First Steps

First Steps is a research topic under the Fundamentals research tab. It is, as the name implies, the first research topic available to the player and consists of 2 steps to fully unlock it.

Contents
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Create an Arcane Workbench: this can be done easily by using Salis Mundus on a crafting bench. The Arcane Workbench not only has spots to hold up to a stack of each of the 6 primal Vis Crystals, but retains any items placed in it even after the player exits its interface. It can also draw Vis from the Aura in the chunk around it to be used in crafting.

Contents
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Knowledge Needed: 1 Fundamentals Observation

Craft a Thaumometer: this is done at the Arcane Workbench using 1 of each primal Vis crystal, 4 gold and a glass pane. The Thaumometer is used to scan items, capable even of scanning an entire chest full of items at once, blocks and mobs in the world to get Observation points. Many research topics require Observations and others require specific blocks or mobs to have been scanned. Anything that can be scanned will sparkle when the Thaumometer is held in the hand if it has not yet been scanned.

Thaumometer
The recipe can be found in Step 2, but to reiterate: the Thaumometer can be crafted at the Arcane Workbench with 1 of each primal Vis crystal, 4 gold and a glass pane for 20 Vis.

Salis Mundus
Although not unlocked by the First Steps research, Salis Mundus is included in its entry in recipe only. It can be created with 1 redstone, 3 unique Vis Crystals and 1 bowl and flint, neither of which will be consumed. It is used to create many Multiblock Structures, individual items, in Infusion and as an easy source of Precantatio Essentia.

Arcane Stone
Arcane Stone has a few uses in Thaumaturgy, but generally is used for aesthetics and little more. It can be crafted with any Vis Crystal and 8 stone, yielding 9 Arcane Stone.

Arcane Stone Brick
Crafted from Arcane Stone in the same way normal stone bricks are crafted from stone, Arcane Stone bricks are otherwise very similar to Arcane Stone. They cannot be used interchangeably.

Final Contents
"Such strange wonders are being revealed to me. Peering through the lens of the Thaumometer shows me a world coursing with magic, Vis as the books (Sic)calls it.

''Normally this energy is a pure ocean of magic that ebbs and flows, but it also permeates all thing, both animate and inanimate. The book calls Vis in this state Essentia. Where Vis is formless and pure, Essentia is more rigid in its nature and falls into a multitude of clearly defined types, each mixing together with others to form greater and more complex types of essentia.''

''I am not quite sure if the matter it is bound to gives Essentia its nature, or that the very nature of the matter depends on the Essentia it contains. This bears further study.''

''I am keeping a log of all the types of essentia I discover. A bookmark on the left will show my current knowledge.''

''For now I need to focus my energies elsewhere. Studying essentia might be a good place to start."''