Alchemy 101 ~ Samheen 22nd ~ Tradetide ~ Open to all

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Alchemy 101 ~ Samheen 22nd ~ Tradetide ~ Open to all

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Gilanor arrived at afternoon class just behind a few of the other students he had previously seen. Taking the same seat he had occupied in the room last time, seemed to be becoming a habit, as he did it without thinking.

Like I'm staking out a place in the class or something, just to feel more comfortable Is that perhaps why perceptions are so hard to change they are things of habit, instinct even, and so they have to be deliberately changed.

Gilanor smiled for a moment before rising from the seat he had just taken and moving to a new location closer to the front of the room. He hadn't been sure of his first Alchemy class and had wanted to be able to see what others were doing, so this time he place himself in a position not quite so comfortable.
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The Alchemy classroom differed from all the others in the nature of the workdesks. Here they were made of sturdy black basalt with grooves cut into them for the flow of liquids and here and there are holes and depressions. A mortar and pestle of black marble stood ready for grinding. A small stone box stood beside it. Opening it revealed it was subdivided into small compartments and each one held a root or a mushroom or a bit of some animal like a scale or a bit of meat shriveled like jerky. The smell was most pungent, a mix of heavy spice and decay. Beside that stood a stone pitcher of water and two smaller ptichers that contained some form of oil. The one on the left smelled of mushrooms while the other smelled of animal fat.

The other students were investigating the contents of the box and comparing guesses as to the identity of the compounds within.
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
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Everything is made up of energy and energy is in everything. The physical forms of objects causes the energy within them to express in different ways. So does physical existance influence the energy or does our minds expectations of those objects instead influence the expression of energy.

Centering himself Gilanor looked over each of the objects in turn, trying to get a feel for the difference of the energies in each.

It seemed from what he had picked up from Ssinith's basic texts, that Alchemy was about making use of the properties of substances so as to combine them in a benefical manner. Either through their mundance capabilities or as a foundation for which additional energies could be bound into the otherwise mundane creation.
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Post by Tristam »

Over all reagents was the background energies that come from being what they were. The rock powders had faint energies of earth for example. Only a few of the reagents has any deeper energy signatures.

A sample of volcanic ash had glimmerings of fire energies. One of the scales was dark with the energies of death as was a vial of some thick green goo. The oils seemed completely inert to magical sight while the water was the purest water Gilanor has ever seen. Not a trace of fire or earth marred its perfect blue on the Aether.
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
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The presence of the energy that felt of death made Gilanor frown for a moment, than understanding came. Likely the material was poisonous and was something that they would need to take care in using. He hoped the other students looking through the materials didn't go playing around with them without due care. Though they had access to the same information as he did via their perceptions of the energies still he thought it right to warn them.

"It looks as if some of these things are poisons, so take care." He stated, not looking at anyone as he spoke, and letting them make of his statement whatever they wanted to.

Since their professor had not yet arrived, or so it at least appeared at this time, he proceeded with his own experiments. Centered already he grounded himself with a thread of earth, and set his shielding of metal will in place, re-inforcing it with care at the joints.

Seizing a thread of energy from the water he set about trying to find the fault lines within it.
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Gilanor grabbed hold of the lines of water easily enough. They were strong lines and came easily to his touch. Extending his perceptions to the strand, Gilanor sought out its fault lines, and found none. Here and there, he found a few places that allowed him to split the strand into many but each time he did this he found himself holding only more water strands.

"That is true water you analyze there, seeker." A booming voice commented from the doorway. "And I'd put down that venom sac if I were you, boy. Its fragile and quite lethal." He cautioned another. Said student dropped the sac in shock and then looked up to see the speaker.

The adhiel that stood in the doorway would not have looked out of place next door in the Knight's guild. He was fit and muscular and chose to dress in a dark tunic and pants rather than the robes that were typical.

