On The Use Of Welkynd Stones, Volume One

During my research I have discovered multiple uses for the peculiar stones found in the Ayleid ruins scattered around Tamriel, however any good scholar will tell you that they are more highly concentrated around Cyrodill. These stones, called [Sky Child] by the Ayleids are for all intents and purposes a source of concentrated magicka. Due to their nature these stones can be highly dangerous to untrained mages, supplying them temporarily with more than their natural level of magicka potentially causing their bodies to explode in a storm of uncontrolled magic (an effect I have actually seen firsthand, an initiate in the mages guild turned himself into a pile of ash when he accidentally touched a stone unprotected, oddly enough his boots were the only thing that were left of him. Oh the peculiarities of magic.)

It was this experience that started my original interested in turning the humble Welkynd stone into an offensive weapon. I originally had two theories about the application of the stones, the first was to fracture shards of Welkynd and use them to make the tips of weapons this proved to be unsuccessful the stones would shatter before they could be shaped and used even when heated to incredible temperatures through the use of magicka as they would not hold their shape once used, shattering at the first use.

The second idea came to me during a slight misadventure; I was roaming the land of the Red King when I was waylaid by a group of bandits. I easily dispatched the group but during the fight I had been caught by an arrow, when I examined the wound I noticed that the arrowhead had been treated with a poison. I cleaned the wound and instantly returned to the Arcane University to work on my new idea. If the Welkynd essence could be delivered in the form of a serum or poison to be applied to weapons then the stone could come into contact with mages.

I labored for many days in an attempt to find a method for extracting or dissolving the essence of the stones unsuccessfully. Eventually my frustration got the better of me and I cast a powerful fire spell at a welkynd stone lying on my desk, this stone had been coated in a mix of stinkhorn cap and blackberry extract, it did not evaporate as I had been expecting and instead burned slowly giving off a pale green smoke. I waved my hand through the smoke and discovered that this smoke had all the usual properties of a welkynd stone.

I worked with this smoke in an attempt to find a way to infuse a liquid with it and eventually found a way. By burning a stone in a collection chamber connected to a vial of common water so that the smoke bubbles through it, the smoke can be made to infuse the water with its properties. The water will turn the pale green of the smoke and the smoke will become the usual grey of ordinary smoke.

I cannot stress the dangers of the process enough, for an untrained mage welkynd stones can be incredibly dangerous. The use of telekinesis spells is recommended to prevent excessive handling of the essence. A. Seridur