Basic Alchemy [Reliant please]

[Klue Malinconico]

Aperitus, Summer of Era II, Era XI

It was the brightening after he’d passed through city gates, that same he’d signed up for his course, that Klue arrived early for the start of it. Early for him, which was mildly to middling late. He’d have been on time, he’d swear, if not for misplacing the instructions he’d been given the brightening before by the fair dorin clerk. It was an honest loss. He’d been overcome by inspiration of an odd sort in the middle of the darkening that had him up and sketching a gadget that even given it’s oddity, was sure to make him a crown or two. Problem was, as things like that tended to go, inspiration didn’t always pan out at the end to result in anything useful. So it was, along with other scraps of parchment torn from his tablet, the instructions had inadvertently been wadded up and tossed away as rubbish, to be discovered missing on departing for his class.

And though he found the right building in good time, his classroom was a different matter. He’d first discarded the notion of asking the dorin again, thus admitting his foible so soon after signing up. So he’d wandered, casual and with hands dropped into the pockets of loose fit trousers and pack slung over his back, hoping something would spark a memory. Numbers were glanced at, hallways studied from varied angles, rights and lefts tried out before he’d surrendered his pride and went back to ask.

So armed with new information, he navigated those hallways again till he found the right place. His hat was pulled off his head, fingers used to neaten unruly red hair and he pushed the door open a shade to have a look inside. Hopeful there wasn’t a room full of folk to witness his late arrival, more hopeful an angry instructor neglected to turn a loud reprimand his way.

[Reliant]

And it was half a candlemark past class started that Klue showed up for his first alchemy class a mistake he would not live down. As he creaked the door open a sliver to see inside, a surprise caught his eye - an empty room except for one man at the slateboard. At hearing the door open, the man turned around, and smiled a friendly smile. It couldn't be; the face that greeted him was that of Sir Drahon.

"Well, well, well. Is it none other than Klue Malinconico!" he said in his higher-than-it-should-be voice, then chuckled and beckoned the boy in.

"Come in, come in, you kept me waiting long enough," he teased, placing his palms down on the table in front of him.

"Take a seat my boy. I am sure you did not expect me to be teaching your class did you? Ah, I must have failed to mention I am an alchemist by trade."

The man winked with a grin. It was only when he stepped out from behind the table that Klue noticed his garb. The man was dressed in nothing more than tan trousers and a white button-down shirt with a ruffled collar. This was nothing like the man he had seen last night. Something was amiss, but he was unsure what. Sir Drahon stepped forward in lightly bonded leather sandals, pointing to the back of the room.

"You need not worry about supplies, I have provided all you will need for this class."

The man took a piece of chalk and started to write on the board all the materials Klue needed to pick up from the back of the room.

Mortar
Pestle
Glass flask
Gunpowder
Sulfur
Flint
Steel

All of the items were clearly marked, and the young man would not have trouble in the least bit finding them and taking them back to his seat. As he returned the large man erased the materials from the board with a cloth and looked straight at Klue.

"So, my boy. Do you know what alchemy is? Why is it used?"

[Klue Malinconico]

The young human paused there with the door cracked open and pondered the abandoned room…The figure at the slate board failed to grab his full attention just yet. Empty, except for him though. So no audience to witness his late arrival, no barely heard but deliberately audible commentary of ‘tsk-tsk’ to mark his passing amongst his peers. That, most likely from the supposed female portion of this hypothetical gathering. Just him then? Or had the instructor sent them packing in a fit of irritation at being kept waiting? Whatever the case, he’d the instructor to explain himself to and pushed the door open wider, to be met with a familiar face.

He was unsure what to make of it, but pulled his hat from his head when he walked in, grinning slightly. ”Aye sir. Tis me, and tis you as well. An’ no, I didn’t expect it, Th’ dorin didn’t tell me who th’ instructor was.” he admitted and dropped his bag on the floor and had a seat. Possible she had, at least made note of the name. Possible she’d even written it on the instructions. But he’d lost those without ever having a look at them.

