Unoficial fishing HOWTO by Etadan

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etadan
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Unoficial fishing HOWTO by Etadan

Post by etadan »

Version history:
12.09.05 Added info about Preran and his fish shop, thanks to Kanje for awakening me(Announcement was made 04.02.05 *hide,apologize*).
01.12.04 Typochecking done, thanks to Marcus(for eight months those typos lived in peace, now they shall rest *Etadan lowers his head in shame*).
29.11.04 Added canoe weight/bulk(40.0kg 20.0l).
21.10.04 Added fact that you can sell fish to a shop in Vekkak(this is not somethig new, this is something i've missed).
08.07.04 Added fact that you can sell and sacrifice fish, thanks to Alannon.
31.03.04 Fixed Boats section a bitm thanks to Tanstai for pointing out some details.
30.03.04 Version 1.01 Added F.A.Q. by lack of popular demand. Some minor style changes.
30.03.04 Version 1.00 First release.
Last edited by etadan on Mon Sep 12, 2005 14:27 pm, edited 11 times in total.
etadan
Posts: 136
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:58 am
Location: Unknown

Unofficial fishing HOWTO

Post by etadan »

__Theory__

_Fishing eq_

.Where to get it.
Get it from Astug's hut(read more), it's traditional place to buy fishing gear. Everything can also be found in survival guild shop, at least shortly after reboot.

To fish you first need to find some fishing gear out of which fishing rod is a 'must have'. Fishing rods come in 2 kinds, regular(Wooden fishing rod with a line and a hook) and ancient(shortdesc wanted). Regular fishing rod can be bought from survival guild shop, or from Astug(more on this fellow later) for less that one mithril(~224 silver). You can ask someone to give you one, if you're too afraid to leave city to explore, but you really should get it yourself. Also, many monsters carry them(look in shanty), even is they were never seen fishing, apparently in case they're lost in the woods and feeling hungry. It doesn't weight too much, although some smaller races might have problems with it. It's good to know that you don't need to wield the rod, to fish, but I think it's necessary to wield it in order get ancient fishing rod(more info wanted). Ancient fishing rods can be obtained on [sales](very rarely), although true fisher will despise the idea, and will try to get his own ancient fishing rod. This is done by winning the fishing event, and more you'll have to learn from highbies(Thakkrad is a good choice), since I have not yet won nor witnessed such event myself.

Second most important eq when fishing is a shovel. It's used for digging worms from the ground with command 'dig for worms'(help dig). Of course you can just ask a friend to dig some worms for you if you have very little ep, or ask a fellow fisher to give you some, or just take ones that are occasionally left on the ground by those fishers who will have my wrath upon them once I find out who they are, but with time you should get your own shovel and do your own digging. Shovels come in many forms, 2 basic ones being regular shovel('A shovel') and compact shovel('Compact iron shovel'). Difference between them is size and weight. You can also 'order' a custom shovel from smith. Dunn is rumored to have 'superb crystal shovel', but these rumors are unconfirmed. Custom shovels CAN be used for digging and such, I was positively surprised with that. If you have any questions about shovels, contact Dunn, he should know it.

Before we cover more fishing eq, we should get to know Astug. You probably heard a lot about mysterious "Astug's hut" already. Astug is an old _retired_ fisher living pretty much in the middle of the world(little south from it). He has caught many fishes in his lifetime, it's rumored that he's the one who fished the last Russian submarine out of waters of Icesus(yes, all the stuff on [chat] during fishing event about whales and submarines is just a joke now, they are no more). He enjoys watching sunsets and sunrises(since he doesn't ever leave the hut), along with divine protection(it would be impossible to survive without it due ->) and hatred of mortals(since he doesn't hold fishing events nearly as often as we mortals want). He has a small shop, where he sells all kinds of fishing gear(only regular shovel. he also sells waybread). He also keeps record of top fishers. There are also rumors about some special fisherman hats that he makes, but you'll have to talk to him or Ereldon about it, he ought to know something.

General direction to Astug's hut is southeast. To be more specific, exit city of Vaerlon through south gates, and follow the road east(you should really read help pipe/walk), until you come to crossing. There turn south and follow the road(ignore the paths, unless you want to explore). Soon it will turn east, and after you reach bridge over a river(river name from old map wanted), slowdown and explore. Astug's hut is on east side of the river. There's shipwright on the west shore, the only source of boats in Icesus.

