Kaldalis was at a bit of a loss for what to do. While he had become something of a major figurehead for the adventurers who had been questing around Panbu, he hadn’t exactly made any direct connections to anyone. He regretted it, but considering the pressure the Panbu council had put on his time, he wasn’t sure when he could have done anything about it.

“I was just talking to these two about your situation,” Courbois said, gesturing between Reno and SeventyEight. “And I’d be happy to join your little troupe. But I’m not the only person you need here.”

“I have a DPS I could tap,” Kaldalis said, “but I’ll admit I don’t have great connections for healers.”

“We’ll have to figure something out,” Balrim said, tapping his chin with a clawed finger. “I could ask around a bit?”

Courbois smiled at the Talsar. “I could help with that. I’ve been on the receiving end of healing from some of these folks, so I can vouch for or against them.”

Ess made a thin noise. “As much as I love a good planning session,” she said as she looked around anxiously at the cavernous chamber at the heart of the Xorn den, “we should probably clear out of here while we do it. I don’t want to find out what happens here if we stick around too long.”

“Good first move,” Kaldalis said, turning with a gesture to lead the haphazardly-assembled group towards the nearest passage back to the surface.

Due to the sheer number of adventurers who had pressed their way into the den, there were still others filing out, but their group did seem to be bringing up the rear.

“Actually, our first move is gonna have to be your attitude, Kal,” Balrim said, putting a hand on Kaldalis’s shoulder. “You need to chill out, dude.”

“What are you talking about?” Kaldalis snapped, though he winced immediately. His reaction more than outweighed his own objection.

“You’re in a fucking mood,” Myrin said. She smiled, as if to soften the blow. “And that’s me saying that.”

“Sorry,” Kaldalis said, trying not to sound petulant. “But this situation is pretty fucked for my end of it. I can’t believe he pulled this shit, and he doesn’t even care about the consequences. And why the fuck would he? If anyone is going to have to deal with them, it’s-”

Balrim interrupted him with a pat on the shoulder. “This right here. This is what I’m talking about.”

“Fine,” Kaldalis admitted, “I’m a little raw about this, okay?”

“So Courbois and I are gonna ask around and see who we can find,” Balrim said, “and I want you to find some way to chill out.”

“Alright, alright,” Kaldalis grumbled. He paused for only a moment. “I’ll just go fishing, then.”

“Ooh,” Myrin said, adjusting her pace to catch up beside Kaldalis, having to get a light jog to keep up with him due to the differences in their stride lengths. “I could stand to spend some time catching up on that.”

“Alright,” Kaldalis said, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the group. “Anyone up for a team fishing trip?”

“If you could help me get started,” Ess said, “I wouldn’t mind picking that up. It did seem really relaxing when you were doing it on stream.”

“I’d rather help with the healer search,” Reno said, giving Courbois’s armored shoulder a thump with her fist. “Most of the last groups to come in are my fellow devs, so I can help you figure out who’s cool and who’s not. And I was bored to tears by the fishing streams, by the way.”

Kaldalis pulled a face in her direction. “The walk back will be a good opportunity to talk to folks, since everyone available is probably here. And then after that, most folks should be milling around Panbu looking at the new stuff from the upgrade. So you should get to work quickly before people find other shit to do.”

“And the sooner you cool down,” Balrim added with a chuckle, “the sooner you can help.”

Kaldalis grimaced at that, but the thought of possibly running into Voker again on the street - or worse, the Panbu council - made his blood boil. He wasn’t sure he would ever be over being upset about the man’s complete disregard for the well-being of others, but the rush of moving water and the calm rhythm of fishing sounded like a really good idea right now.

The group split up when they got to the surface. Reno, Courbois, and Balrim headed out into the group of adventurers as they took the long walk back into camp.

Myrin and Ess accompanied Kaldalis as they broke away from the group. The fishing trio angled their way towards where Myrin and Balrim had discovered a pond fed by a mountain spring, where Kaldalis suspected they could catch fish that he hadn’t seen yet.

Ess didn’t have a fishing rod, but Kaldalis still had his original rod that Balrim had crafted, and plenty of bait for the three of them. Before casting out, the three of them did an extensive search of the area around the pond, at Kaldalis’s insistence. It was deep in the jungle, surrounded by trees right up to the waterline, and Kaldalis could easily see tracks near the mud that indicated that the local wildlife used this for water. But after the three of them went around the area, they didn’t find any sign of active monsters in the immediate area.

