Josephine drops Donors Placard.

Merek checked stamina at difficulty 15, rolling 0 higher.

Josephine drops RULES AND ROLLS.

Merek checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 6 higher.

Merek checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 3 higher.

Merek checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 8 higher.

Merek checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 13 higher.

Merek checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 10 higher.

Josephine takes The People's Tournament - Fishing Derby 1011 from a simple velvet bag.

Josephine drops The People's Tournament - Fishing Derby 1011.

Caspian checked stamina at difficulty 15, rolling 21 higher.

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 7 higher.

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 4 higher.

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 5 higher.

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 5 higher.

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 1 higher. Caspian rolled a critical!

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 10 higher. Caspian rolled a critical!

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 4 higher.

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 9 higher.

Caspian checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 6 higher.

Aila, a bubbly girl from the Lowers arrives, following Maja.

Stefano, an inconspicuous Lycene bodyguard, Carmela, a gleaming dusken-feathered crow, Ambra, a plain-faced Lycene scribe arrive, following Mirella.

Behtuk checked stamina at difficulty 15, rolling 8 higher.

Behtuk checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 34 higher.

Behtuk checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 18 higher.

Behtuk checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 16 higher.

Behtuk checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 11 higher.

Behtuk checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 23 higher.

Behtuk checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 10 higher.

Maja checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 30 higher.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 3 higher.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 1 lower.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 4 lower.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 8 higher.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 1 higher.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 6 higher.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 2 lower.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 8 higher. Maja rolled a critical!

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 5 higher.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 2 higher.

Maja checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 17 higher.

Ras comes skidding down the dunes from the city, and approaches the crowd near the waves that sweep the sand. Before even looking around for anybody he might know, he starts removing boots and cloak and backpack to bundle them up near a rock out of the reach of the tide.

Behtuk settles down at the end of the docks to fish. He uses large chunks of greasy sausage for bait. The pole he uses is made for someone smaller. Dangling his feet over the edge of the dock and letting his mind wander Behtuk resembles a large mound of cargo more than a fisherman.

{02aMuch like in the past year, the fishing derby has been a heavily populated contest that draws out people in droves. Not only because the fish and all else that is caught will provide the feast at the end of the tournament, but will also be spread around to the lowers for all the commoners to take home and eat. The soup kitchen will see quite a bit and winter stores can be laid in of salted fish to see some less than wealthy families through the hard winters like last year.

Along the beach people are preparing, along tha mouth of the river where fresh and salt meet and a muddy confluence is had and even further up the river. Families are settled in to help make this the possibility for their fates to change.

Spaced apart, are volunteers who hold or guard giant hourglasses on tables and other surfaces, at the ready to turn them. There's no clock tower anymore to ring out and so an alternative had to be constructed to ensure an hour was precise. Observers are scattered in pockets and Josephine is walking along the sand at a very sedate pace to ensure she doesn't fall, the tip of her cane digging in as the main criers for the events start to call out. "PREPARE YOURSELF! THE FISHING STARTS IN TEN MINUTES. Some competitors rush while others meander and spots of tables laden with food to be carried in hand and free drinks make everyones spirits bright.

Mirella's already on the edge of the shore, with her bodyguard standing nearby to take her boots and her cloak. No dress for her today. Linen breeches and a tunic belted at the waist, both in dull greys. Linking her hands together, she stretches her arms out in front of her body to warm up, and with that done, moves on to clasping her heels one at a time to ease any cramps out of her legs. Got to get warmed up before you go jumping into autumn-chilled waters, after all! Calm eyes scan the area once she's finished with her stretching. She lifts a hand in a small polite wave when she catches sight of Ras, but for the most part her gaze is turned to the waters in appraisal of the marine life it might hold.

Behtuk reels in his line, understanding just enough to know that he shouldn't be fishing yet. He looks at the food, then at the water, forced to decide between fishing and eating. The interminable silent battle in his soul is waged with only a few slow shifts of gaze to depict his inner turmoil.

Merek makes his way to the beaches, while he takes a moment to check upon his fishing pole, then he finds a place to settle in and wait for them to begin. He has a flask with him, while he takes a drink of some whiskey from it as well, tattered cloak about him, beard scruffy.

Apparently not to be dissuaded by a lackluster performance, brought on in no small part by some poorly chosen words and a run of bad luck and sabotage, Sydney has arrived early. To her bewilderment, she still has some of the folks from the wagon race loitering about and cheering her on.

