A dream:

You find yourself in a dark room lit only by a handful of candles scattered on sconces on the edge of the room. The walls themselves do not appear to be made of stone or wood that you are familiar with, but instead some white material making up some kind of ramshackle structure now stained yellow and brown by smoke and other impurities in the air. There appears to be some kind of wooden stand with a book laying open on it. Next to it there stands the form of a young man not much more than a child really dressed in fairly fancy clothes, they appear to be blackened slightly by soot and some of the fringes appear burned. It appears that the stand has been made for him or at least converted to fit him. He reads intently from the book that you can see, the cover itself is some dark black leather looking material, the pages themselves seem to be made with some unknown material almost pink in color but leaning more towards the yellow of parchment where it doesn't seem to have been pulled so thin. There are many other things scattered about the room. On a table there's some kind of small oil lamp burning with some kind of nearly clear glass bowl above it, the liquid inside is an awful oiling looking mixture of black and green. Next to it on the table is mortar and pestle and scattered around the table bits of plants, leaves, stalks and roots of different kinds. The young figure reads a few passages from the book then turns to the table behind him and adds something from the mortar into the small glass vessel, the color of which seems to shift turning more green as the black oiliness seems to fade if ever so slightly. He then returns back to the book, reads another passage and then goes to a shelf and remove some kind of small wooden container, opening it he removes something very small black or brown maybe in color places it inside the mortal and begins to crush it you hear this kind of crunch and squeak as he's grinding it in the motor. Returning once again back to the book he seems to be double-checking his work. Then he takes a measured amount of whatever it was he crushed and drops it back into the pale green liquid. Threads of Amber seem to tint the liquid before disappearing completely into the pale green slop. Turning back to the table he pulls out a small golden box not more than a few inches wide and long from a shelf under the table, he carefully opens the lid reaching inside he pulls out a gem or crystal of some kind, it's clear or nearly clear with slight hints of red and blue. He rolls it in his hand back and forth, the gem has been worked, facets cover every face of it as if it has been cut and ground by someone who is very familiar with that craft. He holds it up to the light and seems to peer through it to the burning flame of the lamp. He places it on the table leaving it set there for a moment retrieving something else. He then takes the gem and wraps a thin bit of metal wire around it and slowly lowers it into the small glass bowl with bubbling liquid. The liquid reacts violently to the presence of the gem, the surface of it catches fire, a brilliant blue flame now flickers at the top of the liquid, the small figure seems slightly disturbed by this, but is unhindered and he continues to lower the gem until it is entirely submerged. He lets it sit in the liquid for a few moments before slowly pulling it back out the color of the gem has now changed, not just the char that coats the surface but even as he cleans it the gem with a bit of cloth it now blackened, you can still see light through the other side of the gem all color in it is lost replaced only by a hazy darkness. The figure then places it slowly on the table with a look of consternation on his face, he doesn't sigh or say anything instead he simply walks away from the table. He returns a moment later with some kind of large metal vessel in his hands carefully with a now gloved hand he pours the green liquid into the metal container, there is a puff of smoke and a bubbling sound, holding it in place he lets every drop of whatever the black green liquid was fall into the metal vessel before returning the glass bowl to its place above the flame. He then takes the metal vessel out of your sight and returns with tongs, he gently holds the gem in the tongs and unwraps the metal wire from it, still holding the darkened gem in the tongs he then takes it out of the room. When he returns he is followed closely by a pair of animated skeletons, carrying a large container or open topped cask, their white bone matching closely the color of the walls. They follow him up the table where he then uses a glass cup to remove some of whatever is in the cask and slowly pours it into the glass bowl. What he pours in is nearly clear.The diminutive figure then waves his hand and without as much as a word from him the skeletons carry the container away. This young person then moves quickly throughout the room gathering small bits from here and other things from there before returning to the table. He goes back to the book and begins flipping through the pages backwards, back to the start. Running his finger along the words he slowly reads and as he does he picks up ingredient after ingredient and adds them until the familiar black green fills the bowl.

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You wake.