"I am Professor Markov and by virtue of actually being interested in the subject matter, I have been given you to instruct in the noble art that is alchemy." He gave the students a wide smile and strode to the deask up front. "For some of you this will seem like backsliding into a dependency on the mundane world that you feel you freed yourself from. For others this will be a curiosity and an augmentation, a way to extend your powers when necessary, a tool to add to your arsenal. For a chosen few, this will be the first step down the path of ultimate enlightenment. Whichever you are be welcome to my classroom. Take what wisdom you can glean from me and be welcome to it."

"I do hope you have taken the time to examine the reagents before you on the Aether." From his slight smile directed to Gilanor it would seem that he was the only one doing so.

Markov set an iron tripod before him and looked up at the class. "Alchemy stands upon three simple principles. Purity is the first. If you are not absolutely certain of what you start with, you cannot possibly predict what you will create. The water and oils before you are pure, physically, magically and spiritually. They shall be the neutral bases you shall use to extract, thin out or concentrate the forces of the other reagents before you. If you haven't already," Markov again aimed a smile at Gilanor, "examine them now."
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
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Glad that his curiosity in regards to the make up of the energy structure of the items had lead him down the correct right step. Gilanor nodded politely to the Professor before he continued his own examination of the energy structure of the objects. Moving to look into the make up of the other items since his investigation of the water had only turned up a consistant energy pattern.

This time however he looked into the energy patterns of the items that should perhaps bear mixed energies within them. Turning his attention to the volcanic ash, that carried the fire energy within it, here was something he expected to certainly bear earth energies as well. So would the purity of the sample mean that it should contain an equal mix of fire and earth energies though out's it internal energy structure.
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All of the mixed energy reagents are predominantly one energy type or the other. The volcanic ash for example had two samples in box. One was primarily earth signatures with traces of earth and had the appearance of dead rock to the eye. The second held mostly fire energies only just held in check by the earth. It had the look of embers that had just cooled.

"Some reagents swell with power and the difficulty is diluting its strength until you can safely use it. Others have the barest whisper of energy and the alchemist must draw its essence forth." Markov announced after a moment. "That is the purpose of the water and the oils. It will form the pure base into which the reagents shall be melded. The resulting mixture is called a tincture. Let us start. Best to begin by doing. The simplest is the dilution tincture. Bring forth your mortar and pestle."

He placed the black stone items before him on his workbench. "Add to this the scorpion vemon sack." He held up the little sack of death he warned the other student away from and placed it in the mortar. "Carefully pierce it with your iron needle and let it drain. Set the sack aside. Do not let it splash. The more skilled or squeamish may wish to erect a shield before continuing. On the whole," he commented as he worked with the poison, "I recommend not weaving while working with alchemy. Your vision should be focused upon the reagents before you." Markov set aside the empty sack on the end of his needle.

"Now to the oil, animal fat for an animal venom." Markov instructed. "Start with an equal measure. Watch it through your Atheric eye and seek the point where the deep black of death becomes the soothing darkness of sleep."
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
Guest

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At the start of Professor Markov's word Gilanor had let go of his study of the energies within the reagents and payed close attention. He was glad he had done so when the professor started in on his instructions, as he knew it wouldn't do to miss any of them.

Following the steps as he finished each one Gilanor put the motar and pestel in position. He set the pestel to one side, then located the iron needle amid the items in the box. Picking up the the scorpion vemon sack as the professor had done he placed it into the mortar in the same way. With the instruction they would need to let it drain he set the sack on the side of the mortar. Then keeping his fingers away from the area he intended to pierce, he brought the needle down at an angle. He tried to make sure to avoid squeezing the sack with his fingers as he did so not want to risk splashing the vemon on himself or over the bench top.

As soon as the fluid started to well out of the sack he intended to lift and turn it somewhat so the fluid would drain straight downwards into the bottom of the mortar. Given he didn't want to coat the sack in its own internal death, he thought this should be neater than letting the venom drain away down the side of the sack. When the fluid stopped dripping he set it out of the road of his immediate work area.

The professor's instructions about the animal fat seemed easy enough to follow, and certainly the practise he had gained in seperate threads of energy should alllow him to determine the point the professor spoke of between death and sleep.
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Gilanor had no difficulty in watching the blackness turn to gray as it was thinned and thinned in the oil. At first, he saw black spheres of venom suspended in clearness of the oil but as he worked the mixture with his pestle, the oil itself took on the black tone of the venom which eventually thinned out to the gray.

