe on July 8th, 2015, 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
He had a decent memory, one that would remember names and faces well, not to mention what was owed or how much. He could recall every instance of his life back to age one and had never had a lacking in that field. He could remember, but putting things into practice was a little different of a story. Having focused he remembers at least two things that were of interest to him. There were streaks near a large rock outcropping and a few decent sized clams. With that information he moved down into the water and once again prepared himself for the dive. This time the rock was heavy so he held onto the boat with his free hand.
It was a few moments later he felt ready to dive and he let the rock pull his whole body downward into the water, not exerting a single muscle. It was a graceful act to hold his body in line with the rock to prevent water resistance. He could feel the pressure of the water popping in his ears as the depths swallowed him up. Eventually he could see the bottom, a bit lower than where his net was previously. It had an eerie light to it that waved with the waves above. Another fortunate thing about knowing where the currents was was knowing where to put your boat so it wasn't taken off by the ocean to random places. He put it in an eddy before the dive and now that he was down here he looked for the clam he had seen. It was like a marker for something else he was looking for. With slow forward steps and holding the rock he walked along the bottom till he saw the clam. From here he turned where he thought he saw something like stripes in the sand and sure enough, there they were.
Walking over to the hole he knew that pattern from anywhere. It was an ocean bearing catfish. There was no fish like it that made those marks. With a forceful hand he jabbed his fist right into it's mouth. The fish bit hold of him and thrashed about violently. It was a smaller one fortunately, but a smaller one was still pretty decent size. With a grunt and bubbles escaping from his lungs he yanked the fish from it's hole. The tail fin of the beast flapped this way and that, kicking up all sorts of sand. He managed to get his other hand ahold of its mouth and used the leverage to shove his fist that was in its mouth through its gills. Now he had it by the arm rather than hand and its twisting to and fro became less violent as the pain to the fish increased. This guy was quite the predator down here, probably gobbling up all the fish who would dare swim near his lair, just like his fist got gobbled. Now that it was slightly subdued, albeit the minor kick once in a while, he swam up top to his rope, nearing the end of his breath. The fish seeing it was heading to the surface gave a few kicks downward, but the momentum and hold Gybe had on it meant it was coming with him. Upon coming up to the surface he hooked his arm in the boat. The wind had picked up a little bit since he went down last and that made him nervous of his boat leaving him.
He heaved the fish out of the water and into the boat, it's body violently flopping one way and the other, sending scales and water in all directions. He slammed it down in the bottom of the boat and watched it flop. There was nowhere for it to go and he wasn't going to bother with the string. All catfish seemed to have that remarkable capability to stay alive out of water a long time. He wiped the slime off of his hands with the water and rubbed them free of fish gunk. That catfish was a good catch, something that others would probably never get unless they dove for it, and it was gooood eats. He reached up into the boat as the fish flopped and yanked another rock from the bag, ignoring it's plight. It wasn't that he didn't care, he loved all of Laviku's creatures. This was for balance and the good and growth of the area. He now dove back down to the clam and could see its mouth agape. As soon as his body cast a shadow over it the clam closed up. Some clams close super tightly but not all. This one was a type that had frills on its edge and a soft membrane inside. He simply grabbed it and picked it up, but his muscles burned with the lift. It was heavy, perhaps too heavy after his fight with the catfish. He set it back down and decided to explore around the area a little while he was down here. There were still some small schools of fish but nothing large or impressive. He could swear he saw something in the distance flash yellow under the water and didn't even want to know what that was, so he decided it best to swim back up and head for shore. There were still strange things at hand here being close to Nyka.
Upon heading up he noticed a large seashell that potentially had a crab in it, so he snagged that. There was beautiful patterns on it and even though it was pretty he was still careful. Some very dangerous sea slugs were known to be in these and he thought it best to investigate from the safety of the boat. The wind had pushed his boat a bit off from the spot he had it so he swam to it quickly, not screwing around, and set the shell on a seat. It seems that the catfish had given up fighting and now was gulping air. Upon Gybe trying to climb into the boat it began flopping again. It took him a couple tries this time as he was tired and exhausted from not only the rowing, but the breathing, the fight with the catfish, and the pressure of the depths. He wasn't done however and had to row all the way back. After a good amount of time of rowing he finally made it back. Nothing had come out of the shell he gathered yet, so he deduced that it most certainly wasn't the home of a sea slug. They loved the water and hated being out of it. If there was anything it was probably a crab of some sort. Once to shore he pulled in his line with the fish on it, hooked the line through the catfishes mouth and gathered his shell and bag. Slowly he put them up on the dock one by one and then climbed out. A small crab started to climb out of the shell as he was picking it up and one of it's legs touched his hand.
With a bit of a shock he dropped the shell and the crab retreated inside from the shock. He took the end of a rope and stuck it into the shell. The crab grabbed hold of it in a threatening manner and Gybe yanked it in a quick motion from the shell. There it was hanging from the rope. He honestly didn't want to deal with a crab so he flopped it into the water with the end of the rope. There it could run off and find a new shell if it wanted. He moved back to the boat and grabbed his net and then climbed back off. His muscles were sore, but they were about to be moreso. He hauled his catch and equipment back up off the docks to show the monks what he was bringing in. They recorded it and he went to drop it off all the way over at the square for some charity.
Lores: Scent Evokes Memory, Neglect Can Erode Even The Deepest of Skills, Fish Can Sense Movement, Nets Water And Darkness Don’t Mix Well, Fish Follow Currents, Judging Haul Size By Heft, There Are Few Fish In The Docks, How To Gill And Trail A Fish, Gilling And Trailing Makes Hauls Fresher, Fish Gun For Nooks When Faced With Sharks, Fish Are Tricksy Versus Nets, Nyka is Full Of Oft-Disturbing Ditstractions, Staghorn Coral Is A Nuisance, Appearance of Ocean Bearing Catfish, Seashells Can Harbor Dangerous Tenants
Items and Consequences: Gybe’s arms and thighs will be sore for three days, but they’ve also grown slightly stronger.
A pleasant little read with a nice mood to it. Also a bit of a lore mine.
If you have any questions or concerns about this grade, please PM me. A happy you is a happy Balderdash!
