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General Information
Practiced ByPharosian synods, Mentralian guilds, Circle of Magi, Tlaxcaltec spirit-brewers, Lao-Shan herbalists
RegionsWidespread, especially in Pharos, the Golden Coast, Mentralian Kingdoms, Tlaxcaltec Lands
Spirit InteractionTransmutation / Appeasement / Infusion
Associated DominionsChange, Growth, Decay, Vitality, Flame, Time
Moral PerceptionAccepted in most lands; feared in the Reaches and the Temerian Empire
Typical CostTime, rare ingredients, spiritual balance, hallucination, risk of mutation or imbalance
## Overview Alchemy is the most disciplined and empirical of Vaelora's magical traditions, straddling the boundary between arcane practice and natural philosophy. Unlike mages who bargain with potent spirits or warlocks who bind them by force, alchemists work with the **smallest spirits** - flickering, half-conscious entities that dwell within matter, process, and transformation. These spirits are not named or bargained with, but **coaxed, attuned, or transmuted** through careful preparation and spiritual resonance. The essence of alchemy lies in the belief that **all things possess a hidden nature**, and through the refinement of substances - by fire, symbol, and spiritual geometry - that nature can be revealed or changed. A pinch of ash may carry the echo of decay; a distillation of silver, the whisper of clarity. Mastery requires not just knowledge, but patience, intuition, and humility before the volatile balance between the physical and the spiritual. Though widely practiced across Vaelora, alchemy takes many forms. In the academies of **Pharos** and the **Circle of Magi**, it is a science of transformation. Among **Mentralian guilds**, it serves practical needs of industry and war. The **Tlaxcaltec spirit-brewers** treat it as sacred communion, drawing vitality and vision from fermented jungle concoctions. And in the **Lao-Shan highlands**, alchemy is embodied in ancient **herbal disciplines and elemental tonics**, where healers blend flame, water, and breath to balance the body's inner spirits. Their philosophy emphasizes harmony between inner and outer essence, and many consider Lao-Shan medicine the oldest continuous form of alchemy in the world. To most, alchemy is a tool of healing, insight, and transformation. Yet in lands like **Temeria** and the **Reaches**, its ability to warp body, soul, and truth renders it deeply feared. ## Origins & Philosophy ### First Distillations The true origin of alchemy is debated across cultures. Pharosian histories claim it began when the philosopher Arion mixed crushed moon-silver with spirit ash and glimpsed the hidden breath of flame within metal - thereafter dedicating his life to extracting the truths of nature through tincture and symbol. In contrast, Tlaxcaltec oral traditions speak of spirit-brewers who learned to **"ferment the dreams of the jungle,"** brewing vision-tonics that harmonized the drinker with the spirit-world long before any written theory emerged. Among the Lao-Shan, alchemy has no singular origin myth. It is seen as an **extension of breath and balance**, a practice that grew out of observing the body's natural harmonies and how they mirrored the five elemental flows. Their herbal and spiritual tonics are said to be guided by intuition honed across centuries, and they reject the notion that their art was ever “discovered” at all - it simply was. ### Core Beliefs Across cultures, alchemy is underpinned by the idea that the **material world reflects spiritual truth**, and through refinement, those truths can be transformed. Each substance holds not only a physical property, but a resonance - decay, growth, purity, chaos - that links it to unseen forces. Alchemists strive to identify and **rearrange these resonances**, much like a composer shifting notes in a song to produce a different harmony. In the West, especially in Pharos and the Mentralian cities, this leads to a more scientific approach: **transmutation through symbolic logic**. In the East, such as among the Lao-Shan and Tlaxcal, alchemy is **intuitive and reverential**, shaped by cycles, breath, and elemental alignment. ### Prime Substances & Cultural Paradigms While all alchemists seek to understand the fundamental building blocks of matter and spirit, each culture interprets these differently - shaped by their worldviews, cosmologies, and symbolic systems. #### **Pharosian Alchemy** - _The Seven Essences_ Pharosian scholars categorize all matter according to seven base essences: Salt (structure), Mercury (motion), Sulphur (transformation), Vitriol (decay), Aqua Vitae (life), Ether (soul), and Ash (memory). These are not literal materials but **spiritual archetypes** - each tied to complex symbolic geometries. Most Pharosian formulas aim to **balance or heighten** one of these seven through process and ritual. #### **Tlaxcaltec Spirit-Brewing** - _The Four Breaths_ The jungle alchemists believe that all things exhale one of four spiritual "breaths": Heat, Rain, Sap, and Smoke. These are seen as living forces that cycle through the jungle and its creatures. Brewing is the act of **welcoming or binding a breath**, often through fermentation, chanting, or blood sacrifice. For them, a potion is not a formula - it's a living prayer. #### **Lao-Shan Medicine** - _The Five Sacred Elements_ In Lao-Shan alchemy, medicine and spiritwork are entwined through the Five Sacred Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Each represents not just substance but **process** - growth, combustion, nourishment, contraction, and flow. Every patient, herb, or concoction is assessed in relation to these flows. Illness arises when **imbalance disrupts harmony**, and alchemical practice is the restoration of that natural rhythm. #### **Mentralian Guild Alchemy** - _The Tria Prima_ Mentralian guilds, influenced by pragmatism and trade, reduce all substances to three mutable forces: **Stone** (endurance), **Oil** (energy), and **Dust** (change). These serve not as philosophical absolutes, but as useful models for crafting reliable, replicable concoctions. While seen as "less spiritual" by other traditions, this efficiency has made Mentralian alchemy **widely exported and industrialized**. ### Moral Tenets Patience, balance, and respect for the spiritual nature of matter are universal tenets. Most traditions view careless ambition, greed, or attempts to forcibly alter essence without understanding as hubris - inviting both **mutation** and **spiritual backlash**. The alchemist is not a god, but a student of subtle changes. In the Lao-Shan tradition especially, alchemy is considered incomplete without moral cultivation. Practitioners train not only in mixing draughts and balancing elements but in meditation and service - believing the **state of one's soul** affects the medicine one brews. ## Mechanics of Practice ### Rituals of Refinement Alchemy is a dance of transformation performed through painstaking preparation. Its rituals echo the ancient processes of purification: **distillation, calcination, fermentation, sublimation, and crystallization**. Each is both a physical and symbolic act. An alchemist boiling a tincture in a sealed vessel is not simply brewing a potion - they are **mirroring the spirit's own trials**, urging it toward a new resonance. The alchemist's work is governed by a sacred cycle of transformation, echoing both natural decay and spiritual refinement. These processes are not just chemical - they are **ritual actions**, designed to align the inner essence of substances with desired spiritual states. A typical operation might begin with **calcination**, the burning of a base ingredient to ash, symbolizing death and purification. From there, one might distill its vapors, **ferment** them to awaken latent spirits, and finally **coagulate** the result into a stable, spiritually aligned compound. Each phase is marked by tools that double as spiritual instruments: copper alembics etched with lunar geometry, mortar bowls inlaid with binding sigils, glassware designed to refract spiritual light. Certain practitioners include music, scent, or color to guide ambient spirits during reaction. These rituals often employ sacred geometries, specific metals, or resonant stones believed to align with particular dominions. Chants, inscribed sigils, and rhythmic gestures help attune both practitioner and ingredients to a desired effect. In Lao-Shan healing halls, these rites may involve burning harmonizing herbs in sacred patterns; in Pharos, they may unfold in exactingly inscribed laboratories etched with runic formulas. Similarrily, layout of an alchemist's _solarium_ is often astrologically or symbolically aligned - mirroring spirit cosmologies or the Prime Substances of a local tradition. ### Initiation & Apprenticeship No alchemist begins alone. The tradition demands long apprenticeships under seasoned practitioners, often beginning in childhood. Prospective students must demonstrate not only **an intuitive sensitivity to spirit presence**, but also patience, discipline, and a capacity for failure. Some spend years learning to identify spiritually “alive” materials before ever