Francesca DuClaw

> The trees may look motionless, little fauna, but they are worlds unto themselves.
>
> Francesca DuClaw

**Francesca DuClaw** is the fifth bear the player meets after arriving on Cozy Grove Island. Her friends are all "trees" (some are books) and she often asks for help on their behalf. She is a Forest Spirit, referred to as the Wood Bear.

Francesca's area is located south of Patrice's post office and west of Kit's Canteen.

## Appearance

Francesca appears to be entirely made of wood. She has two green leaves sticking out of her head.

Francesca's living area is overgrown with trees: there is a big tree, large and small bear-shaped trees, a hollow tree, a tree that lives in a rock, and a tall stump.

## Biography

Francesca is a sculptor who appears to be a bear made out of wood. When the game starts she tells the player that she is a tree, but as the game progresses she realizes that she is a bear who was a wood sculptor in life. Francesca's father was also a sculptor, and the player sometimes helps Francesca to recover his work. It is clear that Francesca has a great deal of respect for her father's art.

## Specialty

### Recycling

See **Recycling** for more details.
Once the player completes Francesca's second story quest, they will get an option to recycle items by talking to her. Francesca can recycle wood, gems, and decorations and, most notably, transform any flower blossoms into tins of flower pigment.

### Dyeing

See **Dyes To Die For** for more details.
Francesca also has a shop where she can turn flower pigments into dyes and then use the dyes to change the color of existing decorations. Dyes come in three different rarities: uncommon, ultra rare, and legendary; higher rarity dyes require more pigments to craft and can only be applied to rare or higher decorations. Mythical decorations cannot be dyed.

## List of quests

Every day, Francesca DuClaw has a chance to give the player a quest, provided she has no quest active. The quest can be started by speaking to Francesca DuClaw.

If Francesca DuClaw is ghostly blue and her area is not colored, she will give the player a story quest. If Francesca DuClaw is colored but her area is not, she will give the player a daily quest. If both Francesca DuClaw and her area are colored, she will not give any quests, but the player can still converse with her to listen to some gossip or occasionally advance her story.

Story quests are untimed and advance Francesca DuClaw's story, allowing the player to learn more about her, fill her heart meter, and restore her memories. Some story quests require the player to collect a lot of resources or help other bears to get quest items. The story quests often give spirit logs as rewards.

Non-story quests have a time limit, do not provide any story development, and give random rewards. There are no penalties for letting a timed quest expire.

Some quests require the player to find items hidden on the island. The hidden objects spawn after the player accepts the quest, with hints on their location provided in the quest menu. If the player has trouble locating the item, they can get a hint from Charlotte Pine for 100.

### Daily quests

Every daily quest has a chance to give the player a spirit wood or a crafting recipe for a random decoration in addition to regular reward.

## Chat

Every day, when Francesca DuClaw has no quest active, the player can chat with her for some random gossip. Francesca DuClaw can give the player advice or tell a little about herself or other bears.

Chatting with Francesca DuClaw does not advance her story.

After the player chats with Francesca DuClaw once, they can ask her for a hug.

**Francesca:** Be silent. Can you hear that?
The rush of the xylem. The sigh of the phloem. The cacophony of photosynthesis.
The trees may look motionless, little fauna, but they are worlds unto themselves.
**Francesca:** I have many leafy friends. Kafka. Kipling. Proust.
All of them compelling, beautiful, wonderously unique...
...and strictly within the public domain.
**Francesca:** We trees are alive, but we host life, too.
You can find amongst our branches everything from birds to caterpillars to earwigs to mushrooms.
It... kind of tickles.
**Francesca:** You seem a decent sort, little fauna. But your bipedal brethren can be so *destructive.*
I've heard stories of humans cutting down grand old trees just so they could count the rings.
But isn't it so much nobler to *create* something rather than to destroy it? So much more *meaningful?*
**Francesca:** When a tree creates its branches, there is no 'right' and 'wrong,' or even 'good' and 'bad,' so long as it gets its leaves out into the sunshine.
The branches make a pattern. That pattern is unique to that tree and time. Their leaves tell a story that only that tree can tell.
In the end, what is beautiful is not this tree or that tree, but the forest.
Still though: the tree has to get those leaves out in the sunshine. Or it won't be anything at all.
**Francesca:** Decay is as much a part of the essence of the forest as growth. Old things break down and provide the resources for the new to thrive.
Lucky for you though, little fauna, you don't have to wait for mushrooms and termites to break down your items.
For whatever reason, the forest has graced me with this ability, and I work very quickly. Just ask me to 'recycle' something for you.
And behold the miracle of *decomposition.*
**Francesca:** Unfortunately, there are some materials even I can't break down, little fauna.
Metals, for instance. They're so cold and inflexible, it's difficult to strike up a conversation with them.
**Francesca:** Trees enjoy company just as you and I do. If you plant trees near each other, it can lift their spirits!
They may even reward you with little gifts for being so considerate. Isn't it good to be kind?
## Daily quest lines

