Basic Alchemy

Precursors

Potash and Spirit of Vitriol

These two components are the bread and butter of any alchemist. Used in perhaps more mixtures than any other substance, any decent alchemist will be sure to keep a steady supply of these materials. Potash contains the elements of earth and fire, while spirit of vitriol (sometimes called oil of vitriol) contains water and air. Both of these materials alone can be very dangerous and caustic, as they seek to balance their elements and leach those they are missing from whatever they contact. This property can be used, though, to leach out useful elements trapped in various inert components. For example, the air within spirit of vitriol can be used to overpower the earth of many metals, while its water overpowers their fire. When spirit of vitriol and potash are combined, they release excess fire and air, turning hot and releasing bubbles, and leaving behind an inert, balanced mixture.
Potash is very capable of dissolving in water, and so it should be kept stored sealed away from water and moisture. If you are in a drier place, such as the Dischitar, you may find such measures unnecessary. Potash can be very easily prepared by soaking wood ashes in a pot with water overnight, straining out the solids, and leaving the water out to dry. Potash can be combined with animal fat and then salt to produce soap.
Spirit of vitriol, save for the most dilute mixes, must be handled in glass as it can eat through earthenware. Should you wish to dilute spirit of vitriol, you must add it to water, and never add water to it. The latter will result in great heat and spluttering and likely result in burns and the ruining of anything else around it. Spirit of vitriol can at times be difficult to source. Should you have trouble sourcing it, or cannot or do not want to invest in the expensive glassware to store large quantities, and you have access to sulphur, you may produce it by burning sulphur, and then combining it with Graman’s catalyst until it becomes a thick syrup.

Aqua Regia

This potent spirit will dissolve most anything, even the noble metals of silver, gold, and platinum. Its potency is fleeting and it should be prepared fresh in exact quantities. It can be prepared by adding 3 parts by weight of sal ammoniac to 1 part by weight of spirit of nitre. It will very quickly turn a golden to red colour and begin to release noxious air of a similar colour.

Elemental Oil

Itself a mundane concoction, its use as a base is so varied that it deserves its own section. Almost any blade coating, summoning concoction, or elemental potion will use it. Its uses extend even to artificing and some various rituals. Its usefulness compared to its ease of production is unparalleled, and for that reason, it can hardly be sold on its own. Most who need it will be using it for something far more complicated, and so have learned to make it themselves. I mention this only because of the many novices I have seen attempt to sell this material for extra money, as it is one of the few things they can make.

• Melt 1 cup of animal fat (beef tallow, lard, etc.) in a pot
• Finely chop ¾ cup of fennel fronds (do not use the bulb) an add to the pot
• Add 1 spoon of acaria root powder and ½ spoon of ground nutmeg
• Infuse for 10-15 minutes
• Decant liquid into a container—liquid will solidify, melt before using

Spirit of Nitre

A spirit more capable but also more expensive and dangerous than spirit of vitriol, it is sometimes needed when spirit of vitriol will not work, such as in dissolving of silver. It can be prepared by combining nitre and spirit of vitriol and then distilling. Such process must be completed entirely in glassware and not earthenware. Spirit of nitre must be handled very carefully as it will react vigorously with a great many things. Working a good distance away with the aid of a mage hand is highly recommended. As with spirit of vitriol, you must add it to water, and not the other way.

Potions

Changeling's Philter

Casts Disguise Self on ingestion

From thieves to adulterers, this mixture is favoured by those with a guilty conscience who’d rather be someone else while performing unsavoury deeds. I will even admit, though without any details, to having relied on this mixture myself on one occasion. It’s quite easy to make, and despite its shortcomings, is rather effective. This has led to it being rather quite restricted in many places and the development of tests to detect such illusions (do not wear or touch silver, limerinium, or other lunar substances while under its effects or the effects of the similar spell). Due to its immoral associations, I debated even including it in this work, however, it is my desire for this work to encompass the totality of my alchemical knowledge, and so I have included it. I must warn, however, that I do not assume any responsibility for the usage of this mixture, and that any consequences lay with you alone.

• Mix together ¼ cup of man's blood with ¼ cup of woman's blood in a flask
• Heat flask lightly over a candle
• Slowly add 10 drops of spirit of nitre to the flask while stirring
• Add 2-3 pinches of silver dust/slivers and stir to dissolve
• Heat vigourously for 5 minutes, then add a pinch of salt

Glow Syrup

Casts Light on self on ingestion

A simple but useful mixture, it has a wide variety of applications. It is certainly more expensive than burning a candle, and so you won’t see scholars up into the late hours of the night using one of these in the place of the venerable tallow candle, but on a night where rain or wind might choke a flame, or in a cavern or tomb where a torch would choke the air with soot, it pays to have kept a couple of these stocked. They are quite easy to produce, and thus quite easy to sell cheap to a customer coming to buy a healing potion once you’ve illustrated to them their utility.
As this mixture requires fireflies, I recommend creating large batches in the summer months when you can get fresh fireflies, and keeping a stock for the rest of the year.

