Huh. She looks for alternate names for those four ingredients. They're probably from some fiction or something, right? That leads her into spending the rest of the evening reading a Chinese manga, and forgetting about the chatroom until a couple of days later after work when she checks again.

Hey Abyssal Bride, you wouldn't happen to be by the Irish Sea would you? I've heard you can catch Dragonfish there.

Pegasidae, also called Sea Moths? Or 'black dragonfish', which are sort of eel-like? Or something else?

Black dragonfish. Their eyes are useful in a few things, as well as the chemicals that make them bioluminescent. We'd be catching females of course, the males don't generally get close enough to the surface to fish for. 

The serene depths of night offer no protection if you willingly leave them.

I've never seen someone deliberately go for those before but I suppose it'd be possible. And yes, I'm in Wales. Boat rent is expensive though, I don't have my own.

Oh, no need to worry about that. Winter Rose always covers the costs of these ingredient hunts.

If she's willing to spend a lot of money on this I suppose that's one obstacle down. Fishing at night is legitimately dangerous business though. The sea is not forgiving. Is it worth it?

Yes, definitely. But I'd need your help, I'm hopeless at fishing. 

...Really, really dedicated hobby group. If Black Cross actually goes through with it, anyway. Well, people spend their money on weird stuff all the time.

I can help if you hire me. Two people to handle a ship big enough for ocean fishing, at night, is slightly iffy so I may want a third I know as well.

That's fine. Where will we meet?

She DMs an address- The local marina, and adds to the DM-

When? I'll need a couple days to arrange things. Weekend would be ideal. And you'll need to prepay when you get here, fyi.

This Saturday works for me. I'll need some time to recover from the trip anyways. 

Sounds like a plan. 7 PM should give us enough time to get out to sea and start trying to catch some.

Okay! It looks like she's doing this. She can charge a good amount, too, if expenses are covered... Who would be a good fit, who wouldn't balk at the prospect of night fishing... Argie isn't usually doing anything on the weekends, and wouldn't turn them down, she doesn't think. Not if he can charge a bit more than usual for boat rental and skipper services.

Ah. Fishing equipment. She looks up what might be needed to catch this specific variety of fish. There's not much information online, though. Asks around town, tells them it's for some rich hobbyist wanting a live specimen. She writes down what the old sea dogs have to say and goes around buying or borrowing what they suggest, too.

She's going to be charging a nice finder's fee too. An opportunity for spending money~ And a bit of an adventure too!

She's standing by the Marina entrance with a little sign that says 'Black Cross' at 7 PM Saturday.

It's pretty easy to guess who Black Cross is. Black lipstick, black eyeliner, black hair, black nail polish, black dress, black purse. She smiles and waves when she sees the sign. 

"Abyssal Bride?" 

She has a light Canadian accent, all rounded and lilting. 

"That's me. Good to meet you. I've got things planned out. Argie Burke is one of the finest captains in town," because that's the kind of thing you say no matter what the truth is, though it does happen to be true in this case, "His ship Saint David is a 70-foot diesel trawler - plenty big enough to be stable and safe as long as the weather holds, and the forecast looks good."

"You'll want to sort out payment, right? Let me see here -" 

She fishes in her purse and pulls out a glossy black credit card. "Credit would be best, but I have cash on me too, I just don't want to flash it around." 

"Captain Burke would probably prefer cash - he wants you to sign a waiver too, so let's go see him." She indicates the ship in question. "Also, I asked around for the best way to try and catch a black dragonfish, so let's compare notes on that front as we're heading out?"

"Alright." She puts the credit card back in her purse. "Let's go then. You can call me Nix in public, by the way."

"I go by Bettrys."

Captain Burke is a cheerful man of fifty-five with only faint hints of Fischer-ness. If she wants go looking for a rare fish, that's her prerogative and he'll do his best to enable it as long as the money flows! His rate is not exorbitant for the hiring of such a big ship, but, well... Boats are expensive. He says Betty's pay is coming out of the boat hire fee, so there's no separate line item for it.

(She prefers to be called 'Trys' than 'Betty', as nicknames go, but this is not worth arguing with the Captain about.)

He'll add on 20% to the price if she wants to use a credit card, "On account of maybe you'll issue a chargeback later. First time customer thing, it's only business."

"Oh, in that case I'll just pay cash." 

She fishes in her purse, pulls out a black wallet, and from the wallet extracts a thick wad of fifty pound notes. "This ought to cover it." 

(How rich is she? Well. She'll just do her best to be professional and impressive.)

The Captain diligently counts out enough for 8 hours, then lays out an injury risk waiver for Nix to sign. "Now, we're going to be trawling with the nets at the right depth for your black dragonfish. At night and at that depth, there's not a lot of other fish in the sea, hence the hefty fee. You'll get some of this money back, depending on how full my nets are and how much you pick out of them. I'll be on the bridge the whole time, you and miss Bettrys will have to work the nets. You'll both be wearing lines and safety equipment. She knows how, one hand and a greenhorn will be able to handle a quarter the usual haul-in."

"Alright." She signs the waiver as Nix Rowan. "I'll make sure to stay alert and listen to all your instructions."