Completed A Stomach More Empty Than A Coin Pouch (Oleander)

[Karyk]

Karyk looked at the firewood that Oleander had cut up, quite pleased with the results. This boy continued to impress with his work ethic. Karyk had definitely misjudged him initially. And a part of himself knew that by helping this boy, he was also improving himself. After all, he was no master, not even close on many of these things he'd taught. Karyk took some of the weed like plant the boy brought back, not recognizing it. He tried to add it to memory. After all, this was the boy's area of expertise, and since the boy trusted in him, he trusted the boy. It was a tall thin stalk, uniformly green. And the leaves that sprouted off of it looked like grass, and were a bit grey-green instead of just regular green. Looking closer, he noticed that each blade of 'grass' extended from a small branch too. The edges of each leaf were smooth, and even on each side. He felt the leaves between his calloused fingers, smooth, no waxiness or hairs. He sniffed at it a bit, wrinkling his nose a bit at the pungent smell. He couldn't quite place what it smelled like, maybe a hint of boiling tar that they used to seal ships' hulls with, though maybe just a bit sweeter, somehow... stickier smelling. He cast a slightly skeptical look toward the boy, but decided to go with it. "What's this plant called, herb boy?" His voice conveyed a bit of the skepticism, albeit unintentionally. Karyk then stood up, kicked off his boots, set the plant down. He grabbed a few of the logs and stacked them around the tinder in the fire, in a sort of horse shoe cone. He then moved over to the river's edge squishing immediately into the mud, his eyes scouring the shore and shallows. He slid his feet, feeling with his toes on his right, since two of them on the left were still splinted from that petching wolf attack. He felt something hard and he reached down and slipped his fingers in the mud, freeing a large, smooth, rounded rock. It was a bit bigger than what he wanted, but it would do for the other half of his purpose. He set it high on the shore. He continued this search for several minutes, not caring if it looked ridiculous. If it worked, it worked. Eventually he found a thick rock, again smooth and round, but smaller than the first. He rinsed all the mud off of it and left the water. He wiped off his feet as best he could before slipping back into his boots. He rolled down his pant legs so that his legs were completely covered. Then he stood over the large rock, raised the other above his head, and swung it down hard, throwing it at the bigger rock. It hit it with a thud, a shard breaking off the smaller one, hitting him right where the wolf had bit him in the left shin. "Mother petchin' whale shyke! Petchin' hells!" Once the pain stopped radiating up his leg, he retrieved the smaller rock, seeing that one edge had snapped off exposing a flat side. He pointed that side downward, and repeated the process. When it struck the large rock this time, it split in half, longways. Karyk pumped his fist with a bit of a cheer, and picked up both of the halves. The break was mostly clean. Karyk moved over to the fire, set the two halves in the missing side of the cone, not directly in the flames, but close enough to get heated. Karyk sat down, assuming the leaves of the stinky sweet herb were the spice and plucked several off, rubbing them into the meat of the two halves of the fish. leaving several in place. He waited a few chimes for the rocks to heat up, then with a stick, moved them a bit further from the heat, and set his fish atop one of the stones, skin side down, herb rubbed fish facing upward. Soon the air smelled sweeter from the herb, and savory from the fish, and Karyk's stomach was grumbling quite loudly. Karyk leaned back onto his elbows staring up into the branches above him. "Ya ain't half bad, herb boy. What do ya like about your plants, with your gardenin'? I don't know much about 'em, 'cept for trees. I know those half decent." Karyk knew it wouldn't take too long for the fish to cook. That was the best part about fish, very quick to cook. Eventually he sat up, and moved his rock completely away from the fire with a stick. The fish was a bit charred around the edges and on top, but Karyk didn't mind. He knew the skin would stick to the stone, but he didn't know how to stop that. But this way kept more of the guts and scales and bones from being eaten like stick roasting them might do. He waited for it to cool, then plucked a piece of the charred, white flesh off, and popped it in his mouth. It was heaven. He didn't care that it was a bit sweet, or a bit tougher than proper cooks might make, but after so long without food, there was nothing better. After that first bite he quickly devoured it, and soon he was content. Not full by any means, but definitely comfortable. "That hit the spot."