### Blue leaves

Start:

**Francesca:** One of my oaks has been complaining about how commonplace she feels in this forest.
Could you get her some blue leaves?
**Francesca:** My youngest willow is going through a *rebellious* phase at the moment.
She's saying she wants a new look. Maybe some blue leaves?
End:

**Francesca:** Oh, how beautiful! Now she will always stand out!
**Francesca:** Thank you! With these, she'll be the talk of the island!
### Book

Start:

**Francesca:** One of my special trees seems to have wandered off somewhere. Perhaps I set her down near a statue?
**Francesca:** Little fauna, could you help me find one of my friends?
I believe I lost her while I was admiring those vanishing statues.
End:

**Francesca:** There you are, Shelley! You're back home, safe and sound.
**Francesca:** Thank you, little fauna! I'd be so lost without my little Brontë.
### Gold leaves

Start:

**Francesca:** One of my sycamores has been feeling jealous of her neighbors.
Could you get her some golden leaves?
**Francesca:** One of my yews is feeling depressed lately.
I think a few gold leaves would help boost her spirits!
End:

**Francesca:** She may not be the tallest tree, but now she will undoubtedly be the fanciest!
**Francesca:** These should cheer her right up! Sometimes all the girl needs is a little pampering.
### Seeds

Start:

**Francesca:** I see you running about, little fauna, chopping at the weeds. Am I upset by it? No, not at all.
Like the birds who eat the fruit and the bees who sip the nectar, you are but a pawn in the great battle for resources that is daily waged on this small island by the quiet armies of grass, tree, and root!
Now go my little fauna, and chop away at those thorny, flowering bushes--those 'weeds'. And return their children to me.
End:

**Francesca:** Ah, yes: here they are. Not much now, but next season... just you wait!
Here, take this, as a token of our gratitude.
### Wood for carving

Start:

**Francesca:** The forest feels a little blander today.
Time for me to do some carving!
Here's what I'll need...
**Francesca:** I'm feeling inspired today, little sprout!
Would you like to help me gather a few materials?
End:

**Francesca:** This will do nicely.
Now then... let's carve these sticks and logs *back into what they're supposed to be*...
**Francesca:** Oh, wonderful! Just what I needed.
Now, I shall see the sculpture inside this wood and *carve to set it free*.
## Mementos

Spoiler alertThis article or section contains **spoilers**. Proceed with caution!
1. *Francesca DuClaw, the Wood Bear, is delighted to have a new (living) neighbor! But she could use your help to fit in with her tree friends...*
2. *You went looking for Francesca's friend, Kafka, a 'very special tree' who turned out to be a book. Francesca's grasp on reality seems tenuous at best.*
3. *Francesca tells of an ancient empire which once ruled this island. Fact or fiction? Who know, but your dowsing rod is sure to find clues...*
4. *When Francesca recalls her past life as a wood sculptor, her relationship with the trees of Cozy Grove briefly becomes awkward.*
5. *Another piece of Francesca's past is revealed: her father was a famous sculptor as well.*
6. *You found an old photo of Francesca, but it's badly damaged and bent. The edges look...singed?*
7. *Francesca recalls the forest fire that claimed her father's cabin and destroyed their creations. She managed to save one piece: a bust carved by her father.*
8. *Francesca reveals that the bust she saved from the fire was of her own mother. She has come to accept that nothing lasts forever; that life is a series of moments and connections.*

The comic attached to the second memento.The comic attached to the fourth memento.The comic attached to the fifth memento.The comic attached to the sixth memento.
## Story quests expanded

### Francesca's leaves

Francesca introduces herself and asks the player to gather her leaves.

