Live Reagents, Locally Sourced

[Kisaik]

11th of Saun 719

The tunawa had been getting ready for his first class the last ten trials. He was nervous about it, more than a little. He knew a bit of alchemy, a bit of hedge wizardry, but he didn’t know how the Videnese approached alchemy. He supposed it must have been in a very clinical, scientific style as befitted a society that held higher knowledge above all things.

Kisaik for his part loved the freedom of hedge alchemy, using the alignment of the stars or the direction of the south wind to influence the result of an alchemical experiment. He had a few ideas of his own, coming into class, and so he might have to unlearn a few things, in order to have a good exam, and study under the Videnese.

So, he strode into the classroom. He’d left his animals behind, instead using his stilt-like legs to carry him to class. He used his newfound ability to stretch to fantastic lengths, making each of them three feet long, giving him the walk speed of any human of modest height.

He walked all the way to the classroom himself. When he arrived, he took a seat at a nearby table that was arrayed with all manner of alchemical equipment. He walked atop it, and then let his legs retract to ordinary proportions. This done, he looked around, to see where the teach was, and where the other students might be.

He half hoped he might be the only other student, and so get special attention. At the same time, he was a little apprehensive at the thought of being the only one. The Videnese had given him strange looks, as if they’d never seen a tunawa. What if one of them got the idea to use him as an alchemical reagent! What a strange adventure that would be!

[Doran]

The alchemist that was known as the Hero of Oscillus among the people of Etzos walked through the hallways of the Viden Academy at a brisk pace, nodding at the people that he passed by, but never stopping as he saw no point in engaging in small talk, not when he had work to do. That trial, he would be teaching a group of relative beginners. As he pushed the door to the classroom open, he idly wondered how many of his students would accidentally set themselves on fire this time. Half of them – or maybe more?

He approached his desk that was located at the front of the classroom, put the books that he had been carrying down and let his gaze sweep across the young mortals that were gathered in front of him, judging them, appraising them – only to focus his entire attention on … Was that a Tunawa? Yes, he decided, it was most definitely was. What was it doing here?

“I had no idea that your kind practiced alchemy”, he remarked dryly and somewhat coolly, furrowing his brow barely noticeably because the creature was sitting on the desk rather than behind it. In all of his four centuries he had never even considered teaching a Tunawa. In his opinion, their academic potential was negligible. They were good test subjects, and they made for interesting pets, but not much more than that.

He didn’t say that out loud though, of course. He found too overt a display of racism to be distasteful. Instead, he simply extended a hand and signaled for Kisaik to come closer which, he realized, would take the creature some effort due to its height – or rather, the lack thereof.

Not that he cared.

“Seeing as this is an introductory class of sorts, I thought that I would start by asking you all a few questions in order to determine the extent of your knowledge. Tunawa”, he said as he didn’t know the creature’s name and wasn’t sure if it mattered. “Can you define ‘chemistry’ for me, tell me what the difference between chemistry and alchemy is and why neither of these subjects are magic?”

[Kisaik]

Kisaik had lived a fairly sheltered life most of the time, oblivious of the great figures in the world. But even so, some names were passed down even to his kind through osmosis. Names such as Faith, Noth, and many others. As the man strode into the classroom, Kisaik thought he should know who he was. But couldn’t place the face. And anyway, he could scarcely tell one human from another on his most perceptive moments.

”Oh yah, I do alchemy forcycles now. I learned trade in Yaralon.” Kisaik told Doran with a smile. His common was atrocious, but hopefully the meaning of his statements shone through, ”I’m Kisaik.”

When Doran extended his hand for Kisaik to come closer, Kisaik nodded, and jumped down to the floor. In a few moments, his legs grew two feet each. That done, he sprung like a grasshopper, jumping to the top of Doran’s desk. Once there, he let his legs shrink back to normal proportions, and took a bow, his mossy armor creaking somewhat with the motion.

