Retrograde Ignition

They say the gods once walked among us... not as glowing silhouettes or thunder-wielding tyrants, but as robed figures bearing gifts. Substances that could mend flesh, halt decay, even extend life. Such tales echo across the histories of vanished civilizations: from the jungles of the amazon to the empty halls of the pharaohs.

We’ve always taken these stories as allegory. However...

Roughly six weeks past, an unlabeled parcel arrived at the Umberglow Atelier. No seal. No note. Inside, a flask of dense, opalescent gel and a faint scent of petrichor. Most unusual was its lack of provenance; not retrieved by a Seeker, not catalogued in any known archive. It was simply there, offered as though by fate or… design.

We began tests at once.

What we found was astounding. Applied to damaged or irritated skin, the substance initiated rapid epidermal regeneration. Heat-induced redness dissipated within seconds. Muscle strain was calmed with a soft, cooling cascade that lingered like a whisper of mist. The gel did not merely treat, it appeared to actually rewind damage!

Its effects, potent as they were, did not align with any known botanical or alchemical recipe, not even any trace of Mystborne compounds. The formulation, if one can call it that, felt… crafted, but by hands not of our making.

Debate circled among the Artisans: Was this a remnant of some long-forgotten civilization? A gift from beyond the veil of stars? Or a fragment of something far older—something that predates even the Seeker Order?

Lacking any verifiable lineage, the gel could not be introduced as a historical elixir. And yet, it needed to be shared.

Thus, a name was chosen: Retrograde Ignition.

The title evokes its effect—an inversion of harm, a cooling flame that undoes damage rather than inflicting it. But more than that, it honors the mystery. A nod to celestial intervention.

Now, Retrograde Ignition joins the shelves of the Umberglow Atelier. A fine addition. A silent marvel.

And yet, the mystery still remains... Who sent it?

And more curiously still, what will they send next?

- Yenn, Umberglow Artisans