**Francesca:** *Who dares?*
Who dares disturb the forest?
**Scout:** Sorry! Just trying to be sociable.
**Francesca:** *Sociable?*
If you're trying to be sociable... then you must be alive? How wonderful!
**Scout:** Just a Spirit Scout! I mean no harm.
**Francesca:** A Spirit Scout? Really?
So... someone's finally come to clean up our mess.
**Scout:** I dare!
**Francesca:** Wait. You're... a living person? After all these years!
**Francesca:** I thought you were just an **imp**, back to torment me as usual.
It's been a while since we've had a living, breathing creature in these woods.
For decades it's just been me and my fellow trees.
**Scout:** Can they talk like you?
**Francesca:** Oh, yes. They are just *full* of thoughts and opinions.
**Scout:** So you're a tree also?
**Francesca:** Yep. The only tree in this clearing with manners, apparently.
**Scout:** You're not a tree. You're a bear.
**Francesca:** Of course I'm a tree! Just like my friends here.
**Francesca:** **Emerson, Carson, Cao Cao, Thoreau?** Say hello to our guest!
They must be feeling shy.
Of course, I'm a little different from your typical tree. I'm sure you noticed.
It's my embarrassing **lack of leaves**.
The imps plucked them off me years ago and scattered them across the island.
Would you mind finding my leaves for me?
Five green leaves can be found scattered across the island. After the player delivers the leaves, Francesca gives them a spirit wood.

**Francesca:** Aha, those are the leaves I was looking for! Thank you!
Hmm, I can't seem to reattach them.
I can't even find the branches they came from.
How strange...
Wordsworth? Frost? Any thoughts on the matter?
Typical. Most of the time, these trees won't stop rustling.
But as soon as I need their opinion? Then silence is golden!
### Colors of the forest

Francesca gives the player a tutorial on expanding the lighted areas:

**Francesca:** Thanks for your help earlier, little spirit. Did you notice the **burst of color** that occurred afterwards?
**Scout:** It was hard to miss!
**Francesca:** I suppose it was rather dramatic.
**Scout:** Nope. Didn't notice a thing.
**Francesca:** Trees are so much more observant than people.
**Francesca:** Bringing color to the island is a noble thing! This place isn't meant to be so... gloomy and lifeless.
I bring this up because my dear friend Thoreau is in need of your help.
He's the walnut tree over there, just out of reach of my **color**.
The camera moves to Thoreau, the tree that needs the player's help.

**Francesca:** He's got an **umbrella** snagged in his branches that is bothering him terribly.
I'd ask you to shake the umbrella free, but because Thoreau is uncolored, mortals like you can't interact with him.
He can't even grow walnuts in his uncolored state. Poor thing. He looks so barren now!
You'll need to **extend the reach of my color** to help him.
Take this spirit **lamp** and place it on the colored edge of my domain to extend it to Thoreau!
Francesca gives the player a common log cabin lamp to place near Thoreau. After the player places the lamp, they can shake the tree to get some walnuts and the blue umbrella. They need to bring the umbrella back to Francesca.

**Francesca:** You got that cursed umbrella out of Thoreau's hair!
Now he can finally stop whining about it. You have our gratitude, Spirit Friend.
And while you're here, maybe you could find a new home for my other friend?
Here you go!
Francesca gives the player a fruit tree as a reward.

### A missing tree

One of Francesca's special trees is missing, and she asks the player to find it.