They're a scruffy lot, but Syd's little better. She has bait and a fishing rod that both seem... serviceable. Nothing fancy here, folks. Wood, line, and worms. She hooks her first wriggling victim, and glances about. "Well, at least I'll be able to keep eyes on you lot for more than the first handful of seconds, this time." A grin cast to her nearest neighbors.

Here comes Maja, carried aloft by her crowd of Darlings. She's laughing as they bring her to the beaches, the slender apprentice Whisper endlessly amused by their antics. "We're here," someone calls out to the group. "Let her down," replies another. And the curly-haired woman is carefully lowered to the sand and she gives them all a wave as her feet touch the ground.

"Thank you, my darlings!" Maja says, blowing them a kiss which earns her a cheer and a flurry of silken favors being waved in her direction. Outfitted in a rather simple chemise, she has left her brocade at home today -- it would be dreadful to get her fine clothes wet! However, she does have a ribbon in her hair and the lass unties it, giving it to one of her admirers. Ambra is the lucky recipient and Maja gives her a wink before wading out into the water. There she stands, so very still, as she waits for the derby to begin.

C-cold. The water is c-c-c-cold.

Simon checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 9 higher.

Caspian is standing at the water's edge, pole in hand, looking through his bait, mostly worms and dead bugs, looking to see what might be useful. He calls over to Maja, "You're not gonna beat me this time! This time I'm catching the most fish!" Little does he know that when this is all over, he's going to eat those words.

Simon checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 19 higher.

Simon checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 6 higher.

Simon checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 19 higher.

Simon checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 5 higher.

Simon checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 2 higher.

Simon checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 6 higher.

Ras checked perception + empathy at difficulty 20, rolling 7 higher.

Once he's all ready, since this is serious business, Ras straightens and looks around. Mirella gets a grin and a wave, as does Sydney, though hers comes with a sassy bounce of his eyebrows. Once Maja crowd-surfs onto the beach with her adoring fans, he can't help but laugh, but two seconds later he's snicking a buttery roll from a basket on someone's table and running it down the dock towards Behtuk, greeting the man with roll tossed into his huge lap and a rough bellow, "Behtuk!" Dramatically, he turns his back to the end of the dock and purposefully tips himself off.

Looking over at Caspian, Maja grins widely. "Well.." she lilts in reply, pushing her sleeves up above her elbows. "Maybe I'll let you win this time, Champion." The Whisper with the fabulous curls gives him a wink and then peers around the water, getting a lay of the land.

Or, err, the river. The lay of the river.

Spotting Ras not too far off, she hollers over to her brother. "Whatcha reckon? Should I go easy on him?" She jerks a thumb toward Caspian, indicating who she is talking about.

Behtuk reaches out to catch Ras before he falls in the water, which loses him the roll Ras brought. He misses, too slow. He backs away from the water cautiously, eyes wide. He looks around to see if anyone else saw Ras commit suicide.

Simon was late. Much as he was for the last competition he did terribly in. Here he comes, running down the beach in his boots and long coat. Each heavy footfall in the sand and following shove off sends a spray of sand behind him until he reaches the harder packed sand where the water meets the turf. When he reaches the area where the fishermen are gathered, he bends over and places his hands on his knees, heaving in and out in an effort to catch his breath. "I... made... it..." he says, lifting upright and clutching at the stich in his side. Seeing that everyone else is getting ready to start, he quickly throws off his coat, kicks out of his boots and wades down into the water, apparently going to try and catch himself some fishies by hand.

Mirella turns to Stefano with a upnod, oh-so-casual before she comments, "Did I tell you about how I caught many fish in this way when I was a child, Stefano? We needed food, and if you can avoid the sharks in Caina's seas, then you can fetch yourself a good dinner." At this the poker-faced bodyguard replies in a thick Lycene accent. "Yes, Mirella. Many times you told me." To this the small woman sniffs in nostrils-full of chill air and fixes her employee with an even chiller look. "Well," she replies. "I did." A few awkward moments pass and then Mirella goes wading into the water, finally ducking under when she's submerged waist deep. Meanwhile Ambra is back on the beach hopping up and down on tiptoes and yelling, "Go Maja!" It takes an quirk of Stefano's eyebrow before the secretary belatedly looks over to where Mirella's sliding through the waves like some kind of sleek sea creature. "Go Mirella!" Ambra shouts before adding, "Be careful of big sharks!"

