My Experiences with Alchemy: The Good, the Bad, the Strange by Orin Vossar

[WriterX]

My Experiences with Alchemy: The Good, the Bad, the Strange
by Orin Vossar

Introduction

Alchemy was never a major interest for me. In truth, when I first approached Alchemy it was out of a need to learn more about the different aspects of the Arcane, of which Alchemy was one.

When I began this journey I sought guides that would lead me correctly forward, and one such guide was the Arcano-Chemical Aspirant's Guide by Itri Ablator.

It formed the core of how I would approach Alchemy, and yet it was a complicated topic to me for a number of reasons. I did not know where I would study it, I did not know what I would use, and I did not know exactly how to approach it.

With time, what started as a passing thought turned into a great interest of mine, even though I lack the skills many those who are fully dedicated to Alchemy possess.

Still, I wanted to describe my journey, using the knowledge and suggestions from the Arcano-Chemical Aspirant's Guide to hopefully help you set out on your own journey.

Yet be warned, while Alchemy is a study filled with marvel and mystery there is also great many dangers, so approach it with all the due respect that you can. For it can spell your doom.

Chapter 1: The First Step

The Guide underlined that in order to effectively study alchemy one has to find reliable reagents to use in their experiments. Based on personal observation almost anything can be a reagent. Paper, ale, stale bread, ichor, sinews, or even entire bottles of Well Water. Almost anything you find can be added to the pot, but that does not mean everything is useful for your experiments.

 If you wish to pursue your alchemical research thoroughly you need to find reagents that you can find with as much ease, or as little cost, as possible. Thus, paper is often used as a reagent, as it costs only one dinar, and you can obtain plenty of it, quickly. Ale, bread, and similar such things are also reagents, as mentioned before, but here I want to underline one thing. Only because something is rarer, or more expensive does not mean it will provide you with a better outcome.

If you decide to suddenly use Aged Waters as one of your reagents I would call that incredibly wasteful, because, again, based on my own experience, it's not about the price of a reagent, and instead how you use it.

My first steps were a lot more humble, for I did not have much gold, and I was afraid of spending any of it on reagents. So, instead I pursued a resource I knew was available for "free", though with a degree of danger, namely, worm meat.

Worm meat, found in abundance beneath the Well, can be used as a reagent as well. However, due to the way the arcane and alchemy behaves while Worm meat worked for me, it might not work for you, or any other aspiring alchemist. In my case however, to this day, I rely heavily upon Worm Meat as a primary reagent.

That is because I managed to refine worm meat into ichor. Then, I managed to produce all manner of other reagents from the combination of ichor and worm meat.

Then, as my library of recipes grew I found I could make almost any reagent I wanted or needed through the right combination of worm meat, to the point where the only thing I needed to perform my experiments was a lot of patience, and a lot of worm meat.

To explain how reagents work; you can add many different reagents, in any combination that you wish, though the order in which you add the reagents is important. If you wish to replicate a result you must add the same reagents in the same order as you did before. This also means that while having two or three different types of reagents in what order you add them to the pot can greatly impact the outcome of the experiment.

However, the minimum number of reagents you must add is three. Add one or two reagents, regardless whether it's the same one or different ones, and no reaction will occur. You can add three of the same reagent, and, due to the mysteries of alchemy, if you add more of the same reagent the outcomes might be completely different.

As was in my case, when I combined three worm meats, I had no positive outcome, but once I added four, I could produce ichor. Then, when I added five, again, there was no positive result. From what I read you can produce extremely long recipes, of even eight different reagents added. Which means that if you have access to three different reagents the number of possible recipes using just them is extensive. However, here comes the problems of sunk cost.

In a practical sense trying to create more complex, longer, recipes may allow you to make a harder recipe have a positive outcome somewhat easier. However, finding the correct recipe may prove difficult still, and as you could see in my example, simply adding more of a reagent does not always mean you will have a better or more powerful outcome.

To give you a rough estimate, when I began my experiments, about a month ago, I have since then performed over 124 individual experiments, with different combinations of reagents, both more or less common. Refined, or found. And these are just the tests I did with what I call "basic alchemy".

What I mean by that is Alchemy without the use of "Catalysts", something that we will touch upon in the next chapter.

But just to underline, while I made many such experiments, many of them produced similar results, with varying levels of difficulty and complexity.

Out of those 124 individual tests around 50 produced no beneficial result. In other words, you may spend a month performing different experiments, but your success is down to dedication, diligence and a lot of patience, as well as luck. Sometimes you may find a beneficial recipe through your first random combination of items, other times you may spend a full week with no proper breakthrough, as you try combination, after combination with nothing new produced.

Before I reached that wall, and wanting to move to more advanced alchemy I noted a number of things.

