Alchemy
Alchemy holds the keys to many secrets on our world, subject to few of the restrictions intrinsic to true magic - and many of the benefits - it has its own flaws, and many, many people have died in the pursuit of crazed inventions, but it has given us many wondrous things, and - as the Appendix proves - seems likely to keep doing so for quite some time.Alchemy is an ancient form of magic which aims to blend scientific reasoning with the arcane, to extract the meaning of magic from items, blending them in new concoctions. Its powers are not fully understood, but their endeavours to master it are constant.
History of Alchemy
Before the Ancestors
Alchemy's discovery is intrinsically connected to the legacy of the Hysilens, who understood it to be possible due to the unique Aether environmental properties of the world. The fox-folk made active use of alchemy throughout their time, and even following the end of their era on the world and their ascension, the Imperial Dragons, elves and Vulpinari seemed to almost inherit the knowledge, continuing the studies into the alchemical where the Hysilens left off, as the Raqise all but ignored it in their time.The Bhailu Empire and the Demons
The Bhailu Empire - a grand superpower reigning unchallenged over all of the Bhailu supercontinent in its prime - recorded the first true, well-organised and concerted investigations of alchemical science in the era since the departure of the Hysilens. Initially, these investigations were relatively tame, expanding the forays of understanding with regards to groups of reagents and their capabilities, but over time these processes got more and more outlandish, broaching onto the topics of matter transmutation, and eventually, the quest for immortality. Alchemy wasn't native just to the Bhailu Empire, however; it saw frequent adoption across the world in this time, its powers proving extremely valuable to all walks of life, a fact that only increased in relevance as time went on and more practical applications of reagents were discovered. The Great Demonic War was when the rampant theory of alchemy was really put to practice, however; the demonic forces were mostly resilient to traditional magical options, limiting the capabilities of the magic-reliant realms when it came to fighting the Demon Queen's encroaching forces. Alchemy, despite using Aether, does not suffer from those limitations, allowing for concoctions to be created that could empower the plentiful martial combatants of the world to better stand toe to toe with most - though, not all - forms of demon.Modern History
Modern history saw the end of the Great Demonic War, and while for many forms of magic across the world, this was a reasonably... mixed period of time - what with the influence of the demons never fully receding - Alchemy saw a number of revolutionary innovations which saw radical changes in how its processes were undertaken. The most important of these was the first - and most crucial - contribution of the alchemist who would build a name for herself as the most famous and prodigal of her ilk across the world; the Alchemical Appendix. The appendix was a multipurpose alchemical tome, with value to alchemists of all levels of skill; at the most basic - but arguably, most important - level, the appendix made it clear what known reagent groups existed across the globe and what a budding alchemist could expect to be able to extract from their magical meaning, taking the guesswork and hearsay out of alchemical concoctions. Beyond that, though, the appendix made further effort to detail regional distinctions in alchemy and how other forms of magic - and non-magic - interact with those regional distinctions, such as noting alchemy's compatibility with Utility Magic and Blood Magic. Finally, the appendix also covers at length the myriad rules and caveats of Alchemical Transmutation, including - but not limited to - the Law of Aether Exchange, the Law of Matter Constancy, and the stringent alchemical skill requirements for successful transmutations to take place.Alchemical Appendix, Vol 22
The Alchemical Appendix, currently on its 22nd iteration and authored by the prodigal Alchemist, Sorona, stands as effectively the pinnacle in Alchemical research. Constantly being updated with the latest discoveries, the appendix serves to catalogue all known groups of alchemical reagent across the globe, including their notable dangers or difficulties in extracting them, alongside the alchemical effect(s) tied to their use in a concoction. Beyond that, the appendix further details the myriad different - thoroughly tested - interactions between alchemy and other forms of magic, providing hard data and information on which forms of magic are conducive to alchemy, and which reject it, even those that reject it violently. In many ways, understanding this aspect of alchemy is the most important part of the appendix to many, as it allows an alchemist to understand when to use their alchemy and when to abstain from doing so.Alchemical Transmutation
Alchemical Transmutation is the final aspect denoted within the appendix, first added in its 5th volume. The sections of the appendix dealing with transmutation outline the process in tremendous detail - including aspects many alchemists forget, such as grounding the material to be transmuted in a base reagent to allow for a safer transmutation. The appendix also details every rule and caveat to the process, including, but not limited to, the Law of Aether Exchange and the Law of Matter Constancy. Indeed, modern alchemy would not be where it is now if not for the alchemical appendix, and while it isn't the only notable alchemical innovation in the modern age, it's by far the most impactful one, and is one where its very proliferation has changed the face of alchemy permanently. In many ways, it also serves as its creator's magnum opus, and has resulted in Sorona being recognised as one of the foremost alchemical geniuses throughout history - if her own actual exploits hadn't done that already.The Alchemical Process
The Alchemical Process is a very complicated and in-depth facet of alchemy, with countless permutations to its myriad uses, but primarily the process is split into two categories; alchemical concoctions, which are simple to learn but hard to master, and alchemical transmutations, which are hard to practice, require precise balance, and are even harder to master, but are conceptually simple to understand.
