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...and five parts technical grade Cephlyx. Calcinate the mixture for up to three hours, or until total assimilation is observed through the Roechar-Briggs apparatus. Additional effects may be imbued at this point by adding no greater than 1 mL/L gray bane, drake broadleaf, or azolla. Your TA will be able to provide these compounds if requested for your project.
Note how working the mixture becomes increasingly difficult as it cools. Do not reheat! While the final rune may be resistant to high temperatures, this base is not. Addition of SP or exposure to thermal sources greater than 50 degrees centigrade will result in flash curing of the resulting product, rendering it useless for further crafting.
Reserve materials are available if your first batch fails. Use of pre-made commercial mixtures in the final rune will result in a failing grade for the course.
-Excerpt from one of the last known copies of Alchemy 211: Transmutation, Distillation, and Practical Application
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After waking up and being treated to something Mrs. Maugin called ’waffles and syrup’, I stowed my gear and said my goodbyes.
“Now Fabius, don’t ye forget about our hospitality when yer a world famous hero now will ya?” Maugin called as I was about to turn down a street heading towards the center of town.
“Don’t worry! I don’t think I could even if I tried!” I yelled back to him, waved, then quickly exited the scene before hearing his response.
”That’s for damn sure.”
“I appreciate the free bed and meals, but all that talk of the others who have passed through before us was kinda unnerving.”
“I know, especially if they were calling themselves heroes. It just doesn’t add up. We’ve been moved forward in time, that I’m sure of now. But people don’t just accidentally turn up in a strange place with teleportation. If there’s any instability in a focus, it would be safeguarded to not allow traversal. That’s one of the basic principles. Without an exact calculation to counteract the force of moving a body across space, any error would be catastrophic. Even if they did get through, it would be in a fine mist as their bodies disintegrated from the forces involved.”
“Is the place we appeared acting as a beacon then?”
“No, there’s no such thing as that. To move from one place to another requires that you have been there first. It’s not possible to move another. That’s why teleportation research was so unpopular. Or it wasn’t in my time.”
“Could things have advanced since then?” I asked my increasingly concerned companion.
“Well yes, but actually no. I mean look around us! This is not progress. Things have gone back to the stone ages around here. Moving other people across space? The implications of that are outlandish! We’d agreed that it couldn’t be possible,”
“And sharing a body with me isn’t? Explain like I’m five.”
“If it was possible send other people to where you alone have been, it would be possible send any number of others there with enough SP. Imagine a spy finds their way to the heart of a besieged city. They could send through an elite strike force to take out the infrastructure or rig up an armory to blow!”
“Why not send the entire army through? Or why not just launch a surprise attack from outside the county before they can get on war footing?”
“The SP costs of that would be astronomical, there’s no way one person could generate that much even if it was possible to move others.”
“Wasn’t that research of yours about obtaining unlimited power?”
“I... yes. But to use it in such a way... nobody else could have duplicated my work, I had all the notes! They were destroyed with the city.”
“What if they weren’t?”
“Then...it’s theoretically possible.”
“And given what we see here?”
“It may have already happened. We destroyed not just Eshix, but ourselves. In the void of power, anyone with a grudge to settle could have tried to seize it. Control over those who could design weapons and operate them. Followed by assassinations to keep your foes toothless. Without scholars of the Academy to maintain the constructs or train... we fell into a dark age.”
“So the chances of us getting separated are-”
“Next to zero. I don’t have the knowledge to do such a working. Anyone with enough skill to help us will either be sequestered under lock and key or a reclusive holdout. If I understand correctly, this ’Cataclysm’ happened roughly two hundred and forty odd years ago. There are some races that live long enough that we might still find someone who was there. Maybe they could help explain what happened. We should ask around.”
“No. I really don’t think we should. If what you say is true, then we are at risk. By your own admission, knowledge of tech might be and probably is quite dangerous to admit to having. Remember how Mrs. Maugin acted about her stove rune? She and I thought it was amazing. To you it was commonplace. Now picture what that would mean to someone who intended ill towards us. We can seek out help, but we must not become targets in the meantime. Your knowledge of the past is the most dangerous weapon we have. Not knowing how to wield it properly we are more dangerous to ourselves than anyone else.”
“I... I see. I’d like to believe better of my fellow kin, but it wouldn’t be the first time things like this have happened. Our world was so much more civilized, I didn’t think this could happen.”
“I’m sure they didn’t either. Such is the price of arrogance before the gods. There are always things that cannot be understood, even by your science.”
The sun was breaking over the low buildings and already the oppressive heat was causing droplets of sweat to form on my brow. “Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between. I am questioning a lot of the things I once took for fact. Let’s go see the alchemist though. I really don’t want to deal with sticky leathers for one more day if I can help it.”