[Oleander Soleran]

Oleander

Oleander could almost hear the raised eyebrow in Karyk’s question about the nature of the herb he had gathered, but he did not show any reaction to it. He was used to people not quite trusting a boy’s judgement on potentially poisonous plants, and while it annoyed him, he had learned to ignore it. Instead, he twirled a stem of the acicular plant between his fingers and told Karyk what he wanted to know. “This is terragon, though some people call it different names. Names are a matter of region, I suppose.” He shrugged and joined Karyk by the newly erected cooking space. “That’s a good construction.” He himself could not have chipped a rock like this. After a moment, he continued his remark on the plant: “You can find it in most herb gardens, as well as most forests. It’s common, and the needles and scent make it easy to recognize.”

They had to wait for a long moment before the stones were hot enough to be cooked on, and Oleander’s stomach growled in anticipation. They bridged the wait with conversation. “Plants wait and nature listens,” Oleander said, replying to Karyk’s question. His connection towards life was hard to explain, really. He understood it, but he could not put it into adequate words. “They’re silent, compared to the buzz of humanity, but they’re just as alive, Karyk, they can help and heal, they can poison and destroy. The will flourish if you take time for them, and sustain you. They’ll perish if you neglect them. It’s the same with animals, but I concentrate on plants more, since they will help me heal people once I know enough about them.” This was not nearly enough to explain what he felt, but he shook his head, lacking better words.

“Now tell me, why do you build ships? A family thing, since it’s the greatest business in Zeltiva? Or something you privately enjoy?”

The scent of grilled fish hang heavily in the air, and Oleander’s mouth began to water much like a dog’s would. His hunger was increasing his smell of scent, and he could hardly wait until the meal was done. When Karyk took his own fish from the fire, Oleander did likewise, and burned his fingertips when he started to pluck it apart before it had time to cool. The hunger was greater than the pain, and when he finally took the first bite, it felt like heaven. He was proud to have remembered that tarragon was a good cooking spice, and it complimented the fish.

Hungry as they had been, their meal did not last very long, and while Oleander did not feel stuffed, the hole of starvation in his belly had become a little smaller. “Do you think we can catch a couple more before we head back?”, he asked Karyk with a hopeful shimmer in his eyes. “I’d like to bring some for my father and sister. They’re as hungry as everyone else. Eating fish here while they’re starving does not feel right.” It was past noon by now, and now that he had eaten, a certain, natural kind of weariness was settling into his bones. He could imagine sitting down with a fishing pole for a while longer and watching the clouds drift by while he waited for fish to bite.

Regardless of Karyk’s reply, Oleander would snatch another hook from his pack and start tying it to his fishing rod’s line, only to remember the look Karyk has given his knot earlier. “Hey, do you mind showing me a firm knot to tie my hooks with?”, he asked the shipwright. “It’d be a shame if a fish tore loose just because I don’t know how to fixate them properly.”

[Karyk]

Tarragon. Easy enough name to remember. Karyk said it aloud a couple of times to commit it to memory. He smiled as he listened to Oleander speak. It was very easy to relate to, he could see that to the boy, plants were more than a job. They were his passion. When asked about his own interest in crafting ships, he smiled. "When I were young, I was a bit of a handful. Not so much with trouble, just more energy than sense, ya know? So every time my dad got a day off, he'd take me out into the woods, give me an axe, and help me fell a tree. I thought I were doin' it to help him out, which I liked. But he did it because it calmed me down enough that I weren't pesterin' mom when she was nursin' my sister Natya. As I got older, mom took me and Nat to work with her. Nat preferred talkin' to everyone in the yard, but I loved spendin' time with tools in my hands. The more mom and dad taught me of buildin' ships, the calmer I became, and the stronger I grew. Ships just ain't about shippin' people and stuff and catchin' fish. Ships are about family. Ships take a family to build, they take a family to sail, and they are just as much apart of the family as the people. Ships are the calm in the sea, the strength that gets sailors home. Ships are the best kind of person. Strong, calm, caring, able to protect anyone in the worst storm. And every ship I built, I put a piece o' me in it. Every time a ship don't sink, it's cuz I helped build her right. Every time those merchants carry all those fancy things down the gangplank, its cuz the ship cared for them, because we cared for the ship. Zeltiva ain't a port. She's a family, gives birth to all us people and ships. We take care of each other, and we take care of her." Karyk smiled after having spoken so much, his chest a bit swelled with pride. Even more so when shortly after the boy asked to be shown a proper fisherman's knot. "Yeah, I'll show ya, but put that rod away before it breaks." Karyk rolled on his hip, reached over and grabbed the rod he'd carved earlier, setting it across his lap. He took the hook to his mouth as he used his incisors to loosen the knot on it. He held the hook in one hand, and the line in the other. "Through the cave, travel a day," pulling about ten inches of line through the eye of the hook. "The fisherman traveled round the world five times," wrapping the lead line around the standing line five times. "Before he finally came home," passing the lead over the five wraps and back through the eye. "But he walked in his house all wet," he popped the unfinished knot in his mouth to lubricate it. "So his wife kicked him out so hard that he flew away," with this he tightened the knot slowly. Once done, he held it up and showed Oleander, before undoing it again, and handed the boy the rod and hook. "That's your rod now boy. It's a bit heavier for ya right now, but that's good for ya. Will get easier the more ya use it. Ya can cut extra at the end of the knot. Not too short though, or it might slip more easily on a heavy fighter." With that Karyk stood up, clasped the boy on the shoulder firmly, giving it a friendly shake, before grabbing his own rod. He went back to his spot on the bank, plucked out a bitey worm, swore for a moment when it latched onto his skin. He extricated it, and hooked it easily, and did a deep forward cast down stream, plopping it right down in the middle. "By the way boy, I cast down stream cuz these fish don't seem to like our talkin' and they can see us on the edge. But those ones down there can't see me."