**Francesca:** Hello, Spirit Friend! You're just the fauna I wanted to see.
One of my favorite trees has gone missing.
**Scout:** That's terrible! / Missing? How do you lose a tree?
**Francesca:** The poor thing is always getting lost.
It's one of my *special* trees. Small. Square-shaped. Rootless. Lots of white leaves inside.
If you come across a tree matching that description, be sure to send it my way!
The tree Francesca is looking for is a book, it can be found hidden on the island. Francesca is glad to see the book when the player brings it back.

**Francesca:** There you are, Kafka!
Kafka here is a very special tree.
She used to look different. Taller trunk, wider branches.
But change is unavoidable. Kafka knows that well, don't you girl?
Kafka's a bit of an introvert.
Anyway, we embrace change, here in my woods.
In fact, if you bring me an **item**, I may be able to **change it for you**.
I call it **recycling**. Cycling back into something new and vital.
Try it out sometime!
Francesca gives the player a spirit wood and a fruit tree as a reward. Completing this quest also unlocks her second memory.

After the quest is completed, the player can speak to Francesa anytime and select the recycling option to transform items.

The next day the player talks to Francesca, she says she decided she likes them and gives them a scout book page she found.

**Francesca:** My trees and I have decided that we like you, little fauna.
You have an *arboreal* quality.
My friend Kipling found an **unusual sheet** stuck between his pages... er, leaves.
When I saw it, I thought to myself... *perhaps it belongs in that Scout's forest*.
Please take it, with my gratitude.
### Francesca's branches

The imps have stolen some Francesca's branches, and she wants the player to bring the branches back.

**Francesca:** Those *imps* have been rooting around in the underbrush again.
Where did they come from? What do they want?
I can often gain knowledge by *consulting my friends' leaves*... but I've learned nothing about the imps.
Anyway, the imps have stolen some branches from me yet again. Can you retrieve them for me?
Three branches can be found hidden on the island. After the branches are returned, Francesca gives the player a spirit wood and a fruit tree.

**Francesca:** Why did the imps take our branches?
I saw shapes, scratched in the dirt... spirals and eyes and jagged mouths.
I wonder... are the imps capable of **art**?
It doesn't matter. Self-expression is no excuse for stealing from a tree.
**Scout:** Yeah! Self-expression is no excuse for anything!
**Francesca:** Exactly!
Wait, actually, no. Self-expression is important.
Did I think this through enough?
**Scout:** I mean... I've been collecting a lot of Spirit Logs. So I'm not sure.
**Francesca:** Oh, but that's different, isn't it?
Spirit Logs are hewn from the great Tree of Death. Its branches are endless, and ever-expanding.
So it's harmless to collect them. I... think?
**Scout:** Hadn't the branches already fallen? What's the harm?
**Francesca:** If you'd lost an arm, would you want someone grabbing it and using it to draw figures in the dirt?
Wouldn't you rather it just... sit there at your feet...?
This arm analogy isn't helping my case, is it?
**Francesca:** Well, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that the branches are returned.
### A dowsing rod

Francesca wants to teach the player how to look for the relics of the past.

**Francesca:** Hello, little fauna. I wonder how this island must look to your youthful eyes. Most of us have been dead longer than you've been alive.
But the history of this island goes far deeper. Long before it was a campground, some say it was the capital of a lost empire.
That civilization is long gone, but its **relics** remain. They're not easy to find though. You need a **dowsing rod**.
If you help him out, I bet Jeremy Gruffle can make you one. Then I can tell you how to use it.
The dowsing rod can be received from Jeremy Gruffle after the player completes his sixth quest. The player can use the dowsing rod to find any relic and bring that relic to Francesca.

**Francesca:** Ah, I see Jeremy made you a fine dowsing rod. Let me take a look.
And you brought me a relic! You know, Captain Billweather Snout is fond of collecting these.
Once you're collecting relics regularly, you can even burn them into **relic ash** at your campfire. I'm told it's a valuable crafting ingredient.
Does that seem disrespectful? I wouldn't worry. I'm sure the spirits concerned will let you know if they take issue with it.
New relics appear all the time, so check for them with your dowsing rod each day.
Speaking of which, I should give that back to you now. Happy dowsing!
Francesca gifts the player a spirit wood as a reward. She also gives the player their dowsing rod back. Completing this quest unlocks the third of Francesca's mementos.

