Fishing

Anyone can fish. Buy a rod and bait (worms, grubs or meat scraps) from the tackle seller, stand on the bank of any river, pond or lake facing the water, and type /fish (or /fish grubs to choose the bait). You sit down and cast, and a quill float lands on the water. Watch it: when it dips, something has bitten. Then the catch window opens. Hold Space or the mouse button to raise the hook, and keep it on the fish until the meter fills. Trout run hard, perch pull steadily and crayfish barely fight. Win, and the fish comes up out of the water on your line. A catch card then shows its size (small, fair, fine or a rare specimen), weight and length, what the fishmonger pays for it raw and cooked, and how it measures against your own best and the realm's record. /catches lists your best of each kind. Land the biggest in the realm and the crier spreads the news. Lose, and the fish swims off with your bait. Each bait likes its own fish: worms for perch, grubs for trout, meat for crayfish. Now and then you hook an old horseshoe, or a lost ring. Sell the catch to the fishmonger, or cook it at a hearth or campfire (/craft) and eat it. Fishermen by trade get bites sooner, a wider hook and levels. Get up, walk away or type /fish again to stop.