The Ropes

[Goku]

Goku paid for his meal, listening intently to Lumina's explanation. He nodded, finding her plan logical. "That's a good idea," he said, his voice filled with enthusiasm. "I might be able to fly up high and spot the fractures from afar. If I can get a bird's eye view, it might make finding those fractures a lot easier. It could help scout the surrounding threats as well."

Curiosity got the better of him as he looked at the stone in his hand again. "So, what happens after cutting the stone?" he asked, his mind already racing ahead to the next steps. Lumina hadn’t responded when he had asked earlier.

Remembering Lumina's earlier comment about having to leave soon, Goku thought it was important to clarify their timeline. "Hey Lumina, when do you have to go?" he asked. "I know you're on a schedule, and we need to make the most of the time we have with you. Do you want us to work on anything while you’re gone? Luvi might be busy but I’m free for most of the day." His plans were to find out where the formal magical education was taught in the city but if he could learn together with Luvi then he would for as long as he could. He didn’t like learning on his own and he did not remember liking his school days back home.

“And, Luvi, what’s this about drills? I thought you had some time off for now to recover from the desert trip.”

[Illuvia]

Lumina cleared her throat from her oily food and said, “the cutting and tapping process is repeated until the desired shape is obtained.”

Luvi groaned as she set aside the practice stone. “You mean you keep doing this over and over? This is going to take an eternity.”

“It takes as long as it takes. Even then, you’re not finished. After that there’s even more tapping – a little different from what I’ve taught you so far. It’s more forceful and a lot more complicated, but I don’t know how to teach it. I’ll have to show you once we obtain a well.”

Lumina looked to Goku, getting to her feet. “I’ve actually got to go now. Here’s a book I want Luvi to study and it wouldn’t hurt if you read along. It’s about alchemy. You might as well learn a little about it because I expect we will be picking up reagents while we’re out and about.”

“Thanks for today,” Luvi said with a wave as Lumina hurried off.

Luvi said to Goku, “to answer your question, I’m technically off but there’s drills that I have to attend later. I’m just a private – I think they prefer if we use our down time to train. I haven’t had a good sword match since I enlisted but I’m hopeful I might fight against someone unique.”

She looked at the book Lumina had left and pulled it over. It wasn’t that large and judging by the title it likely contained introductory information about alchemy. “She’s giving me homework now. If she keeps this up I’m going to assign her physical training.”

[Goku]

Goku watched as Luvi groaned and set aside the practice stone, clearly frustrated. "I know it seems like this is going to take forever, but trust me, it'll all be worth it in the end. Patience is key.”

As Lumina prepared to leave, Goku turned to her and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you for your time today, Lumina. We really appreciate it. We'll make sure to study the book you lent us."

"While you're training, I might read up a little. We can help each other out. And yeah, you should definitely give Lumina some kind of exercise regimen. She's working your brain pretty hard, so it's only fair, right?"

He picked up the book and moved to sit next to Luvi. "Let's read this together. It'll make it more fun and we can help each other understand it better." Goku flipped open the book and settled in beside her, both of them peering at the first page.

The book started with simple recipes, such as applying oil to leather to make it waterproof. Goku read aloud, "The first step in alchemy is often the simplest. To waterproof leather, you need to apply a specific type of oil. This process involves..."

As he continued reading, Goku found himself getting more interested. "Wow, who knew there was so much to learn just from something as simple as oiling leather? This could really come in. Imagine if we can make all our gear waterproof. It'd save us a lot of trouble in the field, especially in the spring."

[Illuvia]

Luvi inclined her head, “then so be it, I’ll have some words with her later today. But for now…” she waited as Goku came to sit by her. When he opened the book the two of them started to study.

Luvi was not a fast reader by any means. She was literate, but she had little experience in academia aside from the normal amount of schooling. The terminology in an alchemy book, even for beginners, was difficult for her to grasp. It was well written to allow her to understand some of the basics, such as what Goku pointed out. The idea she was getting from this chapter was that alchemy was just a way of applying properties from one thing to another.

“That does make sense,” Luvi said, “when I think alchemy, I think of strange potions and concoctions. But really, even simple things like an oil can be considered alchemical. It really gets me thinking…”

She continued to read other examples, like how a smith could take properties from various metals to make a superior product, like steel. “I like how the book dumbs it down for us,” she said, “I can actually wrap my head around these concepts. But at the same time, I don’t know where to go from here. Lumina said something about reagents, what does that even mean in this context? Ingredients for alchemical solutions and the like?”

Her question was answered in the next chapter, which stated that reagents were similar to ingredients that could be just about anything. Rocks, sticks, even a piece of paper. Everything in this world had properties and could conceivably pass those properties on with the right recipe.

[Goku]

Goku continued reading the book, impressed by how clear and logical the explanations were. "This book makes remarkable sense," he said, thinking aloud. "I wish I had a notebook to take notes. There’s so much valuable information here, and I don’t want to forget any of it."

He turned to Luvi with a determined look. "Tell you what, I’ll go pick up some paper and pens for our next study session. That way, we can jot down important points and make sure we remember everything. It’ll help us keep track of what we’re learning."

Flipping to the next chapter, Goku saw it was about mediums; things like powders, cloth, and glass. He read through the introduction with growing interest. "Alright, let’s see what this chapter has to say."

