Discovered in the thick jungle just an bell's walk north of the bungalows, the Fish Ponds are relic builds from the days of Pavena when the citizens had to find creative ways to farm food. Made from reimancy, they've somehow avoided damage through the Valterrian and subsequent eras, sheltering their nutritious and very unique crop in the shadowy depths of their confines.
The Fish Ponds are located in a beautiful spot. There are flowers surrounding the ponds, shading the pools and providing the perfect habitat for its occupants. There are stone benches surrounding it, and once a path had been cleared the Fish Ponds are easily accessible from The Bungalows for any would-be fisherman or person seeking solitude and a pretty bunch of water and fish to watch.
There are twelve pools in all, some incredibly deep - upwards of twenty feet or more - with underhanging rims and stone structures below that allow for the denizens of the ponds to avoid predators and have places to raise their young. The ponds have an intake from one of The Maw's various streams, and they are all interconnected and drain down to the sea with a stream that leads to the ocean near the bungalows. That's how the rangers discovered the ponds themselves, by scouting up the waterway. While there are a variety of edible freshwater tropical fish in the ponds, the majority of the occupants are Catfish.
These catfish, coming in a wide variety of colors, can range from bright gold to deep orange, to albino and a beautiful olive green. They have sports in a wide variety of styles, such as deep olive with flame fins, or white with orange splotches. They can be white with olive fins, as all the various species have intermingled.
Slow moving, tame, but highly territorial, the catfish will rise to the top and surface if someone tosses food at them.
The catfish feed on fish that wander into their ponds via the intake. Frogs, salamanders, ducklings, and any sort of insect or semi-aquatic to aquatic visitors make up the rest of their diet. The catfish are scavengers and eat anything and everything. However, they themselves make a delicious meal. Predators have been fishing the ponds since their initial building, and with no guardian or watchful eye have more than once endangered the population of catfish to the point of near extinction. They tend to bounce back though since the fish are incredibly long-lived and avid spawners. And when they become overcrowded, they tend to eat each other which keeps them in check.
In short order, these catfish will become a favorite dish of the settlement which will claim the ponds and fish as their own. So what was once just catfish will in short order evolve into Sykan Catfish.
People with Expert level wilderness survival will be able to freely find the Fish Ponds by following the trail behind the bungalows. Those without need an escort to take them.
Nolan Alson
Name: Nolan Night
Race: Human
DoB: 480 A.V.
PoB: Syliras
Title: Fisherman
Skills: Fishing 85, Aquaculture 80, Animal Husbandry 81 (fish), Wilderness Survival 78, Scouting 68, Hunting 60, Broadsword 58, Shield 56, Foraging 55, Singing 45, Storytelling 40, Dagger 35
Gnosis: 1 Mark of Sylir
Like everything that happens in Syka, Nolan wandered into the scene just after the Fish Ponds were discovered. He found a place to live, a type of fish to study, fish for, and eat... and moved into the area. Not much is known about his background, though the Founders claim they know the full extent.
He has a Mark of Sylir which has hinted to people that he has a background in being a Syliran Knight, though he holds tight to his privacy and when not found at the Fish Pond can often be found at Mathias' deck. He speaks slowly, has a great deal of wisdom, and a very slow even temper.
Sykan Catfish
Below are some of the examples of the Sykan Catfish.
