Rorom was on his ship, scouting the currents for where he might find schools of fish. He used many methods to track the procession of marine life around him, but all of them were seemingly foolproof at his level of familiarity with the art of fishing. He decided to rod-fish this particular evening, and had several on the reel, carefully observing their tension as they stood secured to the banisters.
Unfortunately, it appeared that Breachfang's damage had been considerable, and there were far fewer catches this far out to sea even. Perhaps it would be a few cycles before the fish population returned to normal. In any event, the damage had been done by the explosion of Faldrass, and Rorom would have to settle for what few large fish he could catch.
He decided he was done for the evening and began collecting the rods. Once they were reeled in, tied, and settled against the rest of the fishing equipment on board, he went to his cabin, fell into his hammock, and slept. He thought he heard the faintest tinkling of a bell as he went asleep.
He awoke, how long after he heard the bells, he couldn't say. But there was a woman, a short man, and a small bipedal cat that spoke. He thought for a moment he was dreaming, and so it came as a bit of a shock that he felt as lucid as he was. Eventually, as strange as it seemed, it dawned on him that this was real. And the man in front of him wished to give him a gift?
"Fer me? Ya shouldn't 'av." Rorom smiled at the shorter man, but nonetheless took the parcel from him, and began to unwrap it, wondering what might be inside. The foil used to wrap the book was exquisite, almost as much as the binding itself was rich in color, and well illustrated in metal leaf. He held his breath as he delved into the wrapping, carefully setting it aside. He might have use of the wrappings later, after all, they'd probably make a good source of metal for jewelcrafting...
As he unwrapped the book, he found it illuminated fancifully with a large imprint in bronze leaf, a sea monster. A book on sea monsters, fish, and information on their habits and such. Rorom's eyes flew wide. Did books really have the power to contain a fisherman's knowledge? He opened the cover gingerly and found the pages full of words in common, and some illustrations besides. Nothing too fancy, but it was far richer than the books he was used to handling. Rorom wasn't much of a reader, but he could anticipate becoming one if fishing knowledge could be had from books.
"I... I am touched, thank..." He turned to look up at Norin, but then saw that he'd departed the place. Rorom started on his feet, and looked around, searching for the man. He turned to the cat, a question in his eyes before it met his tongue,
"Where to be the man who gave this book?"
"Oh, he had to leave... but you enjoy his gift, do you not?" The bipedal cat asked. Rorom nodded his head eagerly.
"Oh yes, very much so. I wish he'd stayed around long enough for me to thank him properly, but perhaps we'll meet again." Rorom smiled, and took a seat amidst the sunflowers, beckoning for the small cat humanoid to join him and look at his gift together.
Rorom's eyes widened as he looked through the pages, browsing back and forth until he came upon some creature he was already familiar with... The Sea Wolf. Not a fish, actually, but a form of a whale, he'd faced the Sea Wolf in a hunt before. They were formidable creatures, requiring a full crew to take on and bag. The last of that tale had yet to be told, but he shuddered, all the same, to be reminded of it.
There were other creatures depicted throughout, however. Fish both great and small, sea serpents, and even a couple of the mythical variety, Leviathans that existed in a fisherman's imagination or in rumor. Even if the information contained in the book wasn't all correct, it granted a treasure trove for his imagination and inspired him to venture out and find the greater fish that were available to be caught. Rorom found himself bolstered and fortified with the possibilities.
Urva stepped gracefully up behind Rorom, as he sat down on the field to read the book. The Cadouri purred audibly as he looked on the illustrations in Rorom's book, reading over his shoulder. Absently, the fisherman looked over his shoulder at the creature, and asked,
"Do yer like fish? I mean... To eat, or to fish? Sorry, not to say that because yer a cat but... err.."
Urva gave him a gracious smile and nodded his head.
"Oh yes, fish dishes are among my favorites. I particularly like bluefish casserole."
Rorom's eyebrows lifted as he remembered the bluefish.
"Ahh, those monsters, they have some bite to them, and strong and big. Good eating though." Rorom flipped through the pages, trying to locate the information on that form of fish.
"See here..." Rorom pointed to them on the entry,
"They can stray close to shore, but often are found on the coasts just within the deep waters. They've a single row of very knife-like sharp teeth. They prey upon smaller fish, o'course, so ye'll find 'em among schools of feeder fish."
Rorom sighed,
"Their meat is fatty, particularly the older and bigger ones. They need preserving or cooking right away, lest the meat go rancid... Meat with a lot of oily fat goes rancid quickly, yesee."
Urva made a curious sound in his throat, as he looked at the teeth depicted upon the bluefish' illustration. Then he asked Rorom,
"All this talk of biting people and others... I never considered it when eating my fish in Saoire's Dream... Are there any marine life forms that are remotely friendly?"
Rorom hummed at that. He knew that dolphins and some smaller whales were known to socialize among each other and humans. They weren't exactly fish though, were they? He flipped to the pages that held the information on the smallest of the marine behemoths, the toothed whales. There, he found early on an entry on the Beluga, with its pure white hide, and smiling face.
"Ohhh! That one looks cheerful, I like it. But it has teeth, is it not friendly?"
Rorom furrowed his brow as he read the words,
" Says here they're curious toward humans, and swim right up against the hulls of peoples' ships..." Rorom found that peculiar, and wondered how easy it would be to bag one of them for his self. or even lead along a pod of them to poach once in a while. It was worth thinking about, anyway.
"Dolphins though..." Rorom said, and turned the page a few more times. His hand landed on an entry about the dolphins.
"Sometimes aggressive, other times helpful. There are rumors of seamen being aided after getting thrown overboard, with dolphins defending them against shark attack!"
Rorom read on, and soon enough, he lost all track of time. Before he knew it, he was back in his boat, on the coast of Havadr. Still, he read, but when he noticed he was back in his boat, he was startled. He set the book aside and rose from his chair. He went out to the deck of his ship to check the rods. He found a few of them were taut, and pulling along a fish or two. It seemed he'd been transported back at the opportune moment!
So looking into the waters, he saw a large bluefish! Perhaps Urva would join him again if he caught it!
He picked up the rod from the banister and began rolling it up, reeling in the catch. In a few bits, he'd managed to gather it back to the very hull of his ship, and with one heave hefted it aboard.
He proceeded to the deck, and jabbed its brainbox with a knife to put the creature out of its misery, and prevent it from biting him. This done, he began butchering the carcass immediately. Within a few moments, he had its flesh fileted and began rubbing salts and what spices he had into its flesh. Once it was fully seasoned and coated in a smattering of salts and spice, he took it to the smoker. There, he lit the charcoal with a lamp fire. Soon enough, he'd have some smoked bluefish. Due to the oiliness of its flesh, it'd need some more time in the smoker.
But he'd have a guaranteed good lunch ready to eat before he woke. So happily, he reentered his cabin and continued reading about the many creatures of the sea in his hammock.