That done, he sat down, and listened to the professor’s question. He gave it some thought. Hadn’t he heard this question before? Oh yes, his first lesson with Rabu! Mistress Gwenum had asked them nearly the exact same question. And he remembered the answers and correction she’d given them.

”Chemistry be da way da things in da world work with each other, how ice melts, how it hardens, how a liquid turn to vapor. A chemist know and understand these tings. Alchemy uses dat knowledge to apply some effects to other tings, called mediums. Like making clothes fire proof. Make things glow, make heavy tings light.” Kisaik wrung his hands nervously, hoping he’d explained it well enough in common. He could recall how Mistress Gwenum put it to them, but the translation to common was challenging.

There was another part of his question, one that he didn’t know. How was Alchemy not magic? He was troubling that he hadn’t considered that. He always thought of Alchemy as a sort of magic.

”Hmmm, alchemy and chemistry not magic, cuz…” Here he scratched his beard of lichen, thinking on it a good few moments, ”Magic is a spark, that lives in dah mage, giving dem special power dat grows with use. Alchemy’s power only gets bigger wit knowledge and skill?”

[Doran]

The son of Ziell did not discriminate against people based on factors they didn’t have any control over. He didn’t care if the person he was talking to was a Human, an Eidisi or maybe an Yludih – and questions of gender, age and sexual orientation mattered little to him. The problem was that he didn’t consider Tunawa real people, but thought that they were somewhere between animals and the spirits he had sometimes briefly had contact with.

He didn’t return Kisaik’s smile, but simply watched the creature coolly. He’d expected it to struggle to walk over to his desk. For that reason, his eyes briefly widened as its legs suddenly grew to an enormous length before his face settled into its usual, neutral expression again. “Becoming?” he asked, raising an eyebrow fractionally as the creature jumped onto his desk and bowed. That the creature was capable of doing magic – it seemed like the most logical explanation to him – came as a bit of a surprise to him.

But then again, allying yourself with what was essentially a parasite that changed your mind as well as your body in return for certain abilities wasn’t necessarily a sign of intelligence.

“That is …” he replied somewhat hesitantly. “… correct”, he finished, wondering if Kisaik had just come up with the answer now or if it had heard it all before. Even certain birds could repeat what you said to them. What would happen if he asked the creature another question? Would it be able to answer that as well – in that dreadful accent it had that would make him pull his hair out if he possessed just a little less self-control?

“There is another scientific discipline that overlaps with both chemistry and alchemy – as well as medicine – though. It will be the topic of today’s lesson”, he spoke and signaled for the Tunawa to stay lest it thought that it was allowed to leave now - just because it had answered a few comparatively easy questions. “Does anybody have an idea which one I mean?” he wanted to know, addressing the entirety of his class for a moment.

“Pharmacology?” an Eidisi boy guessed.

“Biology!” an Ellune exclaimed.

“No, toxicology!” a human girl with brown hair and blue eyes disagreed.

“Toxicology”, the Mortalborn confirmed and nodded. “Some knowledge of toxins is essential for alchemists and chemists as well as doctors to have and can often make the difference between life and death. Of course”, he informed the students dryly. “I will focus on the different types of toxins and what to do in case you come in contact with a toxin rather than on poisoning others as I doubt that the Dean would approve of my doing the latter.”

“Kisaik”, he addressed the Tunawa, deciding that he might as well make use of the only real skill that his race possessed. “Since your kind seem to have a special relationship with poisons, you will be my assistant during today’s lesson. Can you tell me what the difference between chemistry and toxicology is, what they have in common – and what happens when one of your kind ingests a poison?” he wanted to know, idly wondering if he’d possibly be able to create a potion that would give him the same ability with the creature’s blood.

Such a thing would be rather useful.

[Kisaik]

"Becoming what?" Kisaik asked in turn, wondering what the teach was talking about. It wasn't magic that grew his legs to greater proportions. In truth while his kind were capabale of stretching their limbs on demand, ever since his encounters in the fairy circle, Kisaik had found that he was able to do it much... better and more quickly than them. Albeit the use of this ability left him with a sweet tooth.

