[OPEN] April and May Catch-All Log

[fishfearme]

WHO: Byleth & YOU
WHAT: Various adventures, wandering the wilderness and quests! Happy to do closed starters on request!
WHEN: All of April
WHERE: All over the city and Seasonal Segments
WARNINGS: TBA

❄ I. The Daily Life of a Cryptid Mercenary.

[Despite being given a room for personal use in the Winter Guild, Byleth still preferred to strike out in the wilderness or less populated parts of Nightwake City's outskirts. As such, he can be found roaming around, living his best life as a feral mercenary - it's like he never left Fódlan.

So, what can he be found doing? Well...]

Seasonal Segments

WINTER

🎄 WINTER SEGMENT A: Watchtower and Camp

[For those travelling from the Autumn segment to the Winter one, you may see an old watchtower stretch towards the sky. A barrier around it protected its visitors from monsters and the elements. If you come staggering through, the blizzard chasing your heels, you'll find Byleth already sitting at its eternal campfire, roasting freshly caught fish or game, a well-worn yet expertly packed travel bag sitting next to him and a rolled up bedroll.

Perhaps you just want company? Or maybe a meal? Come and sit down, Byleth doesn't bite!]

🎄 WINTER SEGMENT B: Unfrozen Lake

[Firstly, where the hell did he catch those fish? The Unfrozen Lake, my friend! Explored during his early days, Byleth found it to be a reliable fishing spot, even if it required him to skirt around the Forest of Spirits during the journey.

Maybe you'll already find him set up at the lake, seated on a rock that he's made his 'comfy seat' on the edge of the lake, a basket open next to him for where his catch will be tossed into. His only concession to sitting out in the cold was a collar furred cloak he had purchased from the coin gained from Quests. Or, perhaps you'll encounter him on his meandering trek back to the Watchtower, his basket full of fish strapped to his back and fishing rod resting against his shoulder.

Feel free to approach! Maybe you'll get a free meal out of it, or maybe you're in need of help, getting lost in the confusing tundra of the Winter segment...]

SPRING

🌺 SPRING SEGMENT A: Abandoned Farm

[You can't be a roaming mercenary without making some trading ties with locals! For those stumbling across this place populated by Vegetable monsters (who are friendly and just wish to live in peace), Byleth could be found trading for the ricebags they freely offer. Sometimes he'd just sit on the rickety fence lining the vegetable patches, munching on an apple or some form of fruit as he took a rest before heading off to his next destination, his pack resting at his feet.

Perfect position for those just wandering in, and needing someone to ask questions of... or to beg some snacks from.]

🌺 SPRING SEGMENT B: Prism Lake

[You guessed it: Byleth's favoured fishing spot in the Spring segment. If you came here hoping for a particularly coloured fish - either to eat or keep in your aquarium - then he's your guy to ask!]

🌺 SPRING SEGMENT C: Secret Getaway

[Despite the pond, this isn't a fishing spot (for once). One of the safest places in the Spring segment, Byleth used it much like the Watchtower camp in the Winter one. For those stumbling into the safe embrace of the sweet-scented flowers, Byleth would have set up a small camp. No campfire for this place, but he would've stretched out a tarp between two trees to shelter from the snow and rain that occasionally swept over the land, reclining against his pack with some sort of book in hand.]

🌺 SPRING SEGMENT D: Cherry Blossom Parks (Exploration potential!)

[At night, eerie sounds can be heard from here, so at night is when Byleth came. Having stowed his travel pack at the Secret Getaway camp, and clearly prepared for battle, Byleth could be found making his way into the park, a small flame held within his palm to light up his way.

Sorry if you initially mistake him as some scary spirit, coming out of the gloom, or a will-o-wisp passing by.]

SUMMER

🌵 SUMMER SEGMENT A: Deserter's Desert (Exploration potential!)

[What's the point of being a cryptid wanderer if you don't dramatically travel across a scorching desert at least once? For those who recklessly struck out in the desert and got lost, or perhaps are skilled travellers themselves, Byleth can be found either simply transiting through the dangerous land, or seeking out the cacti for its medicinal properties. Money's money, right? And it may be useful to keep some for himself in case he encountered those in need of healing - healing his magic couldn't quite fix.

Maybe you think him a mirage on the horizon? Or maybe you're in desperate need of water, and stagger towards him in need of aid? Either way, Byleth will approach and aid if you need - or just to say hello.]

🌵 SUMMER SEGMENT B: Temple of Life

[The safe camp of Summer, Byleth could be found having set up a small camp outside of the temple. No fire - it's hot enough! - but he'd definitely be taking a break from the relentless heat, sitting under the shade stripped down to just his underclothes - or busy shaking out his tunics and cloak of any clinging sand.

For those ogling, he has more than a few scars on him - unavoidable even as one of the best mercenaries around - but there's a particularly large and vivid one that cuts diagonally across his back, still pink and fresh, as if it had been suffered only recently before coming to this land...]

🌵 SUMMER SEGMENT C: Rain Jungle (Exploration potential!)

