Thaumaturgy/AlchemyGreymane

First Circle Formulas

Flea Dust
Alchemy: 1
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 1
Cost of Materials: 1
Effects: A favored tool of Scavenger Lords and vicious pranksters alike, Flea Dust is a particularly potent itching powder. Crafted from ash, crushed chilies, dead biting insects, and a pinch of firedust, the dust composed of fine red and black granules that feel akin to hot sand. Flea Dust smells strongly of pepper and ash and even breathing in too deeply with an unopened packet near your face can result in a sneeze. It is stored in palm sized packets of paper or thin cloth that can burst open easily with a strong enough impact. When thrown, the packet dissolves into gritty gray cloud that fades swiftly. Targets may dodge or parry the hurled packet, but parrying without a stunt causes the packet to burst open as well. Those struck by a packet are overcome with a relentless itching and burning sensation, accruing a -2 penalty to their dice actions due to the sheer distraction. Targets must also roll a reflexive Wits + Awareness at difficulty 2. Failure means the dust has also gotten into their eyes or lungs, resulting in an additional -2 to their Perception and Awareness rolls from the horrible burning sensations and endless sneezing and coughing. If they succeed in a Stamina + Resistance roll against these torturous effects, both the potential penalties are reduced to only -1. The effects last six turns or until the target completely immerses themselves in water for a full turn.

Ghost Rum
Alchemy: 1
Roll: Occult + Wits
Difficulty: 3
Cost of Materials: 1 (Resources 2 Outside of West)
Effects: This bitter gray drink is one of the few substances made within Creation that can be consumed by the dead. Given as offerings at family shrines, ghost rum is normal rum that has been made with grave flowers in the mix and with three single tears: a tear of mourning, a tear of pain, and a tear of joy. When consumed by living mortals, ghost rum is simply a bitter and bland drink that has no noticeable effect upon them. However, when the dead consume the drink, they become intoxicated with emotion and sensation. A single cup of ghost rum lasts three swallows. The first swallow of ghost rum brings cold sorrow, the second brings burning rage, and the third brings euphoric happiness. For the remainder of the scene, treat the ghost as though he possessed 1 dot extra in Temperance, Valor, or Compassion depending on how many swallows they have taken. It is considered a sign of ancestral disapproval if a cup left out overnight is not empty by morning.

Shadow Skin
Alchemy: 1
Roll: Occult + Wits
Difficulty: 1
Cost of Materials: Resources 1
Effects: A surprisingly scentless mixture of tar, mud, urine, and wilted flower petals, shadow skin is a very basic form of cosmetic make-up used by sects of Western shaman known as houngan. The thick paste is boiled only at night, in a black pot which sits in the shadow of a burial site. Applied to the skin, the mixture dyes the houngan a pitch black that reflects little light and makes them seem nearly as a living shadow, until it dries and begins to flake off. This usually takes a full twenty four hours, but will only take twelve in dry climates. While not intended for such a purpose, shadow skin does grant a single bonus success to all Stealth rolls while applied, making it a favored export of assassins and thieves.

Second Circle Formulas

Crimson Heroes Elixir
Alchemy: 2
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 3
Cost of Materials: 3 (4 in the River Province, 5 anywhere else)
Effects: The Crimson Heroes Elixir greatly amplifies the effects of a red beasts cap. Brewed and used only in times of great upheaval or warfare, this powerful concoction transforms a mortal man into a miniature behemoth. Their body grows and grows to mammoth proportions, doubling in size and strength as though the imbiber had just gained the Giant mutation (E:L p216), yet not in the hideous and bulging fashion a raw mushroom will cause. Though their skin still flushes bright red, their body remains in relative proportion and their minds stay mostly healthy within their cavernous skulls, reducing their Intelligence and Appearance attributes by only a single dot. This effect is still agonizing to endure at first and the first turn after consuming the brew, the character makes a Stamina + Resistance roll at difficulty 4. Success leaves them overwhelmed by agony for only a single turn, unable to focus or act for those few seconds, while failure leaves the giant helpless for three turns, often howling in madness. The effects of the crimson heroes elixir endure for a single scene, at which point the imbiber endures a process as reduction every bit as agonizing as his growth and must make the Stamina + Resistance roll once more.

Stone Tar
Alchemy: 2
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 3
Cost of Materials: 2
Effects: Stone Tar is a sticky, bitter smelling brown paste stored in tightly sealed wooden containers. Once exposed to open air, Stone Tar dries rapidly into extremely hard black glue. Smeared onto a surface, it will harden in only two minutes and tightly adhere anything placed against it. This can include people or other living beings. Removing ones self or another object from the dried paste requires a Strength + Athletics roll at difficulty 3. Striking the glue will reduce the difficulty by 1 per 5L damage inflicted. Stone Tar becomes brittle and easily shattered a full day after being used. Objects will remain adhered against it, but can be easily pulled free and the paste itself flaked off with minimal effort. A single batch of Stone Tar contains enough to cover approximately two square feet of surface.

