Sacred 2:Book 8 - Fishing

Interesting Facts about Ancaria
Book 8

Fishing

How can I catch a fish? That’s the question every boy and girl asks when they see the glittering scales in the village pond. A fishing rod with a hook can be built in no time, but the bait is the first obstacle you have to overcome. Will the hook alone be enough, or will it work better if you attach a worm or a bloody piece of meat to it? The latter is indeed suitable for fishing sometimes, but you rarely find fish that are attracted by blood in a village pond. If you find it helpful in your village’s pond, you should tell someone that the pond isn’t safe for swimming anymore!

The basic requirements are simply something that covers the hook and moves in the water. Some fish eat plants, others mosquitoes and some even eat smaller fish or crab. With a little patience and some training you’ll soon learn which kinds of fish like what kind of bait, and what kind of water you’re likely to find certain kinds of fish in. You’ll also figure out which is the right moment to give the rod a tug, so the hook pierces the fish’s mouth allowing you to pull it in rather than gets pulled out of it. You’ll also notice that most of the people you started your fishing adventure with will soon get bored, and begin to herd goats or watch the tanner at work instead. If you find yourself enjoying being alone in a boat in the middle of the pond, making the bait out of feathers and small stones, you should seriously consider fishing as a profession.

There are many large and small fishing guilds in Ancaria. They’ve divided the fisheries along the seashores and in the huge lakes among themselves. Guild members show that they belong to a special guild and that they are allowed to fish in a certain lake or part of the sea by wearing specific colors. At especially desirable fisheries, like the ones near cities, there are often fights between competing guilds. Sometimes you can even witness a siege by hostile fleets. When the fighting subsides and the fishing is occurring it’s mostly accomplished with nets. The nets are thrown out from boats, or are bow nets. You can learn how to use them easily enough, but it takes much longer to find out where the good fisheries are located and which fish to catch there. An apprentice being trained by seasoned fisher shouldn’t need much more than one year to learn which areas their guild can fish, how to read the weather and to learn the basics of seamanship.

On rivers and lakes most fishers reject and distrust each other, but at sea they share the camaraderie of soldiers who have to face a common enemy every single day. Especially those who fish the Jade sea, with its numerous shallows and sudden unpredictable changes in the weather. Every fisher knows that one day it could be the boat of another fisher that saves their lives.

But then there are the ones who are respected by all fishers from the lakes, rivers, shores and oceans alike: the master fishers of Ancaria! They don’t belong to a guild, they won’t ever fight and they wear white scarfs to show their independence. Only other master fishers are allowed to train them. You call for them when you have to catch enormous fish, the ones that will tear apart each and every net and are able to shatter the boats with one single whip of their fins. Only armed with a harpoon will the master fishers fight them. They lead a very dangerous life, but they know that they are the best of the best. Becoming one of them is the dream of every fisher who sits in his boat in the middle of the pond.