[The explorer in Byleth lured him to this lush jungle, the ruins visible between the thick foliage all but calling him. For anyone else who has a similar urge (or just got hopelessly lost), he can be stumbled across either on the very fringes, clearly preparing for a deep excursion into the leafy depths, or loitering at one of the few ruins near its outskirts, humming and hawing over its construction and weathered edges.

Wanna team up?]

AUTUMN

🍂 AUTUMN SEGMENT A: Abandoned Graveyard

[One of the strangest and morbid places Byleth has set up camp, but it was the safest place to be in the Autumn segment. Out of respect of the gathered graves - and wanting to avoid the more boggy, flooded areas, Byleth set up his camp on the very fringes of the graveyard.

In the night, his campfire probably looked like a will-o-wisp, flickering in the gloom. He might not even be there, for any curious passerbys, and with how quietly he walked, he may accidentally startle if he approached you from behind, quietly asking what you want. With his dark cloak and pale skin, it'll be easy to mistake him as a spectre part of the graveyard itself.]

🍂 AUTUMN SEGMENT B: Pumpkin Spice Trail

[Leaping as nimbly as a deer through the forest, Byleth could be found moving from pumpkin to pumpkin, off to gather the medicinal berries found there. Maybe you're here doing the same, and took a nasty tumble into the swamp below, requiring help. Or maybe you're just as nimble as Byleth, and are racing to get to the berries before him! Or perhaps you're simply staring, new to this location and wondering what on earth...]

🍂 AUTUMN SEGMENT C: Abandoned Mansion (Exploration potential!)

[Who can resist derelict old buildings? Not Byleth, that's for sure! Who knew what kind of valuables you can salvage and hawk on the markets (mercenaries adhere to the old rule of 'finders keepers'. Perhaps you're here for the same reason, or maybe you've heard about how no one ever returned from the basement, and came to get to the bottom of the mystery...

Either way, Byleth could be found in front of the mansion, his arms crossed and his gaze set squarely on the front door, as if he could divine its secrets just from intense staring alone...]

❄ II. Quest Selection Menu.

[But hey, maybe you'll run into him in the far safer and far more reliable location that is the Winter Guild. Being a mercenary, fulfilling quests are his bread and butter, and he could be found at the quest selection board, pondering intently which one to take that day. He has no standards! He'll do any of them! So if you need a partner, feel free to walk up to him and convince him to join you!

Or, he'd just walk up to you, and politely ask if you're up for a quest.]

❄ III. Wildcard!

[ooc: if none of the open starters tickle your fancy, feel free to ping me on the discord (i'm kiva) or on plurk kivaember and we can hash out something more specific! Or just toss in a starter in here and i'll roll with it, i'm easy for anything!

NOTE: For the exploration potential prompts, what we find will depend on mod response! For those who hit them up, I'll post to the exploration comment to see what we can find (tho it's on hiatus until May, but we can explore the outskirts of that location until then)]

code by efrynidel

Comments

[fishfearme]

[The topic of fish distracted him suitably: Byleth visibly perked up.]

Yes. My father taught me. Though I can always improve, I'm a skilled angler and enjoy the activity immensely. It's also a means to feed myself.

[When you lived off the land, it meant all those coins from the quest were easily saved up...]

[inspiteful]

[ ...It is strangely cute to see a grown man perk up at the mention of fishing, what the heck? ]

Haha, I can tell you like fishing a lot. Is it what you do for a living here?

[fishfearme]

In a sense. I usually only fish that which I need for sustenance, but I heard this lake has unique fish. I thought others may be interested in them, but I want to catch some first to inspect them myself.

[He was thinking of doing a network post asking if anyone would need a supply of fish or harvested materials, since it'd be easy enough for him to fulfil such orders.]

[inspiteful]

Hmmm...I can see how people might be interested in them as ornamental fish, or for their flavours...

[ So there does seem to be potential demand there. ]

[fishfearme]

Yes. I'm not in particular need of funds, but my father always told me to budget accordingly.

[Beat.]

Though, admittedly, his idea of 'budgeting' was also never paying his tabs...

[inspiteful]

...I think that's just being cheap. If you'll, uh, pardon my language.

[ Or dine and dashing? Either way, the sort of thing the boss lady back home would have never accepted, if some patron ever got the funny idea of dodging the bill. ]

[fishfearme]

You speak the truth. He was also good at wrangling free meals from our clients, especially after positioning himself as a 'hero'. I usually watched camp while he indulged himself.

[Byleth loved his father. He thought he was the best thing to ever exist in his life. But even he looked at Jeralt's antics and felt exasperation sometimes. Because of him they couldn't set foot in some inns because of his outstanding debts... however. He also understood why he did it.]

He's quite shameless. But I suppose after three hundred years he's stopped caring about how others view him.

[inspiteful]

...I can't say I don't respect having skills like that. [ It's the sort of thing that gets respect in Wu-Jian (alongside a healthy dose of animosity). Conmen can appreciate the con, even when they're the victims of it.

Then Byleth says the rest of that, and Skylark slowly blinks as the words sink in. ]

Did you just say "three hundred years".

