Alchemy

Introduction

What is alchemy? The first image that comes to mind is a slightly primitive chemistry filled with religious symbolism and mysteries worthy of a secretive cult. That's how the alchemy started, during the long and painful days of the Pre-Imperial Era. Parts of it were inherited by the elves from the Xylian Dominion, parts from the Kraad Technocracy, parts learned from the Fae.
Humans inherited this art and expanded it tenfold - and then, once the Second Era started, thousandfold. Alchemy, together with techmaturgy, became the pillars that supported the imperial might during its Golden Age. And just like the techmaturgy, it entered a period of substantial decline after the Dusk War. Much less was lost about the alchemy than the techmaturgy however, which elevated alchemy into a main foundation of the 3rd Era Grand Empire.
Alchemy is, in short, a modern imperial term for magically-enhanced 'material science'. Chemistry, biology, metallurgy and geology remain its real-world equivalents, and the art of creating 'potions' (and other medicines) is merely one of the many research fields. Still, its current might is limited almost only by the availability of various rare and elusive ingredients that slipped out of empire's grasp after its collapse during the Dusk War. This means that the access to miracles of alchemy is often restricted only by depths of one's pockets and their willingness to sacrifice many adventurers in their quests.

Alchemy

The Ways of Alchemy

Alchemy is divided into a number of Ways. Each Way is a separate discipline that majority of alchemists focus on. Aspiring alchemists decide what to focus after finishing their basic education, and typically stick to what they choose for the rest of their life. Making themselves useful for the Grand Empire and its population. Only the master alchemists (those alchemists that mastered creation and usage of alkahest) typically expand their interests to all Ways, as only through that they can hope to complete the magnum opus.
Way of Life is the most common form of alchemy. Majority of it is little more than much more powerful herbalism, though with magical plants used as ingredients the results tend to be much more powerful than one would expect. Alchemists of the Way of Life create various medicines from plants, mushrooms, molds, etc. etc., with said 'medicines' also including addictive drugs, halucinogens, mutagens, poisons and more. Overwhelming majority of what passes for healthcare in the Grand Empire is run by alchemists of this Way.
Way of Blood is a much rare and often mistrusted form of alchemy, creating a variety of powerful brews from bodyparts of various living beings. The creations of the alchemists of the Way of Blood tend to feel much more magical than mostly fantasy scientifical concoctions of the Way of Life, and are especially known for powerful stimulants. Some of their medicaments can work almost immediately and have powerful, if short-term results.
Way of Iron is, in short, metallurgy. All imperial metallurgists are in fact alchemists of the Way of Iron, spending their life smelting metals, creating alloys and using various alchemical procedures to render the metal even stronger and more flexible. It's not all however, and some of the iron alchemists are also known for creating alchemical liquids of seemingly impossible properties, such as poultices made of liquid iron (stable in normal temperatures) that can be used to cover your skin, making it more resistant to slashes. This discipline is sometimes referred to as alchemetallurgy.
Way of Stone is a branch of alchemy dealing in non-metal materials. Primarily, it's various types of minerals - stones, jewels, and crystals. Powdered, dusted, and turned liquid by being treated with proper reagents. Their creations tend to offer short-term and powerful effects [like those of the Way of Blood] but with notable toxicity issues. They are however less mistrusted and their ingredients are easier to attain in greater number. On the other hand, the list of things possible to achieve with them is limited.
Way of Corruption is a forbidden and actively persecuted branch of alchemy that actively employs various enigmatic-corrupted and warped alchemical components. Be it metals, minerals or plants and body parts - they use everything they can get their hands on. The result are extremely powerful concoctions of many, often thoroughly supernatural effects that however threaten users' sanity and the stability of their corporeal forms. Way of Corruption is often pursued by the slightly more stable occultists.

Alkachemy

To become a master alchemist (or alkachemist, as they are sometime known) is to master the use of alkahest - universal solvent capable of dissolving everything into its 'pure' form, made from its concept more than from solid matter. Method of creating the alkahest is a mystery hidden behind countless elusive suggestions in ancient and hard to attain tomes. To betray the mystery of alkahestry to another person is an unthinkable offense amongst the alkachemists, one that is met with swift and painful reaction.
Alkahest can create essences (officially called 'complex essences') from most of materials. For example, a plant with sedative properties will change into an essence of itself, becoming a liquid but retaining its properties - which in fact will be empowered due to lack of 'pollution' that the matter is. Alkachemic concoctions will also work quicker and longer, though they can also be more toxic and sanity-rending than their alchemic counterpart.
Understanding alkachemy allows one to expand from their chosen Way. A former alchemetallurgist can (almost) freely work with plants, for example, as by using the alkahest he can easily create their pure essences. And mixing essences is significantly easier than working with their material forms. However most master alchemists will still maintain preference for their chosen discipline.