"Are you talking about magic? Tunawa can not learn magic, Sir." Kisaik said cautiously, wondering if that was what he meant.

Kisaik was happy that he answered correctly, and beamed once more. His ephemera and sense of enthusiasm filled the room, perhaps spreading to his classmates, some of whom would be tempted to giggle at the tunawa's antics inexplicably.

"Hmmm... toxic... Poisons? I know poisons." Kisaik replied. He'd studied under Gwenum for seasons, and had learned quite a bit about them. He wasn't sure what the difference his teach was driving at for him to explain, so he did as well as he could with what he did know.

"Different between poison and chemist... Chemist is canopy over many teachings. Poison but one of dem. Poison attacks life, interrupts life in some ways. Sometimes, in small enough drops, a poison can help breeze life toward balance."

"Chemistry be gray in leaf. Chemistry is tool in hands of poisoner and alchemist too. Where chemistry deal with substance, poison throws a chip into life workings of different beings. Dey have different order and purpose."

"What happen when Tunawa eat poison? What happen when Tunawa eat anyting? We can grow sometings dat we can mix into an antidote. Also, Tunawa can grow any plant we know the taste of, in a few days time depending on how good gardens we keeps."

[Doran]

“I see“, the Mortalborn murmured as Kisaik informed him that Tunawa could not learn magic and regarded the creature thoughtfully for a moment as he wondered if whatever kept it from using magic could be removed – through surgical or alchemical means – and if its strange ability might be the result of a Blessing of sorts. He knew from experience that his father’s people sometimes bestowed their gifts unto the strangest of creatures and chose obviously incompetent individuals to fight their battles for them.

“Toxic and poisonous are synomyms”, he informed Kisaik in a matter-of-fact tone and added, seeing as the creature might not know what a synonym was, “That means that they can be used interchangeably for the most part.” He furrowed his brow barely noticeably as he listened to the creature’s next series of answers and wondered about its failure to use articles. Did it even know what words such as “a”, “an” and “the” were good for?

It was doubtful.

“That is one possible definition”, he informed Kisaik, again mildly surprised, but not yet sure about the creature’s intellectual capacity. “You could also say that toxicology deals with the adverse effects of chemical substances. I mentioned toxins before”, he continued and looked at a group of students that had started to giggle at the Tunawa’s antics somewhat coolly, a sign that he disapproved of their behaviour.

He did not find Kisaik funny at all.

“Toxins are poisonous substances produced by living organisms while toxicants are created artificially. Both toxins and toxicants can be delivered in a number of different ways: through the blood stream, through the air, through contact, or they can be ingested. As Kisaik has just told us, poison cannot harm Tunawa. I could feed Kisaik a substance that would kill most of us within a few bits, for example, and nothing would happen as he would immediately produce an antidote.”

“Of course”, he informed the students that had finally stopped giggling. They were paying attention and looking at him rather fascinatedly now. Arcs of being a teacher had made him realize that young people quite enjoyed hearing about things that could kill you – but turned into a bunch of cowards the moment they actually had to deal with them.

“We don’t store such substances in the classroom where people that aren’t qualified to handle them can easily access them. I will show you a different kind of poison though – a poison that is not deadly”, he spoke, walked over to a cupboard, unlocked it and returned with a bowl that was filled with … nuts. About half a dozen shimmering over-sized nuts were lying in the bowl, looking rather harmless and delicious.

Some of the students looked confused, some of them sighed with disappointment because he was showing them stupid nuts instead of something flashy and dangerous looking, and yet others continued to watch him excitedly. A few seasons prior, he had amazed Viden with a magnificent display of fireworks, so whatever he had in mind now was bound to be good.

Right?

