66th of Ashan, Arc 719
Morning
One of principles of alchemy was the supposed ability to transfer the properties of one item onto that of the subject material of the alchemist’s intended target. Through all of Kaelrik’s study thus far, he’d yet to find a definitive way to perform that feat. It was still something that eluded him despite multiple attempts. Granted, he was still nothing more than a budding alchemist with only a base level of understanding in the craft. But it was something that had been alluded to as being possible even in the early stages of the art. So he stood in his makeshift laboratory pacing back and forth, tapping his chin, brown furrowed in concentration as he went through idea after idea of how to perform the ultimate goal of alchemy: the transference of properties.
It seemed to him that the only solution was to somehow incorporate the saturating of materials with ether and from there, coax those materials into reflecting the properties he so desired. The first step in doing so seemed obvious to him: alchemy required the use of wells. At least to some degree it would. As Kaelrik did not have any wells available to him at the moment the only sources of ether available was that which was inherent in all things themselves. The minute traces of it that existed at the core of each substance that he worked with. He picked up the purified iron ingot that he’d spent nearly an entire trial refining. It had taken multiple attempts and a return to the rudimentary oven that he’d built but he’d managed to push all of the impurities out of the crude ore and created a viable ingot. A solitary ingot that he had to work with. It was very little but it was a start.
Before he could even consider adding any manner of properties to the iron ingot, he first needed to refine a property and ready it for transference. The question was: what property?
As an accomplished mage of moderate skill in multiple disciplines, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to believe that he was capable of imbuing a property of some sort upon a chosen material. He considered the ingot in front of him and the powers at his disposal. The most obvious choice was the use of his Defiance. It was the domain he was most proficient in. Stirring his spark into motion, Kaelrik gathered the ether inside of himself. He concentrated it, willing it to gather within his hand as he focused on the many different techniques available to him as a skilled Defier. He focused on one of the powers that seemed the most useful to him, Deference. The ability to infer the power of deference from the elements onto a recipient medium could be applied to a number of situations. To Kaelrik, gifting deference from the element of fire might mean a soldier in full plate or chainmail no longer had to worry about his armor causing heatstroke. Imbuing deference from the winds to a cloak would be useful in colder environments where the chill was often made more unbearable because of the winds whipping around.
Grabbing a vial, Kaelrik made a cut along his forearm allowing blood to flow before he squeezed it into the vial. He gave enough to fill a single vial. That was all but that would be enough with how much he’d concentrated. Affixing the vial to a holder over a brazier, Kaelrik lit a fire and began the process of refining the blood that he had given. While he wanted to consider himself a pure individual, that was arrogance and even his body contained impurities that could be weeded out. He attached the mouth of the vial to one of the distillation coils and watched as in short order, the vapors and smoke created by his boiling blood began to rise up into the coils. The gas that drifted through the glass had a prismatic quality to it, the raw ether that was being drawn from his blood. Kaelrik reached out with his Defiance to the air around the coils and through his Kinship with Fire, began drawing heat away from the coils steadily. He then wrapped a funnel of air around the coils aiding them in the cooling process. The result had the temperature of the coils themselves rapidly dropping just enough to cause the etheric gas to condense and become a liquid. He collected it on the opposite end of the coils in another vial. As the process continued, Kaelrik thought carefully on how he was going to draw out the potential to bestow deference upon the iron ingot.
It would require the infusion of the concentrated ether into the iron. The ingot would have to be worked at the forge and then the ether would have to be woven into its form. He was beginning to understand that alchemy was akin to more of a process involving multiple skills that overlapped as opposed to a singular set of pre-defined skills. The prospect of discovering new ways of how to blend materials and make them work in tandem was an exciting one. He would undoubtedly be spending more and more time working the forge and refining his craft. Already more ideas of how to create ingots infused with various properties was fluttering through his head but he concentrated on the task at hand. There would be time enough to pursue those things. He simply had to figure out how.
Kaelrik observed the last of the ether vapors travel through the distillation coils. He wrapped his forearm in a bandage as he did so. The prismatic liquid that now filled the opposite vial was a curious thing to behold. He could only imagine the sort of potential there was to be found utilizing the ether drawn from the concentrated blood of a mage. Set to specific purposes he could envision a considerable amount of things being done. With a wave of his hand he calmed the fire in the brazier until it diminished and then slumbered. Taking the vial that had contained his blood, Kaelrik saw now only blackened ash. He considered the ash for a moment and while a brief thought of exploring its properties entered his head, it was an experiment for another time. Rinsing out the vial he cleaned it thoroughly so that it could still be utilized before returning it to its stand.
