Title: An Introduction to Alchemy Author: The Mad Professor Forum Name: Azoth Category: Magery, Arcane Lore, or Alchemy Date: March 19th 2017 The dawn of Alchemy, often known as the Art of Fire, in the lands of Sosaria reaches back into the murky mists of antiquity, before written records even began. Early evidence of its practice exists in faded stone carvings discovered in the Desert of Compassion and a few ambiguous images on potsherds dug up in various locations, before the first short extracts surviving on a few fire-scorched ragged single pages of manuscripts. The general opinion among scholars is that Alchemy had its beginnings on the Isle of the Avatar, more commonly known as Fire Island, where the Shrine of Humility, symbol of the perseverance required by the alchemical practitioner, can still be found, together with the Fire Temple, built much later, according to local lore, on the site of an ancient laboratory that disappeared in mysterious circumstances. According to what can be gleaned from surviving manuscripts, the volcanoes on Fire Island were not the reason for the birth of alchemy, but the result of the harnessing (and then loss of control) of powerful energies that welled up beneath the earth's crust and then erupted onto the surface. In an explosion of glowing lava, Fire Elementals and Daemons were released from their subterranean demesnes in the Abyss through a cataclysmic accident that left the land scorched for many aeons. Even now many fiery creatures like dragons, drakes, magma lizards and salamanders stalk the island. From elements four one thing must be made With this stone even iron will be gold With this elixir your life will never fade The master of alchemy shall never grow old (Previously unidentified extract from Sedrik the Amicable's The Ballad of the Shattered Stone) Some suspect that the Gem of Immortality, so prized by Mondain, is an artefact from these experiments, the unimaginable power and everlasting life it confers on its owner the fruits of the ultimate combination of magic and alchemy, the Philosophers' Stone. The shattering of the Gem by the Stranger scattered thousands of splinters throughout the universe. Lore masters to this day seek knowledge of these fragments while alchemists and magicians dream of the potential power available from combining even two tiny splinters of the original Gem. Despite the horrors of these events, man- and elf-kind did gain some unexpected benefits: the fiery creatures, if tamed, occasionally reveal further secrets about the element of Fire and from these the alchemists have improved their art. Nowadays no self-respecting city in Sosaria can be found without some alchemists in residence, patiently grinding away at the reagents in their mortar with a stone pestle, cautiously mixing ingredients in their cauldrons, and gazing intently at the glass beakers, vials and flasks in their laboratory, full of bubbling potions and occasional flashes of magical reaction. What quickly becomes apparent is that the alchemists of Sosaria only practise certain aspects of the art. In antiquity the goal of most laboratory practice was on Veropoeia or Valoropoeia, the quest to turn the basest metals, iron and dull copper, into the noblest metals, fertile green Verite or majestic and spiritual Valorite. Dating from late antiquity, many a treatise can be found with cryptic accounts of the sacrifice of dark reptiles on burning altars (the fusion of base ore into glowing, molten iron), harnessing the powers of the elementals (acid, air, water, and fire), and various stages of transformation into fiery birds, green lions, and finally into the mythical Azure Dragon. Such accounts can be found in specialist libraries, most notably, the Ars Magna Peregrini (Great Art of the Stranger), Pretiosa Margarita Nigra (Black Pearl of Great Price), Vox Custodis (The Guardian's Voice), and the more perilous Mondain's Bane. The Magia Minacis (Minax's Magic) includes an account of how some reckless adepts attempted transmutations of their very selves, doomed their souls and created the blood elementals through ancient fusions and confusions of human and elemental matter. The Ore Elementals and Golems found in mines to this day are the unfortunate results of attempts at animating matter. Nowadays, however, alchemists focus their skills on the concoction of less perilous creations, the benefic pharmaceutical potions for Refreshment (red), Agility (blue), Night Sight (black), Strength (white), Healing (yellow), Cure (orange), and the malefic potions of Poison (green) and Explosion (pink). While it is easy to pay for basic training from any alchemist, it is less easy to find guide books. The only widely available work is Felicia Hierophant's Treatise on Alchemy, which can be found in most public libraries. There she provides a few details of the deceptively simple art, with insights into some of the reagents used: Black Pearl, that rare substance that is oft found lying unannounced upon the surface of the ground, when properly crushed with mortar and pestle, can yield a fine powder. Said powder in the proper proportions when mixed via the alchemical arts can yield a wonderfully refreshing drink. The revolting Blood Moss so gingerly scraped off windowsills by fastidious housewives is but a tiny cousin to the wilder version, which when properly prepared yields a magical liquid that for a time can make the imbiber a more agile and dexterous individual. However, beware of the deadly Nightshade, for it yields a deceptively sweet-tasting poison that can prove highly fatal to the drinker, and in fact is also used by assassins to coat their blades. Fortunately, this latter art of poisoning is little known! Other easily available ingredients necessary for potions include Garlic, Ginseng, Mandrake Root, Spider Silk, and Sulfurous Ash. Private collections include further rare necromantic substances that can be used for far more secret ends, including Grave Dust, Nox Crystals, Daemon Bone, Eye of Newt, Dead Wood, Brimstone, Pumice, Wyrm's Heart, Vials of Green Dragon's Blood, Black Undead Dragon's Blood and Red Daemon's Blood. Apprenticeship in this art comes at little cost. Simply visit a local NPC alchemist and ask them by name to train or teach you. Buy a mortar and pestle which costs 8 gold pieces, empty bottles (6 gps) and reagents. Once you start brewing larger quantities, you probably want to contact a friendly carpenter and order some kegs and once you're making a decent amount of money, perhaps even ask them to use one of their precious furniture dye tubs to make you kegs colour-coded to the potion inside. Well, what are you waiting for? Go get that equipment and meet me in my lab!!!
Well done! While the speculative elements of this work whet the imagination, I especially appreciated the references to existing tomes of the realm. Compared to "Lingua Magica" this contains a far more practical, hands-on approach to skill development. I initially wanted to do a survey of various somatic components of magic in my own entry in this category, but was limited by word count and restricted myself to verbal components instead. I am pleased to see that you touched on the exact subject matter that I reluctantly rejected. As if by magic, our individual submissions in this category compliment one another surprisingly well!
Thanks for the kind words @Antos I confess that I wrote this pretty much off the top of my head in a mad rush on Sunday. Some of it's a combination of modified history of medieval alchemy, fortuitous titles of genuine books, such as the 14th-century Pretiosa Margarita Novella (New Pearl of Great Price) by Petrus Bonus, that combined well with Black Pearl to become the Pretiosa Margarita Nigra, and some fun calling to mind all the weird rare reagents I've collected for the Trammel Library's alchemy laboratory. I wish I'd had more time to day-dream, but had fun.