[Oleander Soleran]

Oleander

Oleander listened with interest as Karyk told him about his own childhood and family. It was strange, some people, you knew for years, and still you knew nothing about them. He had met Karyk only today, and they were already sharing their stories and drive, despite how different they were in origin and age. It sounded like Karyk felt the same way on a ship that Oleander did in a garden, so despite never having set foot on a boat in his life, he could relate. He did not feel the same way about Zeltiva; the city was foreign to him, he had not spent enough time here yet, had not found something about it that he truly loved. Zeltiva was Karyk’s home, but it was not Oleander’s. Maybe it would feel like home one day, when he was part of the university, or later, when he had his own apothecary…

While his mind wandered, Karyk finished speaking and stood up. He did not quite catch the last remarks, but when the man returned with another fishing rod, the one he had made before, Oleander put his own one aside to watch. He placed it behind where they were seated, safely away from the remnants of the fire, and watched and listened once more as Karyk demonstrated the fisher’s knot, and tried to remember the mnemonic that went with it. Karyk had shown him many new things today, and he doubted that he would be able to recreate them all in a couple of days, but remembering a good, tight knot might come in handy in the future. While the man worked slowly so that Oleander could follow, the boy still found it difficult to recreate the knot when the shipwright undid it and handed him the fishing rod.

“Thank you,” he said as he accepted the fishing rod, “I’ll keep it, but I’d like to use my own until it breaks.” Perhaps it was unreasonable to be proud of the makeshift rod he had carved, as opposed to the much better one Karyk had given him, but the man himself had taught him not to throw his work away. “I’ll use yours when mine is bust, okay?” He exchanged the new rod for his old one on his lap and started tying the know Karyk had shown him.

He wove the thread through the hook’s eye, then pulled on it a little. Travel a day, Karyk had called it, but the distance was still an approximation. “Around five times…”, the boy murmured as he did his best to weave the end he had just pulled through the eye around the standing line. It twisted in his hand as he did so, and the loops were not quite as even as Karyk’s, but after some fiddling, he managed. “Then home.” Back through the eye, and almost done. Oleander forgot to wet the knot before he tightened it, however, and when he pulled on the line, it snapped. “Petch!”

Realizing his mistake, he tied the knot again, with less problems. The knot Karyk has shown him was not terribly hard to tie once tried. This time, Oleander wet the line before he pulled on it, and the knot tightened like Karyk’s had before. He proceeded to borrowed the man’s knife to shorten the excess line. Satisfied, he showed the result to the shipwright, then grabbed his rod and a bitey worm and went back to his own fishing spot. This time, before he cast his line, he took a chime to look for a nice, pointy stone that sat well in his hand. If he caught another fish, he wanted to have an easier time ending its life.

He cast his line downstream like Karyk had advised, and this time, it landed right in the middle of the stream. Oleander knew it was a lucky throw, not a skilled one, but he still settled comfortably and waited for fish to bite.