He considered the ether that was now swirling in the remaining vial. It had a distinct red-gold quality to it that reminded him of the element of fire. It made sense given how close he was to the element. He was not yet certain of what manner of deference this particular refinement of blood drawn ether would yield. He supposed that was something he would have to work on during his smithing and working of the ingot. Nevertheless, the raw materials for what he had in mind were before him.
Going to his journal, Kaelrik set about taking notes on his observations. While he wasn’t certain exactly how he would draw out properties in more mundane materials, he knew the answer would come to him with time. Until that time however, he was limited in his understanding of how to move forward and thus could only use the skills and resources at his disposal, most of which came from himself. He made a mental note to begin exploring the options of establishing supply lines. In the pursuit of his alchemy, it was apparent to Kaelrik that the most logical course of action in garnering a sustained supply of raw materials was to establish a business that utilized them. He was grateful then that he had some familiarity with working the forge. Among all the trades, who was more acquainted with raw materials than the craftsmen of society?
”The potential for exploration in the use of blood drawn ether remains a curious one. If experimentation is successful, then specific gifts of the various Domains can be manifested and imbued upon raw materials. The refinement of these raw materials enhanced by ether is then the goal of my alchemy. Where that will lead? Only time will tell.”
Moving to another page, Kaelrik began jotting down notes about the rudimentary idea of drafting a business plan. He was certainly no guild master but he had a vague understanding that in order to build a business that both used and traded in materials, he would have to know what manner of business he wanted to run. Carefully he listed some of the skills at his disposal. The first among them was his ability to hunt which would then be translated into skinning and tanning the hides of the creatures he hunted. This was followed by his assessment of his ability to work a forge. He was not the most skilled smith in Idalos but he could become one with time. Finally he jotted down a note about becoming more familiar with working on gemstones, crystals and more precious metals than simply iron or the more crude metals. If he was going to be imbuing things with both strange and wondrous properties, making them at least fashionable was in his best interest. It was becoming obvious to Kaelrik that alchemy would not be a cheap endeavor in the slightest.
Kaelrik let the ink dry upon the page before closing his journal. He eyed the vial filled with his own ether then looked to the ingot. He had in front of him the potential to craft something new. In front of him were the beginnings of something wonderful. He smiled as he picked them both up and placed them away safely for storage. He would be visiting the forge soon and from there he would work the raw metal until it was primed to receive his ether and in so doing would become something more.
Morning
One of principles of alchemy was the supposed ability to transfer the properties of one item onto that of the subject material of the alchemist’s intended target. Through all of Kaelrik’s study thus far, he’d yet to find a definitive way to perform that feat. It was still something that eluded him despite multiple attempts. Granted, he was still nothing more than a budding alchemist with only a base level of understanding in the craft. But it was something that had been alluded to as being possible even in the early stages of the art. So he stood in his makeshift laboratory pacing back and forth, tapping his chin, brown furrowed in concentration as he went through idea after idea of how to perform the ultimate goal of alchemy: the transference of properties.
It seemed to him that the only solution was to somehow incorporate the saturating of materials with ether and from there, coax those materials into reflecting the properties he so desired. The first step in doing so seemed obvious to him: alchemy required the use of wells. At least to some degree it would. As Kaelrik did not have any wells available to him at the moment the only sources of ether available was that which was inherent in all things themselves. The minute traces of it that existed at the core of each substance that he worked with. He picked up the purified iron ingot that he’d spent nearly an entire trial refining. It had taken multiple attempts and a return to the rudimentary oven that he’d built but he’d managed to push all of the impurities out of the crude ore and created a viable ingot. A solitary ingot that he had to work with. It was very little but it was a start.
Before he could even consider adding any manner of properties to the iron ingot, he first needed to refine a property and ready it for transference. The question was: what property?
As an accomplished mage of moderate skill in multiple disciplines, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to believe that he was capable of imbuing a property of some sort upon a chosen material. He considered the ingot in front of him and the powers at his disposal. The most obvious choice was the use of his Defiance. It was the domain he was most proficient in. Stirring his spark into motion, Kaelrik gathered the ether inside of himself. He concentrated it, willing it to gather within his hand as he focused on the many different techniques available to him as a skilled Defier. He focused on one of the powers that seemed the most useful to him, Deference. The ability to infer the power of deference from the elements onto a recipient medium could be applied to a number of situations. To Kaelrik, gifting deference from the element of fire might mean a soldier in full plate or chainmail no longer had to worry about his armor causing heatstroke. Imbuing deference from the winds to a cloak would be useful in colder environments where the chill was often made more unbearable because of the winds whipping around.