Azochemy

Azochemy has a half-legendary status in the Grand Empire. It is (mostly) known that it exists, though most of knowledge about it is little more than unconfirmed myths. The only confirmed thing is that the way to become an azochemist is to be an alkachemist and succeed in creating azoth - an universal solvent of potency massively more powerful than the alkahest. That's where confirmed knowledge ends, as the few azochemists living in the Grand Empire does so in complete secrecy.
Azoth allows one to create basic essences. A hundred different plants and minerals with sedative properties can be dissolved with azoth into a pure idea of a sedative medicine - while also creating some other simple essences, such as ones of growth or plants. Such essences can be freely woven into numerous concoctions of miraculous properties - or even used to create life (though not a true sapience, as that's impossible without soul - and no basic essence of soul was ever created). Growing back lost limbs, healing any imagineable disease (including old age, the worst disease of them all), altering bodies to unimagineable degree - azochemy allows all of that, and more. No wonder the azochemists live in secrecy - many nobles would gladly force or bribe them into prolonging their life.
The actual number of azochemists is unknown, but estimated at up to thirty - how many of them live in the Grand Empire remains a mystery. It is believed that the Grand Empire can contact some of them when the situation is urgent, though they can as well refuse to help. And they will never prolong the rulers' life for more than few years needed (for example) to have their successor reach adulthood. Occasionally they might show their existence in other ways. A mysterious healer suppresses a deadly plague with their miraculous cures. An adventurer loses their legs in combat, only to disappear in company of an alchemist that they once worked for and return with their legs back in place. Each time that happens, numerous groups attempts to investigate and fight any clues on the nature of azochemy and the azochemists. To this day, none of them succeeded.

Alchemic Products

Form

Potions are what comes to mind first when one speaks of alchemy. Alchemical liquids, typically stored in glass bottles, with oral intake in mind. In most cases beneficial to the users (though they are also cases of poisons prepared and stored that way before being secretly added to ones' meal). They are easy to store and some of them - when properly treated -can remain in workable conditions for years (until the bottle was opened, of course). On the other hand, they tend to land in the stomach first, which is hardly an efficient way of distributing the alchemical compounds through the body. Because of that, majority of potions tends to start working after a few minutes and are more geared for tame long-term effects (that can last for up to few hours) rather than intensive short-term ones.
Injections were a method of alchemical intake that rose to prominence during the Second Era. Ability to create syringes survived the Dusk War, as in often used by adventurers and soldiers. Injections (especially ones right into the vein) allow for an extremely fast circulation of the drug when compared to most other methods. This means powerful short-term effects. Unfortunately, this method of intake fares very poorly with organic-derived potions of the Ways of Blood and Life. This limits the injections to products of the Ways of Iron, Stone and (if someone is crazy enough) Corruption. And even then, not all medicines can be used that way.
Powders are typically taken through the nose, and are used for a powerful (yet short-term) effects. For some reason, this method of intake works best with mind-influencing products of the Ways of Iron and Stone. Due to negative long-term effect on the condition of the nasal mucosa, this method is slowly being phased out. Though it's still in use, especially in the heat of a battle, and more or less safe when one doesn't overuse it. Magic users seem fond of it, as powdered aetherite was a common way of quickly replenishing mana (the result being at least one savage culture refering to magic users as 'the sneezing ones' in their language).
Inhalation is the intake method created and spread during the Second Era to replace the powders. It offers relatively quick and powerful effects [even when used with properly prepared creations of the Way of Life and Blood], however it's unwieldy to say the least, might make you dizzy and weak for a while, it's generally unsafe to inhale lots of potions in short succession, and it's hard to apply it to yourself stealthily. What's more, not all alchemies can be changed into a gaseous form.
Pills are one more addition of the Second Era. They were created to carry potent powers of the Way of Blood and Way of Stone while trading some of their potency for lowered toxicity and delayed effects. Pills are small and carry high concentration of alchemical compounds, however they land in the stomach where they are quickly dissolved. Unlike direct vein injection, here the results are slower to manifest and the toxicity is weakened by acids so common in the stomachs. What's more, the results last much longer. The Way of Life-based pills and their medicinal results are rapidly spreading among the common folk (due to taking less space and being cheaper to buy - few pills cost less than a bottle of liquid), becoming a common treatment for simple ailments. Though due to very low potency, they are in no way useful for adventurers.
Grenades, one of the few elements of the Second Era arsenal that remained to this day. Some of them are very simple - merely acids or fluids igniting in contact with the air in a thin, glass container. Other employ primitive techmaturgy and, for example, contain poisonous vapours. Of course it's not an exclusively offensive method of delivering chemicals - there are also beneficial vapours, after all.
Oils are a way of applying alchemical compounds to solid surfaces. It's typically used to cover your sword with a poison or antegnite dust, allowing one to poison their enemy. Oils, however, tend to stick to the surface for a limited ammount of time, and only the strongest poisons work instantly or almost instantly. Unlike less liquidy ointments its' much easier for them to stay in the wound.
Ointments are a much less messy version of oils that is typically used to apply various beneficial effects to yourself (or your allies) by applying the ointment on the skin. Unlike the liquidy oils they stay there and are quickly absorbed into the body trough the skin. It is naturally an intake method that offers much more localized effects than for example potions. This is however not without its own positive sides. There are ointments offering some protection from burns or poisons (for example poisonous spits of some beasts and monsters), or - when used on your hands - improving your grip.

