View source for Anstara (Prime)/A Twist Of Taessaet: The Hangover Cure

{{Creative-work
|author-displayed=Anstara
|title=A Twist of Taessaet: The Hangover Cure
|author=Anstara
|date=2024-05-28
|type=vignette
}}
On a late Ivastaen evening, Anstara was resting with their feline familiar Fleabert when they received a notice about a fairly urgent missive. Following the young courier to the mail office, they find that they had received a letter from one Fizwixit, a valued member of Fryc & Shives Laboratories. 

Earlier in the month, at the end of Rumor Woods, Anstara happened to be present during some business when Fizwixit had offhandedly mentioned some antique looms that were being studied. Their pointy ears perked up immediately as they happened to have been working very hard with Yfane and company to try to unravel the lost secrets of "taessaet", a lost Nalfein textile known also as rose silk. Additionally, their research had also turned up tantalizing threads of the secret of Elesine! Much discussion was had, and Anstara had also mentioned an elixir made primarily of glimaerstones and jellyfish, whose exact recipe was lost to time. Astonished, Fizwixit stated that it sounded almost just like Shives' homemade hangover cure! In a flurry of excitement, the gnomes promised to reach out to Yfane and see if they would be able to help (and perhaps also find a new revenue stream).

Anstara withdrew the gear-embossed pale ivory parchment from their envelope, and scanned the contents. They read as follows:<blockquote>Dear Anstara, after much delay, I am able to write you about the items discussed at Rumor Woods.  We have reached amenable arrangements with Lord Yfane's group for procurement of our hangover cure, known to them as nielira elixir and believed to be a component in the creation of taessaet.  It is believed that our cure has metamorphized somewhat from the original recipe, and they are turning to alchemists to review the possible variations.  The page we originally had mentioned nielira specifically, but we have found any small jellyfish works quite well in the hangover cure.  And quite often, we have omitted a powdered gem in its entirety and used any bark we can find.  I'm told by scholars, however, that there are references to resaeun bark and possibly a very specific gem and nielira.

I have included a copy of the recipe below in case you care to share it with any alchemists you may know.

With Regards,
Fizwixit

FSL Hangover Cure
1.  Create sap by adding water, two doses of bark, and a single small jellyfish.  Boil then seal as sap is created.
2.  Create the elixir by adding a powdered gem to a crystalline solution, then add the sap created in step 1 followed by two additional jellyfish.  Simmer the concoction then seal it.
3.  Drink whenever needed, preferably not on an empty stomach.</blockquote>

Anstara folded up the paper and tucked it into their cape, a pensive look on their face, tinged with excitement. They knew they had to get the message out to as many people as possible...

They decided to also pen a return missive to Fizwixit. The missive said:<blockquote>Dear Fizwixit,

Thank you for the update, and for the recipe! I hope it is all right that I have spread it around, as I figure that we'd have more of a chance of finding the exact right elixir if we have as many people as possible trying different things. For my part, I hope to be able to try and experiment as much as possible. I plan to visit Nielira harbor in the very near future, and hopefully find a few clues myself.

I hope you are well, and that Uvaldov isn't driving everyone up the wall. Well, not TOO much. Please give my love to everyone, and I wish you all the best in engineering some truly outrageous contraptions.

All the best,
Anstara
(At the bottom of the page there is an inky pawprint, beneath which is written the name Fleabert in flowery script.)</blockquote>They sealed up the letter, stamped it with their signet, and handed it off. They took a deep breath, and cracked their knuckles. A brief moment of relaxation, and then it was time to get to work.