But odd, finding the knight here. A knight moonlighting as an alchemist? Or an alchemist moonlighting as a knight? It was a strange twist, this, and he couldn’t know what to make of it. But then again, he was a soldier himself so could hardly call it unheard of. And at least he hadn’t been shouted at overmuch for his late arrival. ”I’m sorry for comin’ late. I was…unavoidably detained.” It covered a realm of possibilities, that pair of words, and it was a good one. Possibilities even of such a personal nature, that most polite folk wouldn’t press for details.

”Won’t happen again,” he added, then stood up to pick up the supplies he needed. He found them in good time, curious over some, and grinning over others. Gunpowder, sulfur…Explosive, those, and full of possibilities. And so armed with his supplies and seated back at the table, he pondered the question posed. He wasn’t sure really, except for a rather general definition.

”Well sir…alchemy is a chemical science aimed at transformin’ somethin’ commonplace int’ somethin’ extraordinary, like metal t’ gold, or potions t’ elixirs for healin’ an’ such? An’ a way t’ achieve spiritual development as well as th’ chemical?” He wasn’t sure about the last of it, truth told, but it sounded rather deep and touched on reinventing oneself. He’d read that, somewhere, and thought it sounded clever. And so him, clever by association.

[Reliant]

Sir Drahon grinned at Klue's firm grasp of the concept of alchemy. He stood up walked to the front of his desk, and sat down on the edge, swinging his legs giddily, rocking the desk slightly, and everything on it, not that the large man noticed. He stood up and walked around again to the back and tinkered with the many vials of powder and liquid arranged neatly in rows.

"Very good my boy, very good. Alchemy is exactly that. Alchemy is used to turn ordinary substances into something that is harder to obtain, has greater value, or can be used in something useful. And by performing alchemical transmutations we take our spirit on a little journey of its own. Be taking something ordinary and commonplace, and turning it into something that is of much more value, it shows that we can take our commonplace self and through cleansing and purification, make something beautiful out of it."

The man stood up, his grin fading, his mood taking a more somber and serious tone. He moved over and grabbed a plant on the windowsill, an herb, and placed it on the table.

"Did you know that by performing alchemy on this plant I can turn it into a pure salt? Of course, that brings us to the seven metals. You might want to write this down, this will be on your final examination at the end of the course. You will find parchment and ink as well as a pen back by the other supplies."

The man went up to the board and wrote down with a small piece of chalk:

SILVER
MERCURY
COPPER
GOLD
IRON
TIN
LEAD

The man turned around and smiled wanly at the budding alchemist.

"We shall discuss the importance of each of these metals one by one. Tell me when you have them all written down and I will continue."

[Klue Malinconico]

With his hat back on his head and tilted off his forehead, Klue watched Sir Drahon prowl the room and rock the oddities on the desk. The knight was odd himself, in fact, though Klue couldn’t begrudge him that. He’d been accused of as much himself. Humble or no in his thinking, brilliant and innovative minds were often odd and eccentric ones. Journey of the spirit, cleansing and purification…something beautiful. So he was right about that, though the notion was a little foreign as to how he was to get there. ”Like…enlightenment, ye mean?” he asked.

He’d never thought of it, developing himself in that way. Improving through education and knowledge, genuine success was gained through knowledge and understanding he’d always thought, innovation and thinking beyond borders…But he’d never really thought of the spiritual part of it. It sounded spiritual. He’d have to get used to the notion. Frankly, though it would surely take some getting used to, the idea fascinated and lured him in.

He eyed the plant critically and concluded he didn’t know what it was. But a plant into salt, suggested countless possibilities he couldn’t quite imagine yet. So he stood and walked to the back of the room, grabbing himself a few sheets of parchment, a pen and ink pot. Setting himself on the stool again, he dipped the pen in the ink and positioned the parchment in front of him.

