My dear friend,
Over the years, you and I have handled more fish than we can count. We have caught, gutted, and sold fish from rivers, lakes, and from the sky itself. They had different shapes, colors, and flavours but may has well have been the same compared to what I have just seen.
Imagine a waterfish that leaps out of the water at incredible speeds and rides on the wind with four wing-like fins. Why does such a creature exist when skyfish can simply swim through the air?— Registus, Letter to a Fellow Fishmonger
Four Wings on the Wind
Schools of wingfish and are only found in the waters of the
Astrensea where they dazzle local fishermen and travelers alike with their incredible ability to leap from the water and glide through the air for long distances. The fishermen have little interest in the fish as most people do not enjoy the taste of them - at least compared to that of the fish that remain below the surface of the sea.
The wingfish take to the air by swimming at high speeds near the surface of the water, breaching the surface, and then zig-zagging their tails through the water until they take to the air. Their bodies are different than normal fish - and skyfish which resemble waterfish - in several ways. They possess large front fins and enlarged rear fins, each controlled by enlarged muscle clusters. In addition, their rear fin is asymetrical being much longer on the bottom than on the top.
Shimmering Scales
The scales of wingfish are blue or blue-green with a section of white on the bottom. The scales are smoother than those of other fish to help them fly easier when they jump through the air. The light reflects well off their very wet scales and onlookers smile at the beautiful colors.
Because of both their uniqueness and their beauty, the artists of
Tamazee often include them in their work. Particularly popular items are watercolor paintings and folding privacy screens. They also appear as creatures in many of the myths of the
Geetan Archipelago.
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Fashion Takes Flight
The four-winged - or rather four-finned - shape of the wingfish is iconic within the culture of
Tamazee. Its prevalence shows itself in art and other designs, including clothing. It isn't uncommon to see jewelry depicting the two larger and two smaller fins or an ornamented collar with large wings.
Some ceremonial clothes go so far as to have four wings on the back - that could be mistaken for butterfly wings, albeit pointy ones, from someone not informed about the region's culture.
"We speculate sometimes as to why the wingfish would ever have learned to fly. As a fisherman, all I can say is that there are much larger fish in these waters."
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