### Francesca's statue

Francesca tells the player her trees think she has lost something important and tasks the player with finding it.

**Francesca:** My fellow trees were whispering last night.
They said I'd lost something important. That it was time for me to find it.
You're a Spirit Scout, right? You've learned to commune with the **elder roots**?
Perhaps they can send you a vision... an **image** of what I've lost!
The item Francesca is looking for is a small wooden carving of a bear. It is hidden somewhere on the island. When the player delivers the carving to Francesca, she realizes she was the one who had carved it.

**Francesca:** What is this?
Two eyes, two ears, a snout... and yet it's made out of wood?
What does it mean...?
Oh, little fauna... I understand now!
I've been a bit confused.
This may come as a shock to you but... I'm a *bear*.
A bear and an artist. And when I was alive, I *carved this statue*.
Francesca gives the player a spirit wood and a fruit tree as a reward.

The next day the player finds Francesca apologizing to the trees. She remembered she was a sculptor and worked with wood back when she was alive. This unlocks her fourth memory.

**Francesca:** Ah, little fauna. You're here just in time to see me deliver my apology to my fellow trees.
**Hear me, o forest!** It is I, Francesca. Your friend.
I have recently learned that in life, I was, in fact, a **sculptor** and a **bear**.
And my artistic medium of choice was... **wood**.
But please know that I have always held you in deepest respect.
Don't believe me? Just look. Here in the afterlife, I'm literally sprouting leaves!
I hope you'll continue to see me as one of your own.
Ok, I'm finished. If you have anything to say to me, now's the time.
So we're good then?
I'll take that as a yes.
### Carving tools

Francesca wants to trim her branches and wishes she had carving tools.

**Francesca:** Aesthetically-speaking, I can't deny that my branches are growing a little long.
Perhaps I can use some of my **old skills** to trim them?
If only I had some **carving tools**...
The carving tools can be obtained from Jeremy Gruffle after completing one of his quests. When the player delivers the tools, Francesca gives them a spirit wood and a fruit tree in return.

**Francesca:** Look at these **carving tools**!
They must have belonged to a master. Can I borrow them?
**Scout:** Go right ahead!
**Francesca:** What a generous spirit you are.
**Scout:** Can I get something in return?
**Francesca:** I gift you the *overwhelming gratitude of the forest*.
**Francesca:** Now let me see, a shave here and a few whittles there...
Tada! Now my form reflects my inner truth a little better.
It's a nice feeling, carving wood again.
Maybe I'll hold onto these tools for a while...
### Lots of wood

Francesca carved away all the wood she had and asks the player to bring her more materials.

**Francesca:** Hi there, little fauna! I was up before sunrise collecting bits of wood to carve.
I chiseled out a swan paddling on a mountain lake...
...a fairy queen turning a bear into a donkey...
...and a whale, rising up from the sea and breaking the Pequod in two!
**Scout:** Those sound very impressive!
**Francesca:** It's like my father always said:
*There are stories in the wood. You just have to find them.*
**Scout:** I thought you were against harvesting wood?
**Francesca:** Oh, I'm strictly anti-chopping live wood.
But if some wood falls in the forest and I pick it up... does it make me a hypocrite?
**Scout:** You really carved all those this morning?
**Francesca:** Sure! The hour before dawn is a **very productive time** here in the forest.
You'd be surprised what you can accomplish!
**Francesca:** Unfortunately, I'm out of carve-able wood. All I have left are Spirit Logs.
If you find any more, could you bring it to me? We can trade!
The player needs to gather 15 hardwood, 30 softwood, and 80 branch and bring them to Francesca to complete the quest and get a spirit wood and a decoration as a reward.

**Francesca:** Thank you! This much wood should last me a day, at least.
As promised, little fauna... here's your **Spirit Log**!
### An animal spirit

Francesca has run out of inspiration and is hoping an animal spirit could bring it back.