“Just stay close,” Kaldalis said with a grimace, “I don’t want to get separated here in case something shows up.”

Myrin shared in Kaldalis’s grimace. She probably knew why he was so concerned, but he was grateful that she didn’t try to talk to him about it. After talking to Heluna, he felt better about what had happened, but he still didn’t really want to have a whole conversation about it, especially if he could avoid more people - like Ess - learning about it.

The trio found a reasonable spot where they could all stand roughly together, close enough to watch each other’s backs, but not getting into each other’s way when they cast out their lines. Kaldalis felt a lot of his attention was on the others, careful not to become too distracted by his casts and catches.

The types of fish here had descriptions that indicated they were used in alchemy rather than cooking. The ruby prismfish seemed to be the rarest - a small fish with brilliant red scales that put up very little fight once it was hooked. He also caught a marbled grouchfish, which put up more of a fight. It was much more common, with muddy greenish scales with white patterning that was true to their name.

There was an uncommon fish between the two in apparent rarity that put up enough fight to make Kaldalis truly struggle with it - the greater nematog - which was a three-foot-long monster of a fish, with four barbels dangling from its cavernous mouth.

Using the roe for bait, pale perch could be caught here as well, and he quickly reminded Myrin - and informed Ess - that he needed about nine thousand more of them for a quest.

Ess and Myrin seemed to mostly wrestle with the marbled grouchfish, not only catching much fewer of the ruby prismfish, but they seemed unable to hook a nematog altogether. Kaldalis felt good about all the work he’d put into his fishing skill paying off.

As much as he was still actively angry about the events of the day, he was surprised at how effective fishing was at settling his nerves. The time between cast and catch let him introspect and plan, and after an hour or so he didn’t feel nearly so bad about the whole affair.

The way he saw it - with the benefit of waterborne tranquility - Garyung had had his back at every turn. Not just today during the attack, but at the meetings with the Panbu council. The Bhogad had come a long way from being incapable of making a decision, and despite everything, seemed convinced that Kaldalis was worth his time to help.

If the Panbu council came after Kaldalis for Voker’s actions, Garyung was likely to back him up.

And, at the end of the day, as upset as he was that someone ignored the council’s explicit demands after he made himself into a doormat to keep them happy, the end result was still beneficial. Regardless of the consequences, Panbu was a town at last. Whatever that meant for Garyung’s investment or Cerh’s reinforcements, it was done. No two weeks of sitting on their asses or Garyung getting farther and farther into whatever debt he’d stepped in.

“Everything is fine,” Kaldalis said at last. “What comes next comes next. I don’t need to beat myself - or anyone else - up about it until it gets here.”

“Glad one of us is feeling good,” Myrin grumbled, wrestling with a fish. “Because this is getting more annoying rather than less.”

She eventually pulled up a greater nematog, and announced that she had had enough fishing for one week.

That suited Kaldalis just fine.

“Can I keep the fishing rod?” Ess asked as the trio picked their way away from the bank and back towards the town of Panbu. “I could stand to do this some more sometime.”

“Go ahead,” Kaldalis said, putting away his bamboo rod. “As long as you’re okay with my hand-me-downs, I’ll let you know when I get my next toy. Though I hope I don’t have to wait for thousands more pale perch to get it.”

With what his friends handed over, Kaldalis was just shy of breaking his first thousand of the fish stacked up in his inventory. One-tenth of the way there!

A thousand in two-ish weeks felt much better than his initial estimate. If he could keep this up, he could be done in only five months.

Considering he had only been fishing here and there when he could, it seemed very likely that he could bang out the rest in only two or three months if he really dedicated himself to putting the time in.

An hour or so later, the trio got back to Panbu and got their first view of the completed town. Like Cotanaku, the walls had gone from wood to stone, but the extra reinforcement had carried over. Instead of looking like stout stone walls, these looked like the walls of a fortress, with crenellations. The archery towers had moved, becoming embedded in the walls and were now also studded with arrow slits. Not only that, but the gate was now augmented with a big metal portcullis. It was raised now, letting adventurers filter in and out of the new town.

Kaldalis was impressed by the walls, and wondered how much the other things had changed. What did the town hall look like now?

Had the dilapidated floating dock been included in the upgrade?

His speculation was interrupted when they reached the gate and found Balrim, Reno, and Courbois waiting for them, looking visibly chagrined.

“So,” Myrin chirped cheerfully, in direct contrast with the dour looks of the others, “how did the search go?”