“Some things, like these Fist Nuts here, can be both a poison and a medicine”, the Mortalborn explained and held a nut up so that everybody could see it. “Sometimes, it is the dosage that makes the poison. Fist Nuts can help blood coagulation, but they can also cause dangerous blood clots, kidney stones, severe constipation and stomach problems. You do not want to give yourself kidney stones. Passing kidney stones can be extremely painful, and if the stones are too large, surgery may be necessary”, he spoke. He’d had a patient once that had been in so much pain that he had screamed the entire time and hadn’t even wanted to see his wife when she had visited him in hospital. Of course, he thought, some of his students likely wouldn’t believe that kidney stones really were that bad. They were just some kind of stones, weren’t they?

What harm could stones cause?

“If they are prepared a certain way, Fist Nuts can furthermore be used to sweeten pastries or turned into a potent alchemical binder. They are in fact one of the most versatile reagents that are at our disposal, believe it or not”, he informed the students before he unceremoniously dumped the nut into the bowl again and placed the bowl right in front of Kisaik who might or might not begin to wonder if being asked to play the Mortalborn’s assistant for the trial was a good thing or not.

“There is a steamer right here”, he told the Tunawa and pointed at what looked like two small pots stacked on top of each other. At least they would look small to a human, but Kisaik would find that they came up to his chest.

“I want you to take the nuts, put them into the steamer and steam them for approximately ten bits”, Doran ordered him. “I don’t know what kind of equipment you normally use, but I can assure you that you will not always have Tunawa-sized equipment at your disposal”, he informed Kisaik coolly. If the creature insisted on becoming an alchemist, it would be best to confront it with reality now, he decided.

“As I mentioned before - and as Kisaik here told us as well”, he continued. “Tunawa are naturally capable of producing antidotes – which are one way of dealing with exposure to a poisonous substance. Would you mind showing us how you go about producing an antidote, Kisaik?” he asked – as if he were actually giving the creature a choice. “I think the entire class would benefit from a brief demonstration of your … ability. This would be a unique opportunity for all of us. There are few Tunawa students at the Institute of Sciences after all.”

He’d known what Tunawa could do for a while, but up to now he hadn’t been able to actually watch since he hadn’t had access to any such test subjects. As he waited for Kisaik to speak, he wondered if he’d be able to take the antidote and replicate it, thus making the usual, lengthy research process that was involved in the creation of an antidote superfluous or at least shorten it. Such would make his tiny student at least somewhat useful.

[Kisaik]

"Yes, it may be our connection to spirits. Magic protection is bound to our souls." So saying, Kisaik hoped he was convincing. He didn't need the secret that he'd learned rupturing a few seasons ago, to get out.

"Synonyms..." Kisaik repeated, and scratched his beard. Then he nodded at the man's explanation. After a moment, the tunawa frowned, then his expression suddenly brightened as he remembered a trinket he owned. "Just a moment please!" He took out his domain bag, and began rifling through it. Within a few moments, he retrieved what looked like a mirror pendant, nothing special by it's look except that it resembled a cage of some sort. When he put it around his neck, Kisaik beamed triumphantly. "There." He said in tree-talk, complete with chirps and growls, but Doran might be surprised to find that he understood the tunawa perfectly well. "Now we should be able to talk more freely!"

Thus continued the lesson.

He furrowed his brow as he listened to the long explanation of what Toxins, and the distinction between they and toxicants. "Well... You're not wrong Professor, certainly, about us being able to grow components that can be blended and mixed into something that becomes an antidote... However, it's only a component of an antidote, and not a direct cure. It still requires refinement before it'll cure the poison."

Kisaik looked with concern at the rest of the students, hoping the disinformation didn't spread to a wider audience. "It takes roughly a trial or two for me to grow a berry that might be turned into a component." There was more to what Kisaik and other tunawa could grow from their buds and hairs and scalps, but he'd leave it until it became relevant to bring up.

Kisaik nodded when Doran assured him the poison would not be deadly. "Then we put ourselves in your hands, I suppose, Professor."

When the time came for Kisaik to operate equipment, he rubbed his tiny hands together in excitement. He was very pleased and looking forward to learning more about alchemical processes, how they related to chemistry and poison. "Very well!" His exuberant ephemera spread throughout the room, and if those present didn't check themselves, they might find themselves caught up in his enthusiasm.

