closed ⚗️ potion permit

[netherese]

Who: Gale Dekarios & Alfyn Greengrass
Status: Closed
Where: Elah Conservatory
What: Wizard + Apothecary + Alchemy = LEARNING.
Warnings: None!

[Truly, Gale feels quite at home whenever he has the opportunity to work at the Paladins' Conservatory on Elah. It puts him in mind of his years studying at Blackstaff Academy, and even evokes memories of his own tower from time to time. While he's set up an expansive work room as well as a wizard's study for himself back at the house he had been left after his friends' departure, the Conservatory has something his new home does not: fellow scholars with whom to share ideas and findings.

That, and the house has been feeling entirely too empty as of late. It's much too big for one person, even when that person was used to having an entire tower all to himself. Given his last couple of years, he's had enough isolation to last him a long while.

Alfyn is a rather recently arrived Paladin with whom Gale has had the opportunity to exchange pleasantries in passing, and it hadn't taken much in the way of observation to note that the apothecary also seemed to be in his element here.]

Have you tried any particularly interesting combinations yet?

[The question is quite genuine, and he approaches the worktable Alfyn is nearest to so that he can lean against its surface with both hands, surveying its contents.]

Even the smallest bit of 'Enchanti' goes a very long way, I think. I've yet to do any of the suggested mixing, but may have kept just a pinch for myself in the interest of study when my partner and I brought back samples some weeks ago.

Comments

[apothecarry]

[Alfyn has spent the last month and change doing everything he can to learn, memorize, and be able to replicate recipes for the most basic medicines possible with the plants in this world. It has been a little dizzying, at times, but there's also nothing quite as comforting as being hard at work, concocting.

So! When he saw an opportunity to work with something new, hopefully so that people could make better use of it and not end up with a whole mess of other trouble, he almost jumped at the chance. (The need for some coin to spend isn't lost on him, either, though it wasn't a motivating part of the decision.)

He's deep in thought, counting out some dried flower petals from a plant he hasn't heard of yet, and Gale's hands on the worktable startle him enough that he jumps, straightening without so much as a tremble in his hands.]

Ha! Ah, oh, hey there. Sorry, guess I didn't hear you coming. [He makes a quick note about the flower count on the paper in front of him, then sets them down, brushing his hands together.] Truth is, I haven't done any proper mixing myself. I've been going through the other ingredients here, laying 'em out so I know I'm working with something pretty even.

[Alfyn would hardly consider himself a man of science. He also knows that changing too many things about a medicine can just kill someone.]

You've worked with this before?

[netherese]

No apologies necessary! I ought to have made a bit of noise, perhaps, but wizards aren't especially known for their heavy gait. My apologies for startling you.

[He raises a hand briefly to assure that all is well, taking in the various ingredients that have been laid out in the meantime. This young man is most certainly not a novice.]

Admittedly, I've only worked with it a very little bit. It wasn't too long ago that we got our hands on it for the first time, and it has the potential to be quite volatile, as well as addictive. I've been making an effort to discern its separate components and sort out how it's made, exactly, but haven't quite cracked it yet. They've been doing quite a business with it in the black market in Nogard, all the same.

[apothecarry]

[While he's always had and used a step-by-step approach to concocting, only in the last while - since meeting Cyrus, in particular - has it become rather more measured and scientific. Situations like this one are still very unique for Alfyn; most of his work is done in response to an immediate need, or a known but likely future one. Potions for nausea or fever, salves that slow bleeding, a specific seasoning blend that H'aanit came up with for their food...all standard traveling-apothecary fare.

Stirring up volatile, addictive powders and tinctures for research is something else altogether.]

There's a black market with this stuff, huh. [He's been to a black market that...probably gave him the wrong impression about "black market" as a concept.] That's real encouraging. But...I figure it's made of stuff whose names and properties I'm not too likely to know. If it even comes from- from this world at all.

[Talking about 'this world' under the presumption that there are so many is still strange.]

[netherese]

Indeed— the hottest and only magical drug on the market, at present.

[Gale heaves a bit of a sigh; for as much as he has an academic interest in all of this, he certainly doesn't approve of how careless people have been with this substance outside of the conservatory.]

It has the potential to be quite dangerous in the wrong hands, though it's unknown how long-lasting the effects may be on the users. If we can find out where it comes from, I have hope that we can cut it off at the source, but I'm in quite the same position as you. Many of the ingredients are likely to be unfamiliar to me— but we've quite an impressive library here!

[He brightens at that last bit.]

Surely, we'll be able to identify most components should we apply ourselves!

[apothecarry]

[Alfyn gathers his potential ingredients into individual little piles, one in each small bowl before him. This should be the easy part, as far as he's concerned. Mixing ingredients and turning them into something usable is something he does even in his dreams.]

It's a real shame Professor Albright isn't here. [There's a flat note in his voice, but it's because all of his thoughts are on one last arrangement of his work table. Before he gets into actually using the Enchanti in the mix.] He's got a real nose for findin' things out, even when it seems like there's nothing left to go on. Shucks, he chased a book thief halfway 'round the continent.

[Alfyn looks up, still lighthearted, but also stone serious.]

Guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Here goes nothin'.

[A touch more measuring, a bit of mixing, some water - otherwise all he'll have is a fistful of powder, rather than a potion - and! There's orange liquid, vivid and unassuming, in Alfyn's first test vial.]

[netherese]

Did he?

[Chasing a book halfway around the continent. Gale can certainly relate— before he'd been swept here through the rifts, he'd been in pursuit of one such tome himself, The Annals of Karsus. Should he find himself back in Faerun, resuming that search will once again be his utmost priority.]

I can certainly admire his dedication.

[It would seem he and the Professor are cut from the same cloth. For now, however, Gale brings his hands to rest on his hips as he watches Alfyn work, content to let the apothecary do what he does best. Once the contents of that first vial turn brilliant orange, Gale leans forward to examine it more closely, curious.]

The shift in color is startling clear— not muddied in the least. Impressive!

[apothecarry]

[Startled out of his concentration, Alfyn grins, blushing at the compliment.]

Thanks, but I'm not so sure that had anything at all to do with me.

[Dutifully, he records what ingredients he used, and their quantities, and sets the vial on a rack to the side for just such a purpose.]

I could be wrong, but I got the feelin' they want us to try these things, once we make them? But that doesn't sound as safe as I'd like.

[netherese]

Yes, that rather seems to be a common theme around here...

[His mouth pulls into a disapproving line for a fleeting moment as he straightens up, his gaze still lingering on the vial itself.]

Given that we've only used a very small amount of Enchanti, and the fact that we know its effects in large doses, we likely could imbibe a small, measured sample safely, so long as we're on the alert. The substance itself grants the ability to weave magic to those who may not be able to grasp it otherwise, along with a certain sense of... euphoria?

[One of his brows quirks upwards. That must be it, like most other addictive substances.]