Eating Fish Scales

You make sure that fish is fully cleaned before the roast. You know what happens when you eat fish scales, don't you?
Best not take our chances. De-scale the fish, then go back and check them again before we cook, all right?

— Silverbay housewife

There is an old wive's tale told among sailors and their families in certain coastal fishing cities, warning of the dangers of consuming fish scales.

Fishy Tale

This old wive's tale warns against eating fish scales, whether intentionally or accidentally, claiming that doing so will cause a number of unpleasant effects on the body, and that repeatedly doing so will permanently alter the body's structure and function.
Warned effects include difficulty breathing, blurred vision, and stomach pains. Repeated consumption of fish scales will supposedly rob you of your ability to breathe air, leaving you to live in the ocean with the other fish. Though no one has ever truly been seen to grow gills from eating fish scales, the tale is still told around Nefyran's coastal homes.

Historical Basis

Though this old wive's tale applies to the consumption of fish scales of any kind, the origin of this tale is said to be linked directly to the tilbak fish local to the island nation of Undmar, where the fish is regularly caught, sold, and consumed.
The scales of the tilbak fish, though typically removed before consumption, have been known to cause illness when ingested. This uncomfortable side effect may have been blown out of proportion, in the form of this old wive's tale, in order to dissuade children from consuming poorly cleaned fish.

If you ever wanted to live among the fish, here's your chance.

Related Ethnicities

• Tilbari

Related Locations

• Gold Port

Truth in Myth

Though it is true that eating fish scales won't send you to the seas with a new set of gills, it is possible to use fish scales as a reagent in potions and spells which produce similar results. Different fish scales have differing results, a subject many scholars and apothecaries have studied for some time, seeking new applications and uses for such resources.