First, Kisaik attached a heat source to the steamer, making sure that the heat source was not active. Once he was sure it was inactive, he attached it, and then provided fuel for it.

He walked over to the steamer, carrying fist nuts, and placed them carefully, distributing them evenly throughout. Then, he began putting a bit of water in the tray beneath, which would heat as the steamer was activated and the heat source began running to boiling temperatures.

He wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of using fire, but it was a necessary evil in instances such as this.

Once he was done, he waited for them to steam, and then went on to address the issue of a demonstration. "Well Professor? I'm afraid my gardening skill is not up to the task of immediately bringing up an antidote berry. However, if I come back the next day, I might have something that will suffice? All I need do is taste the poison you intend to use, not necessarily the constituent component but the fully refined toxin, so the antidote will be precisely adequate to fighting the poison."

[Doran]

As Kisaik produced some sort of bag and started to rifle through it, the Mortalborn watched the creature with mild annoyance, wondering if Kisaik would suddenly pop a candy into his mouth or do something similarly rude and pointless. When the Tunawa removed a pendant from the bag instead though, he raised an eyebrow. “This is most interesting”, he remarked. The tone of his voice remained comparatively cool, but there was a light smile on his face now. “Alchemy or some sort of artifact?” he wanted to know.

Neither Kisaik’s correct answers nor his abilities or his sense of humor had been able to convince him that the Tunawa might be anything but a useful test subject, some sort of highly intelligent animal, but as he looked at the pendant around the creature’s neck, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to Kisak than met the eye. Most test subjects didn’t own obviously valuable magic items after all. Of course, that didn’t change anything about his desire to find out how exactly the Tunawa’s abilities worked.

“I see”, he remarked a Kisaik claimed that it took it a trial or two to grow a berry and furrowed his brow, wondering if the creature was telling him the truth or not. He was, he had to admit, somewhat disappointed, although it might be entirely possible to speed the process up with a potion. In fact, he had already begun to mentally compile a list of reagents that might have such an effect.

While most of the students laughed with delight as Kisaik operated the steamer – his enthusiasm was quite infectious, and he was just so cute – the Mortalborn watched him calmly and with just a hint of surprise. He had to admit, he had not thought that Kisaik would be able to handle the equipment that was much too big for him as well as he did.

“If you come back tomorrow and show the antidote to me, it will suffice”, he decided after he had pondered what he had heard for a few moments. “I’ll take over again now if you don’t mind. The next part is unfortunately somewhat … delicate …”

“If you steam the Fist Nuts”, he spoke, addressing the entirety of the class once more. “They release a fluid that can be collected. The fluid is the toxic component. Once it has been removed, the nuts are safe for consumption.” Having said that, he carefully removed the nuts from the steamer in order to process them. “If anybody wants to give the nuts a taste, feel free to come to my desk after we are done here”, he informed them, wondering if any of these mortals would be brave enough to do so.

He doubted it.

A few bits passed before the Mortalborn presented a vial that was with a milky white liquid to Kisaik. “This is the toxin”, he informed him. “Will that suffice, or do you need more in order to produce your antidote?” he wanted to know and raised an eyebrow.

[Kisaik]

"Oh..." Kisaik held up his necklace, for the Professor to take a good look at. "It's actually a artifact! I'm not sure if there's alchemy to it... I woke up with it around my neck after a strange dream."

When it came time for the Professor to take back the reins of his lesson, Kisaik returned to his desk. He stretched his legs so he could grab onto the surface. Then he crawled up onto it.

Kisaik took mental notes of what one does with the steaming of fist nuts. Fluid gets released, the fluid is the toxin. Once removed, the nuts are safe.

Then, the lesson ended. Few of the students seemed daring enough to try the fist nuts, but Kisaik went right up to the Professor's desk. Lengthening his arm, he snatched one of the nuts and stuffed bits of it into his thorn-like teeth. Thus tasted, he'd now be able to grow the Fist Nuts himself, in his own hair. Being a tunawa had its perks. Even though a corrupted magical and possibly spawn of the Immortals. He hadn't forgotten that episode with Aelig in the Fairy Realm.