[Karyk]

Karyk was a bit surprised at the boy's response when given the rod. Surprised that he himself had even suggested wasting a usable tool, more surprised that the lesson had stuck so well on the boy. It made him proud of the boy, and slightly ashamed of himself, for not heeding his own lesson. He chuckled a bit, perhaps this boy could teach him more than just the names of fancy weeds. From his spot, he watched the boy head downstream, and set back to work. Karyk whistled a light tune while waiting, finger holding the line against the rod, feeling for that telltale bounce. Karyk peered into the water right by where he sat, not moving much more than his eyes, so as to not startle the fish. He saw plenty of the spotted brown fish, wondering what they were called. They were quite delicious, and put up an entertaining fight when caught. He decided he'd call them Freckled Browncoats. And he knew his father would know their proper name, but part of him didn't even want to ask, amused with the name he'd come up with. He watched the fish closely, seeing them sit right below the water's edge and wait. He watched as a mosquito flew down to the water's edge, and that's when the fish struck, swallowng the mosquito before it could even think to escape. It gave Karyk an idea, one that the boy had used earlier. Karyk reeled in his line, pulled the dead bitey worm from the hook, and tossed it into the stream. He got up, went over to the wood pile, and scanned the surfaces of the bark. He looked and looked until he found himself a piece that was suitable. He broke of a small chunk carefully, picking one that had a small bug created hole in it. Karyk sat back down by the creek, and untied his knot with his teeth, removing the hook. He then tied a triple simple knot in the line, then slide the line below the knot through the bark hole. He then tied a quick fisherman's knot through the hook. This let the hook hang just a bit below the bark. Karyk grabbed another bitey worm, threading it on the hook, and cast it back into the stream. The hook landed in the stream, a bit hard to the left. Karyk pulled right and reeled it in just a bit to center it up. The bark floated, and the knot above it kept the hook from sinking far. Karyk watched and waited, and it didn't take long until he felt that sought after bounce. He saw the bark dip below the surface, and one the second bounce, Karyk pulled back, feeling it catch. He stood up, and began reeling quickly, not wasting any time, guiding the fish around the various obstacles, until he landed it, cracking its skull, and hanging it up. Karyk smiled, and kept at it, landing several fish, to take back and give to his sister, parents, nieces and nephews. He didn't bother to clean them, leaving that to his sister who could do it much better than he could ever to hope for. When he was satisfied, and the pair of them were out of bitey worms, he began cleaning up. He dumped the bucket of water and mud onto the fire, snuffing it. He grabbed some rope from his pack, cutting two lengths. He then stood the firewood upright and draped the rope behind the first pile. Out loud, one end in each hand, "The dhani chased the cat around the tree," he wrapped the right hand side around the pile so that it came to same side as the other. "But the Dhani was slow, and thought the cat went into the cave, and followed." He passed the 'Dhani' side under where the lines had crossed. "They both ran forever, never meeting again," and he pulled both ends opposite and the knot tightened, bundling the wood securely. "And that's the constrictor knot." He quickly tied up Oleander's bundle. He gathered up his tools and gear, cleaned them all, and packed them away. He slung his pack over his shoulders. He broke off the branch he'd hung his fish from, and held it in hand with his rod. With his only free arm, Karyk picked up the bundle of firewood, slinging it over his opposite shoulder for leverage, keeping it held with his hand. He saw the boy still over at his fishing spot, shouting, knowing it would briefly scare the fish, "Don't stay out too late herb boy. Gets dangerous out here. Ya did well today. Come by the shipyard anytime." And with nothing more than a nod, he went back to the city, to deliver today's catch to his family, a smile on his face, and a whistle escaping his lips.

[Oleander Soleran]

Oleander

Over the course of the afternoon, Oleander managed to catch four more of the speckled fish, but one was so small he freed it off the hook, still caught in its mouth, and threw it back. Whether his luck was with him, a god was listening to his prayers, or what Karyk has taught him over the course of the afternoon was already bearing fruit, he could not tell. Perhaps it was a mixture of all those things. He had almost missed the telltale signs of the second fish biting – the circular waves spreading from his hook, the float temporarily diving underwater – since the sun was setting when it found his bait. It nibbled on the bitey worm, first, then swallowed the rest. Suddenly, something was tugging on the boy’s line, and he was snapped out of the thoughts he had lost himself in. Nothing had bitten for a bell, and he had mostly given up on the idea of catching another fish, already. The only reason he even still sitting there was the fact that he enjoyed the spot – it was calm, it was nice. He did not want to go anywhere else, just for the sake of comfort.