"ARGH!" yells Ras, horrified by how cold the water is. He flounders terribly for a minute or two. "Behtuk!" This time it's not the gruff bellow of an overconfident friend, but more of a frantic yelp as he catches onto the nearest dock post. Apparently he's not the best swimmer and it's deeper than he thought. He holds up a hand towards the massive Northlander. "I'm gonna scare your fish if you don't get me out!" Of course he'd make a weird threat rather than ask outright for help.

The red capped Hoodlums are out, some of them just wearing red scarves and milling about. Baskets and buckets at the ready and being passed out for those who want to give their catches to those more needy. Because even amoung the commoners, you still look out for each other when you can. Near Sydney's hole is her little fan club. Brown. Drab brown. All of them. They've even managed to smear a brown mud under their eyes and are there cheering her on in her pursuit of... she's trying for first place right? The woman doesn't have to reach for anything, no, they're there doing their level best to assist and not break rules,

Maja's darlings, oh you can't miss them. Those colorful apprentice adorers are out too, and they have no compunction about making noise. Which gets them dirty looks from some people who subscribe to the utter silence method of fishing.

But people everywhere, poles or nets, some brave souls who are willing to plunge their hands or wade in full bodies into the frigid waters - and pay heed, these are frigid waters, are getting ready. Like Mirella. To whom some gasp, others quitter 'that's crazy' when she just gets wet period. Champions are here too gathered around Caspian and cheering him on.

And Ras? Well, Josephine makes her way over to the lowers teen when he eventually peels himself out of the water and gives his ear a tug. "You fish good you hear. I want a nice big one for my dinner table."

Behtuk lays down flat on the dock and extends his fishing rod to Ras to hold onto. He can't quite reach from the piling and he's not going to risk falling in himself.

Ras grabs the rod and drags himself back up onto the dock, panting. He nods at Behtuk with unverbalized gratitude, and is still sitting there like a soggy rat when Josephine catches him by the ear. Making a light attempt to brush her off, he mutters, "Yeah, yeah," but it's utterly without bite.

Merek, like some others perhaps, puts his fish in the charity buckets, while he begins to catch them, though he is likely to keep one of them, for dinner. He is content to lean back, scarf shifted about him while he sighs, rubbing his gloves together, then pulling fish in.

"If you're looking to turn this into a wet clothing contest, I daresay some of you are winning. Me, I like staying dry and warm." She reaches down and takes a casual sip of ale that only has just the barest bit of sand and grit. "And proper buzzed." That elicits an unexpected uproar from her modest group of followers, and she manages to look more startled than proud. Someone's not used to getting prolonged positive attention.

Behtuk looks from Ras to Josephine in some confusion. Then he gingerly sets himself back down on the edge of the deck. He looks mournfully at the floating roll that Ras tossed him. With careful fingers he rebaits his hook and waits to drop it in the water next to the bread. Maybe not all the fish are scared off.

"START!"The call goes out and the keepers of time up the beach nd up the river start to call it out as well and turn the hourglasses.

En mass, people start fishing.

Caspian throws out his line, worm attatched, and after a moment he calls out, "Oh shit, got something already!" He reels and reels and reels and pulls out, A BOOT! He looks to the boot, then holds it up, turning around to call out, "Anyone lose this?!"

Before the call went out, Maja was laughing! She was waving! She was winking up a storm! But as soon as 'START' is yelled out, she is 100% business and her business is catching fish.

Standing very still in the knee-deep water, she studies the comings and goings of the marine life around her. Aaaaaaaand ... SNATCH! She reaches into the depths and comes out with a fish! And then another one! They are both teeny-tiny though -- after all, just look at her arms! Those noodle-appendages don't seem fit to lift more than a pound or two at one time. Still, a fish is a fish.

People start fishing and Simon starts splashing through the shallows about hip level. "Oh it's cold!" he says to a man surging past him in the water. "It reminds me of this time I was ice fishing up north of Bonespire," he begins to tell, smiling as he looks down into the water. Whatever else that particular story has to tell is lost on the wind and amidst the noise as people begin fishing in earnest. Splash, Simon's hands dart under the water as a fish swims between his legs, trying to snag it.

Merek manages to actually catch his first fish, placing that in a special place to keep. Then he's beginning to place his pole into the water again.

