I understand that sentiment. I once had a character that mutated Carnivore, courtesy of Genetically Unstable, right after I had finished eating the last piece of meat he had, because everything else was non-perishable.
I’d better get this back on topic, though. To sum up everything so far:
Essence is needed for magic items in Arcana. 3 types exist, and each item only takes 1 type; they are not interchangeable, except in the sense that they can be used to make other types, albeit at some loss.
Blood Essence
Difficulty: 1
Time to craft: 10 Minutes
Primarily made from Blood-Soaked Rags. Blood-Soaked Rags can be acquired by making or finding a Silver Athame and cutting oneself, then using the rags to stop the bleeding. Take care not to bleed yourself overmuch because it does do damage. Three Blood-Soaked Rags are required as components, along with a fire, and an Offering Chalice as tools to make 1 Blood Essence, You will definitely put blood into this, if not sweat and tears.
Another way to make Blood Essence involves activating the Chalice itself when you have one. There are two different types of chalices, both with the same name. You can only use the one with a description stating that it has a thick. black liquid that cannot be poured out for this. Activating the other type does nothing. It may or may not prompt you to confirm your decision, it’s been a while since I tried it, but your character will attempt to drink from the chalice. They will sustain some Torso damage a turn later, and the chalice will transform into a drained offering chalice. You can then use the empty chalice in a recipe to return it to a normal chalice, and there will be a byproduct of some Blood Essence.
Essence
Difficulty: 7
Time to craft: 1 Hour
Made from three Blood Essence, and can be made into one Blood Essence. Using Blood-Soaked Rags to make these, a total of 9 rags will be required to make one Essence. Another recipe for it, with a difficulty of only 6, requires either 1 Vortex Stone, 1 Teleporter, 1 Portal Generator,
1 Petrified Eye. 3 Spiral Stones, 1 Etched Human Skull, 2 Small Relics, or 1 Golden Fiddle. Given the relative rarity of these items, and the yield of only 5 Essence, I would avoid going this route, unless you happen to have spares of any of these lying around. Alternatively, Shady zeds have always been the best source of Essence, in my opinion, and the same monsters that drop other magic items will also drop Essence. Many artifacts use this to power them, but not all. Like Blood Essence, it requires an Offering Chalice and a fire to create it, but also requires another book, “Oaths to the Chalice”, not as a recipe source, but as a component, so don’t burn it to cook with after you’re done memorizing it.
Dull Essence
This cannot be crafted like the other two, It must be made by breaking down Essence (yields 15) or Blood Essence (yields 5), using the disassemble function. This requires the Hammer of the Hunter weapon/tool. Dull Essence is used to fuel the magic functions of weapons and armor associated with the Order of the Cleansing Flame, a group of mage hunters who were at odds with the Sanguine Order or whatever they’re called.
Silver Athame
Is essentially a metalworking recipe, except that it uses Silver instead of Steel, and requires Blood-Soaked Rags and Essence or Blood Essence to forge. This means that it requires metalworking tools, such as a forge, tongs and the like. Requires Arcana 3 to make, and the recipe is in the Sanguine Codex, also a drop from the aforementioned sources, and may be found in Mansions or Libraries. Not that uncommon as a drop from some zeds, such as Necromancers and Survivor Zombies, so it is probably easier to find than to craft.