Third important fishing eq, is spring balance('Small spring balance'). It allows you to weigh fishes that you caught and also autonaming them to their weight. You need to weigh the fish, for it to be added(if good enough) to your personal fishing records. Weight of the fish is 'magically' reported to Astug if fishing event is running, so he'll be able to count score.

Fourth and probably least important eq, is bait box('Small wooden box for baits'). It can be used to store worms, but I fail to see the point in this. If you have a bait box, fish <direction> with rod will check if you have worms in it, and automatically take them from it as needed.

Fifth is fisherman's hat. Most valuable possession a fisher can have, the only proof for all those GIGANTIC sturgeon stories. Ok, not the only way, Astug also keeps list of top fishers in Icesus, but to get there.. it's a difficult task that can only be done with cooperation from Lady Luck. Ereldon and Astug himself might have something to tell about these hats, if you know what to ask. Explore.

There is one more fishing eq that I'm aware of. It's a 'fish trap'. If you ask me it's not fishing, it's trapping, trick that hunters invented, but gods seem to think otherwise. C'mon, what next? A bomb vial fishing? In my opinion true fisher will never use such thing.

_Where to fish_

Basically, any river/pond/lake will do. But true fishers know the truth. The spot DOES matter. Everyone has that lucky spot where he gets more fishes than anywhere else. That place remembers his tears of happiness and joy, as well as tears of sorrow and curses towards nothing in particular. The place where fisher have studied every rock on the bottom, where has fed many generations of fish, where fish are no longer scared by his cheers, where fishes tell their children how they were caught and then released with words 'Bye fishy, come back when you're fully grown'. It's a magical place, that has captured part of the fisher's soul, making him come back again and again, until the day he's as old as Astug...
...Anyways, one can fish on shore, using 'fish <direction> with rod', from bridges(one can't use 'fish here with rod' from bridge), from boat(can use 'here'), or while swimming/standing in water('here' works too, but see ritual 7).

_Boats_
At the moment all boats are made at shipwright near Astug's hut. They come in 2 forms. Canoe and rowboat.
Canoes:
Cost 30 mithril
Don't have anchors, so they go with the flow(does _not_ interrupt fishing)
Can be carried in inventory(40.0kg 20.0l) and stored in lockers(inventory too).
Have small capacity(2 people only?) and can't be used to transfer mounts across water.
Rowboats:
Cost 50 mithril
Have anchors, and can be stopped at your favorite fishing place.
Can't be carried, can only be hauled by mounts. Need to be stored in stables, and you can't have a cart/wagon and a boat in same stable(help whine).
Can be used to transfer mounts over water(confirmed with goat, you need to ride it, and enter/exit, leading not ok). Large races can't enter rowboats(tested with firbolg), apparently realism has its grip on Icesus. I think it's impossible to transfer mammoths with boats, because of it, since you need to be pretty big to ride a mammoth(confirmation wanted). No idea on max capacity and max size to be able to enter a rowboat _yet_.
Help boats for more info(NOTE, entering a boat does not happen by 'enter <boat name>', but instead by 'enter rowboat'. Reported already.)

_What to do with the fish_
Fish is food. Cook and eat it(help cook/eat). There’s a small shop that specializes in fish “southeast of Vaerlon, just north of the bridge that crosses the river” where you can sell it, and a similar one in Vekkak, far away in northwest corner of the valley. The one that’s southeast from Vaerlon, is ran by Preran, who can also preserve the fish and put it on plaque, so you can show it to your friends. You can also sell fish to traveling merchants, if you find any, or you can sacrifice it for some df. If you're not going to do that, then you _should_ release(fish release) fish back to water so it can grow bigger. See R&R 1.

_Introduction to R&R_

As with many skills based purely on luck, fishing has many rituals and rules that fisherman consider sacred, despite laughter that can be heard from ones who have not yet experienced the wonders of fishing addiction. There are no common rituals, and you can't study them anywhere, you learn them with time as you meditate while watching as waves play with your float. Following rituals are mine, and they can be freely adapted or ignored to suit your superstitious needs.

