An Alchemical Journal of Mer #1

Introduction to Alchemy and Basic Health Salve:

The practice of alchemy by the inhabitants of Mer is attempted by many but perfected by few. It is steeped in mystery, and its teaching is strictly forbidden in many of the kingdoms and empires of Mer. Practical, at-home alchemy, such as simple salves, ointments, and treatments for minor diseases or injuries, is quite common, and these treatments can be purchased or made with relative ease anywhere on the continent. It is only when someone begins experimenting with more complex concoctions that people run into significant difficulties in both ingredient acquisition and understanding how to create them. Alchemical practices, when recorded, are notoriously vague in description, even when the actual parameters for safely creating the concoctions are quite strict. To perfect a particular brew, often hundreds of iterations are needed before the intended effect can be reproduced, the intermediate brews often having life-threatening or otherwise dangerous side effects that make testing them a perilous endeavor.
 
Basic Health Salve:
Creates a salve which, when spread over an infection or mild laceration, will heal the afflicted area within a few hours.
Ingredients:

• Hawks Beak Flower Petal (Leaves of the flower can be used as for a less potent substitute when the plant is not flowering)
• Red River Frog Heart
• Glass Fern Root
• Water
• Beeswax

Instructions:

1. Pour water into a large iron pot and set over a low flame to bring to a low boil.
2. Crush twenty Hawks Beak petals and the roots of four Glass ferns into a paste.
   1. This will make enough salve for one or two mild injuries.
3. Once the water is boiling, drop Red River Frog heart into it until the color begins to turn to a pale grey, then remove the heart.
4. After removing, scoop the paste into the water and begin stirring constantly until most of the paste has dissolved in the water.
5. Remove from heat and let rest until oil has separated entirely from the water, carefully remove.
   1. If there is some water in your oil after removing, heat again and then repeat until only the oil is left.
6. Heat beeswax and slowly incorporate the oil into it, being careful to evenly distribute the oil across the wax.
7. Let stand until hardened.
8. When needed, liberally apply to the affected area, and wrap in cloth, the area should be numb within a few minutes of application and the area should be healed within three to five hours. Be sure to wash all the salve off when healed.
   1. If left on too long, a painful skin condition can develop that hardens the skin in the affected area, requiring careful removal with a knife and reapplication of a much stronger salve to heal.