Mirella comes wsimming back after a small while, hair soaked and shivering. Nonetheless, she seems less than concerned by the frozen water saturating her from head to toe. Aside from the shivering and chattering of teeth, that is, but she pushes it aside. She is both hardcore and extreme and almost certain to come out of this with straight-up bigtime pneumonia. But hey, at least she's faced the worst of it now, which allows her to slap through the water and grab fish within a dexterous hand. With help from Stefano, who has handed her clothes over to Ambra to take up a bucket instead, she slaps her catch into the waiting vessel over the course of the event. There's some big trout, but they might seem more sizeable just for how small the Lycene woman happens to be. Whatever the case, Stefano yells over at his employer blandly, "You always have to go one step further, don't you."

Sydney lets fly her first cast, waiting patiently and keeping a careful eye on the line as it gets tossed and thrashed about by the activity of the hand-fishers. It's not enough to make her lose focus, though the sight of Caspian's boot does bring out that smile of hers.

Oh! There's a tug. Right out of the gate, she tugs up a little fish. Respectable! "Not bad, but it's certainly no boot. Someone fish up the other, I could use a matching set!"

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Ras before departing.

After catching a message as he walks back to the sands from the dock, Ras makes his way over to where Maja is in the water, apparently figuring that she knows what she's doing. "Hey Maja," he whispers, wading several meters away from her - the whisper carries over the gently lapping ice-cold waves. "You gonna beat the shit outta Caspian again?" Maybe those words carry too far, and it's obvious he didn't hear her before. Then he glimpses something lurking in the water, and leaps for it.

Behtuk patiently fishes in the deepest pilings around the dock. Ras may have helped him inadvertantly, the smallest fish did get scared off, the big ones just weren't scared of Ras. He reels in a forty ounce fish to start.

Out in the water, Simon is still talking. Whatever story he had begun about ice fishing up north has caught his neighbor's attention and Simon is spending as much time relating the tale as actually fishing. His hands come upward, making big motions to add credibility to his tale. When he does pause to nab a fish, he hands them off to those few children braving the cold in an effort to participate as well.

When her brother -leaps- at something in the water, he manages to splash Maja in the process. The woman squeaks and shields herself with her hands .. although that isn't going to do much to keep her dry, considering that she is standing in the water and is half-soaked already.

"Hey, I was going to catch that one," she tells Ras -- and, seeing something swim near her, she grabs at a wee baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo! Shark?! Nah, just a catfish. And it wriggle-wriggle-wriggles until it breaks free! And splashes back into the river, quickly swimming away.

"Goodness gracious," Maja huffs. "Why are fish so slippery?"

Sydney can't help but hold up her fish, stare at it, then look at Behtuk's fish, and frown. "...Aw, yeesh. That one's huge. Nice one." She re-baits her hook, setting a worm to its demise.

Ras comes up with a decent-sized trout held tightly clamped between two hands. "Where do we put them?!" he asks Maja frantically as the slippery thing writhes and twists. "Where?!"

Behtuk carefully attaches the lined fish onto the end of a pole. He tucks the pole into a knot in the dock and lets the fish dangle from it. He fetches out another hook to tie to his line and then looks at Sydney. He nods to acknowledge her compliment. A moment later he adds in a soft voice. "Thank you."

"Hey now! That's mine!" Comes an affronted call from a guy with two perfectly good boots. But he's looking surprised. "I lost that last year! How'd you find it?!" As if Caspian could tell him. MErek fishes, and the fishes... well, they're decent and that's just fine. Maja's darlings scream when she catches a fish and one moves forward with the bucket only to screech in horror as it still flops in the bucket and starts to throw the bucket to another darling and soon there's just a bunch of screaming brightly dressed fans who are all, to a man and woman, terrified of the wriggling flopping fishes.

Simon forges forth and when he talks about ice fishing in bone spire, someone calls out "Don't pox us! We don't want snow so soon here! Keep in the bone spire." Mirella though, such a fine starts, and her play of diving in means that while the parts of her that are out of the water are cold, the parts inside have adjusted and it seems like she's going to need some fine sized buckets.

Sydney and her gang, all that bland boring brown, are working. They bait her hook for her, every single one of them meaning business. Oh yes. Are they the under dog? Unlikely. But the few that have gathered have brought some of that free drinks and they're sitting and enjoying themselves chattering about not having to work today. But there's the little fish and a cheer goes up, it goes in a bucket and they rebait her hook for her.