Firstly, that certain reagents, or combinations of reagents, can produce an "Arcane Effect", also known as "Sparkles". This is a bit difficult to describe, but basically this opens up your recipe to the use of spells, instead of physical reagents. So, if you find a reagent that you can either produce or find that allows you to then combine it with magic, you can cut down on your costs substantially, holding in mind that cantrips are the cheapest and most versatile, for you may continue to cast them. Meanwhile, while you can use many spells of higher circles in your experiments the challenge comes in having enough of said magic to make these experiments worthwhile. And here again, just like in the case physical reagents, you might have a better outcome by casting a simple ray of frost instead of an ice storm. Lastly, each spell cast that is absorbed by the experiment counts in the same way as a physical reagent would. So, a combination of a physical reagent with two spells would count toward the three reagent minimum.

Secondly, if you managed to produce a reagent that leads to desirable results in your experiments it may be a good idea to keep experimenting with different common reagents because you may produce the same result more cheaply.

As an example, the alchemical produce that I simply call Alchemical Lump could be produced by myself by combining three pieces of worm meat, with two ichors and then casting a spell of flare. This was a labour intensive recipe, but necessary at first, because I knew of no other one. But, by pure chance I eventually found a different, simpler recipe to produce Alchemical Lumps by combining one ichor with three worm meats.

Thirdly, it is possible to find recipes for the same product that are much easier to perform. Granted a lot depends on your skill and available equipment, but this essentially means that if you find a formula that is too difficult to complete it may be possible to find an alternative path to it, that is much easier. As an example, on a number of attempts I found different recipes to create a Lesser Potion of False Life. In one case the formula called for the use of just three ichors, but achieving a desirable outcome was moderately challenging. Then I found a different formula that called for one piece of worm meat, two ichors and then two more pieces of worm meat, and this particular formula produced the same effect but was trivial in its difficulty.

This is why you must take notes while performing your experiments. Not only to not repeat your failures, but also to find the most efficient ways to achieve certain outcomes. 

Once you have gained a level of confidence with your experiments it may be time to try your hand with the use of Catalysts.

Chapter 2: Catalysts – Elemental Alchemy, and not only

Catalysts are described as objects that set your recipe down a certain path. As an example if you add a fire beetle belly you will gain access to outcomes related to the element of fire. Similarly using Spring Water grants you access to outcomes associated with water as well as frost.

By adding a Catalyst at the start of a reaction means that any other reagents you add will produce a reaction, or lack of it, associated with that element.

The Guide does note however you can add the Catalyst at any point of your reaction, so you could add it at the start, or at the end, or in the middle of it.

That said, a Catalyst is not the same as a reagent, if you add a Catalyst, and then only two reagents, you will have no outcome at all. The number of reagents must always be at least three. So, if you wish to add a catalyst make sure you also have three reagents to add to the mixture.

Here I will underline that the mysteries of when to add Catalysts is not entirely obvious to me. Many reactions that worked in Basic Alchemy do not have a similar reaction with the use of Catalysts. So, technically, if you find a reagent and magic chain, you could  perform it first, and then add the catalyst at the end, to save on physical reagents.

I am stubborn, however, and I add the Catalyst at the start of the recipe, for it felt like discovering a whole new form of alchemy, from the bottom up. However rediscovering the different interactions between reagents and spells from the start can be a harrowing experience, with no guarantee of immediate success.

The main challenge of using Catalysts is finding them. Most merchants will have a handful and they will usually expect hefty payment for them. It may be possible to find them when exploring or adventuring, but there is simply no reliable or certain way of obtaining a specific reagent in a consistent way, with one exception, Blood.

Blood drawn from one's self can be used as a reagent to practice Blood Alchemy. However, if you want to assume that Blood, something that often symbolizes life, is safe to use, you would be very wrong.

From the many experiments I performed I was nearly poisoned or diseased two dozen times. Other times the outcomes produced terrifying monstrosities that I had to dispatch. And very often the results produced troubled me greatly.

Blood Alchemy may be a good way of learning how dangerous Catalyst Alchemy can be, so when you attempt to approach it do so with great and absolute care.

Here I should finally mention the use of Accelerants and Fuel. Smouldering Ash is often identified as one such Accelerant. It can empower certain Catalysts, producing more powerful results, but not every accelerant can be used for every catalyst.

The Guide notes two examples of how Catalysts and Accelerants can interact.

By combining Spring Water with Fire Lichen your outcome will be of the Steam Element. Meanwhile by combining a Positive Energy Rod with Smouldering Ash will produce a more powerful product, connected to the Positive Energy field.

As such, what you can do is, find recipes in basic Alchemy that produce certain effects, and then add a Catalyst and any Accelerant to see what the outcome will be. As I have found, even though Basic Alchemy might produce something, adding a Catalyst does not guarantee success at all.