• Grind 6-8 fireflies with a mortar and pestle
• Heat 1 cup of honey, syrup, or treacle in a small pot, taking care to avoid burning
• Add 2 spoons of pulverised rust, 1 spoon of ground flint, and the fireflies to the pot
• Heat for 20-25 minutes
• Bottle the mixture (ensure the fireflies remain in the mixture)

Healing Potion

Restores hit points

The venerable healing potion is the staple of many alchemists, widely used and valued by all for its universal utility. If one wishes to become an alchemist, while it should not be their first mixture to learn for its difficulty, it is imperative that it be learned while apprenticing, as the sales from these alone will likely be the better part of your income during your journeyman years. Do be warned, though, against thinking you can make off with swindling fools with fakes. Such things will preclude your membership in any guild and leave a black mark on your reputation from which you shan't recover. Many are wary of this trick, too, and you should be not surprised nor offended should a customer wish a small sample before purchasing to ensure authenticity.
I record here two methods of production I have come across and found to produce adequate results. There are many rumours of various methods and starting materials, and you are certainly free to try them, but those I have tried have either resulted in complete failure, or unsatisfactory results. These two methods, should you use proper ingredients and technique, are infallible, and shall produce high quality and efficacious mixtures.
Potion Base

• Add 2 palm-sized pieces of cherim bark per cup of distilled pine resin
• Heat gently for 20-30 minutes while stirring.
• Let cool and add spirit of vitriol equal in amount to added pine resin and stir gently
• Wait for layers to separate, and remove top layer, retaining the bottom layer (top layer of pine resin can be reused 2-3 times)
• Slowly add potash while stirring until fizzing stops; solid will precipitate out
• Mix in nitre by small portions until all solid dissolves back into solution

If using troll phlegm

• Add ½ cup rosehips to 1 cup boiling water and infuse for 10-15 minutes.
• Remove and discard rosehips, and stir in 2 spoonfuls of troll phlegm
• Combine 1 part with 2 parts base and mix well until solution takes on a deep red colour

If using mountain ivy

• Slowly dissolve silver in 1 cup spirit of nitre until no more will dissolve
• Grind purple (green will not work) mountain ivy leaves in a mortar and pestle and slowly add to the silver solution while stirring gently
• Solution should turn pink and a black solid should form at the bottom—add leaves until no more black solid forms
• Decant liquid off of ground leaves and black solid and leave liquid overnight to dry
• Once dry, grind the pink solid into a fine powder
• Add 1 spoonful of the pink powder and ½ pinch of Sezymol’s catalyst (I have heard that urine or salt of urine can be used in place of the catalyst, but I have yet to achieve success with it—I suspect this is a joke alchemists play on each other to get them to ingest urine) to 1 cup base and mix well until solution takes on a deep red colour

Hemlock Extract

Deals 4d12 poison damage on ingestion

• Bruise hemlock in a mortar and pestle
• Place bruised hemlock in a crucible with just enough water to cover it
• Boil the water for 15 minutes
• Decant into a container

Mana Potion

Restores mana points

Be you a mage yourself, or interested in the deep pockets of mages heavy with coin and exotic and useful ingredients, this mixture is an indispensable ally sure to keep you happy and full. Besides the healing potion, this is certainly the most produced and consumed potion available, and should be part of any decent apprenticing.
The traditional way to create mana potions involves copious use of dwarvish salt, which is rather rare and expensive. In my days as a journeyman, I encountered an old alchemist named Sholypmyr, consumed for the better part of his life in achieving the production of dwarvish salts. He very excitedly shared with me a process he had created after more than twenty years of study. He is certainly long since dead, and I have seen no others present his or similar methods, so I have recorded them here. It is long and difficult, and the potency is lower than if true dwarvish salt had been used, but the materials are much more readily available.
If using dwarvish salt

• Dissolve 4 ounces of wellstone in 1 cup of spirit of vitriol
• Crush 6-8 blossoms of theriac’s wort in a mortar and pestle, and add to the mixture and stir
• Add potash until fizzing stops and decant, saving liquid
• Add 3 spoonfuls of dwarvish salt and mix well until entire solution is deep blue

Sholypmyr’s process part I: bleaching powder

• Add salt to warm water until no more salt will dissolve
• Repeatedly shock solution (shocking grasp works well, but be warned, the bubbles are flammable) until fizzing stops
• Leave overnight to dry
• Be careful when handling, as this powder is highly damaging to all living things, including your skin. I do find it quite useful, though, in brightening and removing any remaining excess hair from cheap parchment

Sholypmyr’s process part II: salt precursor

• Combine crushed, charred horn, leather scraps, or dried offal with iron filings and potash in a covered pot and heat for at least an hour. Proportions will vary depending on starting material, but using excess organic material with 1 part iron filings and 9 parts potash seems to give the best results
• Once done, discard remaining organic material; you should be left with a light yellow salt

Sholypmyr’s process part III: salt facsimile

• Add amounts of powdered rust and bleaching powder each equal to the amount of salt precursor created to enough spirit of vitriol to dissolve them (I have attempted dissolving the wellstone and theriac’s wort too at this step of the process to skip several steps, but it does not work)
• Mix well and then add potash to the mixture until fizzing stops
• Add the salt precursor and stir for 5-10 minutes until the entire solution turns deep blue.
• Decant and save liquid; leave it to dry overnight, and collect salt

Sholypmyr’s process part IV: making the potion

• Follow the standard process as if using dwarvish salt, using 2-3 spoonfuls of salt facsimile in place of each spoonful of dwarvish salt. I have found adding very slight amounts of bleaching powder along with the facsimile assists the potency

Portal Potion

Casts Blur on ingestion; DC 13 Con save to avoid emesis if not flavoured

While rather simple to produce, and somewhat deceptively named, it requires some rather exotic ingredients. For this reason, I find myself seldom making this mixture. It certainly has its uses, but it can be prohibitively expensive, especially for an apprentice. I’ve included it here mostly for the sake of completeness.

• Place ¼ cup of basilisk oil in a glass flask—only use glass
• Add 2 pinches of wellstone powder and ½ spoon of void dust to the oil
• Add a couple splashes of vodka and a splash of spirit of vitriol to the mixture
• Mix well
• Heat in a distillation apparatus and distill into flask
• Add potash until fizzing stops
• Highly recommended—infuse final product with juniper, lavender, or fennel for taste

Basic Alchemy by Litsyus Shcharenko, 1314

Type

Manual, Professional Skills