Glade 17th, Year 75, Age of Steel
The 17th of Glade saw a beautiful morning that was quickly ruined by being woken up at the crack of dawn to go hunt birds. Which usually would have been an easy task if it wasn't for the fact that Alyssum had no bow. So instead what it turned into was Alyssum running after Rúnar at five in the morning grabbing the birds that he was able to kill in his animal form. Something that Alyssum wasn't able to do because, surprise surprise, being fourteen meant she still had no transformation capabilities. At least it wasn't raining as hard as it had been a couple days ago. With that said, in spite of the rising sun the season was still following on the tail of Frost so the air nipped and bit at the tips of Alyssum's various bits and bobs. Her nose, her fingers, her ears, her tail.
Over all it led to her feeling very tired and irritated by the time they got back to the house a little past what she could only hazard a guess to be ten in the morning given the spot of the sun. "Why?" She asked as they stepped inside, unable to formulate any words past the first. She didn't even know where to begin crafting a statement that would express not only her confusion, but also her distress and distaste for the outing. Apparently something about he way she asked was funny because Rúnar looked at her for no more than half of a second before bursting into laughter.
"There's a reason, there's a reason. I promise. An alchemy related one, today is an important lesson. We can't waste daylight though. Pluck a handful of large looking feathers from the birds before leaving them in the kitchen. We'll dress them for dinner later, but for right now we'll use the feathers while they're fresh," he said as he disappeared deeper into the building in the direction of what Alyssum knew to be the lab. She didn't know what was so important about these stupid feathers. It wasn't like there was anything special about the birds themselves. A couple wild quail and ironically enough one of their namesake birds, a crow. She plucked a couple large feathers from each of the birds and said a quick thanks to Azunath the way that Isra taught her when she was little. There was no use in grieving as the creatures who wished to eat you surely wouldn't grieve, it was simply the way that things looked, but since mortals were smart enough to understand their actions it was only proper to give a quick thanks to the animal that was slain as well as their patron, Azunath. It was also proper not to waste any of the body parts if possible. Isra usually used bird feathers for blankets and bedding when they traveled. What they couldn't personally use, they sold.
Thinking back, the ended up selling a lot of things they hunted to alchemists. Things like bones, horns, and scales. The less there was left of a beast to bury, the better.
Alyssum wondered what the feathers were going to be for. After plucking a good handful of different, large feathers she followed the path that Rúnar had taken and found him already setting up the alchemy equipment and waiting for her. "Perfect, now grab the mortar and pestle and grind them up. Oh, don't look at me like that, yes it's possible. It's going to take you a while, but it's possible. While you work, I'll lecture."
She honestly should have been used to it at this point, but the word lecture was enough to elicit a heavy sigh on Alyssum's part as she put a couple of feathers into the mortar and pestle and started trying to grind them. Technically she supposed anything could be ground up into a powder with enough determination and arm strength, but why did it have to be feathers? This wasn't going to be fun, this wasn't going to be any fun at all, and if they needed feathers so desperately why couldn't they have just used her feathers. She had wings! Either unbeknownst or unbothered by Alyssum's internal dialogue, Rúnar started his lecture.
"Now, as you know by new, Alchemy is famous for its plethora of strange outcomes that can be achieved through the right blend of ingredients and time. People often talk about things like invisibility potions or potions that allow the drinker to fly," Rúnar paused, watching as Alyssum lit up slightly, eyes trailing towards the feathers being ground up. "Unfortunately, despite the number of people who'll claim otherwise, feathers alone aren't going to achieve that."
Then where the hell was he going with this lecture!?
Apparently Alyssum's thoughts showed perfectly on her expression because Rúnar immediately held up his hands in placating manner, smiling at her, though at the moment she was more prone to describing it as a smirk. "Relax, I'm getting there. Now, these potions are possible. Our ancestors were able to create things like true invisibility potions and potions that could give them flight. However, these were concoctions often exclusive to powerful experts and masters with access to rare and dangerous ingredients. People who'd spent their lives dedicated to the pursuit of alchemy and had turn discovered what was necessary to create some of these potions at the cost of countless lives. However, a lot of people will sell what we're making now as a flight potion even though it's far from the truth. I'll explain more once you're done grinding."