touching a crucible. In Pharos, these apprenticeships are formalized through guild systems or the **Circle of Magi**, involving rigorous tests and oaths. Among the Tlaxcaltec, initiation may come through vision quests induced by dream-brews, culminating in the crafting of a personal tonic blessed by the jungle's spirits. ### Interacting with Spirits Unlike Spirit Binding or Pact Magic, alchemy seldom involves direct contact with sapient spirits. Instead, alchemists engage with **ambient spirits** - minor, fleeting entities tied to the properties of materials and phenomena. A lump of iron may hold a tenacious spirit of resistance; a rare orchid might shelter a dream-spirit barely aware of its own existence. Alchemists coax these spirits through **resonance and alignment**, not command. They manipulate a material's structure to shift the spirit's behavior - either enhancing its affinity, soothing its instability, or embedding it within another substance. These interactions are delicate and often unpredictable, especially when multiple dominions compete within a single brew. ### Costs and Limitations Alchemy is not immediate. Powerful results take **weeks or moons** of preparation, and many rituals fail outright if the spiritual climate is wrong - say, during certain phases of the Veil or in places of desecration. The **costs** are high: rare reagents, spiritual exhaustion, physical toll from long exposure to alchemical vapors. Some long-practicing alchemists develop crystalline skin patches, erratic sleep cycles, or strange habits of speech from overexposure to the altered spiritual flows of their work. Failures are not merely mundane. A brew meant to grant courage may instead open the mind to spirits of wrath. Mutagens can backfire. Spirit-infused oils may cling to the user's soul, causing ongoing hallucinations or attraction from wandering spirits. Moreover, alchemical workings are bound by **spiritual ecology**. One cannot endlessly draw from the same source without consequence. Over-harvesting spirit-rich plants can lead to withering soil or furious guardian spirits. Some regions place spiritual taxes or enforce brewing moratoriums to protect local balances. ## Style & Manifestation ### The Senses of the Subtle Art To observe an alchemist at work is to witness a symphony of transformation. Vapors bloom in spectral colors - **amethyst smoke, emerald mist, golden haze** - dancing within glass coils or iron kettles. Tinctures shimmer with inner light. Inks shift hues depending on proximity to truth or deceit. The air carries the sharp tang of ozone, the sweetness of fermented petals, or the astringency of scorched salt. Crucibles hum with low resonance, bottles pulse gently with internal warmth, and crystals sing faintly in certain hands. These effects are not theatrics; they are signs that spirits stir within the mixture, aligning or resisting, forming temporary balances. ### Common Applications The strength of alchemy lies in its versatility and subtlety. Practitioners craft **healing draughts** that speed cellular repair, **binding oils** that seal wounds - or curses - and **illusion pigments** that bend light or emotion. In warfare, alchemists provide **volatile powders** that detonate on contact with air, or **resilience brews** that harden flesh like bark. Some tinctures grant clarity, charm, or fortitude. Others temporarily shift perception into the spirit realm, offering glimpses behind the Veil. In high diplomacy, a well-prepared memory tonic might settle a treaty - or unravel one. ### Forbidden and Rare Formulas Beyond the commonly accepted are mixtures whispered about in guild cellars and jungle groves. The **Philosopher's Elixir**, said to grant immortality, is pursued by obsessive adepts despite the cost. **Homunculi tinctures** - crafted to grow false life in clay vessels - are outlawed in many lands, their results often monstrous or hollow. The **spirit-salt golem** requires the ashes of a willing dead and months of ritual, but forms a near-mindless servant bound to a single command. In the mist-choked cliffs of the Reaches, there are tales of **time-slowing oils** that can trap a moment like amber, though none admit to success without catastrophic backlash. ### Side Effects and Risks Alchemy's gifts are not without price. Improperly distilled brews may induce **hallucinations**, violent seizures, or **temporary spiritual dislocation**, wherein the drinker's soul drifts loose from their body. Long-term use of certain elixirs may cause **addiction**, marked by a craving for the spirit's presence. Mutagenic brews, while powerful, are