**Francesca:** I think I've finally done it.
Yep... I've **completely** run out of inspiration.
All of my sculptures are so... transient. They're hollowed-out shapes and ideas.
Not one of them has deep roots.
I need to venture back into my *prior existence* for a visit.
Perhaps an **animal spirit** could give me the inspiration I need.
After the player delivers a deer to Francesca, she gives them a spirit wood and a fruit tree.

**Francesca:** Greetings, little spirit!
You seem at peace here. Connected to the woods.
It's good to see a bit more **life** in this forest again.
I don't think I'm worthy of carving your image, little spirit. Not quite yet.
### Imps again

Imps have been bothering Francesca again and have taken her statues. She asks the player to retrieve them.

**Francesca:** By the elder roots... what a disaster!
Those miscreant imps are at it again.
They've stolen five of my best statues!
Please, little fauna... as you know, I'm rooted to my spot.
Won't you use your little legs in the service of the *natural arts*?
Chase down those thieves and retrieve my statues!
Five statues can be obtained by chasing imps on the island. After the player delivers them to Francesca, she realizes one of the carvings is not hers.

**Francesca:** You found them!
And they're almost untouched, aside from a few fire-shaped squiggles painted on the side.
Wait... what's this one wooden statue you found?
Little fauna, it seems one of these carvings **isn't mine**.
How strange. Is there another sculptor in these woods?
A few days later, Francesca realizes the carving is her father's work and remembers he also was a sculptor.

**Francesca:** I've been looking at that statue you found the other day.
The twinkle of life in its eyes. Mischievous, but kind.
If I carved for a thousand years, I could never make something this good.
This is my **dad's** work, of course!
Dad could make a piece of wood sing, dance, or fly if he wanted to.
The things I carve aren't even close to this quality.
But while I'm carving, I feel like he's sitting beside me.
And in my best moments, I imagine he's proud of me.
This unlocks Francesca's fifth memory and comic.

### DuClaw statues

Francesca asks the player to find more of her father's work.

**Francesca:** Hey little fauna! How are you today?
**Scout:** Doing great, how are you?
**Francesca:** Well, I'm out here in the woods, as usual.
Heard a loon crying this morning. It sounded a little lonesome. Lost.
**Scout:** Feeling a little down, actually.
**Francesca:** I'm so sorry to hear that.
Truth be told, I'm feeling the same.
**Francesca:** The trees used to be enough company for me.
But ever since I found one of dad's carvings, I feel lonely.
There are more **DuClaw Statues** out there. I know it.
And it's eating away at me like termites on a log.
If you locate any more DuClaw Statues while scouting... please. Bring them home to me.
DuClaw statues are quest items the player can receive from Valentina Oso-Fisher, Clyde Wallace, and Lee Berry Dennings for completing their story quests. When the player brings all three DuClaw statues to Francesca, she gets sad.

**Francesca:** You found them! All three of the missing **DuClaw Statues.**
So *impenetrable*, so *timeless*... I could study these for centuries and still find something new in them.
This is such a beautiful gift, little fauna.
It should make me so happy, having these again.
But instead... I have an autumn feeling, like the leaves are falling from my branches.
For some reason... I'm *sad*.
Why am I sad?
Francesca gives the player a spirit wood and a fruit tree as a reward.

### Francesca's books

Francesca has questions and wonders if she will find them in her books.

**Francesca:** I used to be content in these woods.
But ever since you brought me those statues, *questions* have been sprouting in my head.
There's one, in particular, that any self-respecting ghost should be able to answer...
*How did I die?*.
Strange, isn't it, that I don't know?
Perhaps my beloved *tree friends* can help. I believe you call them *books*.
I... called them *books* too, before I became part of the forest.
Could the answers I seek be written on their leaves... er, I mean, on their pages?
Three books can be found hidden on the island. After the player brings them to Francesca, she gives them a spirit wood and a fruit tree.

**Francesca:** Ah, you've located three fine companions for me!
*flip flip flip*
My wonderful friends, the books! I feel such a kinship with them.
We are both transformed from our base materials into new shapes... works of art.
I don't know if my story is written in these pages.
But I'll keep reading, just in case...
A few days later Francesca asks the player a question.

