Tome of Blood, Bone and Fire

This passage can be found about halfway through the tome, and is noticeable as the style of handwriting changes abruptly. 

I feel different now, stronger, better. After the explosion a great firedamp blew through St. Kinga's Chapel where I was attending to the wounded (and of course gathering materials for my experiments). A dark wind filled with the smell of rot and brimstone. And when the wind passed, I was changed. 

Even now the weak flesh sloughs off my bones, my heart no longer beats, my lungs need to no air, and yet I live and think, and am aware. My mind works better then before, my brain racing, new possibilities presenting themselves to me fevered imaginings. Inside my mind I hear whispers, great ideas, promising lines of research. My body seems stronger as well, bones more enduring then weak flesh, they have the strength of iron, of steel! Most of the other lesser beings in the Cathedral were also changed in a similar manner, though they seem of lesser strength them myself. 

This is a gift, a great gift. So much opportunity for study, for experimentation. A gift I will make good use of. 

The book is currently open to the last page of this ritual. 

Bartolomé de Medina discovered a way to substitute blood and materials extracted from corpses for the material components required to create a Clay Golem. He seems to have perfect this process, and was experimenting with it to create even more powerful golems he called "Bone" and "Zombie" golems. 

The process takes weeks, and requires the creation to marinate in the Noxious Pool of the Baracz Chamber. The pool seems to have been built for this very purpose and also to assist in other rituals de Media was developing.  

This recipe imbues an existing set of armor with a special property. The first time the wearer takes damage, the blood they shed is absorbed by the armor. The damage is added as temporary hitpoints, up to 20 hit points worth. Once the effect occurs, it can not occur again until the next long rest.

Any armor, even magical armor can be so enchanted, provided sufficient quantities of human blood are present to fully immerse the armor. The ritual takes 8 hours to perform, can only be performed by an Artificer, and consumes on infusion slot for the Artificier. 

This clear oil can be applied to a weapon, allowing that weapon to partially exist in the The Shadowlands and thus fully damage incorporeal entities like ghosts. Note that even lesser magical weapons will often suffer decreased effects against ghosts. 

To create the ghost strike oil, earth from a location that has experienced human death is required. Note that earth from a graveyard will not suffice as those lying interred there generally did not die in that location.  It also requires 100 gold worth of mithril dust. 

The recipe for this oil intrigued Bartolomé de Medina there are copious notes around other potential uses for the technique which he was intending to explore, including an idea that more powerful recipes might be able to transport individuals into the The Shadowlands. 

This bomb is a thrown weapon with  a range of 60'. The bomb will detonate if it strikes a hard surface, doing 3d10 acid damage to anyone within a 10' radius.

The acid continues to burn for 5 points of acid damage over the next 3 rounds unless doused with clear water. 

To construct such a bomb requires 100 gold worth of relatively common alchemical ingredients. 

This bomb is a thrown weapon with  a range of 60'. The bomb will detonate if it strikes a hard surface, doing 3d10 fire damage to anyone within a 10' radius.

The acid continues to burn for 5 points of acid damage over the next 3 rounds. Applying water will not extinguish the fire, though fully smothering it will.

The ingredients for the fire include 50 silver worth of mithril dust, oil and other inexpensive ingredients. 

The notes on the Alchemist Fire also express several ideas on constructing hydraulic pumps as a shipboard weapon, to jet Alchemist Fire over enemy ships.  

This white powder is refined from raw coca leaves. When snorted, it allows the user to ignore the effects of exhaustion for one hour. However, the notes indicate the powder is addictive and frequent use can build a tolerance to the effects, in addition to causing health problems.

Bartolomé de Medina conducted a study and found that workers subjected to the powder regularly were roughly 10% more productive but had a lifespan of only 70% of the control group.   

Bartolomé de Medina was a successful Vetrini merchant who became fascinated with the problem of decreasing silver yields from ores mined in Cerro Rico. By IY 1206 silver and mithril production was in decline due to the depletion of high-grade ores and increasing production costs. Through alchemical research he learned that both metals could be extracted from ground ores using mercury (cinnabar) and a salt-water brine. Later refinements learned that "magistral" (a type of copper sulfate  derived from pyrites) to the mercury and salt-water solution in order to catalyze the amalgamation reaction. It was also learned that human blood could serve as a substitute for salt water and produce an even greater yield, especially of mithril. This last fact was kept secret as blood magic was illegal in most of the The Thousand Isles.

Basic elements of the patio process

• Before being taken to the ingenio (amalgamation refinery), excess material would be broken off of the silver ore. At the refiner, it was ground to a fine sand (harina) by an arrastra or stamp mill, which consisted of a rotating shaft fitted with heavy iron stamps that crushed the ore against a mortar block. 
• The harina was then placed in heaps of 2,000 lbs or more, to which was added salt, water, magistral (essentially an impure form of copper sulfate) and mercury.
• This was then mixed by bare-legged laborers or by horses or mules and spread in a 1-to-2-foot-thick (0.30 to 0.61 m) layer in a patio (a shallow-walled, open enclosure).
• After six to eight weeks of mixing and soaking in the sun, a complex reaction converted the silver to native metal, which formed an amalgam with the mercury.
• The mixture was then washed and strained through a canvas bag before being placed into a hooded oven. Heating this amalgam vaporized the mercury, leaving the silver. 
• The mercury vapor would then condense on the cooled hood, where it could be collected and reused. 
• The amount of salt and copper sulfate varied from one-quarter to ten pounds of one or the other, or both, per ton of ore treated. The decision of how much of each ingredient to add, how much mixing was needed, and when to halt the process depended on the skill of an azoguero (English: quicksilver man).
• The loss of mercury in amalgamation processes is generally one to two times the weight of silver recovered