On the Tel Var Stones: Volume 2
Original media : TES Online
By Herminius Sophus
To the Imperial Academy of Alchemists: The preparation of the Tel Var Stones shall be performed thusly: Grind a Tel Var Stone in any mortar and pestle in whatever quantity you please. Add filtered water and distill it in an alembic of expert and scholarly make, separating the vapor for separate study. Pour the powdery soup into a calcinator of inferior quality, and only such, as the natural vugginess of the ramekin made from simple materials will prevent the entire mixture from turning to ash. Stir and clear it with an iron ladle, gathering together the whitish curds that swim at the top like rendered fat. When the color of the water is clear no longer (and, in fact, emits a rather odd glow) strew upon it auripigmentum powder equivalent to the initial quantity of the Tel Var Stone powder, plus about as much realgar as will lie upon a half Dwemer coin piece of eighteen or twenty pebble weight. After the auripigmentum and realgar have wed, stir in a capsule of crimson nirnroot powder as well. The powder will flash and glow. When the glow subsides, take out the now iridescent curds with a ladle having a lip or notch in the brim for regimented measurement, and release precisely half of the mixture into a master alchemist retort. Extract a few small drops of the remaining liquid and allow it to trickle out of the dropper into a separate phial of purified water. Please note: if these driblets are round and without tails, then there is not enough Tel Var within - likely due to insufficient heat. If this indeed the case, the recipe is lost, and the magicka held in stasis has been released without study. (Note that if your assistant is of simple and superstitious mind, this failure may evoke a gentle weeping, as they may believe that some of the essence of Creation has been lost. This is, of course, not the case. You should give your assistant a stern rebuke, as any tolerance of this belief will only foster further ignorance.)
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