I have found that if you add a Catalyst first the reactions of certain Reagents will be different than in Basic Alchemy, so, if you find more reliable recipes in Basic Alchemy, add the Catalyst at the end to hopefully produce a beneficial effect.

Here I will underline, when you eventually wish to add a catalyst and accelerant, always do it in that order. Catalyst first, then Accelerant. Whether you wish to add the pair at the start, end, or middle of a recipe is always up to you. And of course, just like the Catalyst, the Accelerant does not count toward the three Reagent minimum. 

Chapter 3: Patience, Diligence and Organization

This may not be a chapter focusing specifically on Alchemy, but how you should approach Alchemy. When you begin your studies approaching Basic Alchemy may be disheartening because the vast majority of outcomes does not produce anything thrilling, and you might spend the most time with it.

Remember how I mentioned that I performed over 124 unique experiments, out of which 50 produced no beneficial results? Out of the remaining 74 successful experiments I only managed to produce 11 different products or beneficial results. I still sometimes managed to find something that felt unique, if not directly useful. It may be that there are some complex or rare combinations of reagents that could produce something incredible, but at this time I cannot confirm such.

It was not until I started using Catalysts that I began finding more beneficial results. At the same time, like in the case of my Blood Alchemy experiments, I performed 40 unique experiments, out of which 27 were failures, and the remaining 13 successful experiments ended up producing 5 different positive results, out of which 1 was special, I would say, and the rest disgusting.

The important of note keeping is crucial, as without it you might end up repeating the same mistakes. I would suggest, when designing a table, noting down what reagents you used, in what order, what was the outcome, how difficult it was to achieve, and if a combination of reagents produced an Arcane, "Sparkly" effect, note it down with a symbol so that you can go back to it and try using different spells to produce even more different results.

I would also avoid being neurotic or restless when it comes to your experiments. I know the thrill of discovery is a powerful one, however considering how often the results you may produce will be unsatisfactory I would advise you to gather catalysts and reagents and then have single, lengthy and productive sessions every couple of days, instead of running every single day to the lab and then leaving dissatisfied. I found myself in a more satisfied state after a lengthier series of experiments, instead of rushing in to do just one or two.

Lastly I would say that patience is the key to Alchemy. Luck may play a role in it, as you may discover a very beneficial formula by chance, but you might had discovered the same formula via consistent and steady testing. What I am trying to underline is, it would be easy to make a handful of combinations and find no positive result, and just give up, but you may have been just one more reagent or combination away from producing something new. If you truly wish to make that breakthrough or great discovery you must do so through consistent and steady testing. Like I mentioned myself, I have been performing these experiments for only a month, but the more I dabble the more outcomes I produce and I continue to ask myself the question, "What greater outcome could I produce and how do I achieve it? What great discovery waits just around the corner?"

Chapter 4: Protection and Safety

Basic Alchemy is the safest, for despite my numerous failed experiments the outcomes never caused me any harm, or to those around me. However, once you begin using Catalysts you must take different safety precautions, for your safety and that of others. Depending on which elements you decide to experiment with, what Catalyst you use, the negative outcomes of your experiments can differ greatly. Whether it's summoning a beast, a monster, or a powerful spell being released. Whatever the case, if you decide to use Catalysts, you must be prepared.

A combination of abjurations will not be an ill idea. A Shell, Protect, Mage Armor and Elemental Protection spell should form the basics of such protections. Increasing your Endurance can also help in case the failure is explosive. And lastly, in the event that something horrible appears, always keep at least one summon by your side, so that they can distract the monster while you conjure more help, or cast evocations to dispatch it.

When you perform experiments with specific Catalysts you may also find that using specific protections can be especially beneficial. For example if you decide to use Blood Alchemy using a spell of ironguts can protect you somewhat from possible diseases and poisons. If you perform experiments with Negative Energy Alchemy, then obviously drinking a Polarization potion ahead of time can ward you from any soul or strength sapping effects. If you know what you are up against then you can prepare for it, so plan ahead, and don't just try and rush an experiment without the necessary precautions. That is how many Alchemists met their untimely end. 

Closing Remarks

I would wish to once more recommend the Arcano-Chemical Aspirant's Guide by Itri Ablator. It was a book that got me started in this field, and its explanations and diagrams helped greatly in understanding the basics of alchemy.

The rest, that is, performing all of the experiments and finding favorable outcomes is entirely up to you. In many ways I found the study of Alchemy to be similar to the study of the Arcane. It's the combination of different reagents, in different orders, with different catalysts to produce varying effects. Sometimes a spell may fizzle, but once in a while you will find that beneficial combination and produce something outstanding.

That is the case with Alchemy, hundreds of different experiments that may produce nothing or little, and then a handful that you will be absolutely proud of.

But even as lengthy and extensive as this book may be, it does not cover everything. Some things you will simply have to learn and discover on your own.