The chapter began by explaining that mediums are materials used to transfer or enhance the properties of other items in alchemical processes. Goku found the detailed descriptions fascinating. "So, it’s like using different ingredients in cooking, but for alchemy," he said.

Next, the book covered the use of cloth as a medium. Goku learned that certain fabrics could be treated to imbue them with magical properties. "So, if we treat cloth with the right substances, we can create enchanted garments or tools. That’s interesting." Moving on to the section about glass, Goku read about how glass could be used to contain and concentrate magical energies.

He paused to consider the practical applications of what he was reading. Then he got to his feet. “This is a good stopping point I think. I’ll be in the area come evening.” He smiled at Luvi and got going.

[Illuvia]

Luvi had understood reagents somewhat well, but moving onto mediums made her head spin. It seemed as though the process of alchemy revolved around taking properties from reagents and applying them to other things. It seemed as though ‘mediums’ were these ‘other things.’ So, using the oily leather example from the book, the leather would be the medium.

“So, hides can be used as mediums,” she said, mostly to herself. She was so focused that she almost didn’t hear Goku’s words.

“Yes, that would be nice. Paper and pens… you could probably bring your grimoire as well. There might be a way of mixing hone and alchemy.” She rubbed her eyes while Goku read ahead.

She continued, “this book has so much to read and I feel as though we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what alchemy is capable of. Properties from quite literally anything seems to be able to be applied to quite literally anything else. I honestly don’t know what else we can gleam from a book. I feel as though we’re going to need Lumina to walk us through some practical applications before long.”

“The question is, how difficult is it to obtain these reagents and how much of a pain is it to process them? If it’s going to be as difficult as cutting a well then we might have our work cut out for us,” she added with another groan.

She got to her feet right after Goku, realizing that it was nearly time for drills to start. “I will wander around back here when I’m done, if I’ve got the energy to. See you soon!”

[Illuvia]

Rewards Requested

Notes/Warnings: This thread is about learning ensorcelling and alchemy (and some smithing). Lumina is an npc who's information is located in this link

Thread: The Ropes
City/Area: Korlasir

Illuvia:

Used:
Detection: Novice
Ensorcelling: Novice
Alchemy: Novice

Knowledge:
Detection: looking for tiny details
Ensorcelling: the cutting process
Ensorcelling: after cutting, one must do deep tapping – a more forceful form of tapping
Ensorcelling: steps often have to be repeated to ensure perfection
Ensorcelling: wells are not equal – they come in different classes of power
Ensorcelling: Glowstone is found in fractures that occur in open spaces
Ensorcelling: Mountainstone can be found in mountains
Alchemy: the recipe for a waterproofing oil-based solution
Alchemy: is about applying properties from one medium to another
Alchemy: metals can be mixed to achieve superior properties
Alchemy: reagents can be just about anything
Alchemy: mediums are what reagents are applied to
Alchemy: mediums can be hides

Goku:

Used:
Strength: Expert
Endurance: Expert
Ensorcelling: Novice
Alchemy: Novice

Knowledge:
Smithing: x4
Endurance: x1
Strength: x1
Ensorcelling: x3
Alchemy: x4

Renown: none
Do you want this to be considered for Mark Progression? (Y / N) N
If any PC in this thread is in a faction, please list them: Luvi is in the eternal empire army
Faction Points: None
Wealth Points: None
Collaboration: Yes
Local Language Thread? (Yes - Name of Language / No)

!	Message from: Doran
	Done!

[Doran]

Illuvia:

Knowledge:
Detection: looking for tiny details
Ensorcelling: the cutting process
Ensorcelling: after cutting, one must do deep tapping – a more forceful form of tapping
Ensorcelling: steps often have to be repeated to ensure perfection
Ensorcelling: wells are not equal – they come in different classes of power
Ensorcelling: Glowstone is found in fractures that occur in open spaces
Ensorcelling: Mountainstone can be found in mountains
Alchemy: the recipe for a waterproofing oil-based solution
Alchemy: is about applying properties from one medium to another
Alchemy: metals can be mixed to achieve superior properties
Alchemy: reagents can be just about anything
Alchemy: mediums are what reagents are applied to
Alchemy: mediums can be hides

Loot: -
Language -
Losses: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

Goku:

Knowledge:
Smithing: x4
Endurance: x1
Strength: x1
Ensorcelling: x3
Alchemy: x4

Loot: -
Language -
Losses: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

- - -

Comments: Luvi and Goku really seem to be determined to master all the skills there are! I like how they always seem to learn something new and find new challenges!

What I enjoyed about this thread was how you managed to tie both Luvi’s alchemy and ensorcelling training and Goku’s smithing training together and even paid attention to the fact that it can be very loud in a smithy!

Although Goku took an interest in Ensorcelling and Alchemy later on as well …

Practicing Novice Ensorcelling on a rock is totally fine (and much safer than the real deal!). I did the same for one of my PCs’ first lesson. And working on wells is kind of like sculpting. That’s the impression I had as well!

I appreciate that Luvi and Goku struggled a bit. I disagree, by the way. Luvi may be a better fighter and mage, but she’s not totally hopeless when it comes to crafts in my opinion!

That being said, I hope that Luvi and Goku will practice real alchemy in the future rather than just learning from a book (which is fine on occasion in my opinion, at least at Novice).

Enjoy your rewards!