Agents and Reagents

Original media : The Hero's Guides to The Elder Scrolls Online (Collection of books based on TES Online) Comment : This book is the journal of a wizard's apprentice, focusing on alchemical studies. This is a transcription of the sample available here. Notes on Alchemical and Enchanting Ingredients By Gargrell Sorick, Second Apprentice to Defessus Lector, 2E 578 Introductory Commentary The Ingredients For Knowledge My employment at the apothecary in Wayrest is one of dedication through tireless and thankless servitude. Though my knowledge of ingredients from mountain to meadow is formidable, and my handiness with a blade is revered by the rivals I have scarred or slain, the trickle of debt to the Master and shop owner, magister and alchemist Defessus Lector, continues to be paid. I have been in the Master's service (and put up with his eccentricities and bouts of verbal abuse) for nigh on fifteen years, but my devotion is still unwavering. My upbringing was inadequate, my father an unknown member of the Lion Guard and my mother a primitive from the Reach. Saved from sacrifice by the Master before my fealty to Hircine was sworn, my curse of birth extends to my Reachman name of Gargrell. The Master is always quick to point out the inadequacies of these primitives (though he is less circumspect when I approach the subject of my ravaging father's loins). My youthful anger, which was once channeled into assassinations, thanks (according to the master) to "my barbarian blood," is now behind me, and I seek wisdom from behind the bowls, jars, and potions as second apprentice of the Wayrest Apothecary. Recently, the death of first Apprentice Evangeline Beanique (Arkay carry her soul to peace) has allowed my station at this shop to marginally improve: I no longer am employed in slopping out the latrines, carrying the burdensome raw ingredients from trader's caravan to storage chamber shelf, and other menial tasks. Now I am left to run the Wayrest Apothecary, usually with the simpleton Bardus, a work-shy nincompoop seemingly conjured at this shop with the single purpose of providing foreign traders with stories about Breton inbreeding. But acting as apothecary shepherd is but one of two important tasks: The Master requires a further undertaking. I am to create a journal, of which these are the preliminary scribbles. A book useful to the apothecary servant and master alike: a formidable list of ingredients revealed in both drawing and description, recollections of where each is found, and the state they must be presented in for bartering, as well as the usefulness of each component to the alchemist and enchanter. Our shelves brim over with gathered materials from the corners of Tamriel; a bounty of Mundus within the four walls (and numerous outhouses) of the apothecary at Wayrest. Assuming Bardus can read, this text should also serve as a teaching tool so the half-wit learns to provide our customers with accurate ingredients, and not violently dangerous powders that only seem similar to one another: Hall Steward Longinus Attius still launches furious verbal tirades about our incompetence while he visited here (his vampire dust and frost salts were mislabeled, resulting in a concoction that induced violent uprisings from the bowels and actually worsened his case of ticklebritch). Personally, I would have murdered Bardus where he stood, but the Master knows best. Instead, I work like an Argonian slave to keep this trading post in good standing. Aside from scouring our shelves, what better repository of knowledge is there than the traders that frequent this establishment ? The Master's powerful standing, our web of merchants from across the provinces, and our system of nimble couriers all conspire to provide a wealth of knowledge, a plentiful supply of even the rarest items, and a worn welcome mat. My Master's fondness for moon sugar allows khajiiti caravans preferential treatment during their bartering. Elven Justiciars come here to gather for their powerful mage masters. Nord hunters arrive to seek Kyne's blessing and a cure for yellow tick. And a Redguard merchant burdened with exotic ingredients is always welcomed with open arms (although one i encountered recently had clumsy arms, scratching me about the face with his gauntlet finger while dusting me off after we piled sacks of bone meal into our backroom shelves, then profusely apologizing). All the awareness of visiting alchemists, merchants, and enchanters shall be imparted ! I jot it all down in this journal, add graceful illustrations, and alter my writings to remove personal feelings. This book is the last chance I have to make my Master proud. Second Apprentice Gargrell Sorick The Wayrest Apothecary 2nd of Sun's Height, 2E 578 Ingredients Classification 1: Rodent Parts The fact that one of my Reachman ancestors, Mandaillonan the Marked, was among the first herbalists to accurately brew and successfully extract the beneficial qualities of a rodent instills in me a great sense of pride. this is tempered by her subsequent transformation into a hagraven, and death by Nord axe, but I still boil rodent toes with the knowledge that her concoctions and extracts revealed the finer qualities of vermin. for now, any bilge rat or skeever