Grabbing a vial, Kaelrik made a cut along his forearm allowing blood to flow before he squeezed it into the vial. He gave enough to fill a single vial. That was all but that would be enough with how much he’d concentrated. Affixing the vial to a holder over a brazier, Kaelrik lit a fire and began the process of refining the blood that he had given. While he wanted to consider himself a pure individual, that was arrogance and even his body contained impurities that could be weeded out. He attached the mouth of the vial to one of the distillation coils and watched as in short order, the vapors and smoke created by his boiling blood began to rise up into the coils. The gas that drifted through the glass had a prismatic quality to it, the raw ether that was being drawn from his blood. Kaelrik reached out with his Defiance to the air around the coils and through his Kinship with Fire, began drawing heat away from the coils steadily. He then wrapped a funnel of air around the coils aiding them in the cooling process. The result had the temperature of the coils themselves rapidly dropping just enough to cause the etheric gas to condense and become a liquid. He collected it on the opposite end of the coils in another vial. As the process continued, Kaelrik thought carefully on how he was going to draw out the potential to bestow deference upon the iron ingot.
It would require the infusion of the concentrated ether into the iron. The ingot would have to be worked at the forge and then the ether would have to be woven into its form. He was beginning to understand that alchemy was akin to more of a process involving multiple skills that overlapped as opposed to a singular set of pre-defined skills. The prospect of discovering new ways of how to blend materials and make them work in tandem was an exciting one. He would undoubtedly be spending more and more time working the forge and refining his craft. Already more ideas of how to create ingots infused with various properties was fluttering through his head but he concentrated on the task at hand. There would be time enough to pursue those things. He simply had to figure out how.
Kaelrik observed the last of the ether vapors travel through the distillation coils. He wrapped his forearm in a bandage as he did so. The prismatic liquid that now filled the opposite vial was a curious thing to behold. He could only imagine the sort of potential there was to be found utilizing the ether drawn from the concentrated blood of a mage. Set to specific purposes he could envision a considerable amount of things being done. With a wave of his hand he calmed the fire in the brazier until it diminished and then slumbered. Taking the vial that had contained his blood, Kaelrik saw now only blackened ash. He considered the ash for a moment and while a brief thought of exploring its properties entered his head, it was an experiment for another time. Rinsing out the vial he cleaned it thoroughly so that it could still be utilized before returning it to its stand.
He considered the ether that was now swirling in the remaining vial. It had a distinct red-gold quality to it that reminded him of the element of fire. It made sense given how close he was to the element. He was not yet certain of what manner of deference this particular refinement of blood drawn ether would yield. He supposed that was something he would have to work on during his smithing and working of the ingot. Nevertheless, the raw materials for what he had in mind were before him.
Going to his journal, Kaelrik set about taking notes on his observations. While he wasn’t certain exactly how he would draw out properties in more mundane materials, he knew the answer would come to him with time. Until that time however, he was limited in his understanding of how to move forward and thus could only use the skills and resources at his disposal, most of which came from himself. He made a mental note to begin exploring the options of establishing supply lines. In the pursuit of his alchemy, it was apparent to Kaelrik that the most logical course of action in garnering a sustained supply of raw materials was to establish a business that utilized them. He was grateful then that he had some familiarity with working the forge. Among all the trades, who was more acquainted with raw materials than the craftsmen of society?
”The potential for exploration in the use of blood drawn ether remains a curious one. If experimentation is successful, then specific gifts of the various Domains can be manifested and imbued upon raw materials. The refinement of these raw materials enhanced by ether is then the goal of my alchemy. Where that will lead? Only time will tell.”
Moving to another page, Kaelrik began jotting down notes about the rudimentary idea of drafting a business plan. He was certainly no guild master but he had a vague understanding that in order to build a business that both used and traded in materials, he would have to know what manner of business he wanted to run. Carefully he listed some of the skills at his disposal. The first among them was his ability to hunt which would then be translated into skinning and tanning the hides of the creatures he hunted. This was followed by his assessment of his ability to work a forge. He was not the most skilled smith in Idalos but he could become one with time. Finally he jotted down a note about becoming more familiar with working on gemstones, crystals and more precious metals than simply iron or the more crude metals. If he was going to be imbuing things with both strange and wondrous properties, making them at least fashionable was in his best interest. It was becoming obvious to Kaelrik that alchemy would not be a cheap endeavor in the slightest.
Kaelrik let the ink dry upon the page before closing his journal. He eyed the vial filled with his own ether then looked to the ingot. He had in front of him the potential to craft something new. In front of him were the beginnings of something wonderful. He smiled as he picked them both up and placed them away safely for storage. He would be visiting the forge soon and from there he would work the raw metal until it was primed to receive his ether and in so doing would become something more.