DoA Trappers: Salescales | Tatlitli, (Vozgall)

Fishing entry for Tatlitli aq696

Adventure December 2023 for Vozgall if113

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It was so difficult to choose just one thing to buy, when the Frost Festival had brought so many fantastic foreign goods to Evergreen Port. Oh, there would always be other trading opportunities, but there were many merchants who only bothered to haul their goods this far north for special occasions just such as this one, and there was no guarantee they’d return next year. The alternative was for Vozgall to go find them herself, but the thought of traveling many long days and nights through snowless lands was not an appealing one to her.

 

Which made Tatlitli’s offer all the more wonderful. Vozgall had nimbler paws than Tatlitli did, all the better to pry fish free of fishing nets with. 

 

All the traffic through the channel had frightened off many of the fish, but for some, that just meant diving deeper. Depth was no obstacle to Tatlitli, who was a water-breather, like a ship breaker. Vozgall had elected to wait on the surface this time, but she'd ridden down into the water before, so she could imagine what was going on.

 

Tatlitli would read the currents, seeing the wakes of ships through magic alone, without need for eyes. Angler bulb dulled to the dimmest glow, Tatlitli would find the most likely place for spooked fish to hide. More water magic would pull the net into position, and then Tatlitli would dart in with powerful beats of her club-like tail, and rustle the fish from their hiding places - straight into the net.

 

The dock was cold under Vozgall's rump, and she thought longingly of the festive bonfires scattered among the booths, many of them with spits and pots on, cooking delicious treats for the festival-goers. But Tatlitli's generous offer was too good to pass up - and she could bask by the fire all she wanted, when this task was done and she'd bought her treasures.

 

Speaking of the task to come, Tatlitli finally arrived. Vozgall sprung up onto all fours, but stayed out of the way as Tatlitli clawed up onto the dock. Vozgall did step in to help haul the fishing net out of the water, and marveled at how full it was. "So many fish! You really do know just how best to catch them, Tatlitli."

 

"Practice is all," said Tatlitli. "We'll stack 'em here for yours and there for mine. You know what to do?"

 

"Yes, I do. Untangle them, and then, ah, cull them." The latter was far from Vozgall's favorite activity, even though she quite liked meat. At times, she had to cull one of her own sheep, due to sickness or lameness or some other insurmountable ailment, but she never took much joy in the chore. She knew some dragons who did, but... well, no need to think too much about it.

 

Some of the fish were dark-scaled and plump, and these went into Tatlitli's pile. Others were small with precious little meat, but large and beautifully chromatic scales that could fetch a nice price at one particular booth. Tatlitli would ordinarily throw these back into the water, uninterested in hoarding currency that would then need to be towed around until it was spent. In this case, however, Vozgall received the fish, for the bargain price of simply assisting in their collection.

 

Tatlitli didn't shirk her part of the work, but Vozgall was a great deal quicker about it. She could stand on three paws and use the rest to pluck at the net and free the fish, before jabbing it behind the gill-plate with one of her thick claws. Tatlitli's process was much the same, slowed by her inescapable clumsiness whenever she was marooned on land.

 

"Is it easier for you to do this in the water?" asked Vozgall.

 

"Yes, but easier for the fish to swim away." answered Tatlitli.

 

"Ah, that wouldn't be good." Vozgall had learned that Tatlitli wasn't the most engaging conversationalist, but Vozgall was happy to fill the silence even without expecting many replies. "I must thank you again for giving me these scales. If my estimate is correct, it'll be just enough to buy both of the things I want. There's a merchant from Morvay selling good, strong thread, in the most wonderful orange color. I'll use it in my new set of barding. Of course that's the first thing to get. But the second - there's another merchant, a dweller, with dyes made from ground-up rocks, and it's the only place in the whole port to get that shade of blue. I thought if I dyed some of my wool, it might sell better, and then, next year perhaps I could-"

 

With a snort, Tatlitli tossed the last fish onto Vozgall's stack, and began to straighten, fold, and bind the net, so that it wouldn't become tangled during travel. Together, they'd made short work of the fish, and now Vozgall watched carefully as Tatlitli wrapped her fish in a similar way as the net, for much the same purpose. "Ah - might I borrow some of that - oh, thank you, Tatlitli."

 

Tatlitli hummed ambivalently, as Vozgall used the strands of kelp, already stripped of leaves and bulbs, to bind her gifted fish into a parcel of her own. "There we are, a pretty bit of merchandise to exchange at that swift wing's booth," Vozgall declared. "Oh - thank you again, Tatlitli!"

 

"Yes, yes," Tatlitli grumbled, already sliding back down into the water. "Enjoy your color things." And with that, Tatlitli vanished into the water, most likely off to eat her fresh fish somewhere secluded and quiet. 

 

Vozgall cradled the little bundle of sparkling fish with her broad arms, and trotted straight for the scale-merchant's booth, thoughts whirling with plans all wound in cheerful orange thread.