He fought this fish as soon as he realized its existence. It was a struggle, truly. All of these brown fish were quite lively in their struggle for life, and Oleander was still inexperienced. Multiple fish had slipped from his grip today, he had tied many a merry fisherman’s knot to fix new hooks at the end of his lines, slowly getting routine at the loops and weaves, and he desperately wanted to catch this one. He sharply pulled it back to the shore, almost strong enough to snap the line, but this time, it held. The fish flopped wildly over the bare earth near the water’s edge, and he practically had to pounce on it to fixate it in one spot. He could feel the flailing fins under his fingers, and reached for his stone in desperation. His fingers found it, and he grabbed it and smashed the fish’s head.

Karyk was shouting his goodbyes while Oleander was still occupied with his last catch of the day. He called a thank you and goodbye after the shipwright, but was not certain the man still heard it. He would need to find him near the harbour one of the following days to thank him properly.

With a smile, Oleander took his three fish, tied together the pieces of line they were still hanging from, and tried not to get his clothes too wet from carrying them. To his surprise, he found that Karyk had left him a bundle of firewood, neatly tied together with yet another knot he did not know and wanted to ask him about the next time they met. He picked it up, heavy enough, and made his way back to the city before it was too late and dark to recognize where he was setting his feet. Karyk had long vanished between the shadows of trees, and Oleander had to find his own path. The trickiest part was finding the spot where he had originally met Karyk, but once his feet splashed into the puddle of bitey worms, he was back on track. It was easy to follow the same carvings and track of bare earth that had led him here, and soon, he was back in the University City, feathery steps leading him home.

Today, he would cook dinner.

[Karyk]

 

Karyk

Skills
Singing: 1
Foraging: 1
Observation: 5
Leadership: 2
Trapping: 1
Socialization: 2
Woodcutting: 2
Carving: 1
Fishing: 4
Teaching: 2
Bodybuilding: 1
Cooking: 2
Botany: 1
Flintknapping: 1
Wilderness Survival: 1
Nodeology: 1
Lores
Song: All For Me Bread
Fishing Bait: Bitey Worms
Bitey worms are attracted to blood
Bitey worm bites don't cause pain
Oleander Soleran, gardener and herbalist
Woodcutting: Determining which direction a tree should fall
Woodcutting: Using staggered notches to direct a tree's fall
Botany: Identifying Tarragon
Flintknapping: Making a hotplate from stones
Oleander: Truly appreciates plants in nature
Fishing: Identifying 'Freckled Browncoats'
Fishing: Using bark as a float
Miscellaneous

 

Notes and Comments

CS Checkmarked: ✓
CS Reviewed by Me: ✓
Previous Season Expenses Paid (Spring 517): ✓

 

Oleander Soleran

Skills
Wilderness Survival: 2
Botany: 2
Observation: 5
Socialization: 2
Carving: 2
Fishing: 4
Cooking: 2
Woodcutting: 1
Herbalism: 1
Teaching: 1
Nodeology: 1
Lores
Wilderness Survival: Stick to traveled paths when able
Botany: Starflowers, white blossoms, bloom in summer, no practical use
Fishing Bait: Bitey Worms
Bitey worms are attracted to blood
Bitey worm bites don't cause pain
Karyk Southwind, shipwright and woodworker
Woodworking: Holding near the axe head allows for better control
Respect all of your tools
Karyk: Does not tolerate disrespect toward tools
Woodworking: Dead branches make weak fishing rods
Fishing: Cover a hook with bait
Fishing: Wriggling bait is good bait
Fishing: Using a cork as a float
Wilderness Survival: Clearing debris to prevent wild fire
Wilderness Survival: Building a campfire
Fishing: How to remove a hook from a fish
Cooking: Cleaning a fish
Tarragon smells like Anise
Karyk: Believes ships represent community and family
Nodeology: Fisherman's Knot
The Fisherman's Knot Poem
Fishing: How to cast for fish that can see and hear you
Miscellaneous

 

Notes and Comments

CS Checkmarked: ✓
CS Reviewed by Me: ✓
Previous Season Expenses Paid (Spring 517): ✓

Still my absolute favorite thread. Oleander please mark the post in the Queue as Graded

Edit Note: Added in some Nodeology skill after discussion of whether it was in fact a skill or not.