Project Journal: Orin-Os

[WriterX]

*A simple, unassuming journal, left buried among many other research notes and similar journals in Orin's Arcanium. The title reads, "Orin-Os"*

Project Goal:

Create the means by which magical energy, potential, is regenerated or refreshed through the consumption of a suitable product.

Plan:

Create a suitable prototype of said product, dubbed Orin-O, and observe whether its properties match with the Project Goal.

Acceptable outcomes include varying degrees and levels of magical "recharge", as it is doubtful that it would be possible to fully and completely recharge a mage's power without greater risk involved.

Method:

Orin-Os are intended to be cookies, or similar consumables, with refined and carefully prepared Baublium. Baublium is known as a fuel for powering machines, however, it has other uses as well. Its use as a refined substance has been largely untested, and most often the blame is put upon the scarcity of the resource and its explosive nature.

That said Baublium will be applied and mixed in careful amounts as not to lead to an accidental poisoning or toxicity of the product. Even trace amounts of it however may be dangerous.

That said, Charcoal also has its uses in different crafts, medicine and sometimes even cooking, so to say that Baublium has a singular purpose may be folly. There also did not seem to be any writing or books noting down that Baublium itself is toxic, at least to my knowledge.

These precautions I am taking are mostly due to the fact that so little is known about Baublium. In preperation for testing I am gathering as much Baublium as I can, considering how limited in supply it is.

Ideal goal would be to obtain around 20 pieces, so far I have only 6.

If the project is successful perhaps a deal can be reached with Tlonsiyya to supply the necessary Baublium to maintain a production on a certain scale. Question also remains whether Baublium can be found in other parts of the desert.

Currently we are in the pre-trial stage, so gathering of materials, and so forth. ETA on first trial is as yet unknown. Igor is preparing everything.

Notes:

I must make room for a crate of "Loyalty Cheese". The rats have been acting up, and this could lead to a sabotage of the project. As dutiful as they are, they are prone to mood swings, especially when they don't get what they want.

Igor needs his own apron. Possibly a hat. I hope Cogsworth would not find it insulting if I used one of his Memorial hats for Igor.

[WriterX]

Updates:

I have managed to obtain a bit more baublium, increasing my stockpile to ten. In such a short amount of time I'd say it was a great success. Some people seem to be trying to hinder my progress however, thinking I am going "Insane". They simply do not understand what I am trying to achieve. Others, of course, do not ask questions and simply accept my coin.

The Loyalty Cheese Crate has been prepared and filled with cheese. Thankfully I can easily obtain more (for now). This should calm down the rats, I hope. If not I will have to look for other methods.

In two days time I will be departing from Tlonsiyya on a little trip. Hopefully I shall not be away for longer than just a week. Just in case I have left Igor with as much coin as is necessary to cover any maintenance of the Arcanium at least for two more weeks. Maybe longer if, finally, the Wizard Lounge is handed over to Ramez.

A bit of a pause from all this contract work and research will do me good. I might had been forcing myself too much. A rest is much needed.

If we could obtain ten more baublium, to reach that goal of twenty, I would be positively ecstatic. 

[WriterX]

Updates:

We are up to thirteen pieces of Baublium. If I get a few more pieces today at least I will be able to depart knowing we have an ample supply.

Obtaining the hat for Igor may be harder than I thought, as the price of the top hats has gone up to 2,000 dinari.

This has become a problem only because the rats have requested a Fondue station. That in itself will be expensive, and I do not know how plausible building one is. Still, I will try.

I will see whether I cannot sell some potions, and buy a Top Hat before the fashion show. I only have so much time left before my scheduled trip.

[WriterX]

Updates:

I have returned from my field studies, only to be showered in baublium. I have, basically, ran out of funds, but the total sum of gathered Baublium has currently reached twenty five pieces.

I did not think there would be this much progress, but it is a welcome surprise. The more is gathered, the better. With so much testing material we might achieve some manner of breakthrough.

Or at least, I can hope such will be the case.

[WriterX]

Updates:

We are slowly nearing a stockpile of thirty pieces of baublium, exceeding the original goal. The more the better.

Some further notes that I have learned and discovered myself from studying Baublium is that it is composed of two elements. The "rock", or core, and the "Goop" that surrounds it. According to what I learned thus far the "Goop" is what forms the actual fuel, it is the useful element in this "compound". The core on the other hand is "Just a rock".

Of course we assume, to a great extent, that the core is just something the baublium sticks to, though perhaps in it's original state the "core" in fact is important for the reaction of creating baublium. Perhaps the goop is something that comes in reaction with the core, under appropriate circumstances, that turns it into this goopy, magical state.

Based on one theory I read, baublium may have its origin from the stars, which would suggest baublium is not native to the disk. However, does it exist outside of our planet, or perhaps a certain compound that is present above comes into a reaction as it falls to our disk, thus turning the base element into baublium?

Perhaps baublium, as such, is not native, but it's just an appropriate reaction of elements under the right circumstances.

Baublium, after all, appears around the Well, in very scarce amounts, and the Well has been the site of many strange magical events, and more recently, the Shade's activity.

Tlonsiyya is also a complex location, whose exact history is not widely known. The tunnels below, the Arteries, must had come to be for one reason or another. They also have plenty of metal scrap and Baublium. Question being, did the Baublium appear there because it was, for example, transported there, or was it some unexpected reaction, a catastrophic failure, of the present machinery?

What still continues to baffle me is that there is very little if any mention of Baublium throughout history. I would had assumed that such an element, that would had been present for centuries, would had been identified, catalogued or at least mentioned. Unless, and this is also a possibility, that to the ancient people it was largely useless as they could not find a proper use for it. It is currently used as a fuel for some machines, but maybe thousands of years ago, for example during the Age of the Collosi, the use of Baublium was unnecessary because of the excess of magic they posessed.

If you can conjure lights with a simple spell, you have no real need for physical torches.

However, the Astronomers do need Baublium to power some of the city's defenses, or so they claim. This creates one of two possible theories. Either the Collosi relied on Baublium, but it was such a common fuel it wasn't mentioned at all, or the original power sources that the Collosi would had used was lost to time. Think of arcane power cells instead of simply throwing in raw fuel. But since we do not have access to the same arcane potential we use the next best thing, or something closest to it.

I feel that whatever the outcome of this upcoming experiment we will learn something new about Baublium, its potential and properties. Even if it turns into failure it will be something worth learning about, recording for future Arcanists to study.