Chemists

"Let's go over it one more time," Mavis says. Whiskey, Toby, and Olive wait patiently as Mavis opens a small wooden drawer, the glass vials within ringing. She pulls one out, spraying the contents on them as if anointing them for battle. The smell is pleasant but strong, a mix of lemon and sage. "This will prevent hexes and curses." She sets the vial back. "There's no way we can really win the trial. I can get some charges dropped maybe, but it's the murder we're worried about. Olive? Have you prepared yet?"   Olive nods. "I have enough prep done to buy time. If we get cornered I've discussed getting help from…"   Mavis stops her. "No need to get our friend downstairs involved in our squabbles. A nuclear option is best left unused."   "But what if-"   "Toby will leave with us one way or the other." Mavis smiles at Toby, and nods.   "Where's Cory?" Whiskey asks. "It's not like him to be late when he's actually needed."   "He knows his role well enough. Now…" she pauses and pulls a vial of silver liquid from the drawer. "This is our best way out. If we run into trouble, gather around me."

Alchemists, apothecaries, brewers… all names for what is essentially the same thing nowadays. A chemist is one who uses magic in conjunction with physical components to create, enhance, or simply change the properties of a given substance. These substances are usually consumed or at least applied to the body.   Don't let the modern title fool you too much. While chemistry can help a chemist do what they do, they're practice is heavily outdated to modern medicine. Some would say obsolete. Chemists care more for old wives tales and home remedies than proper pharmaceutical research. Not because they disagree or aren't capable enough to produce the same results. It's just that home remedies tend to work better.   Chemists are patient, requiring far more thought than the average touched to achieve their goals. You're not just isolating particular chemical qualities of a substance, but also distilling its abstract qualities; its symbolism and emotional power.  

I mean, this one's easy. Chemistry as a science always had one foot in occult lore. Can you believe chemistry began with early alchemists who spent their nights secretly sipping mercury in their basement in search of eternal life. I digress. We can skip most of its history. Let's pick back up at the end of the world.   As magic appeared and members of the touched brushed up on their high school science classes, we learned magic can be contained in a medium whether it be gas, solid, or liquid. We then pushed further, and figured out how one can extract the magic that is already there. We can take concepts and ideas, the magic of identity and use that just as much as the ingredients themselves.   Like, You know the whole "eye of newt, toe of frog" thing regarding witches and their potions? It's like that. While these terms actually referred to mustard seeds and Buttercup, respectively, one could technically use these literal ingredients and actually achieve the same results because they represent mustard seeds and Buttercup. We can make potions last longer by extracting the preservative nature of lemons as well as just using lemons. With this… a new art was born.