Emeralds: Applications in Alchemy [Added]

[Jacurutu]

Emeralds: Applications in Alchemy
by Whertold the Blackened

This text is intended as both a reference book for the work-a-day alchemist, and as a primer for students of the art or interested laymen. Alchemy, in general, should not be the province of the carelessly minded. Many ordinary things have been shown, by long and careful experimentation, to evince significant effects which are often pyrotechnic, insidious or otherwise malevolent.

It should be further noted that the return of any benefits at all hinge entirely on one’s skill and experience with the equipment and accoutrements of alchemy, as well as with the quality of same. A well-made hammer in the hands of a master-builder may construct a citadel, but a mallet in the grasp of a fool will only bend nails. If you have any doubts at all about practising alchemy, then you would be best advised to direct your interest elsewhere. You have been warned.

Emeralds

Khajiiti folklore from the Elsweyr wastes tells us they are the tears of Akatosh. Whatever their origin, they are, like most gems, highly valued for their beauty and are used to adorn both objects and people. It has also been long known that emeralds have specific and useful characteristics which may be drawn forth upon their careful combination with other ingredients.

Potion of Restore Health

The world is a dangerous place and travelling abroad is an unwise pursuit for the unprepared. Encounters with all manner of aggressive creatures and criminally inclined folk are frequent and leave many a wanderer dead or nearly so. Often for the want of an aqueous balm have travellers been hurried to their end. Here I will describe a simple, if rather costly, recipe for a concoction which upon its draught instantly revives one’s lifeforce.

A single emerald of no less than three grains in size should be ground to dust in a sturdy mortar. Ensure that you perform this task in a still room, as any sudden gust of air may prove to be expensive. The emerald dust is to be then transferred to a dry container. The mortar should then be wiped clean and used to mash the companion ingredient. This may be any one of corkbulb root, marshmerrow or wickwheat. It is possible to use corprus weepings as well, although this is a difficult substance to obtain at the best of times. The companion ingredient should be fresh, as the fluids within it are a necessary component. It should be noted that while fresh corprus weepings do not keep well, dried weepings when mixed with a little blood and water, are an effective substitute.

The emerald dust should be added to the mash and blended in while simultaneously adding dropwise enough sea-water to yield a thin soupy consistence. While the taste of the potion is unpleasant, it is nonetheless singularly effective.

If you have the opportunity to heat it in a good calcinator then you may further improve the potion’s efficacy. Treatment in a quality retort also adds increased benefit.

A very similar potion uses saltrice (fresh or dried, in this case it seems not to matter) as the companion ingredient. The resulting potion not only heals but also increases magicka for a brief period, making it the particular favorite of mages and other initiates of sorcery.

Potion of Fortify Magicka

As just mentioned, it is possible to make a combination healing/magicka fortification potion by using saltrice. One may similarly employ stoneflower petals or belladonna berries (ripened or not) as companion ingredients, although the potion in these cases will only fortify magicka (for a limited time) and will not have any healing benefit.

The user of such a potion should be warned that if one’s magicka is fortified and then one should use all of the available power before the effects of the potion wear away, then one will suffer a period of distinctly negative power proportional to the strength of the fortifying potion used. The natural return to normal magicka will accordingly take a significantly longer period.

Other potions

In alchemic experimentation, one often finds that alongside the positive there are also negative elements within various ingredients. Emeralds are no exception. For example, if one were to combine ground emerald with hypha facia the result is a potion which would turn one into a stumbling buffoon, barely able to stand unaided. Similarly, if ground emerald is fused with bittergreen petals or bungler’s bane then the resulting potion would leave the imbiber exhausted. Interestingly, the combination of emerald with black anther yields a potion which drains both agility and endurance!