The something that lurks in the water near Ras isn't something he probably expected. When he leaps, brings up that trout, something else was hunting it tooawhen Ras comes up with his prize,aglued to his elboa and moving fast with schlepping sounds and changing colors from waits to orange in splotches with dark spots. An octopus the size of a pala and angry. Patient Behtuk, the gentle giant of the commons throws his line in, and gets nibbles despite the hullabaloo earlier.

Merek keeps on with his fishing, seeming content while he does as well. For the moment, it's like with the delivery of wagons, it's like with the rowboating, he is gently taking time with the perfection.

SPLASH!!

Maja catches another fish. And then /another/. She is shockingly good at catching fish with her bare hands -- or maybe she pulls more than just brightly dressed Darlings into her orbit? Man nor fish can resist the bubbly Whisper and the creatures seem to practically leap into her hands.

Except...

THey're tiny. Like, /really/ tiny. Perhaps her strategy is quantity over quality? Tossing another wee fishy to her shrieking fans -- OMG SO SLIMY AND WRIGGLING NOOOOOOO -- the apprentice Whisper peeks over at her competition to see what they're hauling in. When she sees an /octopus/ wrapped around Ras' arm, she stops what she is doing and just /stares/.

"Ahhh, no. I don't think we'll be having any snow any time soon," Simon says thoughtfully, his eyes coming up along with a hand that he places above his eyes to shield them as if he could divine the weather and changing of the seasons simply by looking at the sky. "But I'm telling you the truth. If you ever want to catch some monsters ice fishing, head north. I keep meaning to make it to Clearlake to see what they have worth catching up there, but I haven't done it yet. I heard once that..." And just like that, Simon has segued into a completely different story regarding Clearlake of all places. His hands flash down into the water and he comes up with another fish, and that one is passed off to a nearby child as well, Simon seeming much more interested in talking to anyone that will stand still long enough and listen.

2 House Velenosa Guards, Arvie arrive, following Gaspar.

Sydney isn't all muddy brown! She also has a bit of black on that half-coat of hers. You know - for variety! Look, dyed leathers cost extra, okay? She has to wave off a few of the folks crowding in on her, shoving her ale into the man's hands instead. "Aw, come on, now. I can bait my own hook. Just a bit of impaling of the wildlife. Like I mind gettin' these hands grubbed up." She holds up her calloused and battered mitts.

Another cast, and Sydney ends up with… well, that… huh. "A baby fish?" She puzzles. The hubbub in the water near Ras causes her to drop her pole and wad up a ball of wet sand, flinging it at Ras. Maybe it'll hit the octopus!

Behtuk moves down the dock and settles in to catch another fish. He doesn't expect to catch two big ones in the same location. His greasy sausage appears to be working as bait though. He eyes the octopus hungrily. Fish is great, octopus can't be beat.

2 Armed Confessors arrives, following Korka.

"Whoa!" goes Ras, startled but enthralled by the octopus on his elbow. "Heyy, I got two," he says, beaming at Maja, and then gets hit right in the face with a ball of wet sand. He just stares at Sydney for a moment, globs dripping down into the water. "I'm gonna get you back!" he yells at her then, ominously.

The trout in Ras's hands still flops back and forth, but he manages to get both catches quickly over to a bucket being stroked by the tide. Afterwards, he rushes back into the water. Maybe that dip earlier helped him adjust to the cold, just like Mirella!

The next catch he wrangles is easily three times bigger than his first, and he wrestles with it fiercely, kicking at the sand and swirling around as he tries to get the creature over to the shore. At one point he actually tries to bite it to make it stop. "This one's! For you! Josephine! Arcuri!" he can be heard screaming while battling amidst splashes.

Sydney clasps a hand to her mouth as Ras gets a face full of sand. She should probably be feeling remorse or something, but the sight of the young man with a face full of mud causes her cheeks to bulge.

"Pfft.."

"Pfffft..."

There's no helping it, ultimately. Teary-eyed, she laughs uproariously, barely able to manage to bait her next hook, after all. "I'm... I'm sorry!" It sounds really remorseful. Really genuine. "Bahahaha!"

Or for monsters, you head to the beach, not the bone spire with Simon and his respectable catches. There's a call up from onlookers and a gasp. "Is that?" 'Look at t he size of that thing!" "How is he even managing to bring that in?" "Help him! Before it drags. Him in. WE don't want to lose another arteries!" Evaristo, down the beach, has hauled in something big.