"This why the oils and waters must be purified. They become in essence blank slates onto which we draw symbols of alchemy with our regeants." Markov announced.

"Now this not yet is alchemy. A lot of posion makes you die, a little makes you sleep. Any competent healer or chiurgeon could tell you that." Markov waved his hand dismissively.

"Now diluting that down to the merest speck of venom in your tincture, and then using that to kill or to cure. That is alchemy." Markov spoke with rapture and his eyes shone.

"The second leg of alchemy is the property of sympathy. Like will call to like. We can add the tiniest touch of venom to our potion, so little you could drink it with no harm. We set upon it sympathetic resonance such that poison is drawn to poison and we set it in a matrix of stone to bind it fast so it no longer free to roam about the body. The result is a poison cure so potent that the assassin's guild once wanted our head." He laughed boistrously.

"Now, take that same speck." He smiled dark. "Tether it to a potent speck the resonates with life and bind it to a symbol of fire to encourage its fast movement and the result is a poison so deadly that the assassin's guild cannot even afford it." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "That is an example of transference, the third leg, where you transfer the properities of one aspect to another, in this case directly changing life to death."

"Anything in between is possible." Markov stated proudly. "It is only a matter of finding the right formulas and trends of energy. He points to Gilanor. "You've got the inquisitive mind of alchemist, boy. What would you like to make with your tincture of death?"
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
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"If it is so easy to kill or cure, than perhaps that something in between. What of a potion where the body looks to be dead, but is just held in a state like the deepest of slumbers. A slumber so profound that is that it can't be told from death except by examining the body's internal energies, and even then only the skilled would really know for sure." Gilanor replied, considering the various uses to which the later might be used, though the development of such was surely beyond an introductary class.

"Surely such would require a balancing of life and death on a knife edge. Too far one way and it would be naught but a sleeping potion, and too far the other and the drinker would fall into a death far more real than intended."
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Marvok smiled wide and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "The shamans in the distant lands of Amun Rah call it the Curse of Deathly Life. It is said that their greatest blasphemers, the ones whose evil acts were so great that even death was not a fitting enough punishment would be fed that potion along with a slow acting antidote. They would awaken entombed beneath the desert sands." He chuckled. "Or so I am told."

"Yes, you do indeed pose a difficult task and one that requires either great knowledge of the imbiber or incredible controls worked into the potion itself. A balacing act requiring extreme skill. Such a potion is clearly beyond you all at the moment but discussing how it might be done shall be a fine example of many principles of alchemy. Let us continue."

The rest of the lecture devolved into a long litany of metals, symbols, and methods of heating, cooling, and cleansing that were critical basics for any alchemist. Along the way Markov would point out advanced details dealing with the proposed potion as well as more basic versions of those procedures for the students to work at their own stations.

Marks later when Markov finally dismissed them, he gestured for Gilanor to stay. "Who has snapped you up as a prentice, lad? I can't believe I'd be lucky enough for you to be unclaimed."
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
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"Thank you for the compliment Master Marvok. Indeed Professor Chaotxi offered me a position as his apprentice, after he found that we shared a mutal interest in the truth of the basic nature of energy. " Gilanor replied, feeling pleased with the compliment. At home his questioning had been meet with annoyance, and commands here however it seemed that it was more than just accepted but respected by the Professors.

"I found your class very interesting Professor, much of the focus in preparation is preparing something to its most puriest essential ingredient. In a way its very much what I looking for, a way to examine all energies in their puriest and most essential state, without the trapping of physical perception overlaying them."
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"I thought I saw the questing eye when you looked over your regeants." Markov's face twisted into a grin. "You need to get to the heart of things. Well alchemy as a discipline will certainly help you along that road, and the reverse is true as well. The better you are at picking out the energies of what you observe, the purer your tinctures will be, and thus the true power of alchemy could be yours." Markov chuckled.

