Kaldalis turned to his friends. “I need a wind down before I’m going to be able to sleep. This has been…” He paused, really unsure of what to say. “This has been a lot.”

“Yeah,” Myrin bounced on the balls of her feet. “I’m all pumped up. I thought we were going to have a real fight with her. Like, showdown to the death while the whole camp is on fire. Kinda disappointing that it was all resolved with bureaucracy instead.”

“I mean… I’m kind of glad the whole camp didn’t burn down. And I’m glad we didn’t have to fight her. Does anyone know how real PvP even works?” He shook his head, aware of the fatigue in his core. He might have been worked up mentally, but his body was exhausted. “That went exactly the way it needed to. I don’t know that a real fight would have left me more prepared to sleep, either.”

“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but fuck you guys,” Balrim said, rubbing at his eyes. “I’m fucking tired. I’m going to bed.”

“Alright,” Kaldalis said with a laugh. “Have a good night, dude.”

“Sweet dreams scale-butt,” Myrin said in a singsong tone.

Kaldalis and Myrin watched their friend wander off in silence. After a moment, Kaldalis looked to the sky to monitor the position of the moons. “You know, I think I might get some fishing in. Want to join me?”

“Finally,” Myrin said with a sly grin. “I’ve gotta get my skill up enough to have the daily quests pop up for fishing, but I’m never gonna get it done if I don’t have someone with me.”

“Let’s go, then,” Kaldalis said, leading the way back towards the beach side of the camp. “We can get an hour or so in to wind down and still get eight hours of sleep tonight. Probably.”

They reached the floating dock halfway between Arma tide and high tide, and made their way out to the end of the dock. Kaldalis had to share his bait, but he’d just bought a bunch so he didn’t mind it.

With delicate plinks on the surface, they got their lines in the water, and the fishing began.

“Why do you spend so much time on this?” Myrin asked after barely a moment of silence. “I understand that it’s relaxing or whatever, but you spend entire days doing just this. What the fuck for?”

Kaldalis tried not to laugh. “I picked up a quest the first day we were here. An old man wants me to catch ten thousand of a fish called a pale perch.”

“Okay. For what?”

“I don’t know, he just said it would be worth it.”

“And that’s enough for you?”

“It’s ten thousand fish. Do you have any idea how many that is?”

“It’s a lot,” Myrin said with a sage nod.

“No, it’s a fucking shitload. An unfathomable amount. Ridiculous. I’ve been fishing almost non-stop in every free moment and I only have six hundred.”

“Jesus,” Myrin laughed. “It’s been like a week since we landed, right? You’re going to be doing this for-”

“Four months,” Kaldalis finished the thought for her. “A little more than that, actually, but I figure fishing skill has got to unlock some advantage that I don’t have now. But still, that’s a ridiculous amount of time to devote to a single quest.”

“Alright,” Myrin said, “it’s a lot of fish. What’s your point?”

“He said it would be worth it. In fact, he said the reward was going to be worth months and months of constant devotion.” Kaldalis raised his eyebrows in her direction.

“Ah,” Myrin said, clicking her tongue to the roof of her mouth. “Got it. Classic relic quest.”

“Exactly. If it takes this much effort, the reward has got to be something absolutely bonkers.”

“It’s probably just a fishing reward, though,” Myrin said. “Some Lu Shang kind of thing.”

“Maybe. But if it is, it’ll make me the best fisher in the world.”

“Ah yes, the king of that one useless gathering skill that nobody needs.” Myrin chuckled and Kaldalis contemplated shoving her off the dock. “Quite valuable, indeed.”

“Fishing is needed for ire potions.” He tried to keep the defensive twinge from his voice.

Myrin went quiet for a moment. “So, you just need pale perch? Can I just hand them to you?”

“I think so?” Kaldalis frowned. He’d never tried trading fish to other people, other than turning them in for a quest or giving them for research or cooking needs. “I guess you’d have to catch them first.”

“Challenge accepted!”

The pair continued to make amiable small talk as they fished. Kaldalis showed off his skills at recognizing what each fish was before reeling it in. Myrin told him an amusing anecdote about her and Balrim’s adventures out in the jungle.

All in all, it was very nice to have the company as he fished. He still got to enjoy the calming influence of the waves coming in and out, while not having the sometimes-detrimental deep introspection that sometimes dragged him down.

He did miss Ein though. Maybe he’d introduce Myrin to the dog another time.