Ras's catches - mud dripping from Sydney's mud ball - gets a raised fist to Ras in joy. "It will cook fine! You better come for dinner." Behtuk's sausages are working really great as bait and soon enough, the people around him are starting to try and beg a little of him to help out their own fishing. Sydney's gang just smirk and look away at Ras's muddy misfortune. Merek fishes like he's never fished before and those fish just keep biting. The darlings are still screeching as fish are pulled up and soon though, those screeches turn to ooh's at the color on the scales of the trouts she's picking up.a

Merek pulls another fish in, while he contents with simply placing them in buckets.

Wandering down the beach for yet another night is Korka Glynn, slippers held in one hand and the hem of her gown in the other. As it happens she ends up near the people talking about Evaristo's catch and curiosity sends her that way, "Are we talking about a fish or have I walked into an entirely different sort of competition?" She asks one of the members of the crowd, giving her head a shake to get the windswept dark strands of hair out of her face.

Behtuk is not known for handing out advice, even about fishing. He continues adding fish to his pole, a second fat one is enough to start collecting attention. He's methodical about everything, including making sure the hook is set before hanging. If he were faster, he might catch more fish, then again, he might enjoy it less.

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish: Maja just keeps hauling them in. All these teeny-tiny fishes, she grabs them and pulls them gasping into the world of air. The Darlings are conflicted -- they want to support her but slimy river creatures are /gross/. So the majority of them cheer from a safe distance away from the splash zone. "We have a warm cloak ready for you when you're done," they holler over, holding up a fur lined garment for her to see.

Sydney is jovially distracted, but the fish keep on coming in, even if they remain rather modest in size. "We'll make it up in number!"

Meanwhile Mirella is still working on getting the last of those sizeable trouty beasts into buckets of various size, with Stefano thankfully there to provide said buckets. All teeth-chattery, all shivery, she's nonetheless right in the zone and will be until the end of the competition. Such focus!

Everyone at the beach and up the river, all of them are fishing fine. Small catches, big catches are coming in. But then there's that shadow. Briefly it's as if night settled in. It's there for just a moment, so very brief. In the direction of the merchants gate that everyone had to pass through to get down, a faint sound of something breaking with force and then it's done. Done and a streak of something bright going across the sky before it too disappears. It's enough to cause some people to stop what they're doing with fishing and look at each other confused, back toward the citya

Simon is only catching respectable sized fishes. No monsters. No babies. Just... fish. But that's okay! He's out there having a good time as he wades through the water still telling his stories, now onto a legend told in the Oathlands about a catfish big enough to eat a man. So busy is he in his "fishing" that he doesn't; t even pause to look up as the commotion is going on.

Merek is fishing while he fishes, then he takes a moment to pat his cloak about him, taking a little sip from the flask which he keeps with him.

Behtuk pays no attention to stuff breaking. It isn't his stuff, and won't stop him from catching fish. He moves to the other side of the dock to cast again.

Ras is washing his face with dual handfuls of water when the shadow passes overhead, and slowly lowers his hands to look up. Not quick enough to see or understand what happened, but there is that distant noise, and he tenses, still half in the water. The first person he glances to is Maja.

As focused as she is, Mirella momentarily looks up to the sky when it darkened, her eyes narrowing briefly at the sound of something breaking. She goes back to her work shortly afterwards, though Stefano and Ambra exchange some concerned and quizzical looks.

"Is that a Whisper?" Korka asks one of the Darlings, tip toeing up to try to see beyond them to watch Maja bring in her haul, "I didn't realize they also made great anglers."

Patiently tending to her line, Sydney has all the time in the world to blink and contemplate the shadow. Her eyes turn briefly skyward to see if the natural light's been obscured by a cloud, but what really gets her attention is the sudden soun and the streak of light. She goes taut as a wire and has to laugh to herself to ease her nerves. "Well, that was somethin'." When she yanks in her next catch, it's ... a catfish that's in the middle of biting on what her previous catch was. "Oi! Hey! Let go of that, y'damned thief!" She manages to reel in both fish at once, and she boxes the catfish on his slimy skull. "Only one that makes me lose my fish is me!" She holds up that middling catfish like she's just won the whole tournament, attempting to inject some levity into the situation.

Fish, fish, fish, fish. Maja continues to haul up the itty-bittiest of fishes. She hardly even pauses when a shadow passes overhead -- after all, she's in it to win it. Or, well, at the very least: to beat Caspian.

As she tosses another flip-flopping fish into a nearby bucket, she spots Ras looking at her. "I didn't do it!" she tells him, grinning widely. If the world is coming to an end, so be it but she will meet that end as the best angler ever!

