Old Master Cannoli
| Old Master Cannoli | |
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| Type | Collection |
Old Master Cannoli is a weathered stone statue standing among the ruins in the north-west corner of the Secret Woods. The inscription under him says only that he is still searching for the sweetest taste, which is the game's way of setting a riddle with one answer. Handing the statue a Sweet Gem Berry makes his mouth fall open and his eyes glow red, and speaking to him once more hands over a Stardrop. That makes a quiet corner of a small forest clearing into one of the permanent stamina upgrades in the game, and the only one that has to be grown rather than bought, caught or earned. The berry is expensive to part with, which is exactly what makes the trade feel like a sacrifice.
Overview
Reaching the statue takes an axe upgrade first. The Secret Woods open off the north-west corner of Cindersap Forest, a little above the Wizard's Tower, behind a fallen log too thick for the starter tool. Clint forges a Steel Axe at the blacksmith, and that is the first axe heavy enough to break the log apart. The clearing beyond holds low-level slimes, a pond with Woodskip in it, hardwood stumps that grow back every morning and forage that changes with the season, so the trip rewards a visit long before the statue does.
Feeding him is the harder half. The Sweet Gem Berry grows from a Rare Seed, and Rare Seeds are only sold by the Traveling Merchant who sets up at the north end of Cindersap Forest on Fridays and Sundays. She stocks them reliably through Spring and Summer at a thousand gold apiece, and they surface occasionally in her ordinary rotating stock at other times of year. The seed then needs twenty-four days in the ground and will only ripen in Fall, so an outdoor planting has to go in during the first few days of the season or the frost arrives first. A greenhouse or a sheltered Garden Pot removes the deadline entirely, and the Seed Maker turns a spare berry back into fresh Rare Seeds, which breaks the dependence on the cart for anyone patient enough to run the loop.
Giving the berry works like handing a present to a villager rather than clicking a machine: hold the berry and interact with the statue. The eyes light, and the actual Stardrop comes from the second interaction, which catches a few farmers out into walking away too early. After that the statue closes up and goes back to being scenery, since the exchange only ever happens once in a save. On a shared farm the single berry serves everyone, so one person growing one crop can hand the whole team a permanent stamina bar increase.
What makes the trade bite is the price of the gift. A Sweet Gem Berry is among the most valuable crops that can be grown, worth several thousand gold at the shipping bin and more at perfect quality, and it refuses to be made into wine or pickles, so it is normally planted to be sold raw. Walking a berry into the woods means giving up that payout. The stamina the Stardrop adds lasts the rest of the save, however, and it is also one of the items the Perfection tracker insists on, so the berry is best thought of as a fee rather than a loss.
Notes
The statue is a gentle nod to Obi-Wan Kenobi: the hooded robe, the beard and the rhythm of the name all point the same way, and the sketch is affectionate rather than exact.
Anyone planning a Fall run should buy the seed in Spring or Summer while the merchant is certain to have one, and keep it until the season turns. Buying in Fall means trusting her random stock on two days a week, which is a thin thread to hang a Stardrop on.
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