notoriously unpredictable. Some users sprout unnatural features - glowing veins, vestigial limbs, altered senses. Others become unstable, haunted by the echoes of spirits half-anchored to their flesh. ## Traditions, Orders & Subdisciplines While all alchemists share a foundation in transmutation and spiritual resonance, the craft splinters into diverse traditions across cultures and ideologies. Each reflects a unique philosophy of matter, spirit, and purpose - whether enlightenment, healing, power, or profit. ### **Tlaxcal Spirit-Brewers** **Region**: _Tlaxcaltec City-States_ **Focus**: Vitality, dreamwork, communion **Philosophy**: The Tlaxcal see alchemy not as science, but sacred ceremony. Using fermented jungle roots, insect resins, and hallucinogenic blossoms, they brew potions to walk alongside spirits in dreams, strengthen the life-force, or share visions across bloodlines. Their techniques are often inherited orally, with brewers undergoing ecstatic rituals to “hear” the recipes whispered by jungle spirits. Tlaxcal brews pulse with vitality, but outsiders who misuse them risk madness or death. ### **Guild of Dustbinders** **Region**: _Mentralian cities_ **Focus**: Industrial and martial alchemy **Philosophy**: Pragmatic and secular, the Dustbinders treat alchemy as a precision craft. Recipes are engineered, catalogued, and optimized for effect and yield. They mass-produce potions for healing troops, hardening tools, or weakening enemy steel. Their focus on scale often sacrifices spiritual nuance. Many Dustbinders wear protective charms, as their stripped-down formulas occasionally agitate ambient spirits, causing leaks, hauntings, or unexplainable failures. ### **Aetherpath Apothecaries** **Region**: _Avenhar, Elarien_ **Focus**: Healing, emotion, and aromatic resonance **Philosophy**: These gentle alchemists work with oils, vapors, and perfumes to guide emotion, mend spirits, and ease suffering. Rooted in temple practices, their art is intimate - applied through touch, breath, or bath. Their brews harmonize with spirits of memory, sleep, and breath. It's said an Aetherpath can extract grief from a mother's lungs or warm the heart of a winter-cursed noble. ### **Lao-Shan Herbal Alchemists** **Region**: _Mountains of the Far East_ **Focus**: Internal balance, harmony of life-essence **Philosophy**: Lao-Shan medicine is a contemplative form of alchemy that blends spirit-attuned herbs with principles of body-energy flow and celestial balance. Taught through lineage scrolls and forest hermits, it seeks to purify the inner vessel so that no spirit may harm or dominate it. Their decoctions are slow-working but profound - capable of healing internal rot, calming ancestral spirits, or granting dream-clarity. The most advanced Lao-Shan alchemists speak of formulas that create temporary unity between a person and the world around them, like leaves falling in accord with breath. ### **The Saphirate of the Living Flame** **Region**: _Pharos and the Inland Temples_ **Focus**: Transmutation through sacred fire and essence refinement **Philosophy**: The Saphirate views alchemy as a sacred rite - an echo of the gods' shaping of the world from ash, light, and breath. Rooted in Pharosian temple tradition, their practitioners are more priest than scholar. Each alchemical act is an offering to the **Spirits of Flame, Vitality, and Time**, seeking to reshape the mortal world into greater alignment with divine harmony. They distill essences in mirrored crucibles, burn sigil-etched powders in moonlight, and trace ancient star-geometry in salt around their work. Fire is not just a tool, but a medium through which spirit and substance speak. Only those spiritually purified are allowed to work the higher transmutations, as flawed souls risk conjuring decay instead of glory. **Typical Works**: Flame-blooming oils, longevity tonics, vessels that glow with the breath of ancestors, and incense that reveals the paths of fate when inhaled beneath sacred stars. ### **The Aurelian Crucible** **Region**: _Golden Coast, eastern Mentralin_ **Focus**: Transmutation through sacred fire, celestial geometry, and essence refinement **Philosophy**: The Aurelian Crucible blends ceremonial devotion with meticulous craft, rooted in the sun-temples and coastal academies of the Golden Coast. Practitioners believe all matter yearns for perfection, and that fire is the divine key to unlocking hidden potentials. Alchemy is thus not merely manipulation, but sanctification - a process of returning base substances to their _true form_ through flame, ash, and spiritual harmony. Golden