The Alchemist

The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe may be dated to 11 February 1144, with the completion of Robert of Chester's translation of the Liber de compositione alchemiae ("Book on the Composition of Alchemy") from an Arabic work attributed to Khalid ibn Yazid. Although European craftsmen and technicians pre-existed, Robert notes in his preface that alchemy (here still referring to the elixir rather than to the art itself) was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of his writing. The translation of Arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century Toledo, Spain, through contributors like Gerard of Cremona and Adelard of Bath. Translations of the time included the Turba Philosophorum, and the works of Avicenna and Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi. These brought with them many new words to the European vocabulary for which there was no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol, carboy, elixir, and athanor are examples.

Meanwhile, theologian contemporaries of the translators made strides towards the reconciliation of faith and experimental rationalism, thereby priming Europe for the influx of alchemical thought. The 11th-century St Anselm put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. In the early 12th century, Peter Abelard followed Anselm's work, laying down the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle had reached the West. In the early 13th century, Robert Grosseteste used Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observation, experimentation, and conclusions when conducting scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did much work to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.

Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemical knowledge in Europe remained centered on translations, and new Latin contributions were not made. The efforts of the translators were succeeded by that of the encyclopaedists. In the 13th century, Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon were the most notable of these, their work summarizing and explaining the newly imported alchemical knowledge in Aristotelian terms. Albertus Magnus, a Dominican friar, is known to have written works such as the Book of Minerals where he observed and commented on the operations and theories of alchemical authorities like Hermes and Democritus and unnamed alchemists of his time. Albertus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation of metals. From the time shortly after his death through to the 15th century, more than 28 alchemical tracts were misattributed to him, a common practice giving rise to his reputation as an accomplished alchemist. Likewise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert's student Thomas Aquinas.

Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar who wrote on a wide variety of topics including optics, comparative linguistics, and medicine, composed his Great Work (Latin: Opus Majus) for Pope Clement IV as part of a project towards rebuilding the medieval university curriculum to include the new learning of his time. While alchemy was not more important to him than other sciences and he did not produce allegorical works on the topic, he did consider it and astrology to be important parts of both natural philosophy and theology and his contributions advanced alchemy's connections to soteriology and Christian theology. Bacon's writings integrated morality, salvation, alchemy, and the prolongation of life. His correspondence with Clement highlighted this, noting the importance of alchemy to the papacy. Like the Greeks before him, Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemy into practical and theoretical spheres. He noted that the theoretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle, the natural philosophers, and all Latin writers of his time. The practical confirmed the theoretical, and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine. In later European legend, he became an archmage. In particular, along with Albertus Magnus, he was credited with the forging of a brazen head capable of answering its owner's questions.

Soon after Bacon, the influential work of Pseudo-Geber (sometimes identified as Paul of Taranto) appeared. His Summa Perfectionis remained a staple summary of alchemical practice and theory through the medieval and renaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion of practical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercury theory, and the unusual clarity with which they were described. By the end of the 13th century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one could learn the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the human soul). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded jargon set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practised their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made observations and theories about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God.

In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessible to Europeans outside the confines of Latin speaking churchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shifted from scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed social commentary on the alchemists themselves. Dante, Piers Plowman, and Chaucer all painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars. Pope John XXII's 1317 edict, Spondent quas non-exhibent forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-alchemists.[81] Roman Catholic Inquisitor General Nicholas Eymerich's Directorium Inquisitorum, written in 1376, associated alchemy with the performance of demonic rituals, which Eymerich differentiated from magic performed in accordance with scripture.[82] This did not, however, lead to any change in the Inquisition's monitoring or prosecution of alchemists. In 1403, Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals (although it was possible to buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically, and a number were granted by Henry VI and Edward IV). These critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy, which continued with an increasingly Christian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian imagery of death and resurrection employed in the alchemical texts of Petrus Bonus, John of Rupescissa, and in works written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnold of Villanova.

An Alchemist is a type of Artificier

Crowns and Castles

Alchemist.

This magic building allows you to store 1 mana between turns. When you train new commanders, you can choose artificer as their class.

50 GP (50,000) 10 DC 1 XP (13 Alchemist shops)

Balduran's

Alchemist Tower

"A three-story tower reverberates with small explosions followed by the cry 'eureka!'"

Alchemists seek to master the physical world through natural processes, such as turning other metals to gold.

Prerequisites. In order to build an alchemist's tower, this settlement must have an academy and a Lore score of 5 or higher.

Industry Score Increase. This settlement's Lore score increases by 1.

Transmuters. As a decree, you can raise a unit of transmuters.

Argol's

Type	GP Cost	Maint	Units P/Week	Tot. Employment	Influence	Repair Cost	Construction Time
Alchemist	3,000 GP/3BP St. Bldg. Small	300 GP	1 Units	3 Jobs	+4 Lore	1,500 GP	3 Weeks (192men)

Plot Name	Size of Plot	Cost for Plot	Maintenance	Units P/Week	Tot Employment	Influence	Time to Clear the Land
Business Plot	1 SS	1,000 GP	-	-	-	+4 Trade	4 Weeks

Clearing the land assumes a group of 10 men working on the site.

Purchasing Land

Construction

Construction time is found by multiplying the production time by a PM (Production Modifier) that takes into account workforce and location. This gives you a figure that is in man/weeks. This figure can be divided by 7 to get the total weeks and the number is also used to reveal the men needed to do the job.

For an example we use a small wood building with the time of 8. If the modifier is 1 which is a prime site then no change in time and we divide 8 by 7 for 1 weeks. This assumes our workforce is 8 men involved in the wood building.

Use the Castle on the Moors example for a breakdown of the math.

Stronghold Space: An abstract measure of volume within a building. While stronghold spaces don’t have a fixed size, an average stronghold space is equivalent to a 20-foot-by-20-foot room with a 10-foot-hugh ceiling.

GREYHAWK PLOTS

Although there is no standard definition, the typical plot of land in Greyhawk stands at around 100 ft x 100 ft = 30 m x 30 m = 10,000 square feet = 900 square meters. In this case, a half plot can be considered to be 50 ft x 100 ft = 15 m x 30 m = 5000 square feet = 450 square meters.

Depending on the states in question, there can be variations to the sizes of a plot: 18 m x 30 m (540 sqm) and 18 m x 36 m (648 sqm; Lagos) are also common plot sizes. This is why it is essential that you always request sizes in square meters, for such things as ease of comparison.

So a Stronghold Space at 20ft x 20 ft = 400 sq feet or 25 SS per plot of land.