“At the risk of reminding us both of the crazy adventure that kept us this awake,” Myrin said after a while, “how wild is it that we’re going to be replacing Onirioago?”

“It’s even crazier that it’ll be an open vote. I wonder who’s going to be a valid target for nominations.”

Myrin grew quiet for a moment. “It sounds like it could be anyone, from what Ikzoz said, at least. He made it seem like even a PC could get the spot.”

“I thought you and Balrim said PCs were banned from positions of authority.”

“Not officially,” Myin corrected him. “Or, at least, not out here in the wilderness. It’s more of a rule of the kingdom than of the League. We’re miles away from anyone who might care to enforce it. I think it’d be fair game.”

Kaldalis had to think about that for a minute. It made a kind of sense. Baimer was far behind them, separated by a two week boat ride.

If the authority there was the only reason why a PC couldn’t be in charge, there would be a pretty wide window to be the boss before someone could ride out and smack him down.

Him?

“Huh,” Kaldalis said, trying to keep his tone casual. “Do you think I have a shot, then?”

“Sure,” Myrin said without hesitation. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. Just thinking out loud.”

“Would you even want to be the boss?” Myrin laughed before struggling with her line. “It sounds like a lot of boring responsibility and sitting uselessly in a room full of people who will actually have the power. No offense if you’re friends with any of those people, but it sounded a lot like whoever’s in charge is going to be a total figure head while they take control of everything.”

Kaldalis nodded and cast his line back into the water. “Can you blame them, though? Onirioago seemed to be hoarding all of their power to herself with bullying and micromanaging. Wouldn’t you want to set more reasonable boundaries with her successor?”

“I guess. But it sounds like a big pain in the ass for whoever gets the spot. You’re just going to be a lightning rod for blame without getting any of the power to abuse in the first place. Why would you want it?”

Kaldalis shrugged, looking out over the ocean. “I think it’d be good for the stream, for one thing. Getting a player in those meetings would be a snap subscribe from everyone who cares about how the Adventurers League operates.”

“Eh, maybe. If you think that’s worth it.” She shuddered. “Seems like a lot of work for not a great reward.”

Kaldalis didn’t rise to that bait. “It’s also conducive to my other plans. If I’m the one in charge, then I’m the one I need to talk to about turning the camp into a town.”

“If you want it, then go for it. I won’t oppose you. I’d be too worried that it would cut into my other activities.”

Kaldalis smiled thinly. “Yeah. Not mine, though. I can’t fish my way into upgrading this place into a town, right?”

“It’s your life, bud.” Myrin shrugged. “You probably have a shot, though. A fifth of the people in camp had you run them through the dungeon. And you’ve been a pretty stand-up guy. That should give you a head-start on getting some votes.”

Was he really considering this? In his previous life, Dylan would have never even wanted to be a figurehead, nevertheless someone with actual power. But here… here he felt something. There was a reason. A purpose.

Kaldalis was way better suited for politics than Dylan ever was.

“Yeah,” Kaldalis said, finally. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Of course, anything that needs a vote needs a campaign,” Myrin warned. “Hope you’re not thinking it’ll just happen.”

“Nah, I get you,” Kaldalis said. “I don’t think it’ll fall into my lap.”

“If you’ve got the patience for a campaign, though, go for it. It would really help with the town thing to be the one with access to the leadership.”

They fell into a quiet routine after the conversation dried up. Between the sounds of the ocean and the call of seabirds, their only noise contribution was a few struggled grunts as they fought the fish on their line, or the exclamation of joy when one was pulled from the ocean.

After an hour of fishing, Kaldalis was ready to call it. Another twenty pale perch went into his pile. Myrin had a dozen more, and handed them right over as they made their way back into camp.

Kaldalis was surprised it was as easy as that to get another to help him.

Maybe he could employ an army of fisherfolk and get this quest done faster.

“If we can get right to sleep,” Myrin said, “we can get a clean eight hours and avoid fatigue.”

“Right. Thanks for the help with the pale perch. What are you at now, skill-wise?”

“I broke twenty,” Myrin said cheerfully, even as she rubbed at her eyes. “I should get my first set of dailies tomorrow.”

“Great work,” Kaldalis said. “Glad I could help.”

“We on for that together tomorrow?” Myrin asked.

“We’ll see,” Kaldalis hedged. “I’ve apparently got a campaign to run. But if things look good, I can spare a good fifteen to twenty minutes.”

“Well, best of luck to you,” Myrin laughed. “You’ve got my vote.”