He listed the metals with a left handed scrawl that would’ve more than met the standards of a secret code, seeing that few could likely decipher it beyond himself.

Silver
Mercury
Copper
Gold
Iron
Tin
Lead

Blowing on the sheet a little to dry the ink and keep it from smearing, he set the pen aside. ”I’m done.”

[Reliant]

Once Klue had finished, Sir Drahon smiled and continued.

"Good, very good. First we start with silver."

The man drew a line next to silver and tapped it with his piece of chalk.

"It is a metal which requires darkness for its reactions. Special bottles and pipettes made of dark glass are used for solutions of silver, and its salts are quickly spoilt by exposure to the light of day. Silver is a mirror-creating element: a solution of silver in a tube readily precipitates a mirror onto the glass, this being the standard test for silver in a solution. As a metal it has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of them all, as well as being the best reflector of visible light known."

The man then began to write out next to silver:

SILVER - reflective, image-forming (imaginative), receptive, impressionable, sensitive, pure

He then turned to Klue and continued, tapping the words as he spoke.

"From such considerations we see how the following adjectives apply to silver: reflective, image-forming or imaginative, receptive, impressionable, sensitive, pure. So my boy, can you tell me how alchemical reactions involving silver can be beneficial to the spirit?"

[Klue Malinconico]

While Sir Drahon talked about the nature of silver, Klue scrawled a few notes for looking over later. This he understood, though it was new to him. But he could already see the usefulness in various ways. Electrical and thermal conductivity…Useful indeed. And aye, reflective as well. Silver, he wrote, reflective, image-forming (imaginative), receptive, impressionable, sensitive, pure…

But the next question, he had to ponder awhile. He frowned, unused to this sort of thinking. He saw what he saw, knew what he knew, said what he was thinking…This looking inward, this focusing on the spirit was strange territory for him. He was curious, sure. Eager to learn and master it, yes. But graceful in getting there, not so much. ”Well,” he tried with a scratch at his scalp, ”If a mirror made of silver reflects th’ physical, then it might reflect th’ spirit as’well. If someone was t’ know what t’ look for. An’ if someone wanted t’ transform th’ spirit, then they’d need t’ recognize what they had t’ start with and build from. S’ maybe it can be used…t’ aid in intr’spection an’ healin’ of th’ spirit as well as th’ body?”

[Reliant]

Sir Drahon furrowed his eyebrows in thought and smiled as Klue finished his answer to the teacher's inquiry.

"Splendid, simply splendid my boy. Next is mercury, or quicksilver."

The man went up to the board again and tapped on it with his chalk, turning to Klue and continuing.

"Mercury appears sometimes in the form of a fluid metal, sometimes in the form of a hard brittle metal, sometimes in the form of a corrosive salt, sometimes in the form of a tasteless, white earth, or in that of a red earth, or in that of a red or white precipitate, or in that of a fluid Salt. In distillation it turns into a vapour, and being agitated in a vacuum, it shines like fire. And after all these changes it returns again into its first form of Mercury."

The large man wrote upon the board next to Mercury with a dash.

MERCURY - resistant to change

"Alchemists often relate mercury with mental agility: the shining globules of this liquid metal form and reform so quickly, almost as fast as thinking. The metal mercury amalgamates: meaning different metals can be brought together by dissolving them in mercury, as it is a solvent for metals. The most characteristic chemical trait of mercury is association; it links itself up in the most unexpected ways. The tendency to form complex compounds is very marked in the case of mercury. It combines with nitrogen and carbon compounds which metals normally won't touch, as well as forming the usual metal salts, and forms complicated mercury compounds. It also forms explosives, such as mercury iodide, which detonate at a mere touch. In amalgamating other metals together, it performs this interlinking function."

He added: mental agility, metallic solvent, association, combinations

"So my boy, as you can see, mercury is resistant to change, is associated with mental agility, is a metallic solvent, associates with many compounds, and makes unique combinations with compounds no other metal can do. What do you think the significance of mercury may be in alchemy?"