“Works for me,” I replied as I began walking northeast towards the market district. If my recollection of Mrs. Maugin’s tour was correct, the alchemist would be on the far side of the square.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Merchandise and merchants the likes of which I’d never seen before lay spread out on low shelves and piled high in produce carts. Clothes to fit all of the myriad of body shapes lined racks were being hawked by a short-feathered man with brilliant indigo plumage on his crest, offset by iridescent black across the rest of his body.
The sheer diversity of forms was something I was still getting my mind wrapped around. There were no humans here, though I did see a handful of the Dwarfs standing atop crates and anything else they brought to get their voices added to the growing din. A number of feline forms loosely congregated around a large wagon with the side covers rolled up to display trinkets and toys as well as books and braids of spices. Their leader’s dusky mane of hair started with his beard but continued all the way around his neck, contrasting sharply with the tawny blond covering the rest of his head. These were people set to move on at any time.
“Traveling traders from the looks of them.” I observed.
“The Laroth? They hailed from the southern continent in my time. Merchants then too. Even if the methods have changed, it’s still comforting to see some things remain the same.”
Shrewd negotiators too from what I observed while milling through the crowd. A man with curled horns sprouting from his head was opening his satchel to pay while his couple young children with speckled coats of fur pranced around after an elastic ball. The man clearly could afford it from his rich state of dress, but the pain in his eyes was apparent as he handed over a dozen of the smaller coins.
A few merchants attempted to gain my attention, thrusting forward sticks of roasted meat or wafting elegant perfumes. Even though I’d eaten only a few hours before, my stomach growled at some of the rich scents of roasted vegetables on a stick. Perhaps I might stop by here again after my business with the alchemist was concluded.
I would have to be mindful of my funds though. Even with the gilder from the cabin, I’d want to have enough for shelter overnight. While the Maugin’s had invited me back ’anytime’, that wasn’t a choice I’d make unless there was no other option. Some things in life had value in not being known. Making more funds for myself would have to be another short term goal to achieve, even if I was relegated to menial labor for awhile.
“This should be it, look at the classical cauldron on their sign!”
Sure enough, a rough image of a witch’s brew was bubbling over on the sign overhanging the narrow shop’s entry. I stepped in as a bell at the side of the door rang to announce my presence.
A small, excited feminine voice called from the far rear of the store, “It’ll be just a moment! Need to stabilize this precipitate then be with you in a jiffy! Feel free to look around.”
I walked through the narrow aisles of alchemical reagents. While no expert in their creation, the products provided were integral to fabrication of magitech goods. I’d taken the mineral science elective in my undergrad days instead of alchemy, something I was starting to regret now that I was stuck here.
Only a few items had containment flasks, and even fewer were temperature controlled. Most were stored in merely sealed jars. Sure they wouldn’t degrade as fast as if they were exposed to the open air, but even I could see that most of the ingredients here were well beyond their best by date. Still, they should have some decent Cephlyx in stock. I didn’t see any, but maybe they just made it fresh as needed. I’m sure these people had issues keeping the mix stable and if magitech was uncommon, it’d make sense to make some fresh.
I hadn’t realized it until she came out from behind the partition, but it had been a very long time since I’d been with a woman. Fox woman, cat-girl. Whatever she was, it hit the spot for me and I wasn’t about to question my body’s response to the view of the delightfully short and stacked woman approaching me with flickering red ears and a matching sinuous tail flitting behind her.
Oh good grief, now I have to worry about this too? I was going to need to talk with my co-tenant in this body after we finished our business here. This level of arousal at the first sight of a pretty girl? No. Not going to be that kind of hero. Chill out some there little buddy. Oblivious to the internal turmoil I was putting down, the young shopkeeper greeted me.
“Oh hi there! Mroww! Sorry about that, it’s been nonstop work the last two months and I’ve been behind. Were you here to pick up an order? I don’t think I recognize you! I’m Colette, we should definitely be friends!” The shopkeeper exclaimed while batting her eyelashes at me.
Oh no. No no no, not this. Luckily, I had a lifetime of experience with properly channeling my own emotional responses to avoid buying something extra from an overly friendly sales staff. “That’s alright, feel free to call me Dansin. I’m new in town, just passing through actually. I was wondering if you had any Cephlyx in stock.”
“Sure, I’ve got some stashed away here in the case. The higher grade stocks have already been used for a healing potion requisition the Adventurers Guild put in, but I should have a few bottles here that could take care of anything you might need. Over this way, roww!” The bubbly shopkeeper bounced once then twirled away, her tail nearly catching my nose.
I followed Colette back through the store. While the space was narrow, it was surprisingly deep and filled with all manner of shelving units. It couldn’t have been an efficient system of organizing things. Finally, after a couple near tumbles, we made it back to the locked storage cabinet.
Lifting a small vial, she handed it over to me with an enthusiastic smile, “This here is the best Cephlyx I have in stock right now. Should be good for most any rune you could ask for! Take a look!”
The vial in my hand might have held 5mL, but I was going to require quite a bit more to form the runes I had in mind. While the quality wasn’t pristine, it did at least look like it could be safely used without impurities gumming up the works.