Kisaik let his arm retract, and then lengthened his legs so that he stood over Doran's desk. There, he planted his torso onto the surface, and climbed atop it. He recieved the toxin sample from Doran, and nodded after giving it a good drink. "Mmm, quite the bite to this toxin! Goes well with the flesh of the nut, though."

In a couple days, he'd return to Doran, with a berry that could be mixed into an antidote. If Doran was shrewd, and he was, he could use the berry to plant a shrubbery. That would provide endless supply of antidote berries against the toxin of the fist nut.

[Strange]

Thread Review

Kisaik

Kisaik

Skill Points: +15 (cannot be used for magic)
Magic XP: None

Renown: +5 (being a Tunawa student at Academy of Viden with them legs)

Injuries/Overstepping: None.
Wealth Points: None.
Loot: +Steamed Fist Nuts

Skill Knowledge:

• Chemistry: Definition
• Poisons: Toxicology deals with the adverse effects of chemical substances
• Poisons: Toxins are produced by living organisms
• Poisons: Toxicants are created artificially
• Poisons: Different delivery methods
• Poisons: Fist Nut: Uses
• Poisons: Fist Nut: How to remove the toxin
• Poisons: Sometimes the dosage makes the poison
• Poisons: Sometimes only a part of something is poisonous
• Gardening: Fist Nut: A tasty nut with a toxin inside that can be steamed out of it.

Non-Skill Knowledge:

• Doran: A grumpy professor.
• Doran: Knows an awful lot about chemistry and alchemy.
• Doran: Now knows more about tunawa.
• Doran: Is a curious sort of person.
• Viden: Academy gives classes in Alchemy and toxicology.

Notes: n/a.
Skills Used: Competent Chemistry: (26x/11k); Competent Gardening: (51x/19k); Novice Poisons: (20x/6k); Competent Acrobatics: (26x/23k)
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Player Word Count: 1947 words.

Doran

Doran

Skill Points: +15 (cannot be used for magic)
Magic XP: None

Renown: None.

Injuries/Overstepping: None.
Wealth Points: None.
Loot: +Fist Nut toxin antidote components

Skill Knowledge:

• Chemistry: Definition
• Poisons: Toxicology deals with the adverse effects of chemical substances
• Poisons: Toxins are produced by living organisms
• Poisons: Toxicants are created artificially
• Poisons: Different delivery methods
• Poisons: Fist Nut: Uses
• Poisons: Fist Nut: How to remove the toxin
• Poisons: Sometimes the dosage makes the poison
• Poisons: Sometimes only a part of something is poisonous

Non-Skill Knowledge:

• Kisaik: Tunawa
• Kisaik: Alchemy student
• Kisaik: Has strange abilities
• Kisaik: Has a magic item that translates what he says
• Tunawa: Cannot learn magic
• Tunawa: Can produce antidotes
• Tunawa: Can grow any plant they know the taste of

Notes: n/a.
Skills Used: GM Alchemy (250x/94k), GM Chemistry (100x/52k), Expert Medicine (76x/43k), Expert Teaching (76x/41k), Competent Poisons (26x/13k).
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Player Word Count: 2542 words.

What an unexpectedly fun thread. The immediate potential for conflict between Kisaik's naive enthusiasm and Doran's brusque assumptions toward Tunawa was a wonderful starting premise. It would have been easy to make things go very smoothly, and without tension, for the both of them.

Instead, you both played to your characters consistently through-out. At the same time, the class itself proved informative with the in-world lore and provided additional knowledge to both Kisaik and Doran! Tunawa definitely can come in handy for science...

Great job the both of you and enjoy your rewards!

PM me if you have any questions, issues or concerns.

Total Word Count: 4,489 words.

Review Request Link: viewtopic.php?p=135975#p135975
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