[Klue Malinconico]

It was unfamiliar territory, this alternate way of thinking and when Sir Drahon praised his efforts, he was both pleased with himself, and relieved he’d manage it without making a bloody fool of himself. But with unfamiliar territory, he grew more fascinated with the concept, beginning to look for the links between the physical and spiritual meanings. So Mercury, he wrote, resistant to change.

But as the explanation was laid out, he frowned, drumming long fingers on the table in front of him. Resistant to change, yet apparently, a metal used to facilitate change in others. Explosive…Mercury iodide. He wrote that down too, having appealed to his nature, and Mental agility, metallic solvent, association, combinations.

And again, the question left him scratching his head as he looked back over his notes. Resistant to change, yet facilitates, helps to…create change.

”B'cause it's simple an' complex, both at th’ same time? Simple in it’s liquid form, unchanging. Complex in it’s ability to transform itself int' any metal. S’, there should be a mercurial quality in all metals, aye? Reason, I'm thinkin', is b'caue of it’s ability t’ combine itself in such a way an’ change th’ nature of th’ metals it’s combined with?” he asked, glancing back at his notes. ”S’ it’s like...creation in it’s purest form…The base of all things, creation expressed in matter? So,” he tried at a connection, ”significant b’cause without it, transmutation would be impossible.” For all his trying, and elaborating on the effort, he could only hope he hadn’t made a fool of himself by missing the mark completely.

[Reliant]

Sir Drahon smiled at Klue's attempt to explain quicksilver and its important to alchemy. He was close, but like the saying goes - no cigar.

"Nice try, I admit it. You have a strong head on you my boy, you will make a fine alchemist indeed - to be able to rationalize and reason like you do. Though that was not the answer I was looking for, it was a very good attempt."

Sir Drahon sat up on his desk and clasped his hands together, pointing his fingers at Klue.

"Think of it this way: quicksilver being a person's personality. A person can be resistant to change, yet at the same time facilitate change. Usually mercury is used to associate different personalities, and how we may all be different, we always will have something in common, in some way or form."

Sir Drahon then went back to the board and tapped his piece of chalk on copper and iron.

"Copper and iron go hand in hand, so we will be covering both. Pure copper is a metal of reddish-pink hue, and has a warm, beneficial glow which contrasts with the cold glint of steel. With something made out of iron one may feel 'how strong' or 'how useful', whereas with something made out of copper, the first impression is more aesthetic. Whether it is a copper bowl, a trumpet, or a green-domed copper roof, it is the visual appearance rather than the utility of the metal which first strikes one. It is such a soft and pliable metal that it needs to be alloyed with other metals, into brass or bronze, before it can be used for a structural purpose."

Sir Drahon wrote:

COPPER - soft, pliable, aesthetic
IRON - hard, strength, power

"In an exhibition of mineral ores those of copper first attract the attention, providing a joy to the eye as do those of no other metal. Look at the delicate green-blue hues of malachite or azurite- how different from the massive, solid forms of the iron ores, pyrites or haematite! The pyrite crystals form perfect cubes, expressing martial power and strength. A contrast to this is the copper ore malachite, often cut and polished for decoration, to disclose its swirling patterns and sea-green hues. The names of the ores of copper point to gentle Venus qualities: azurite, malachite, turquoise, chalcopyrite and peacock ore. A room in which iron or steel predominates has the atmosphere of an office or a factory. It demands a mood of efficiency from us. A room in which copper predominates, in contrast, has a warm, homely atmosphere, in which we can relax."

The large man added to the board:

COPPER - rich, warm, homely
IRON - cold, heartless, emotionless

Sir Drahon went back to sitting on his desk and pointed to the aspects of copper and iron.

"So my boy, for copper we have: soft, pliable, aesthetic, rich, warm, and homely. For iron we have: hard, strength, power, cold, heartless, and emotionless. What aspects of our spirit could we apply this to in alchemy? Remember, think of other people and the personalities that they have to help get your answer."