"You strike me as one that would try for the greater mysteries. Aether Stones, the Draft of Life, The Dragon's Eye." He spoke the names with reverence. "Yes I can't see you thinking small if you decided to take alchemy seriously."
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
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"I take all the aspect of Magic most seriously indeed Professor Markov. Want I want above all is to learn the secrets of the Archmages, and neglecting any aspect of magic I believe will but harm my efforts to achieve such mastery." Gilanor replied, making mental note to look into those objects, especially the Aether Stones. From his conversation earlier this day the mention of them made him wonder if the four prisms might not be such.
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Markov smiled and shook his head. "Nothing less than the secrets of creation will do for you, eh? So many of us entered these walls with the same fire Gilanor. But time has a way of blunting many forces and we learn to settle and to rationalize." He sighed. "Keep feeding that flame, prentice. Don't burn out like so many others."

He shook his head to clear it. "Bah. Don't mind me and my maudlin memories. The past is done and the future is yet to be. On that note, will you be joining your master in the Great Ascent, or he has he elected for you to mind the store while he is away?"
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
Guest

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"Just because the past is done Professor, doesn't mean that the future still can't be what you envisaged it to be. If you take light you can still impress it with the cold of shadow even as one impresses motion into flame or air to craft a shield. The link between light and shadow is simply tighter than we can easily perceive yet it is still present." Gilanor said quitely, hoping that the Professor wouldn't take offense at his words.

"Yet what is this Great Ascent that you speak of, Professor Chaotxi hasn't mentioned it to me as yet?"" Gilanor asked, leaving the words with the Professor but looking to learn what he had spoken of the term was certainly enough to catch his attention.
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Professor Markov let out a long breath. "I see I have spoken out of turn. I thought he would have mentioned it to you." Markov mused for a moment. "Well it won't be a secret in a few days so what's the harm?" Apparently this was not a rhetorical question as he ponders it for a long moment.

"You know of the great cavern that leads to the surface. To the Isle of Pan." Markov began. "The centaurs of the Isle guard it and guard it well. They let us out in ones and twos. Never in numbers that might bring them worry." Markov says bitterly.

"Well the latest travellers to the surface returned. The centaurs were gone." Markov paused a moment to let that sink in. "I don't know the full details, but Her Majesty plans to take advantage of the situation. The first outpost on the surface in an Age." He says with wonder. "They have asked several of the faculty to accompany the expedition. Professor Chaotxi declined at first but Her Majesty was quite persuasive."
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
Guest

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"I haven't meet with the Professor yet today so if that is the case perhaps it is the reason why he wasn't available for the lesson this morningtide. No doubt he'll have something to say on the matter when next I meet with him." Gilanor replied, considering the oddness of the situation.

Only a few days ago he was wanting to get out of this city to avoid his family, and had even tried to leave clues to help them believe that was indeed the case so they wouldn't search for him. Yet his intent was still to undertake that course of action after he had learnt enough to protect himself. Now though after only a few days here at the Guild, he had more interest in staying here to learn the true secrets of energy than escaping from the city and the reach of his family's possible influence.
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"No doubt he is waiting until the time is right." Markov assured him. "Or perhaps he has not yet decided what he would wish you to do. He never was one to decide things quickly. A master of reflection." Markov smiled slightly.

"I would consider it a kindness if you would not mention my slip of the tongue." Markov looked at Gilanor hopefully. "There are politics enough without an honest misunderstanding like this added to the mix."
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
Guest

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"I'm sure the Professor will let me know when he has made a decision." Gilanor replied, as he pondered what that decision might be for a flicker.

"Since its his decision that is important so mentioning any advance notice of the topic I've had or its source is hardly something that is worth his attention. I best be going but once again I must say that I enjoyed your class." Gilanor said, giving the Professor a respectful nod before heading for the door.
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Post by Tristam »

"Farewell, Gilanor. I trust I shall see you in class again. Fortune favor you until we meet once more." Markov said in farewell as Gilanor left.

Thread skilled!

Alchemy *
Last edited by Tristam on Wed Oct 26, 2005 3:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
[size=100]
Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known, I've had to make myself.

Shel Silverstein[/size]
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