Sitting in front of a crackling forge sipping hot tea, I sighed contentedly. The empty bowl and a smoked miracle shoot that until recently was filled with sticky rice, had done much to make me feel better after my excursion in the wind and rain. Where the fire heated my extremities, the meal seemed to pour down and wrap my core in pleasant warmth. Even my sinuses cleared, banishing any fear of a cold as a consequence of my excursion. I'd have to ask Bartan about the rice later. The miracle shoot seemed to have been wrapped in leaves with the rice inside, producing a thick, sticky consistency with a pleasant smoky flavour, perfect for a cold day. I wasn't sure if the rice was treated beforehand or what he'd smoked it with, but it tasted great! I'd also be willing to bet he knew some great tips and tricks for drawing out the beneficial properties of his ingredients that I could apply to alchemy, and possibly more besides.

  The tavern had been packed and unpleasantly humid despite the fire raging in the hearth, so Eimer had graciously had Bartan's wonderful creations delivered to my workshop as I cleaned up and dried out. I liked people, but just the thought of that crowd was physically exhausting. As I reached down to stroke Taffy who was lounging across my feet, I couldn't help but feel this was just the perfect amount of interaction for right now.

  Kete had called in briefly - clearly still rather worked up - to drop Taffy off. He explained he needed to go back and do what he could for some of the other animals around the outpost, but didn't want to leave Taffy alone or drag him through the rain. I was happy for the companionship, and adventurers would need a good reason to come to my workshop. Not that a few hadn't already tried to make their way in to loiter around the crackling forge. When asked they cited weapons needing sharpened. I'd added them to the appropriate barrel and sent the adventurers packing.

  I wasn't unsympathetic to the desire for heat, but I did actually need to get some work done. Normally I wouldn't have lit the forge for such a minor task, even at a gentle burn but it was currently pulling double duty. I had various reagents clipped to lines running near the forge to dry out as I ate. They might turn out a little smoked, but for a pill that was preferable to damp.

  Taking the last sip of my tea, I noticed the alembic I set up earlier was just about finished boiling off the sap I'd added to it. Soothing Taffy with a few pats, I gently excavated my feet from beneath him and more closely examined the slowly bubbling residue. The sap came from a scrawny looking but incredibly resilient cactus. It was actually on a watch list for species that would be particularly bad if they were removed from the dungeon, as while it didn't spread quickly, it could regrow from almost nothing.

  The sap had qi preserving properties and could be reduced to a gloopy, honey-like consistency, perfect to act as a binder for the pills. However, failing to reduce it sufficiently could have severe consequences. The clear distillate, despite appearing so innocuous, was primarily a mix of an irritant and a mild hallucinogen. Together they'd make a mediocre poison, if only because the hallucinogen was so fast acting once it reached the blood stream. If I could separate them... Well, then they'd have other applications.

  The treacly liquid slowly bubbling above the flame appeared just as the recipe described, but I wished I could be sure. Then I realised, maybe I could. Focusing on the residue I tried to activate my appraisal skill. I got the sense that only very faint traces of the unwanted substances remained, but also that the mixture was starting to crystalise and burn, despite the low heat.

  I pressed my finger to the rim of the brazier beneath and extinguished the magical flame with a thought. The coal within was notably smaller now, I'd have to replace it for the next project unless it was brief or called for a very weak flame.

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  I stoppered the flask of distillate and was careful to clearly mark it with a wooden tag - it wouldn't do to accidentally poison someone. With my thick leather gloves on I gave the flask with the gloopy residue a quick swirl. I was hoping the movement would stop any crystallisation and help disperse the heat more evenly, but it proved too viscous for that to be very effective. For now, I returned it to its place above the heating element, while I shifted focus to processing the other ingredients.

  I began collecting the various materials from around the forge. Clipped to a line to dry were various leaves and even pieces of jerky, there was also a bowl of miracle shoot seeds. Most of these items had been dried previously, but any moisture trapped within would reduce the longevity of the pill. Interestingly enough, it could also increase effectiveness very slightly. Did water contain qi? A question for another time. Regardless, it seemed prudent to ensure the items were fully dried out prior to creating the potion, particularly on such a wet day. Plus, it gave me an excuse to light the forge. I'd have felt wasteful using it just to dry out, even if no one else would bat an eye. However, my drenched state upon returning to the guild proved ample motivation to find an additional reason to justify it.

  I placed the gathered ingredients in a large mortar and pestle, opting for the round mortar rather than the long one with the rolling pestle like those used for tea. The recipe called for quite a variety of different ingredients, but wasn't too particular about their relative ratios. I'd like to investigate that more in future, but for now I was more concerned that it was very particular that they all be reduced to a very fine powder. Given the disparate mixture, I thought a hand pestle would give me more control.

  It started easily enough. The miracle shoot seeds cracked beneath the pestle as I put my weight behind it. The jerky didn't powder easily, but would tear and flake as it was ground against the bottom of the mortar. The leaves almost instantly disintegrated, apart from one that seemed to float around the mortar half intact for the longest time. Each attempt at grinding it only shifted its position, until at last, it succumbed. At that point everything had been reduced to a powder, but was it a fine powder? I didn't think so. I ground and ground until my arm started to ache and I couldn't distinguish the flakes of powder from one another. I probably hadn't been working that long, but the process was more physically demanding than I expected. I could hammer away for hours, but I was used to hammering. I got the feeling I was less used to this. Maybe I should have used the rolling mortar after all?

  I poured most of the powder on the workbench, keeping some in reserve as the recipe suggested. I couldn't help but note it would have been much easier to pour the powder in a neat pile from a long pestle. I'd know for next time. Next, I moved the sticky sap residue, still slightly warm, and drizzled it over the pile. The viscous liquid poured frustratingly slowly, but eventually I'd added as much as I thought I could coax from the flask. Then with my bare hands I began mixing the two. The heat of the liquid may have caused issues for some, but the combination of my dwarven heritage and time spent at the forge meant it would have to be much closer to molten to trouble my thick digits. Instead, the process of incorporating the thick liquid throughout the powder felt almost like making dough. Which I presumed I must have done before as I certainly hadn't done it since regaining my memories. I guess that was one more thing to talk to Bartan about once things calmed down. Maybe repeating the experience could unlock some more memories?

  I was trying to bring the whole mixture together into a ball, but it still felt a bit wet. Scraps of mixture were sticking to my hands. I smiled, seemed like I needed all the powder after all. Adding the little bit of powder I'd kept in reserve from the mortar did the trick, and I brought the mix to a slightly elastic ball. From there I rolled it into a thin cylinder. On my first attempt the thickness varied horribly, so I brought it back into a ball and tried again. The next attempt went better, forming a long thin, even cylinder. Taking a knife, I cut the cylinder into small, uniform sections, then rolled each section into a single small pill.

  I looked at the few dozen pills in front of me with a sense of satisfaction. All that remained was to leave them to bake in front of the forge to form a stiffer outer shell. Yet, as I turned to do so, there were half a dozen adventurers in my workshop! When did they get here?!