**Francesca:** Unfortunately, leafing through these books hasn't answered *anything*.
In fact, the more I read, the more questions I have.
And speaking of, I'm a little curious...
What have you been doing with all those Spirit Logs I've given you?
**Scout:** I'm feeding them to the fire!
**Francesca:** Oh! The... fire...
Of course. Well, I supposed I should've expected that...
**Scout:** I'm using them to warm up the island!
**Francesca:** *Warm up the island*? What a strange idea!
Unless... ah. The campfire.
**Scout:** Are you sure you want to know?
**Francesca:** It's ok, little fauna. I've done my fair share of camping. I can guess.
**Francesca:** I'm not upset that you're feeding the campfire.
It's how most wood meets its end, after all.
### Ghost birds

Francesca thinks her forest is too quiet.

**Francesca:** I've been reading under the silent oaks and pines, and I've realized something important.
This forest is much *TOO QUIET*!
Just because I'm dead doesn't mean the woods should feel like a tomb.
I'd love to hear some old-fashioned forest noises.
Maybe... some **bird songs**.
Francesca wants the player to bring her three young ghost birds. Once the player delivers the birds, Francesca thanks them and rewards them with a spirit wood and a young ghost deer.

**Francesca:** Ah... listen to those birds! Such *music*.
Songs are different than sculptures or books, aren't they?
They aren't meant to be permanent. You feel them wash over you, and then they're gone.
Thank you, little bird spirits. You've brought peace to my glade.
### Another book

Francesca wants to turn to a book for advice once again.

**Francesca:** Ah, little fauna! You're just the person I wanted to see.
I was looking around my forest and I realized...
I'm missing the *one tree* that might help me remember what happened to me.
His name is *Proust*. A grand old tree with purple bark and thousands of leaves.
Keep an eye out for him, will you?
The book can be obtained by chasing one of the imps on the island. After the player brings it back to Francesca, she rewards them with a spirit wood and a young ghost bird.

**Francesca:** Yes! There you are, *Proust*!
What were you doing with those awful imps!?!?
I need your help, *Proust*... there's something I need to remember.
Do you have any advice? Any wisdom to impart?
......
...........
Ahhhh *DANG IT*!
I am *DONE* asking trees questions!!! It *NEVER* works!
What we need is an object. Something concrete and sensory, from my past.
If something like that turns up, I'm sure my memories will come flooding back.
### A photo

Francesca needs a photograph to remind her of her past.

**Francesca:** I've been sifting through the forest floor, looking for traces of my old life...
But all I've found are broadleaves and pine needles, woodworms and scat.
Where are the traces of my old life?
Aside from those four statues of my father's, I haven't seen any evidence that I existed.
Isn't there a single *picture*? Anything?
The photo of Francesca can be received from Arjun Bhalla as a reward for completing one of his story quests. Francesca rewards the player with a spirit wood, a fruit tree, and a common lamp.

**Francesca:** Look... on the back. It says *Francesca DuClaw.* That's me!
But the picture's a little bent and underexposed.
In fact, it's basically pitch black.
Well. Either I'm not much of a photographer...
... or I took a perfect shot of a black cat blinking on a moonless night...
... or there's some other explanation that has yet to reveal itself.
Honestly, little fauna... *mystery* is not my favorite genre.
But I think that's exactly what's growing in this forest.
### A burned statue

Francesca wonders why the player have not found any of her sculptures yet.

**Francesca:** I was a sculptor, just like Dad.
And if my work in the afterlife is any guide, I was *very* prolific.
So why haven't we found any more of my old sculptures?
There must be more out there... don't you think?
The burned statue can be obtained from Ursula Pine in a conversation after one of her story quests. Once the player delivers the statue to Francesca, she asks to be left alone and gives the player a spirit wood.

**Francesca:** That statue... another DuClaw, from my Dad.
That face. It almost looks like me!
But look at the charring. It's... burned.
Oh. OH!
I remember everything now.
Thank you for finding this.
Please... I need a moment alone with my trees and my thoughts.
### A skull

Francesca asks the player to find something for her.

