Dexter's Gone Fishing! (side quest)

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter takes his own turn to chuckle. "I wish I did have a magic trick or two to pull out of my sleeve. Might come in handy."

"Nope, most Hobbits, as we call ourselves, are as normal as you tall folks. Mind you, there are a few of us, like Mayor Daisy, that are chosen by their Gods to be healers and such. But I've never even heard of a Hobbit wizard. Don't think there is such a thing."

"'Course, we're quiet as can be, and we can hide so fast it might look like magic, but it's mostly just practice."

"Now elves? You never know what to expect from those guys."

[OGRE MAGE]

The men all laugh at the comment about elves, nodding emphatically.

“Really? I guess I always thought of halfling.....hobbits...as more akin ta little elves, what with the pointy ears and foot hair and all. No disrespect meant, a course.”

Joe keeps tension on the net line with his hand, feeling for any vibrations on the ropes, as the men slow their pace at the oars. He points at some gear in the bottom of the boat, to a string of dried coconut shells held together by a looped green plant stem stuck through the holes. The contraption looks a bit like an all natural jungle bracelet, made for a giant.

“You know how ta use one a them, Dex?”

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

"Not really," says Dex, eyeing the item. "I guess it's some kind of float to keep the net at a certain depth?"

[OGRE MAGE]

Joe smiles and grabs the handmade device.

He plunges it into the water and shakes it violently for a moment before stopping. Then he slaps it hard into the waters surface a few times before shaking the shells vigorously again.

"You getting the ider, Dex?"

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter shrugs. "Unless that is making a noise that attracts fish," he says hopefully. "I truly don't know."

[OGRE MAGE]

Joe laughs.

"That's exactly what its for. Aint ya ever seen one a these things before?"

"We seen the natives doing this when we first arrived here, so it must work, right?"

"I think it is supposed to attract the attention of predatory fish, cuz it sounds like something in distress."

"Ya wanna try it out?"

The two men at the oars just smile at the halfling coyly.

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter looks nervously into the water. "Say, you fellas wouldn't let one a' those predatory fish go and pull me out of the boat, right? You'd give me a head's up, right?" But if they say he's safe, Dexter will take the shells and get ready to splash up a storm with them.

Dexter wouldn't know this reference, but he would know this is what he's scared of.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I91DJZKRxs

[OGRE MAGE]

The three men smile wide.

“Ye know, none a us want ta get yanked from the boat either, right Dex? Believe me, we’ll be sure ta warn ye.”

Dex splashes the shells in the water for a while, but he doesn’t see any fish.

Then he notices Joe staring intently at the other boat.

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Noticing Joe, Dex follows the fisherman's gaze, hoping to see what the man is looking at.

[OGRE MAGE]

"You guys seeing that?" Joe exclaims with a worried tone.

The other boat is pretty much doing the same thing as your boat, rowing out to sea slowly with their nets dragging behind the boat, as usual.

It slowly becomes obvious what Joe is referring to when Dex sees the front of the boat veer slightly through the water, in the opposite direction of your boat.

When the jerking motion happens again, Joe speaks up. "There! That! Did any of you see that?" Are they drifting further away from us?"

It does seem like there is a wider distance in between the boats from when you started out.

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

"So they got something big enough to pull their boat around?" Dexter asks excitedly. "Should we paddle over there and help them?" He pulls in the coconut chain, and grabs a line from their net. He doesn't pull the net in, but looks to Joe questioningly for guidance.

[OGRE MAGE]

Joe doesn't take his eyes off the other boat, his silence after Dexter's questions causing the halfling even more concern.

Their boat gently veers along the water again, causing Joe to hold both his hands up in the air towards them. The men in that boat see the signal and start pulling in the ropes attached to their submerged nets.

A sudden jerk is then felt in Dexter's boat, causing an audible gasp from the two men at the oars. Joe spins around, his attention now focused on what just happened.

"I aint sure what that was, but lets check these nets boys! Start pulling them in! Quickly now!"

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Hearing Joe's order, Dexter reaches out and takes a handful of net and begins pulling. He is careful not to lean too far over the edge of the boat, but gives it everything he has otherwise. Hand over hand and trying to match pace with the others. "Maybe something has been keeping the fish away from the island and they've all been waiting here for us? Wouldn't that be nice?" he asks hopefully. In truth, he has actually suspected something like that, as he didn't think Joe and the others would be enough to truly fish-out even a small area of a true ocean.

[OGRE MAGE]

There is enough tension on the net ropes to make the fishermen pull with all their might, and still struggle to get the heavy net aboard.

Dex is the first one to see a huge tuna surface as they pull, wondering how many fish it would take to make the underwater net this heavy. Then, just like that, the tension is gone and the men all fall backwards into the boat at Joes feet.

Struggling to right themselves again, the men concentrate on regaining control over their catch, whatever it may be. As they continue to pull, Joe looks over to the other boat again.

"Son of a BITCH!" The mans sudden nervous outbreak sends a chill up the fishermen's spines.

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter is afraid of doing something wrong, so he keeps his eyes, and hands, on the net and what the other fishermen in his boat are doing. He does call out to Joe, though. "What?!! What's going on over there??"

[OGRE MAGE]

Dexter doesn't need to look in the direction of the other boat to see what has Joe concerned. While he and the other two fishermen continue to pull in their nets, they continue to feel varying degrees of tension on the ropes. Though he cant be sure what to make of this oddity, he does suddenly spot the other boat off the back of their boat, now moving backwards, perpendicular to their path instead of running alongside them as they were the entire trip so far. He also notices that their boat seems to be picking up speed as they pass about 50 feet off their stern.

The 4 sailors in that boat all look terrified as they try to keep the craft upright in the water. Joe shouts out at the top of his lungs.

"CUT THE ROPES IF YOU HAVE TO!!! SAVE YERSELVES IF YE CAN!!!"

The pair helping Dex pull also look terrified, but slightly less so.

[SirOwen]

re: The nets on Dexter's boat.

While Dex is no expert, do the ropes on the nets that Dexter is pulling just seem like a very heavy load of fish, or like one, very big something trying to catch us?

[OGRE MAGE]

There are strange varying degrees of tension.

Sometimes it feels like there is a good load of fish flopping around.

Then it gets really hard to pull again, as if there is something trying to prevent being caught.

Then it settles again and becomes easier to drag in.

I'm certainly no expert either, (though I have watched The Deadliest Catch a few times ) but this doesn't seem normal to him or the others.

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

As long as there seems to be advances made in pulling up the net, Dexter continues to give his all to getting the fish on board.

[OGRE MAGE]

Joe continues to shout towards the other boat, but it continues to be pulled through the water backwards, away from the boat Dex is in.

With nothing else they can do for them, the fishermen keep pulling, eventually feeling a huge release on the ropes tension. Dex keeps pulling, soon spotting their first fish stuck in the netting.

Joe's voice can be heard over the tumult once again, yelling out to the departing boat.

"SON OF A BITCH!!! CUT THE ROPES BEFORE YE GO UNDER!!! CUT THE DAMN ROPES!!!!!"