| In the Rust Age, Zymoglyphic artisans were generally content with assembling various ritual objects from components that already had, for example, a prized patina of oxidation, or an air of rotted organic elegance. In the Age of Wonder, alchemists attempted to exert some control over the various natural processes that cause objects to become imbued with a poetic meaning, the very process that gives the culture its name. An apparatus such as this one could, given the right conditions, coalesce a sort of metallic sludge out of simulated thought processes and various bits of decomposing matter. The simulated thoughts are obtained by removing the head of a symbolic figurine and placing the remaining body where a fire would otherwise be burning. The space formerly filled by the head coincides with the position of the flask bulb; thus, the thoughts mingle with the decomposing matter. The resulting metal is a variant form of primordial ooze, still Zymoglyphic in style but resistant to further decay and corruption.
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