**Francesca:** Hi, little fauna.
I've been letting my thoughts wander with the birdsong.
And they've finally wandered back to that *statue* you brought me.
There's one more thing I'd like you to find.
Something I lost when that statue burned.
You'll know it when you see it, I think.
The item Francesca is looking for is a bear skull. Once the player finds it hidden on the island and brings it back to Francesca, she tells them her life story.

**Francesca:** Well, little fauna... that's me.
Before I joined the forest, that bit of bone contained the boundless imagination of Francesca DuClaw.
I grew up watching my father carve. I practically lived in his workshop.
To keep me from getting underfoot, he set me up from a young age with a stack of books.
I knew Dad was gifted. *Everyone* in Cozy Grove knew it. He was a local treasure.
But as I grew older, I wondered... why did he limit himself?
He only carved *bear busts*. Grizzly mothers, and elders, and cubs... every time.
The books I read seemed *so varied and ambitious* by comparison. They were great works, profound and lasting.
So when I took up my own carving knife, I decided whatever I made would be *important*.
I practiced and practiced. I filled the house with my art.
But the things I made never met my own high standards. I refused to sell them.
When Dad died, he left the cabin to us. We had enough to live on, out in the woods.
I kept carving, grandiose scenes and intricate stories...
...I poured everything into them, but they were never quite good enough, never quite done.
Do you want to know what happened on *that fateful day*?
**Scout:** Yes. You can tell me.
**Francesca:** I was napping outside when I smelled smoke.
It must have been lunch. Salmon left in the frying pan, burner left on.
Something pointless like that.
Many of my sculptures were delicate. Gentle wave-crests under match-thin ships. Feathers on angel wings.
I'd bet they got the fire burning quick.
Between my Dad and I, eighty years of work was lost that day.
Not to mention the trees... the old woods that had sustained us, provided for us.
I wasn't thinking about the forest in that moment, though.
I wasn't thinking about any of my sculptures, either, when I decided to go back inside.
I was thinking about one face that Dad had carved, years ago.
I knew, with complete conviction, that it needed to survive.
**Scout:** No, thank you. I've heard enough.
**Francesca:** Maybe it's for the best that the story remain untold.
**Francesca:** I did manage to save that bust...
Yes. Because of me, a bit of us will live on.
The player is rewarded with a spirit wood and unlocks Francesca's seventh memory.

The next day Francesca wants to talk.

**Francesca:** Admit it, little fauna.
My ghost story's a little sad, isn't it
**Scout:** Honestly, it's devastating.
**Francesca:** The fire devastated the land around my house, that's for sure.
It took years for the woods to grow back. But they did.
**Scout:** I'm so sorry, Francesca.
**Francesca:** Don't be sorry.
**Scout:** Eh. I've heard sadder.
**Francesca:** Ha! I'm sorry for you, if that's true.
**Francesca:** All my life, I was surrounded by tall trunks.
I wanted to create something as grand and permanent as they were.
But in the end, that sculpture I rushed to save from the fire?
It wasn't one of mine. It was a bust of my mother.
You know, before Dad and her split up, she used to walk through the forest with me.
I would run between the trunks and she would just look up at leaves, glowing in the sun.
*Why focus on the leaves, Mom?* I wondered.
*The leaves don't last. They sway in the tiniest breeze. They fall to the ground. They're gone by November.*
I think I finally understand.
They don't *need* to last.
They're just passing through. Having their moment in a forest of little moments.
And if they're lucky, someone sees them. Captures the moment.
Someone like me. Or someone like you.
Francesca gives the player a mastwood and another spirit wood. This conversation also unlocks Francesca's eighth and final memory. Francesca ascends and turns golden, her area will stay permanently lit and colored. She will no longer give the player story quests; however, she will still occasionally give the player daily quests.

## Version history

* 3.1.0: Bears will now only have one piece of gossip per day.
* 2.0.0: Added the option to hug Francesca DuClaw after chatting with her twice. Added seed packet quest. Quests asking for animals now ask for young ones.