The darlings cheer her on once they recover from their 'sky-is-falling' shock and one of them nods to Korka as he applauds wildly. "Isn't she /amazing/?!" he gushes from the safety of the shore.

Ras may have forgotten to fish for a moment, but one 'fish' didn't forget him - because it's trapped. There's an eel that slithered up his pant leg, horror of lucky horrors, and a few seconds of absurd grimness at the sky later, he's hopping around in the frigid water like a maniac trying to get it out.

The world isn't ending, the sky isn't falling and... everything seems to be back to normal. Though when passing back through the merchants gate, things will look little different likely. For some, this oddity of a weather phenomena has them too unnerved and they give up, heading out, packing up their stuff while others follow that streak till it can't be seen anymore. The hub Bub around Evaristo's catch is still happening though o ne of Mirella's catches of a fair sized behemoth is garnering some attention too from people not in her entourage. Somewhere along the beach, there's a scuffle as a red scarf has been caught trying to interfere with an hourglass and Josephine's moving away from Ras to go see about this issue. MErek and behtuk, placidly amidst the noise they go. Two bro's. Fishing. Sydney's little group are oohing over the catfish and one of them is already reeling of how they'll cook it. Simon's local fishing companions are looking at him and ask "really? No snow soon?" The darlings are, as always, darling and every tiny fish is celebrated as if it were the big huge fish that is being carted up the beach by an official that has people trailing and marveling. It's... big. It's clearly, a monster. Or well, that's the story that will go around the city later. Evaristo Arterius caught a sea monster.

Merek looks to the other fishers with a nod, while he shows his fish to them.

About to slap the eel from his fist into the bucket on the shore, Ras hesitates, and looks at the slimy and twisting creature. There's a glimmer of mischief in his eyes, and then he sneaks behind a table of hourglass watchers, creeping around the beach until he's somewhere behind Sydney.

Ras checked dexterity + stealth at difficulty 30, rolling 15 higher.

"The very vision of Caithness herself," Korka replies with questionable sincerity to the gushy darling after a quick look up to the sky when that all happens. There's very little reaction beyond the clicking of her tongue however.

Sydney checked perception + survival at difficulty 45, rolling 26 lower.

The (almost) Whisper's lips are starting to turn blue and she's shivering from head to toe. Did I mention that the water is really, really, really, REALLY cold? Because it is. "I can hardly feel my legs below the knees," she says to Ras, her teeth a'chatterin'. One of her fans, though, shouts out encouragingly:

"Blue is your color, Maja!"

This encouragement spurs her on and Maja nabs a few more fish -- some bigger than other but none of them overly large. The Darling standing next to Korka agrees heartily with her assessment of the apprentice. "She will be in the history books too," he effuses. "Just like Caithness!"

The Darlings, it can safely be said, are a silly lot.

Simon has completely quit fishing by now. He is simply standing out there in the water with his arms crossed chatting away to a small group of fishermen gathered around him. They seem to be having a large time though, so it's all good.

Sydney reels in a pitiful little fish, chuckling despite herself and tossing it in the direction of the donation pile, turning her attention well away from everything else that's going on. Many of her retinue have fearfully packed it in or are watching the throw. When she lands it, they give a cheer, busily bumping arms and celebrating the small victory. It's not looking great for her - save for a race to the bottom - but she's still showing her compatriots a good time!

Once situated at a good angle, Ras takes a deep breath, braces himself, and darts swiftly through the group of Sydney's fans. He catches the neck of her leather shirt and drops the eel straight down her back - where it promptly slithers about in a frantic and gasping fashion, wet and cold and slippery. Then he dashes off, leaping into the water and splashing away while laughing wickedly and shouting, "Told ya I'd get ya back!"

(024Sand will be pelted at Ras's retreated back and maybe stick or two. A rock. Nothing that will leave a scar though for the trick played on Sydney. The hourglasses are coming down to the final grains and starting at the first to be turned, a one minute warning is called out. People get their last casts in, last grasps for fish, and last pranks before they're turned over. "FINISH! BRING YOUR FISH!" Is called out. "POLES< NETS AND HANDS DOWN!" The call goes up out and down the beach and both the dejected and the hopeful make their way to weigh stations to try and see if they're won.

Merek shifts so he can stand up, while he makes a way to have his fish checked as well.

Also!

