Pappy ...

[cadence]

*Cadence can be seen pacing back and for in her bedroom, she stops and sits down at her desk. She picks up a pen and begins to write in her journal* I found Gran Pappy (who has asked us to call him Pappy) wandering around the Fens, looking very lost and confused tonight. I went out to greet him. Sadly, he did not remember me. I reintroduced myself to him and explained I was his granddaughter. He thought for a minute and seemed to remember some of the meeting. Clearly, he was still confused.


I asked him what he was doing and where he wanted to go. Again, he looked confused. I told him we should go to Phoebe’s house; that she lived a short distance from me. He seemed to recognize the name Phoebe and agreed to go with me. (He raised Phoebe and should have clear memories of her.) He asked me who Phoebe was. Now I was alarmed.


Lucky for us, Phoebe was home and come to assist with Pappy. His memory continued to fad in and out but he did seem to remember her and looked a bit less confused. Phoebe and I exchanged glances, both of us a bit concerned. Phoebe asked him if he wanted to go home, but he again appeared confused. “Home?” he asked. Phoebe and I exchanged glances; Phoebe took the lead, and we brought him home.


As Pappy looked around his home, he seemed to remember. He said, “it looked familiar.” Pappy wandered around looking everything and as he did his memory appeared to return. He seemed more relaxed. We sat down outside to enjoy the evening. We discussed Pappy being in the Yew prison for such a long time and how that must have made things more confusing for him. We talked about anecdotes from Phoebe’s childhood, and Grandmother. Pappy began to remember more and seemed calmer and more relaxed. We talked and laughed for a while, but Pappy seemed tired, so we all said good night and Pappy went into his house.


Phoebe and I believe being in the awful Yew prison for so many years was difficult for him and it would take time for him fully become himself again. I look forward to that time; there is much I need to learn from Pappy.

[cadence]

(Sitting at her desk, Cadence pens a new notation in her journal).

Pappy appears to be missing again. This morning I went to bring him his favorite coffee and he was nowhere to be found. His room was neat and organized; it looked like no one had been it in for days. (Pappy is not exactly the most organized person, especially in recent days.)

I searched the Fens for signs of Pappy. Perhaps he went to gather gator meat for his favorite meal, BBQ gator. I searched and searched. I was unable to locate Pappy anywhere. Now I am concerned.

Pappy has been, uhm, absent minded, since returning from Yew prison. He must be careful not to break the terms of his release agreement. I have discussed this with my sister Phoebe, and she, too, is concerned about Pappy’s forgetfulness. Now, he has gone and disappeared. Phoebe is away for several days, and I was supposed to look after him.

I will continue to search for him; hopefully he is someplace safe and not in a gators belly or another jail.

[cadence]

*Cadence sits at her desk, and tries to make sense out of her interaction with Pappy tonight*

Pappy was not lost, he was hiding. He said, “to teach me about my heritage”. *puts hand on head and tightly closes eyes, thinks.* He was playing hide and seek with me. How does playing a child’s game teach me anything? Does he think I don’t know how to have fun? Well, maybe he has a point there.

Each place I looked for Pappy I found a bag with something in it. *Pulls out bag and studies the contents*
Fertile Dirt
Charcoal
Wheat wort
Luminescent fungi
Parasitic plant
Zoogi fungi
Raptor teeth
Feather
Vines
Seaweed
Paladin pee (mentally sends thank you to Palin for his donation)
Radish

Cadence begins to search for a connection between all ingredients. Some of the ingredients are used for poisons, some are used for healing, others belong to the Fens of the Dead. Pappy included a book with instructions in his last gift. The instructions were simple, maybe. “Mix and weave, weave and mix, the task is yours and yours to fix.”

*Cadence begins to meditate on the ingredients, seeking connections and answers*

While meditating, Cadence falls into a deep sleep. She sees herself in a dark place surrounded by a strange greenish fog. The area has a weird and sickening smell to it. A cloaked figure appears as some of the smoke and smells vanish. Cadence looks directly at the figure. The figure motions to her and waves its hands over Cadence’s head. Cadence’s fear leaves … she feels happy and is at peace.

The figure vanishes as quickly as it appeared and the fog once again takes over. Slowly, Cadence opens her eyes and looks around. She sees she is at home, sitting at her desk. She feels happy and realizes her task has been solved. She knows how to mix the ingredients and what she will create.

Cadence slowly begins to place some of the ingredients into her kettle, stirring and mixing until a type of string forms. She weaves the string and places it back into the pot. She stirs in more ingredients. “Mix and weave, weave and mix” as a potion begins to take form. Cadence places the last two ingredients into the pot, the radish, and the Paladin pee. She knows this must be brought to the distillery and set to brew.

If Cadence correctly mixed the ingredients in the right combination, the end result will be a portion that will heal the town of Trinsic of the red goblin disease and repel future Red Goblin attacks from occurring. She will have created a blessing for Trinsic.