may provide a gift in addition to inferior meat and disease. Whether you're capturing these pests using traps or a sniffing dog, or hunting them in the wild, any large rodent of Tamriel provides the necessary ingredients for potion creation. Preparation is important, as is the size of your parts; larger skeever parts allow the alchemist to distill more drink than their smaller rat cousins. Although obvious to a simpleton, it is important to administer a swift killing blow before receiving a scratch or a bite, or you may be using your own prey to brew cures to black-heart blight or the droops. Slicing at the correct point in a rodent's anatomy greatly increases the potency of (and payment for) each part. After death, with the vermin still twitching, sever the ears at the base, digging your knife behind the skull to save as much flapping skin as possible. Slice the feet cleanly off, as this makes rodent toes easier to carry and lessens rotting time. Don't pluck individual whiskers; instead, cut through and skin up and around the nose to keep as many of them intact as possible. Rodent Whiskers The thick black strands from the snout of a rodent, wiry and still rooted to the face. Proven Benefits (in Alchemy): - Fortifies your vitality and your spell casting. - Bolsters your armor and the damage you inflict while combat rages. - Conjures a protective ward, a mystic bolt to penetrate the enemy, and a magical immunity about your being. - Augments your abilities to move with the shadows and your senses to spot those silently creeping. Rodent Ears The hairless ears of a rat or skeever, ideally cut from the; skull quickly, just after death. Proven benefits (in Alchemy): - Fortifies your spell casting and constitution. - Bolsters your armor while combat rages and your prowess while wounding a foe through armor. - Conjures a protective ward and a mystic bolt to penetrate the enemy. - Conjures a protective ward and a magical immunity about your being Rodent Toes Carefully cut feet allowing individual toes to be separated later as increases in potency are needed. Proven Benefits (in Alchemy): - Fortifies your vitality and your constitution. - Fortifies your vitality, your spell casting, and your constitution. - Bolsters your prowess while wounding a foe through armor and the damage you inflict. - Bolsters your armor while combat rages, your prowess while wounding a foe through armor, and the damage you inflict. Ingredients Classification 2: Wild fungus The truffles, mushrooms, and toadstools of Tamriel are both delicious and deadly: Kyne blesses us with a multitude of varieties, but taunts us by cursing many of them with a taste that poisons and slays more proficiently than a giant. Though this book of ingredients is no substitute for writings specific to the safe collecting and consumption of fungi, there are a number of plants that apothecaries take particular delight in gathering or purchasing. Be certain the fungus you harvest is the plant with such benefits, as venturing into the wilds for a tasteless or poisonous specimen with similar markings can be disheartening. Blue Entoloma Cap This mushroom of grayish blue with a domed cap and slim stalk is found in small clusters around rocks and ivy in the northern and central forests. Proven benefits (in Alchemy) - Fortifies your vitality and your spell casting, - Fortifies your vitality, your spell casting, and your constitution, - Bolsters your armor while combat rages, your prowess while wounding a foe through armor, and the damage you inflict, - Augments a faster pace of running and your abilities to move with the shadows. Emetic Russula Find these large red caps with white stalks, which usually grow as a single plant (but occasionally in clusters of two or three), by damp walls or the marshy ground of western Tamriel. Proven benefits (in Alchemy) - Bolsters your armor while combat rages and your prowess while wounding a foe through armor, - Conjures a protective ward and a mystic bolt to penetrate the enemy, - Conjures a protective ward, a mystic bolt to penetrate the enemy, and a magical immunity about your being. - Augments a faster pace of running and your senses to spot those silently creeping. Imp Stool Lucky explorers may harvest clusters of these squat, orange-capped mushrooms from dark caves, where they grow among rocks in groups of ten or more. Proven Benefits (in Alchemy) - Fortifies your vitality, your spell casting, and your constitution, - Bolsters your prowess while wounding a foe through armor and the damage you inflict. - Conjures a mystic bolt to penetrate the enemy and a magical immunity about your being, - Augments a faster pace of running, your abilities to move with the shadows, and your senses to spot those silently creeping. Violet Coprinus One of Morrowind's indigenous (and smaller) specimens, this is a slender turquoise fungus, usually seen in groups of three, with bursts of green and purple and a light blue center. Proven benefits (in Alchemy) - Fortifies your spell casting and constitution, - Bolsters your armor and the damage you inflict while combat rages, - Conjures a protective ward and a magical immunity about your being, - Augments your abilities to move with the shadows and your senses to spot those silently creeping.