Alchemy (sage study)

Alchemy is a sage study within the fields of Earth & Sky and Science. The study concerns the properties, interactions and transformations of natural substances, including minerals, metals, plants and distilled compounds, as they are broken down, combined and altered through controlled processes.

Alchemy provides the theoretical and practical foundation for the creation and refinement of substances such as poisons, salves, ointments and potions, as well as other preparations requiring precise handling of volatile or reactive materials. The study emphasises measurement, heat, timing and containment, with success dependent upon both knowledge and disciplined method.

Founding a Laboratory

To practise the making of substances, the following must be acquired to construct a laboratory suitable for alchemical work. The quantities listed are sufficient for amateur-status knowledge; each higher status requires a proportional increase, such that an Authority must possess twice the articles listed, an expert three times and a sage four times. This expansion reflects not redundancy but the need to conduct multiple processes simultaneously, to separate incompatible materials and to maintain continuity where preparations require uninterrupted attention.

• For work, a laboratory table, 7 feet by 4, made of hardwood, with a 2 foot by 4 square of iron or copper bolted at one end of the table. This surface is essential for heating, cutting, grinding and combining materials, with the metal plate serving as a fire-safe working area for direct heat and volatile reactions. The table must be stable and level, as imbalance or vibration may ruin delicate mixtures or cause spillage.

• For space, a room 15 feet by 8 feet minimum, with a vertical brazier 2 feet square and 3 feet high set beneath a proper flue for the escape of heat, smoke and noxious vapours. Adequate ventilation is not optional, as many alchemical processes release fumes that are corrosive, intoxicating or explosive if allowed to accumulate. The space must also permit movement around the work area, storage of materials and safe separation between flame and finished substances.

• Paraphenalia, including an alembic for distillation, a crystal ball for observation and concentration of light, an hourglass for precise timing, a lens and prism for examining clarity and refraction and 2 glass pipettes with 8 crystal rods for the transfer and agitation of liquids. These instruments form the basis of controlled experimentation, allowing the alchemist to measure, observe and repeat processes with consistency.

• Storage, 4 iron bowls, 6 wooden bowls, 14 jars, 1 glass bowl, 24 vials and 6 phials. Each serves to contain substances at different stages of preparation, with materials chosen to avoid unwanted reactions. Iron resists heat, wood absorbs and isolates and glass permits inspection without exposure. Proper labelling and separation are assumed, as confusion between substances can be disastrous. Every day of study produces a need for one new jar, as substances are sought after or created; this necessarily imposes the need to maintain hundreds of jars, none of which can be thrown away, as the alchemist cannot know if the subjects containing within are needed.

While some of these objects may not be used in every preparation, their presence is considered essential to the proper ordering of the work. Alchemy depends as much upon arrangement and readiness as upon action; a missing vessel or instrument at a critical moment may render hours of labour useless.

Due to the complexity and duration of alchemical processes, the laboratory is assumed to be secured under lock and key. Preparations may require hours or days of uninterrupted attention, during which temperature, mixture and timing must be maintained without disturbance. An apprentice or assistant is commonly employed to tend the fire, clean apparatus, organise jars, maintain records and observe ongoing reactions, ensuring continuity when the master is absent or engaged elsewhere.

If these precautions are not observed, and the laboratory is situated in a place with public access, such as a rented room in a house with other tenants or a chamber taken at an inn, the chance of an experiment being spoiled by interference is doubled or trebled. The processes of alchemy produce unfamiliar odours, discolourations and sounds, which readily attract curiosity. Such intrusions may contaminate materials, disrupt timing or provoke dangerous reactions, with consequences ranging from the loss of valuable ingredients to fire, injury or worse.

Scope

The knowledge included in this study is limited strictly to the processes the character is able to effect. It must not be assumed that competence in one operation confers any broader craft or magical understanding beyond that operation. The ability to smelt mithril, for example, does not impart any skill in forging that metal into a blade or armour, nor does the preparation of a potion of fire resistance grant any capacity to embed that property within an artifact. The character is able to produce the substance itself; the shaping, application or integration of that substance into other forms belongs to separate studies and must be learned independently.

Nor should the results of this study be mistaken for spellwork. Most preparations are achieved not through spellcasting but through exacting, material processes requiring controlled heat, measured quantities and sustained attention. These labours are often time-consuming and costly, consuming rare ingredients and occupying the laboratory for extended periods. Many procedures carry inherent risk, particularly where volatile substances, fumes or pressure are involved; such efforts may call for danger rolls, with the possibility of damage or injury if mishandled or interrupted.

Sage Abilities

The sage abilities below are those acquired by a character through the study, according to status.

Amateur Status

• Distilling: construct and operate stills, regulating heat, managing vapours and condensation, and separating volatile from non-volatile components to produce purified or concentrated liquids.

• Identify Earths: recognise soils, clays, minerals and salts by colour, texture, fracture, taste, weight and reaction to heat or water, determining their properties and practical uses.

• Prepare Ingestive Poisons: select, prepare and combine toxic substances for ingestion, controlling potency, masking taste and preserving effectiveness over time.

• Smelt Natural Metals: smelt and refine metals from ore or raw deposits, preparing ore, controlling heat and airflow, applying flux and judging the separation and drawing of metal from slag without contamination or loss.

Authority Status

• Alchemical Distillation: extract, purify and concentrate the essential properties of plants, minerals and other substances through controlled distillation, producing stable and consistent tinctures, oils and alchemical solutions of greater potency and precision than ordinary methods.

• Fabricate Compounds: combine and work base materials together, adding and preparing them in the proper order, managing heat and handling so they join and set into a stable, usable compound.

• Prepare Toxins: create poisons from natural sources, including venoms taken from biting or stinging creatures and toxins derived from plants, animals or mineral deposits.

• Purify Element: separate a single substance from mixed material, removing all lesser matter so the element stands alone in its pure form, as sought in alchemical practice, fit for further work..

Expert Status

• Create Poison: devise and prepare poisons to produce chosen effects, adjusting strength, onset and symptoms so the result matches the intended purpose.

• Make Salve: prepare the topical remedy known as healing salve for application to wounds or injury, producing restorative effects.

• Potion-making: prepare and complete magical potions from raw materials, producing finished draughts that carry specific enchanted effects when consumed.

Sage Status

• Bioelectric Animation: apply directed electrical force to dead tissue, causing it to move, respond and function as living matter, sustaining animation through continued control and preparation.

• Elixir of Life: prepare a rare draught that restores youth and vitality, renewing the body and, with continued use or perfection of the process, may extend life indefinitely.

• Transmutation: isolate the philosopher’s stone and employ it to alter base metals, transforming them into gold or silver through direct alchemical change.

See also,
Druid Sage Abilities
Mage Sage Abilities