[Klue Malinconico]

Resistant to change…Facilitate change…Mercury used to associate different metals…personalities. For the chaos of Klue’s notes, likely no one would be able to decipher them but him. This stuff was more complicated than he’d supposed. But he’d get his mind wrapped round it, even if he had to tangle of a knot of it in the process.

Copper-soft, pliable, aesthetic
Iron-hard, strength, power

Hand in hand, though they sounded much like opposites at the same time. So soft, copper, but it could be alloyed with other metals to make a stronger one…But iron, different story.

Copper-rich, warm, homely
Iron-cold, heartless, emotionless

Aspects of the spirit…Klue began drumming his fingers again, pondering the new question. Hand in hand, but in his mind, much like opposites. Copper could be alloyed with other metals to make something stronger…Iron was strong, least it seemed so. But personalities…”Well, they seem like opposites, from th’ d’scriptions. Copper seems more like th’ qualities I’d think of in a woman, iron more like a man’s traits…if I was t’ d’fine them by type.” Course, he didn’t know where that left male elves…or female dwarves….It was hard to tell the difference. But whatever the case, opposite traits, but hand in hand. ”By aspects of our spirit…Ye mean in a singular sense, or a collective one? Like, our spirits have both female and male traits or aspects? Or does it mean that one simply can’t exist without th’ other?”

[Reliant]

Sir Drahon grinned and smacked his hand against his knee congratulatory as if it was Klue’s back.

“Well done my boy. You’ve hit the nail on the head, as I’d like to say. Copper refers to women and iron refers to men. And yes, I speak of the feminine and masculine aspects of everyone’s spirit. Everyone should analyze the different aspects of emotion that reside within us.”

He walked back up to the chalkboard and pointed to gold.

“ Traditionally the noblest of the metals, gold expresses the splendour and radiance of the Sun. As the only metal which never tarnishes, it will resist the fiercest fire. Its sun-like nature is evident, for it needs to glitter in the sun to express itself, and has a unique relation to light and colour. The metal can be beaten out so thinly that it has hardly any solidity left, when it appears as gold by reflected light but green by transmitted light. Colloidal gold solutions, in dilutions of parts per 100 million, produce a wide variety of colours. From metallic gold one can obtain, so to speak, any colour under the sun: In gold we see the brilliance of the sun, but other rich colours are also seen in its colloidal solutions, ranging from greenish-blue, through reddish, violet-blue to pure rose – from the gold of a noonday sun to the radiant colours of sunset.”

Sir Drahon wrote next to gold.

GOLD – sun, bright, noble, radiant, colour

He turned to Klue.

“So my boy, what do you think is gold’s significance in alchemy?”

[Klue Malinconico]

Diana’s knickers, he’d gotten one right. A wide grin split the young human’s face and he adjusted his hat back on his head before scribbling down the proper notations next to copper and iron. None too soon either. Despite his keen interest in the subject and dogged determination to succeed, and succeed beyond the average expectation, Klue was starting to wonder if he was up to the challenge. Not that he’d ever have admitted it. Still, his enthusiasm seemed somewhat less, well, enthusiastic…and marked by a puzzled lift of one brow when the statement regarding female and masculine spirit was left hanging in the air.

So Sir Drahon was saying that everyone, including himself, had masculine and feminine aspects to their spirits. Not him, he couldn’t imagine. ”Ye mean ev’ryone, without exception, has feminine and masculine aspects of emotion?”

He’d leave that for pondering later then, try the idea on for size. Though if true it would be a fit that would take a little getting used to. Like a pair of trousers too short in the legs and baggy on the backside. You could wear 'em, sure, if you had enough self confidence to pull it off. Getting used to the notion was another story.

But gold…He moved down the list and took notes along the way. Sure, everyone understood the value of gold. Of it’s many possible varieties, colors and thickness, he wasn’t so familiar. Sun, Bright, Noble, Radiant, color, he scrawled next to the metal’s name, then thought on the question.