Alyssum nodded, working faster to try and grind the ingredients in the mortar into a fine powder. Once she was finished Rúnar quickly took the pestle and swept what she'd ground into the alembic before motioning for her to keep grinding up feathers while this batch brewed. Once the potions was completely done, just a rough single ingredient potion, Rúnar poured it into a small vial and held it out to Alyssum who's grinding paused. "Go on, drink it. The entire thing in one gulp." Now Alyssum wasn't stupid, but beyond her better judgement she trusted Rúnar so she took the cloudy vial, pressed it to her lips, and as commanded downed the entire thing in a single gulp.
She quickly realized why he'd told her to when the after taste hit her and her face screwed up. It was disgusting. She wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting, maybe for the ether to magically fix the flavor, but it tasted like ground up and boiled feathers whatever that tasted like. She couldn't compare it to anything she'd ever tasted before. Rúnar stifled a laugh and hit it under a cough before pointing at the counter. "Alright. Climb up on top of the work counter and jump off."
Alyssum didn't hesitate or need to be told twice because as smart as she was, she liked break rules and don't sit or stand on the counter had been one of the first once Rúnar was forced to teach her after realizing that Alyssum liked to perch herself in abnormal spots. Once up on the counter she threw herself off and towards Rúnar himself with reckless abandon. Only for her body to move sluggishly through the air the moment she wasn't touching the ground anymore. She began to panic and flail slightly, ears pressed flat to her head as she fell slowly but still feel, being caught by Rúnar at the last moment. Apparently he saw fit to watch her struggle in mid air for a couple seconds before plucking her from it.
"Fresh bird feathers often apply what can be considered slow falling. Unfortunately, a common business practice is for low level alchemists to market a lesser potion as something much greater, so most people refer to these as flying potions which gives the real deal quite the bad name. Something you'll discover is that our field is full of charlatans. A lot of people will fake a potion in order to get a quick coin, some going as far as to sell bottles of water and only make real potions for demonstration. That's why you'll find reputation to be something exceedingly important to an alchemist, especially if you don't intend to stay in one place for a long time. There are people who're going to fear and doubt you simply because you call yourself an alchemist and because your product is something consumable and easily made into a trick, a lot of people are going to be warry to say the least." Rúnar picked up the mortar and pestle after setting Alyssum down, scrapping her most recent grindings into the alembic to start the next batch, either to save or sell since there was no use in wasting ingredients.
"Of course, that doesn't mean everyone is a fake. Like I said it's possible to create "true" potions of flight or invisible. It just takes time and rare ingredients to accomplish. For example, the reason we couldn't use your feathers are because they're a rarer ingredient. Not to mention when you're older you'll need them. Trust me, the closer you get the 18, the closer you get to your coming of age, and the more you'll start acting like your animal. One day you'll want to fly. Or at the very least learn. If we used your feathers they'd create a stronger potion that additionally would have unknown effects where as quail and crow feathers are something I studied myself during my apprentice days," Rúnar said, only pausing for a moment to watch Alyssum jump up into the air a couple times to inspect the way she slowly floated back down. "That'll wear off soon," he said. She didn't know if it was just to inform her or act as a warning.
"How do you make a real flying potion?" Alyssum asked as she stopped jumping, admittedly a little worried by the semi-threat.
"There's a number of ways. There's limitless ingredients in the world, ones that have been documented and ones that haven't. Not to mention limitless combinations. It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish and how. Combining levitation with telekinetic could technically make a flying potion, but it would have be made especially carefully since those two effects tend to be stressful on the body. You could create a potion that would cause a pair of wings to sprout from the back of the person who drinks it, but those wings would only be temporary and would be reliant on the physical strength of the person who drank it. While it's possible to cause bodily augmentations through the use of alchemy, never forget that anything done to the body by alchemy will inevitably be temporary. Better eye slight, new limbs, anything like that will wear off after a given amount of time. The only way she change the body permanently is to learn Necromancy, which you eventually will. Once I finish that anesthetic one of the local necromantic doctors agreed to take you on as an apprentice aid. You have to treat it by a job, but it would ultimately be tutoring for free. It wouldn't be until you've gotten a good alchemical base either, so we've still got plenty of time."
Alyssum nodded quietly, zoning out slightly as she watched the liquid in the alembic boil along. She wondered just what she'd be able to make one day, what people would consider to be the worth of her potions and the strength of her reputation. The liquid in the alembic boiled along quietly, refusing to answer her musings.
