Extended Family
| Extended Family | |
|---|---|
| Type | Special Order |
| Board | Mr. Qi |
| Giver | Mr. Qi |
| Time Limit | 3 days |
| Repeatable | Yes |
The five legendary fish have offspring, and Mr. Qi gives three days to land all of them. Each youngster waits in exactly the spot its parent waits in, and while the order is live it bites in any season and any weather, which lifts every calendar restriction that normally makes the legendary five a multi-year project. What it does not lift is the skill gate: the hardest of the family refuses to hook below the top of the fishing ladder. Twenty Qi Gems is the smallest payment on the board, and the catch itself is worth far more than the purse. Three days is short enough that this is an order to take with a full tackle box or not at all.
The board reads: Family members of the legendary fish have returned to the valley. You have three days to catch Ms. Angler, Glacierfish Jr., Son of Crimsonfish, Radioactive Carp, and Legend II.
Requirements
The water is the easy part. Ms. Angler holds the river in Pelican Town, north of the footbridge by JojaMart. Son of Crimsonfish sits off the easternmost pier at The Beach. Glacierfish Jr. waits off the southern tip of the little island in the Cindersap Forest pond. Legend II patrols the mountain lake, and wants a cast into open water well away from the shore. Radioactive Carp lurks in The Sewers.
Two of those five need a door opening first. The pier at the beach is reached across the bridge east of Elliott's cabin, which has to be repaired before anyone can stand on it, and The Sewers need the Rusty Key that Gunther hands over once the museum is well filled. Neither can be arranged inside the three days, so both want sorting long before the notice appears.
Skill decides the rest. Ms. Angler bites from the third rung of the fishing ladder, Son of Crimsonfish from the fifth, Glacierfish Jr. from the seventh and Legend II only from the tenth. That last one makes the order impossible without either a maxed fishing skill or a dish that borrows the missing levels for a few minutes.
The bite itself gives no warning. With the original five the fishing bar announces a legend in the water; with the children it looks like any other cast, so a hooked Legend II can be lost through a careless tug before the farmer realises what is on the line. Rain is irrelevant too, which is the one place the parent and the child differ: the original Legend waits for a storm and Legend II does not.
More than one of each can be landed while the order runs, so a lucky morning at the lake can bank a spare.
The order asks for every item in this table.
| Item | Image | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Ms. Angler | 
|
1 |
| Glacierfish Jr. | 
|
1 |
| Son of Crimsonfish | 
|
1 |
| Radioactive Carp | 
|
1 |
| Legend II | 
|
1 |
Rewards
Twenty gems is a light purse and the fish are the real prize. Each child carries the same price tag as its parent, and the legendary family runs from the high hundreds of gold up into the thousands, so one successful run pays for its bait many times over and then some.
Keeping them beats selling them. Each of the five can go into a Fish Pond, one fish to a pond and no more, and the pond then turns out that fish's own legendary roe. A single occupant is enough to produce it, several can come out at once, and aged legendary roe is among the most valuable things a farm can bottle, which turns one three-day scramble into a standing income if the ponds are dug for it. A fish moved into a pond loses its quality star, so any catch will do.
Strategy
Borrowing fishing levels is the first thing to arrange. Lobster Bisque lends three levels and holds them for a quarter of an hour of game time, far longer than the sharper dishes, so it is the practical choice for a farmer sitting at level seven. Seafoam Pudding lends four levels but burns out in minutes, so it suits a single planned cast at Legend II rather than a morning of fishing.
Tackle matters more here than almost anywhere, because the problem is persuading the fish to bite at all rather than reeling it in. A Curiosity Lure doubles the chance of a Legend II taking the hook and doubles the Radioactive Carp's chance as well, with smaller gains on the two Anglers. Glacierfish Jr. is the exception: its bite rate is handled elsewhere in the game's workings and the lure leaves it alone. An Advanced Iridium Rod carries two tackles, so the lure can sit beside a Trap Bobber that slows the escape bar.
Plan the three days by travel rather than by difficulty. The sewer grate and the town river are a short walk apart, so one day can cover both plus the forest island. The beach pier and the mountain lake each eat a morning on their own. Leaving Legend II until the last day is a gamble, because its bite chance is the lowest of the five even with the lure on.
The order fails on the level gate far more often than on the clock. A farmer at fishing level nine with no buffing dish in the fridge simply cannot hook Legend II, and discovering that on the third morning wastes the whole notice.
Notes
Qi's board posts the notice on a Monday and the three days drain from that morning whether it has been accepted or not. On a board read late in the week, this is the one order that can expire before it is even taken.
The notice repeats, so a farm that has repaired the bridge, earned the Rusty Key and reached the top of the fishing ladder will find every later run almost routine.
A spare catch is worth more as a gift to the Fish Shop than as a trophy. The older generation already hangs in plenty of farmhouse tanks, and the children look near enough identical that a second one is better off in a pond earning roe.
All Special Orders
Every special order from both boards, with who posts it and how long it runs.