Content

What exactly can alchemy do? A great lot of things. The only limitations are access to enough money to secure the necessary ingredients (typically by using adventurers) and access to sufficiently competent alchemists, alkachemists or azochemists. Plus of course the laws of the Gods (so no creating sapient life, and no resurrections), though they have more to do with both of these things requiring manipulation of souls, who are the one and only thing that even the azochemists cannot do.
Medicines are probably the largest and most important field of alchemy, at least for majority of the imperial population. Painkillers, anti-piretics, and sedatives. Drugs capable of lowering or increasing blood pressure. Drugs capable of putting someone in a coma (without any risk of side-effects if dosed properly). Antibiotics, even some anti-viral drugs. it can be safely said that the 2nd Era healthcare equalled (and on some fields even surpassed) 21th Century Earth, however with the supply of ingredients being limited in size. Even at the peak of the 2nd Era many people died simply because there weren't enough resources to treat them.
With the collapse of the Grand Empire, the supply dwindled further, with 'proper' healthcare available only to the upper strata of society. However even the healthcare available for the commoners will typically include at least a single Way of Life alchemists capable of brewing working medicaments for majority of common illnesses while knowing enough about anatomy to perform a sizeable ammount of surgeries. With knowledge including the part about sterilizing tools, the survivability is rather decent.
Stimulants, drugs capable of providing a short-term boost to one's body natural processes. Combat stims strengthening an adventurer for the duration of the fight (though typically leaving him drained after it). Medical stims massively boosting adventurer body's red cell production (allowing him to bleed a lot without dying, though leaving them with days long anaemia). Even miraculous liquids capable of reanimating a brieflly dead person when injected right into the heart within a minute or two after the heart's owner death. The possibilities are endless, and many of them (if not most) are employed by the Grand Empire.
Mutagens, a wide family of alchemical potions capable of causing permanent changes to one's body. Grand Empire actually learned to weaponize this effect, with numerous training guilds for adventurers that take in various orphans, young slaves and volunteers, and carefully dose these substances, improving their physical output, resistance to diseases and even intelligence (though without changing a lot more). The same treatment is typically available to majority of imperial elites.
Used in such careful doses there are close to being a particularly potent diet supplements, together with decent 'basic' nutrition ensuing that the body grows to its peak performance. Of course, with proper, dosage, the results can enter superhuman level.
Poisons, in a thousand different forms. They are often used for bad thing, of course. However, alchemy also created poisons tailored for certain supernatural threats, capable of deploying via grenades or oils. And whenever the knowledge on poisons and venoms expands, the reseach on antidotes soon follows. Some are used to incapacitate enemy (for example paralysis poisons), others to inconvenience them (various iterations of 'itching gas', or hallucinogenic poison and gasses), and some are simply made to kill. Sometimes pests instead of a more... dangerous game.
Utility chemicals, such as mosquito repellants, machinery lubricants, and so on. Only a fool ignores industrial usages of alchemy. Alchemy remains an imperial equivalent of chemistry, meaning that it takes over essentially every application of said natural science - and typically does the job even better.