There are times when it's convenient to be clad all in leathers, and times when you have a slimy, slippery eel writhing across the back of your tight leather shirt.

"Wh - gyah!" She ends up abandoning her fishing pole in favor of frantically smacking at her back. It's hanging out right where it's the hardest to reach.

Off comes the coat in a frantic hop, tearing at the cording on either side of her shirt to loosen it before ripping it off over her head. She's got some cloth bound 'round her, so it's not a full lost of modesty. The eel is shook loose, and she whisks her shirt back on, shuddering. "Ras, y'proper git!" She doesn't have to put her pole down. It's just still down. Grumbling, and with a rather loose-fitting shirt, she brings her fish to be weighed, what was worthy of weighing.

2 Armed Confessors have been dismissed.

Behtuk reels in his line, empty, and stands up. The fish, each on a different length of line, dangle down his back allowing his hands free to graze the remains of the food provided. He stuffs whatever he can reach in his mouth as he heads in the direction of the weighing table.

Her last fish -- grabbed at in the final seconds -- is decently size. Sure, it's not a monster but it will feed a family and fill their bellies. Maja carries it over with pride, a wide smile on her face.

She's happy to have caught a respectably sized fish.
She's REALLY happy to get out of the freezing water.

The Darlings immediately throw a warm cloak around her shoulders and one is even so bold as to rub her arms to get her warm again. "I think I did alright," she tells them proudly and -- winner or not -- they all cheer her. Hip-hip-HURRAH!

Looking around, Simon chuckles as he realized that through the story telling he had given away all of his fish to the children splashing around him. Shrugging to his new friends, those lucky enough to have been snared by his talking, he begins to slog his way back up to where the judging will take place.

Reaching Maja's side again, Ras grins and suggests, "You gotta keep movin, Maja!" Great advice, only he looks pretty cold too. The wind is awfully chilly on drenched clothes. "Man, I gotta pick shit up," he says, anxiously glancing towards where the hourglasses on the beach are draining down. He starts grasping for all and any little swimming shadows he spots, wiggling his fingers through the water as he focuses intensely.

That dark shadow in the sky seems to have been forgotten, because once in a while Ras'll glance towards Sydney and cackle quietly about the successful eel prank. Once the call is made to finish, he's sloshing through the water with his last fish, and bringing the bucket to be weighed.

Mirella's teeth are chattering like some makeshift musical instrument as she stands WELL away from the water. Her cloak is wrapped around her small frame, with Stefano having used his own as a towel to get her as dry as possible. Team Fiorelli thus wait for the weighing to be done, though Ambra, being the traitor she is, cheers along with the rest of the Darlings. She has no loyalty.

And time. Whether it's a little fish or a big fish, the buckets are brought to the stations. Many stations. The best way to ensure that they get through this. Weights are placed, and numbers quickly tallied and an eye kept on the scales and records to make sure that someone doesn't try to cheat. Those with red scarves or something red on them are eyed pretty fierce. But slowly and surely everyones catches are weighed and people trickle off disappoint for elated, food for home or left to be carted to the various places who can and will use them.

In the end though, there can be only one winner and somewhere in the crowd that gathers where the winner is to be announced, Josephine is handed the name. "Goodwoman Mirella!" Josephine calls out, Demetria steps forward with the case that holds the crown. " Has caught a combined weight total, of one hundred and eighty two pounds of fish" a murmur ripples through the crowd. "Goodman behtuk, has come in second, with his one hundred and fifty four. Impressive, but not as impressive as Mirella!" And with that announced, now, those who remain behind, can partake of the food and drink and when the sun will fall, teh bonfires and roasting fish.

Josephine takes The People's Tournament - Fishing Derby 1011.

Stefano, an inconspicuous Lycene bodyguard, Carmela, a gleaming dusken-feathered crow, Ambra, a plain-faced Lycene scribe leave, following Mirella.

Ras applauds for Mirella and Behtuk, shivering and grinning. He smirks across the crowd towards Sydney as he goes to get his cloak and boots and put them back on, crusted everywhere with wet sand.

Behtuk collects the largest fish and leaves the rest. "Cook." He suggests to whomever is collecting the fish. He gestures to the crowd. "Feed."

Sydney offers an expansive shrug of her shoulders - now that she's done wildly shuddering, and casts her fans a regretful look. "Can't win 'em all, lads!" She turns to Ras, and sticks her tongue out. "Underhanded. Uncalled for. Rude." Her lips quirk. "...Funny."