“How much are you wanting for three of these?” I asked.
“I’ll let it go for no less than 20 gilder a mL.”
“You surely mean 20 gilder for lot, right?” it was decent material, but by no means would it ever pass muster as anything more than a decent hobby media.
“Oh don’t toy with me like that, you know how difficult this is to make at these purity levels! Three vials? Are you buying for the whole village or something?” Her tail drooped then flicked in agitation. It was apparent that something about my request was off.
“I’m sure it was quite the effort to distill it down, but I really do need at least two and a half vials worth.”
“If you’re sure that’s how much you want, maybe I could interest you in some of these instead?” She quickly handed me another vial. This one was of far lesser quality, small lumps of impurities could be visibly seen in the viscous silvery fluid.
I took care to bite my tongue before saying something I’d regret. As I understood it she was the only source in this town for my needed crafting material. “I just don’t think this one would hold up to the strain I’d be putting it under.” Or anything at all was the unstated sidebar.
Then the unexpected occurred. The shopkeeper began crying.
“I know, I know! I’m not a real alchemist at all! My mentor died hunting monsters six months ago and that’s the last of her stock! I can’t make any more of that grade. Not with my skills and equipment like they are. I can barely mix together a health potion, let alone distill Cephlyx. The Adventurers Guild brings in the raw materials for me to transmute, but I can’t do it! I’ve been giving them back my mentor’s last stock instead. This is the best I can do! I won’t even be able to afford the raw materials at this rate!”
The sudden breakdown of the shopkeeper ended up with her resting her head on my chest, with her ears barely below my chin. Noticing where she was, Colette backed away with a blush then continued explaining once she’d calmed down enough.
“Sorry, it’s been incredibly difficult since she died. The shop is barely afloat, and once I run out of her stockpiled material, I don’t know what I’ll do. Sorry about the ditzy act earlier. Already people are noticing and talking about how poor quality my potions are. Soon I’ll have no customers left.” The way her ears flicked back and forth as she got more and more agitated pulled at my heartstrings.
“Haven’t you looked into getting someone else to mentor you? Or make orders on commission while you’re still learning?” I asked the stressed woman.
“I’ve tried, but nobody wants to come out here so close to the fallen city. The one person who would take my orders is over three weeks away through monster infested plains. This is the only place I’ve ever called home, I don’t want to leave if I can help it.”
“I’m not an expert, but I have worked with alchemists throughout the years. I know it’s a big ask, but could I see your lab?”
“My... my lab? But mentor told me to...no. Even if you could steal my secrets, it’s not like there’s anything you could do to make it worse than it already is. Sure, it’s just back here.”
I was led back to where I’d first seen her pop up from, in a lot better mood then too. As we passed the heavy wooden doors, I noticed that there weren’t even any blast tunes engraved in them.
“No shielding?”
“Ha, as if. What do you think we were running here, the Royal Alchemy Lab?”
“Just observing, as heavy as the doors are I’m not sure you would need any.”
“That’s what she always said too. I didn’t get to know her that well during my apprenticeship but I really do miss her knowledge and advice. It might not look like much, but I really did learn a lot from her,” Colette looked to be a bit more comfortable surrounded by her memories of the past.
As I looked around the lab, I began to grow impressed. Not at her work, but at the fact that she was able to make any of it work. Tiny cracks raced across the surface of the calcinator, it was amazing that it hadn’t exploded from heat. Or more likely it hadn’t been brought to the high temperatures required properly remove impurities.
“Well, we’re here now. What do you want to see?” The fox-kin looked to me expectantly.
“Just looking. The calcinator has a lot of stress fractures in it,” I pointed at the handful of cracks barely visible to the naked eye. “This retort? Look how it’s warped. Any distillate you make will end up overcooked my the time you drive off the vapor. Truthfully, I’m shocked that you have been able to make anything. It’s a testament to your skill. Your mentor? She must have been a true master.”
Even if I couldn’t understand how to make the materials I needed, it wasn’t difficult to see that the various tools and pieces of equipment were far from what they could have been. A cheap child’s play set would have had more consistency in construction than what Colette was working with.
“Try replacing this steel tube here with a copper one. That should reduce the rate that it gets corroded. Actually, it might not be a bad idea to replace all the tubing in time, but you’ll get the most for your money here. I’d suggest buying a new calcinator altogether, but you might be able to fire it better if you protected these cracks, maybe a compression sleeve? Again I’m no expert but that’s where I’d start.”
“I’d love to do that, but such fine metalwork is expensive and I don’t have the funds. Adventurers can make a good living from quests and selling monster parts, but my skills are not suited to combat. I don’t like it much either.”
Weighing the options available in this podunk village versus the discomfort of the increasingly sweaty leathers on my skin and a desire to fatten up my emaciated purse, I made a decision I hoped not to regret.
“Would you like to make a trade?”