[ It's supposed to be a question, but he's forgotten about inflection at the moment. ]

[fishfearme]

Yes.

[No awareness of how weird this was. Well, actually, he knew it was kind of weird, but considering the other weirdness packaged into the Eisner Bloodline, he decided Jeralt being over three hundred years old due to a blood transfusion with a divine beast was the least weirdest thing about them.]

Well. Three hundred is an approximate... he admitted he stopped counting after that number. He's likely older.

[He thought about it for a moment.]

...definitely older.

[inspiteful]

[ ...Well okay, clearly this guy has no sense of how strange this is in a bigger context. Or, then again, considering the fact they are in an entirely different world, to begin with, maybe it's not all that weird on the grand scale of things.

It does kind of beg the question of "what the fuck is your dad, then", but he's not sure if that's something you can just ask. He can think of quite a few things back home that can be that old, but it beats him if any of them are remotely applicable here. ]

...I see. [ He does not, ] But I take it you're not anywhere as old?

[fishfearme]

Oh, hm.

[Byleth considered the surface of the lake, where the colourful scales of the fish would catch the light as brilliant flashes.]

I don't know my age, but I'm not as old as him.

[inspiteful]

[ Huh. Skylark wonders if he's kind of like Crane, whose age they decided on purely on the basis that she is slightly taller than him (therefore she is clearly older than he is) since she never bothered to track each year that passed by her.

Of course, he could be totally wrong on that front and it may turn out that Byleth is a lot older for other reasons. ]

So you've...been living on the road for as long as you can remember? [ That was the impression Skylark got, anyway. ]

[fishfearme]

That's right. My father kept us away from cities and towns, and we mostly stayed in the woods with his mercenaries.

[Hence why he is Like That.]

That's why I camp out in the segments. It's more... familiar, than the city or even the settlements around it.

[inspiteful]

[ Hmmm... It strikes Skylark as more than a little curious, but any reason to avoid civilization like that is probably one that he should learn about with caution. Just a gut feeling. ]

Um...if you don't mind me asking, what was it like? Travelling so much.

[fishfearme]

What was it like...?

[Byleth considered the question, and as he did so he set down the fishing gear he had been hauling around: the basket where he will store his catch and his travel pack, and rested his rod against his shoulder.]

I'm not sure. It's all I've known, so it was... just living? We camped under the stars, rain or shine, poached from whatever forest we passed through - the nobles owned those lands, you see, and one could only hunt there with their permission, but the winters can be unforgiving or lean in Fódlan.

[Especially if work was light for whatever reason.]

You saw lots of beautiful landscapes, though, and encountered many types of animals... see different people, hear many stories divorced from the continent's main religion...

[What else...? Oh.]

Catch many different types of fish.

[inspiteful]

[ Skylark listens to Byleth with rapt attention, his own dye-stained hands slowing down from folding up the fabric. There's a small quirk of his lips at the mention of poaching on noble-owned land, despite knowing it's probably not the most appropriate response to have—stealing from nobles rarely fails to amuse (or elicit schadenfreude) someone from Wu-Jian.

He finally laughs at that last part, though. ]

Right. The fish are important, too.

...Encountering all sorts of new things sounds amazing. [ And maybe that was what his mother had wanted when she brought up the notion of travelling one day. ]

[fishfearme]

It makes life interesting, I suppose, but sometimes it's frustrating.

[He didn't like encountering new things on the battlefield, for one. Those nasty surprises tended to get one killed, more often than not.]

Have you not travelled much?

[inspiteful]

Well...before this, I'd never gone further than the islets back home. [ And that trip turned out to be pretty unpleasant, with exciting things like unexpected, upsetting revelations and almost dying. ] And I've gone herb-gathering inland with my master, but I wouldn't say the island is big.

[ Also, said master had teased Skylark a little the first time around for how unprepared he was to deal with the realities of camping outdoors. City-slicker indeed... ]

[fishfearme]

[Byleth stared at him for a long moment - not in shock or anything. His expression was unmoving as always, and his eyes blank of any and all emotion, but he seemed to be thinking something over.]

...I travel often here. If you wish to accompany me sometime, then I'll be amenable to that.

[inspiteful]

[ While Byleth was staring at him, Skylark was trying to figure out why, because in his experience, when people do that he ought to be a little worried. He doesn't think it out of surprise, but what Byleth was thinking about, or whether he was sizing him up or something else, Skylark couldn't tell.

...It's a little frustrating, but a good reminder as any that he'll always need to hone his skills. ]

You really wouldn't mind? [ Like, he knows Byleth wouldn't be offering if he did, but he's not sure why. ]

[fishfearme]

I wouldn't mind. It gets lonely by myself sometimes, so having a companion once in a while would be nice.

[inspiteful]

Then...I'll be happy to take you up on the offer, Mr. Byleth.

[fishfearme]

Good. Then I'll await your call for when you wish to travel together.

[Since, well, Lark was clearly in the middle of something and Byleth was about to fish.]

[inspiteful]

Alright, I'll be sure to let you know.

[ In several weeks he is not going to do that and will pay for his hubris. ]