Alchemical Concoctions
Fundamentally, alchemical concoctions require very little to make happen; the alchemist needs a station to do their work at, which must be kept clean to prevent contamination, and they need to have the ingredients they wish to use in the concoction. These ingredients come in a variety of groups, which each do relatively similar things, and are further grouped into three types of Catalyst, which denote the functionality they have in alchemy. Base Catalysts are the foundational component of the process, which acts to bind the rest of the concoction together. Ingredients in this category tend to include things like pixie dust, the blood of spellcasters, and unicorn horns, but can be other, similar magically-laden ingredients. Notably, the Alchemical Appendix has an entire chapter dedicated to just these ingredients. Effect Catalysts are the core element that defines the actual alchemical process; without these, a finished concoction is just a very bland, tasteless and odourless liquid. Alone, however, an effect catalyst is of little value, as it must be paired with a trait catalyst to form a cohesive magical recipe for what will happen. A given concoction can only sustain so many effect catalysts as part of its makeup, determined by the base catalyst. The standard is a single effect, but some bases can support two or even three. Trait Catalysts are arguably the most important part of a concoction; each effect requires one - and only one - trait catalyst, which is mixed with the paired effect catalyst as part of the process. These catalysts determine the specific traits of an effect; for example, an effect for transformation needs a trait for the appropriate transformation sought. Fundamentally, however, the process of Alchemy for a concoction is actually a simple matter of addition, as the appendix points out:A given alchemical concoction is formulated in the same way every time:While the catalysts are grouped based on their general properties, the specific one used can vary as much as the mind of the alchemist themselves, with the only 'standardized' options being the base catalyst. The complexity of alchemy also rears its head in this situation, as well, as all effect and trait catalysts are subject to side-effects related to how potent their primary power is. Taking a transformation effect as an example, the effect requires a trait to function, which could be - for example - the hair of a dog, a wolf, or a werewolf, to make a wolf transformation potion. The side-effects however could be stark, with the potion causing someone to fly into a blind rage if made using werewolf hair, due to its higher concentration of Aether. This is a double-bladed sword in many ways, as these powerful catalysts also make the concoction less strenuous on the Alchemist's Aether to create. That said, as is the nature of alchemy, all of these effects and side-effects are wholly static, and one of the most beloved aspects of the Alchemical Appendix is the fact that it meticulously details all of these.the Base Catalyst + as many Effect-Trait Catalyst pairs as the base supports
Alchemical Transmutations
Alchemical Transmutation is a far more advanced form of alchemy, focused on the transformation of a material into something else; the classic option here is lead into gold, but with sufficient skill, materials and Aether, plenty of things are possible. The key to alchemical transmutation, however, is how the alchemist deals with the governing rules of the process; this primarily takes the form of how they deal with the Law of Aether Exchange, and the Law of Matter Constancy, both noted in the Alchemical Appendix:The Aether expended to transmute the Salt of the process must be equivalent to the cube of the magical energy required to augment the mass of that item to match its target material mass. Reducing mass still requires the appropriate amount of energy.
Matter cannot fundamentally change its properties, even with the aid of Aether. Aether can be used to transmute metals into other metals, but it cannot be used to transmute organic matter into nonorganic matter, or textiles into metals, for example.Transmutation has its own set of ingredients compared to regular alchemy, with there still being three basic ingredients, but their relationship is far more easily understood to the budding transmuter. The Salt is the thing that is being changed, such as Lead; the Salt must be sterilized prior to use in the process, to ensure purity for transmutation. The Sulphur is the active ingredient used to do the dissolving and changing of the Salt. An example of this would be Arsenic, but many examples are denoted in the Alchemical Appendix, such as Troll Bile. The Mercury is the reactionary base of the process, which is used to actually mix the Salt and Sulphur together and force the transformation and changes, turning the Salt into its new form. The Mercury of a transmutation process is the most complicated ingredient to source, as it has fairly strict requirements; it must be Aether-conductive, allowing the aether to flow through it and instigate the transmutation, but it must also be liquid - either naturally or through the preparations required for the process.