”It’s th’ most perfect of th’ metals, aye? Valuable, sought after…S’ it represents perfection of matter in any form. M’be,” he tried, though slightly less sure, ”including perfection of th’ mind an’ spirit as well. S’ if th’ alchemist seeks t’ transform matter int’ gold, b’cause of it’s perfection, then m’be he seeks a similar transformation of th’ soul as well?”

[Reliant]

Sir Drahon nodded with a smile and clapped his hand on the desk with Klue's question.

"Yes, my boy. Everyone has feminine and masculine aspects of emotion and qualities. Despite what others may say, of course. Masculinity and femininity are only absolutes our society has created. But one must be careful, feminine and masculine qualities are oft times hard to differentiate, as they can become intertwined."

The large man sat down and looked at his young pupil. He was grasping things quicker than most - and daresay he thought he was one of his best students yet.

"As for gold, son, you only have half of it. Yes, it represents perfection, and as much as alchemists strive to create gold, they also work to perfect their minds. But one must be careful with this, young Klue. Gold not only represents perfection, but greed as well."

He stood back up and jabbed at the air with his piece of chalk as he paced around the desk, almost with a new-found fervor.

"An analogy is used in the alchemical circle regarding this subject - that of a gold necklace. If worn outside the garments, it reflects the light of the suns, represting communal wealth and happiness. But if worn under the garments, nobody knows of it besides the wearer, not much unlike how tyrants lock their gold away in underground vaults. This, my boy, is greed. And so you see, gold is a sort of double-edged sword when it comes to alchemy. One must be careful to harness the knowledge that it provides, yet not fall victim to its temptations."

Sir Drahon stopped back in front of the board and pointed under gold to the next metal, tin.

"The next metal is tin. A main use of the metal tin is in the preserving of foodstuffs. Ale is usually drunk from pewter mugs, a tin-based alloy, to keep it fresh. Its traditional virtues – solidarity, lustre, practicality of use and handling, and no tarnishing keep it as a mainstay in goods production. Tin can be used for eating ware, cups, mugs, and a cart-full of other uses. It is the metal that can be essentially used for anything."

The man wrote beside tin.

TIN - solid, lustre, no tarnishing, practical

He turned to Klue and smiled.

"Alright, my boy, you know the deal now. What do you think of tin?"

[Klue Malinconico]

’…feminine and masculine qualities are oft times hard to differentiate, as they can become intertwined…’ That explained male elves then. Klue didn’t say as much of his uncharitable assessment, leaving the issue of feminine and masculine aspects by the wayside for now. It was a notion that would take some getting used to.

Instead, he fixed his curiosity on the next available subject…that being gold. Countless folk strived to get gold, through means both honest or not. Alchemists strived to create it…along with perfecting their minds. The former probably didn’t care much about the mind bit, long as the gold was in steady supply. He guessed he could count himself in the latter group then, if based on his thirst for knowledge. But the analogy puzzled him a bit, and he said as much.

”I understand th’ part about temptation, and th’ bit about what gold represents t’ th’ alchemist. But…If wearin’ it out of sight, keepin’ it t’ yerself is a form of greed…Considerin’ society’s love of and pursuit of wealth…couldn’t wearin’ it on th’ outside be considered a form of vanity as’well?”

But setting the question aside, he turned to the subject of tin and referred to his notes, scrawling his teacher’s words down in a way only he’d be able to decipher later. TIN: solid, luster, no tarnishing, practical. So, keeping things fresh, preserving them and keeping it’s shine…

He considered the question at length, and on the subject of the soul, he was having a time making the connection he’d made with the metals before…But on the practical side at least...”Might the alchemist use tin t’ coat or combine with other metals t’ protect them from corrosion, rust…t’ help preserve their properties an’ definitions? Like a preservative in regards t’ other metals…”

ooc: welcome back. =)