Crucible alchemists trace star-maps in powdered gold, chant equations under sunlit domes, and craft mirrored crucibles that reflect both the material and spiritual nature of their mixtures. They often work in pairs - **one alchemist, one seer** - to ensure spiritual balance. **Typical Works**: Sunsteel alloys, purifying flame-tonics, vaporous lights used to guide ships, and incenses that induce radiant visions or memory-cleansing forgetfulness. ## Notable Practitioners Alchemy's long and secretive history has produced visionaries, heretics, and saints - those whose brews changed the fates of cities, or whose failures birthed monsters and miracles. These figures are still studied, feared, and in some cases, worshipped by apprentices and adepts alike. ### **Maerin Veyra** - _The Steelheart Alchemist_ A former battlefield apothecary of the Mentralian border wars, Veyra is infamous for crafting the **Ironblood Draught** - a potion that hardened her own blood into a liquid metal. She walked through flame and blade unscathed, but at the cost of her humanity. Her veins reportedly turned black, her touch freezing cold. Some say she still wanders the war-scarred regions near Calvarien, hunting unfinished experiments. The Dustbinders claim her formulas are locked in seven sealed forges. ### **Talomé Xahi** - _Dream-Brewer of the Western Vines_ A revered Tlaxcaltec shamaness who could commune with ancestral spirits through her deep-fermented elixirs. Talomé created the **Brew of Nine Voices**, said to allow drinkers to walk with spirits in dreams and return with stolen truths. Her brews were considered sacred rites, not commodities - each one requiring months of ritual and trance. She vanished into the jungle near her death, but it is said her followers still carry on her line of memory through generational spirit-recipes. ### **Heiras of Kireth** - _The Amber Seer_ A blind alchemist from the Golden Coast, Heiras discovered the art of **amber-spirit suspension**: trapping microspirits in crystalline resin for later use. She used these to predict spiritual fluctuations in the Veil and guide navigation across cursed waters. Her lab was destroyed in a coastal quake, but her amber phials are now priceless relics sold by pirate-kings and collectors alike. ### **"The Man With No Mouth"** - _Unknown Origin_ A faceless figure rumored to be centuries old, who travels under different names bearing impossible elixirs: unmelting ice, sunlight in a vial, a potion that erases memory backwards. Some believe he is the result of a failed immortality brew. Others think he is an alchemical construct with a stolen soul. His recipes are always traded for memories, dreams, or years of life. ## Myths, Taboos & Spirit Pacts Though alchemy prides itself on discipline and precision, its very nature - working with transformation, decay, and spiritual resonance - makes it prone to myth and dread. Tales of forbidden brews, cursed experiments, and ancient pacts circulate through every alchemist's guild, whether whispered as warnings or clung to in pursuit of lost power. ### **The Dustbinder's Bargain** An infamous tale among Mentralian guild alchemists. A conclave of eleven Dustbinders once sought to bottle the essence of _Change_ itself. They created a process to distill the raw spirit of transformation into **liquid crystal**, sealing it within a silver lattice. The moment it cooled, one alchemist vanished; another aged a century; a third became something unrecognizable. The liquid crystal still glows softly, locked beneath seven layers of lead and prayer. The guild calls it a "keystone of mastery." Others call it cursed. ### **The Homunculus Womb** Considered a heretical practice, the crafting of **homunculi** - half-spirit, half-flesh beings - remains a forbidden pursuit. The Womb is said to be a living crucible: a vat of gold, bone, and blood infused with pacts to spirits of Growth and Form. Those who attempted it often birthed abominations - mad things that mimic thought but lack soul. The Circle of Magi once executed an entire enclave after discovering such creatures disguised as apprentices. ### **Alchemy's Unwritten Law: Do Not Transmute the Soul** Every alchemical tradition, from Pharos to the Kyourin Shogunate, holds one taboo above all: do not seek to change the soul. Whether through potions of identity, forced binding elixirs, or essence-splicing, such works are seen as an affront to the Veil itself. Legends tell of the _Mirrorbrew_, a potion that lets a person reflect another's spirit - but leaves both hollow, forever echoing each other in a loop of madness.