Ice Fishing (D4, EM, Frozen pond in the Garden)

In the morning, old man Jiyo Sora and the River girls Akodo Kawauso and Chai Kotsume - who some will know by now are twins - will be outside in the gardens atop the frozen pond with a variety of equipment, Kotsume's trusty otters, hopefully among a growing crowd assembling to observe a demonstration of ice-fishing techniques, followed by a competition in which participants may try their hand at different traditional techniques - or try something different and entirely new.

Participants to this event may join as Competitors - who will try their hand at ice fishing and compete for the prize - or as Observers, who are free to talk to others and make remarks on demonstration and on the competitors' performance.

This event will have 3 steps for participants, two of which are the same for everyone and one which will depend on the approach they decide to take.

Step 1. "Cold hands, warm heart" - Make an Earth roll at TN 10 to keep your focus in the chilly outdoors. (This TN may be increased to 15 if the weather is particularly cold in the day the event is held). If you fail, you get -5 to your "Get some" (Step 3) roll. If your result is lower than 5, you may decide to just give up on this slow process and head indoors for a warm drink and blanket. If you decide to go and brave the chill, you get -10 to your "Get some" (Step 2) roll and take 1k1 damage from the cold. You may decide to brave the weather with lighter clothes for greater freedom of movement by calling raises to the Earth roll. For each 2 Raises called, you gain 1 Free Raise that can be used in any of the next rolls (Step 2 or 3) if you succeed. If you fail, however, you suffer an additional penalty of -5 to all your other rolls for the event (i.e. -5 to "Breaking the Ice", Step 2, and -10, or -15 if you roll 5 or lower to "Get some", Step 3) as you get chilled to the bones.

Step 2. "Breaking the Ice" - Roll Craft: Fishing/ Perception at TN 15 to size up the ice for a good place to cut a hole and approach it most successfully. If you pass, you gain a Free Raise to your "Get some" roll. Each 2 Raises called in this roll grant 1 extra Free Raise to your "Get some" roll.

Step 3. "Get some" - Choose one of the following approaches:

• Spearfishing - Roll Athletics/ Agility at TN 20. Success grants 2 Fish points and each Raise called to this roll grants 1 additional Fish point.
• Fishing with a rod - Roll Craft: Fishing/ Willpower at TN 10, or Hunting/ Willpower at TN 15. Success grants 1 Fish point, and each Raise called to this roll grants 1 additional Fish point.
• Fishing with a net - Roll Craft: Fishing/ Stamina at TN 15, or Hunting/ Stamina at TN 20. Success grants 3 FIsh points, and each 2 Raises called to this roll grant 1 additional Fish point.
• Otter fishing - Roll Animal Handling/ Awareness at TN 20. Success grants 2 Fish points. Each Raise called to this roll grants 1 additional Fish point. If you succeed on this roll calling 2 or more Raises, you gain 1 additional Fish point. This assumes you'll offer part of your catch to the otters, as is usual. If you choose *not* to do so, you gain 1 additional Fish point - but this will definitely be frowned upon by at least part of the organisers!
• Building a gizmo - Describe the odd method you're proposing, then roll Engineering/ Intelligence against a TN of 20. Success grants 1d4-1 Fish points. Each raise called to this roll grants an additional 1d4-1 Fish points. Let's see how well this thing works

The winner of the event will be the Participant with more Fish Points, and will receive a carved wooden fish-shaped plaque carved by Kawauso herself, with the name and year of the event ("Ice fishing challenge at the Capital, Year 20 of Shiba's reign"), as well as name and clan of the Winner. The winner is also possibly looking at gaining 1 Influence - especially if they don't mistreat otters