_Rituals&Rules of fishing_

-2 Don't cheat. help robots/fishing
-1 Have fun.
0. You must worship Lady Luck. :)
1. Most important rule, don't leave piles of fish on the ground! Fishes release deadly poison when they rot, and that poison soaks through the earth into the groundwater and spread along with it, making all water around poisonous for all creatures alike(including other fishes). Same goes for worms, although with less dramatic effects.
2. Releasing the small fish back into the water, in hope that when it's time for it to die from old age, it will remember you, and will find your hook to express its gratitude. Use 'fish release' to do that.
3. Fishes that are not released, nor eaten, must find their way into one of the many trashcans scattered around the world. Soul of the fish can then be reborn, maintaining the fish population. Eating the fish has same effect, but rebirth will take longer time, due the pain fish suffers during cooking & chewing.
4. Not using balance unless it's fishing event, or there's a chance that it will improve your record in fishing. One will use 'inventory weight' command to determine weight of the fish, and then dispose of the fish in a suitable way. Using labeling feature of the balance, is believed to bring bad luck.
5. Fishing with another fisher in same room, brings luck to one of them, leaving the other one envy. I can't decide whether it's good or bad, but in my experience you get more fish when 'party fishing'. Fish sizes are much smaller tough, since other fisher will see the fish, and you can't exaggerate it.
6. In order to maintain his reputation fisher must use exaggerate emote once in a while on [chat] or [hunters], however no more than 1-2 times / real world month. One must also use [wanted] channel once per 2 real world months, to ask for [fishers] channel, even if one think there's no use for it(hunters got their channel, why can't we have one?).
7. Fishing 'here'(fish here with rod) is believed to bring more fish, HOWEVER only if you have no contact with water. This can be easily done if you're a beholder, or with flying mount that we will one day see. Those less fortunate can ask a mage to cast floating on itself(mostly recommended to mages themselves, since there's not warning for end of spell), or with a boat.
8. Naming your boat with _english_ sea related name(no mockery allowed) is believed to have positive effect on ones fishing luck.
9. Again, having a friend in same boat has same effects as in ritual number five. Tossing someone overboard will scare fishes away, making fishing impossible for hours.
10. Many fishing rods were broken on heads of fellow fisherman during the say/tell/channel debates. Many believe that saying anything will scare the fish, as it will hear the fishermen and swim away, or ignore the hook. Many think that tells and channel messages are undetected by fish. Whisper command got less attention but it seems least risky. Shout is most dangerous, good thing that mere mortals are not allowed to use it. Some fishermen consider this being a foolish debate, as fish don't even have ears, but who knows? I wouldn't want to loose that GIGANTIC sturgeon just because I emoted a loud 'Moooooo!' while fishing. Effects of 'fortune' command are yet undebated.
11. Same as with hunting, during the fishing event it's very helpful to be named Thakkrad. Reason for this is unknown, maybe it's some kind of magical word, or maybe even the name of the God of Water. Also, it's very helpful when 'idle thakkrad' shows a lot of time, during event. It gives tremendous boost to self-confidence, although not as much as in hunting event. Numerous reports of Thakkrad being linkdead or otherwise not present during fishing/hunting event, are all considered fake, as it's against the logic of Icesus.
12. Keeping your worms inside a hole on the shore, is believed to keep them fresh and tasty for the fish. However not covering the hole when you leave, will invoke my personal wrath upon you, and that's reason enough to cover them. Having your worms in bait box, is considered less effective, as we have not yet found a way to add earth into box.
13. Having aliases for fishing is considered bad, not having them might be considered stupid. Your choice.

__Practice__
Primary: help fish, help dig
Secondary: help boats, help trap, help fortune, help cook, look at balance
Go to Astug's hut(tradition, you can use survival guild shop as well), buy balance. Buy rod if you don't have one. Buy shovel if you're not planning to buy one somewhere else. Buy bait box if you feel fancy.
Find water, fish.

__F.A.Q.__
Q: Can I make my own fishing rods?
A: No you can't, at least not at the moment. This might change when artisans come here, or when improvised eq planned by Thoran is introduced.

Q: What can I use fish for?
A: You can naturally eat it, preferably after cooking. You also can sell it, either to Preran, who has a small shop “southeast of Vaerlon, just north of the bridge that crosses the river”, or to the fish shop in Vekkak(small village in northwest corner of the valley) that will buy fish. Preran can also preserve the fish and put it on plaque, so you can brag to your friends later. If you manage to find one of the traveling merchants, you can sell fish to them, or you can sacrifice fishes for a little df. You can also start a combat by throwing a fish at your opponent's face, if that fits your role-playing needs :)

Q: What is this 'wrath' you're talking about?
A: I haven't decided yet, but apparently it consists of major headache that is buggedly targeted at me.

