How to Survive

Birger has fished the same hole out on Glassmere for thirty-one winters, for one fish: Old Mossjaw, big as a canoe, moss on his jaw. This winter Mossjaw stopped coming. Birger won't leave his hole, so it's yours to find where he went. Get an ice auger from Halvard the smith in Rimeholt.

Steps

  1. Get an ice auger from Halvard the smith in Rimeholt · Rimeholt
  2. Drill holes in Glassmere's ice and fish them. Find where Mossjaw feeds · Glassmere
  3. Tell Birger on Glassmere that Mossjaw took the bait · Glassmere
  4. Cut the hole wide where Mossjaw bit, with Birger's ice saw, and land him at first or last light · Glassmere
  5. Carry Mossjaw back to Birger at his hut on Glassmere · Glassmere

Reward

400 gold, XP, Birger's ice rod (Cold Bite: bites come quicker through the ice), an ice auger to keep for fishing the lake, and the hut's hole open to everyone (rod:birger)

Dialogue

Starting it

  1. “Thirty-one winters I've fished this hole. For one fish. Old Mossjaw. Big as a canoe. Moss on his jaw. I named him. He doesn't know that. That's the only edge I've got.”
  2. “This winter he stopped coming. He's not dead. I'd know. I think he moved. Out of spite.”
  3. “Now I'd go look for him myself. But if I leave this hole, somebody takes it. Nobody's taken it in thirty-one years. But that's because I never left.”
  4. “So you'll want holes of your own. Now, you're looking at my auger. Don't. Nobody touches my auger. It's lucky.”
  5. “Thirty-one years with it, I haven't caught a thing. But I haven't gone through the ice either. That's luck. Just not the fishing kind.”
  6. “Halvard, the smith, made it. He'll make you one. Tell him it's for me. He'll charge you anyway.”
  7. “Mossjaw likes it deep. Dark. Under the drifts, where the snow sits heavy on the ice. And he follows the gobies. Little fish. Nobody knows how they got up a mountain.”
  8. “Fish your holes. Where the gobies bite, he's been. And he only eats at first light and last light. The rest of the day he thinks.”
  9. “Halvard's at the forge in Rimeholt. Off the ice, through the trees. Follow the hammering.”

Talking to them again

  1. “Gobies. Where they bite, he's been. Where they don't, he hasn't. That's the whole science. I've had thirty-one years to make it more complicated. I didn't.”
  2. “First light or last light. He's like me. He eats twice a day, and the rest of the time he stares at the ice.”

Handing it in

  1. “Well. Look at you.”
  2. “Thirty-one years. You got old. I didn't notice. I guess that's how it works. Nobody tells you.”
  3. “If I catch him, I've got to go home. My wife's at home. She's nice. That's the problem. She'll want to talk about it.”
  4. “So back he goes. Here. Take the rod. It's caught one fish in thirty-one years, and that was just now, and it wasn't me. The hole's yours too. Anybody's. I'll be on the bucket.”

After it is done

  1. “He came up under my hole this morning. Looked at me. I looked at him. Neither one of us said anything. Best morning I've had in years.”
  2. “Folks fish my hole now. I sit right here. They ask if I mind. I say, it's a free lake. Then I watch them very closely.”

At the hand-in without the item

  1. “I don't see a fish. I see you. You're not a fish. I've checked.”

When your bag is full

  1. “Your bag's full. I'd hold the rod for you, but I'd use it. Then where would we be.”

felt him

  1. “You felt him. That's more than most.”
  2. “Took the line clean off. That's him. He's not mean. He just doesn't like to be bothered. We're a lot alike. He's bigger. And green.”
  3. “Your hole's too small for him. Take my saw. Cut it wide. Go round once, like a pie. If the pie was a lake.”
  4. “Then go back at the same light. He keeps a schedule. So do I. I've got nowhere to be, but I'm always on time for it.”

halvard again

  1. “Don't drill out by the edge, where the ice is all broken up. That's not ice. That's a suggestion.”

halvard auger

  1. “An auger. For Birger. I made him one years ago. He won't let anybody touch it. He thinks it's lucky. It's an auger.”
  2. “So I made a spare. Figured somebody'd come asking one day. Took eleven years. I'm a patient man. Mostly I'm just here.”
  3. “Here. Turn it like you mean it. The ice doesn't care how you feel. That's what I like about ice.”
  4. “Holes freeze shut by morning. So don't get attached. To the holes. Or to Birger. He doesn't get attached either. It's worked out for him.”

saw again

  1. “Cut it wide, where he bit. Then wait for the light. And if the ice starts talking, you get off it. That's not advice. That's just ice.”