The Vildholm Institute of Alchemy takes up the entire corner lot between Andagatan and Myrkvagan, facing the Eastern Gate's main road, in
Vildholm, Raelia. This allows anyone using that Gate to see the prominent building's grand facade. The facility was built under the direction of Tristan Venora, Soren Kvistson, and Navyri Nightingale, as a private company researching, utilizing, and producing items through the power of alchemy.
The Institute is comprised of the main building, two eastern wings and two western wings, and a large walled garden in the back. The main building has three floors. The ground level floor includes an open, grand hall, with a prominent desk up front with receptionists to help guests. However, there are security guards stationed here, as this is not a public facility. There are no other external doorways into the facility. Employees are granted a specific alchemized token in order to gain access past the gates next to the front desk. These tokens were invented by Navyri
here to increase the security at Soren's tavern. The same technology has now been implemented at the Institute. Employees must first present their token to the desk, to verify that they are using the token assigned to them, then must use the token on the gate to enter. All other visitors must be escorted by a token holding employee. Anyone found in the Institute without a token, or without a token holding escort, will be captured by security and prosecuted under Melrath's trespassing laws.
The ground floor has large archways leading to the four wings, as well as a large stone stairwell, central behind the front desk leading to the second floor. There are also two large archways in the back leading to the gardens, and a set of stairs beneath and behind the central stairs leading into the basement.
The second floor is dedicated specifically to Tristan Venora's own lab. He has built and designed it to his own specifications and has included various alchemical safety features he came up with himself. This is where the majority of Tristan's own research occurs, and he controls who can enter his lab with another token locked door, with Navyri and Soren being the exceptions.
Tristan’s lab looks like the lab of a mad scientist – which is exactly what it is. It is filled with all kinds of strange alchemical apparatuses in various shades or silver, gold and copper. There are shelves that are filled from top to bottom with jars and vials containing all kinds of reagents. Dried herbs hang from hooks that are attached to the ceiling (which means that you have to step on a chair or a ladder in order to reach them).
A couple of stoves and sinks can be found on one side of the laboratory. Tristan brews his potions there. Sometimes, he also cooks his food there though – because he can. Unlike a normal stove, this stove has all kinds of built-in safety features, just like the rest of the lab. The windows of the laboratory are relatively large in order to let a lot of light in – when you are working with potentially dangerous substances, it is important to see what you are doing. At any point, there are at least half a dozen sculptures in various stages of completion there – because Tristan is not only an alchemist, but also a sculptor who enhances his creations with alchemy. The strangest aspect of the laboratory is the terrarium though. Especially in winter, there is at least one large terrarium with fat orange slugs in the laboratory. They produce one of Tristan’s favourite reagents – snail slime!
The third floor is dedicated to the private offices of Soren, Navyri, and Tristan. Soren holds the north facing office, overlooking the gate road, Tristan holds the east facing office, looking toward the gate and Myrkvagan, and Navyri holds the west facing office, looking toward the city center and Andagatan. The central area is a lounge, complete with tables, sofas and artwork, a place for the trio to relax. It includes a small kitchenette for cooking and the like. They are the only token holders to this floor, and only their individual tokens grant access to their specific offices.
Soren's office is spacious. The north wall is predominately large windows, allowing a large amount of light to enter his office, and casting his shadow toward the door. He keeps a large, dark wood desk, and two guest chairs in front of desk for when he is conducting meetings. His western wall is filled with bookshelves, and his eastern wall is a fireplace, with sofas in the corners around it. Soren had several hidden compartments and safes installed in his office. He also had a secret hatch installed behind his desk, one that grants him access to a ladder that descends down to the ground floor, and opens a secret door to the street in case he ever needs to leave in a hurry. This door cannot be opened from the outside, even with Soren's token.
Navyri’s office has been designed to optimize the flow of cooling wind which blows in from the stone balcony overlooking the city main, and resembles a sort of high vaulted home. Before the windows, a rich mahogany desk sits, carved intricately with a top inlaid of marbled onyx and kept clean of clutter. From the tall ceilings, repurposed bird cages are scattered and hung by chains, overflowing with the occasional soft candle light, crystals and ivy flowers.
Books are scattered along the shelves beside the occasional map, mirror, or trinket. Against the western wall is a fireplace mostly unused next to plush chaise and a rolling cart of fine liquor. Across from it, along the eastern is a spiral staircase that leads upwards to a loft where black curtains embroidered with golden thread hides a bed covered with rich down comforters and ample pillows, fresh sheets and a small open-faced closet.
Back on the main floor, beneath the loft is a paneled divider which separates a large bath, big enough to fit four comfortably, inlaid into the floor itself and lined with glass tile alchemized to always maintain a hot water temperature. While Navyri appreciates beauty and functionality, she is not above trapping her things with trigger weapons or poison, particularly the entry ways, drawers, and areas which she feels require her particular interest. With numerous mirrors that act as features in surveillance and an invisible familiar that is often present and ready to attack offenders, one should not go rummaging through her things unaccompanied.
While Tristan’s lab looks like something that belongs to a mad scientist, his office looks incredible comfortable, with furniture made of fine, light-colored wood, a fireplace, a plush sofa and armchairs for his visitors and customers to sit on, and bookshelves with books on all kinds of aspects of alchemy. One of the bookshelves can be removed in order to reveal a narrow hallway that leads to the laboratory and the garden. It isn’t there because Tristan is paranoid and thinks he might have to escape sometime; it’s just convenient.
The only things that might be out of the ordinary about the office are the paintings that hang on the walls. They are incredibly masterfully made, but the landscapes and people that they depict look a little crazy. Furthermore, there is an incredibly luxurious scratching tree in one corner that looks like it was made for the king of the cats. It belongs to Mistral, Tristan’s cat that originally came from the Misty Miasma and that often accompanies him.
The eastern two of the four wings are made up of various other labs and utility rooms for the various assistants hired by Tristan. Some of these are dedicated to the production and collection of various reagents, others dedicated for reproducing alchemical creations Tristan has designed so that they may be sold, and some for experiments. However, all experiments must first be approved by Tristan before being conducted, with Navyri and Soren being the exceptions to this rule. Failure to receive approval will constitute as theft of materials and result in the employee being fired and prosecuted under the law.
The western two of the four wings are designed for presentations of the alchemical goods produced here so that potential customers can view and purchase them. These presentations can be conducted by any of the owners or by a few of the sales people that Soren has hired specifically for this purpose. When not on display or being used in presentations, the finished goods are kept under heavy security in the basement storage. These rooms are patrolled by security hired by Navyri, and are kept locked up at all times. All items taken in and out of the basement must be logged and verified.
The walled gardens behind the Institute are maintained by a variety of gardeners, so as to grow the reagents that Tristan desires. The walls are tall and security patrols within the gardens. The only entrance to the gardens is the back doors of the main building of the institute. The entire facility is designed that in order to access any other part of it, you must go through the main building, where the heaviest security is maintained. And while good ventilation was built into the facility, to keep temperature regulated, the windows have been alchemically reinforced to be stronger, and have been built so that they don't open.
This facility caters to Tier 10 customers. The facility may consider purchasing reagents from outsiders, but the reagent must either be on the approved list or signed off by two of three owners. Anyone wishing to work here must go through three interviews, one with each owner, before being hired.