_Credits:_
Thanks to Tanstai for bothering me with boats thing(see below). I was really bad of me, talking about boats, when I never owned one.
Thanks to Allanon for reminding me that you can sacrifice fish and sell it to merchants(I didn't manage to find them to confirm).
Thanks to Marcus for decreasing typo population of this howto. Hopefully they're are all gone now :)
Thanks to Kanje for awakening me and actually updating this thing.*hide,apologize*

All suggestions, typo reports, corrections will be noted, fixed and credited for, unless they're not.
Above text can be used for any purpose except for printing it on toilet paper.
Credit to author would be nice, but as long as you don't claim to be the author you don't have to mention me.
Etadan looks around lazily and lets out a loud 'Mooooooo!'
Last edited by etadan on Mon Sep 12, 2005 14:23 pm, edited 11 times in total.
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tanstai
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Post by tanstai »

*noted the help whine already*

So if mounts can enter rowboats, why not large races? :shock:

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Post by labinac »

damn rowboats and their anti-b'rogh designs

lab
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etadan
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Post by etadan »

labinac wrote:damn rowboats and their anti-b'rogh designs
I wonder if you should try to 'idea' rafts. They're cheaper, much harder to control, but with b'rough strength and a long pole it wouldn't be a big problem..
Not sure if a normal raft could hold a b'rough, someone who forgot less about physics could do some calculations. We could always blame magic tough :)

Rafts could be something that Master Artesans would be able to make..
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Post by maruxus »

If you can think of it and it can be built with stone, wood, gems, metal or some combo of the above artisans will probably be able to build it :wink:
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Moo

Post by etadan »

I'm sure they can make rafts, but will these rafts be able to hold a b'rough? Non magical raft required to keep b'rough above waterlevel might be big enough to work as a bridge(even cover the whole room, lol). And if it's magical, artesans might not be able to make them. Same as with magic(..can always blame magic..) we(you) can make a npc do it. They're not limited to one class only.
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labinac
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Post by labinac »

just how big is a brough again...?
a whole room..? come on they cant be THAT big... ill check the race info....
....
....
....
....
..........is it even on the site now?

ill check and see if theres anything on their actual size in a help file (i think it was like 7 meters tall?) when the reboot is over...

lab
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"The good are innocent and create justice. The bad are guilty, wich is why they invent mercy."
etadan
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Moo

Post by etadan »

I meant that raft might have to be that big, to keep... reread message.
Brough is smaller, but height doesn't matter. What matters is how much he weights.

B'rogh description, 1st line:
B'roghs are the biggest race in Icesus. They are tall and slim humanoid giants, who can become up to five meters tall.
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Post by labinac »

ah ok i see what you meant. sorry bout that...

i really depends how you make the raft dont you think? if weight is the problem im sure theres a way to counter it with some bouyancy (spelling?) of some sort...

shrug.

lab
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tanstai
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Post by tanstai »

I still think they should be able to fit...even long ago they built boats that could carry LOTS of people over oceans, and the rowboat is supposed to be able to hold several medium sized creatures. So B'roghs are big, but bigger than several humans combined??? :shock:

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hrmm..

Post by lemi »

well they *eat* more than several humans combined.
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tanstai
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Post by tanstai »

lol, metabolism is irrelevant! I've known small people that eat more than people twice their size.

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Post by labinac »

if broghs are really that big then they should get another race combat ability other than just slam. like....... sitting on their enemies or something... something that big sitting on you is bound to crush SOMETHING! :D

lab
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Moo

Post by etadan »

Woah, moderators don't sleep :)
Anyways, done some calculations at home, and it seems like 2 logs that are 10m long, and with radius of 0.25m are enough to keep 1600kg afloat(3/4 of the log underwater)(man, that's some cool water skies for b'rogh!), i didn't check weight of mammoth in hunter's guild yet, and of course even with it's weight we have no idea how much they can carry(ants for example can carry many times more than they're own weight), so it doesn't realy mean anything..
Sigh, record mammoth is ~6000kg, well that's about 10 logs, making the raft 5m by 10m.
Conclusion 1. Even if it's possible to make rafts that big(easy), are by no means 'draggable' with mounts(even if the road is wide enough, try dragging that on rough terrain. btw, do boats have wheals?)
Conclusion 2. Altough boats have much better size/useful cargo (me bad english) relation, it's still prety much possible that b'roghs can't use them(at least while riding a mammoth). :( Sorry all
Last edited by etadan on Wed Oct 20, 2004 17:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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