Third Circle Formulas

Oil of Immaculate Conflagrations
Alchemy: 3
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 3
Cost of Materials: 2
Effects: Referred to in some circles as “Hesiesh’s Piss,” this foul-smelling oil is often stored in small ceramic containers which can be thrown with ease or in large clay jugs for use during sieges. Containing a careful mixture of firedust, special detonators, and oil made from common lamp fuel mixed with the blood or urine of a Fire Aspect Terrestrial, upon impact with a surface the firedust sparks just enough to ignite the oil. Oil of Immaculate Conflagrations burns hotter than normal flame, but burns itself out far more swiftly and will only remain inflamed for approximately 3 turns. Hand thrown Oil grenades have a very small splash area, just enough to immolate a single target and spreading only a few feet from the impact zone, while jugs of the Oil hurled from catapults will spread across at least 4 yards around the point of impact. Anyone who is caught within the area of effect is covered with the oil and will be engulfed in flame, taking 10L damage every turn (5L upon a successful Stamina + Resistance roll each turn). Normal means of extinguishing flame, such as dousing with water, will not immediately stop the burning (though those created by Charms or other supernatural effects will snuff it immediately) and a person must spend at least 3 turns completely immersed in water to wash the oil off. As an alternative to being thrown, Oil of Immaculate Conflagrations can also be poured out and ignited with any common flame. The flame ignited from the Oil does not easily spread to other surfaces, but if it should then treat it as normal fire for the purpose of being extinguished.

Dragon Scales
Alchemy: 3
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 3
Cost of Materials: 2
Effect: Sometimes also known as the “Skin of Pasiap,” this gritty gray paste is a rare sight outside of the elite troops who serve in Wyld Hunts and mortal practitioners of Earth-aligned Terrestrial Martial Arts. Stored carefully in specially made wooden containers that seal it tightly against the air, the paste reeks of old loam and dirt and it’s texture is unpleasantly akin to a thick gob of sandy mud. The formula calls for a mixture of specially purified clay, an obols worth of crushed white jade, and nail clippings or a scrap of skin from an Earth Aspect Terrestrial. Rather than being imbibed as many alchemical formulas are, Dragon Scales are instead rubbed upon the skin. As long as the paste remains damp, the user will gain an additional +4 bashing and lethal soak. This effect counts as natural armor and does not prevent the use of martial arts and stacks with regular armor. Dragon Scales begins to dry off quickly once exposed to the air however and as it dries it becomes stiff and unyielding. A character wearing Dragon Scales must sprinkle themselves liberally with water or some other liquid every six turns or it will begin to harden and after 12 turns it will begin to do so regardless. During the final turn the formula is in effect, the user’s movement is greatly hindered by the hardened paste, imposing a -3 die penalty on all actions. After this, the Dragon Scales will begin to crack and start scaling off the users body in unpleasant gray flecks of clay.

Royal Water
Alchemy: 3
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 3
Cost of Materials: 2
Effects: Occasionally labeled “Bile of Daana’d,” Royal Water is a common but powerful crystalline acidic compound. It is crafted from crushed clear semi-precious gemstones, specially purified salt water, and the saliva or stomach acids of a Water Aspect Terrestrial. Royal Water dissolves through nearly any mundane, inorganic substance save pure metals such as silver or gold. Carried in small doses within gold or silver flasks, Royal Water is a favored tool of thieves and vandals. Poured in small doses onto any surface not composed of gold, silver, or one of the five Magical Materials, Royal Water will quickly burn through the material. It deals 10L in unsoakable damage per minute for up to three minutes to the surface it is poured upon. Doses are not large enough to consume an entire building or wall, but can eat swiftly through a door-lock, eat a hand-sized hole through glass, or disintegrate large swaths of cloth.

Dangers: Royal Water is mildly irritating to mortal flesh, but not immediately harmful. If allowed to remain on the skin unwashed for more than an hour however, the substance absorbs into the skin. The subject then begins to become extremely ill (character become Sick on the Internal Alchemy Failure chart). If swallowed, this effect is immediate and much worse (character becomes Sick as a Dog on the Internal Alchemy Failure chart). Each batch of Royal Water contains three doses.

Elixir of Eighty Evil Essences
Alchemy: 3
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficult: 3
Cost of Materials: 2
Effects: Only the most vile and immoral of alchemists is ever willing to craft the Elixir of Eighty Evil Essences. A gathering of at least eighty of the most pungently unpleasant oders in any direction on the map, these hideous formulas are best kept tightly sealed in vials of well labeled black glass. The ingredients themselves are often easily obtainable, though a journey must usually be made to gather them all. They include everything from the yellowed dung of river dragons to the uncut spleen of a hen to the rotted blossom of a corpse lily in full bloom. The regional variations are plenty, but the end result is nearly all the same. Even corked and sealed, one cannot completely contain the demonic horror of the Elixir's scent and anyone who makes a successful Perception + Awareness roll around a bottle will be able to catch a whiff of the foul oder, though most would mistake it for rotted meat.

They may think they have smelt the worst of it, yet not by far. Uncorked and spilled out, either with a casual toss or a discreet tip of the bottle unleashes a scent so horrid than it could sent a demon into flight. Whose who experience must make a Stamina + Resistance roll with a difficulty equal to their Perception attribute or else become horribly, violently ill for three turns, unable to take any action but to retch helplessly. As well, unless they spend a point of Willpower to resist, they will find themselves compelled by privative instinct to flee from the source of the scent until their nostrils no longer burn with it.

Fourth Circle Formulas

Death Blossom
Alchemy: 4
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 4
Cost of Materials: 3 (4 Outside of East)
Effects: Perhaps one of the rarest and most lethal of alchemical weapons, the death blossom is a poison gas bomb filled with a deadly lung-ravaging chemical mixture. Combining carefully gathered spores of toxic plants from the eastern jungles, the dried scales of a water serpent, and a pinch of powdered green jade mixed with care in only a silver bowl. The deadly mix is stored away in shells of large avian birds or tightly sealed balls of clay and left to ferment for at least two weeks. It is physically impossible for an alchemist to craft this mixture without exposing themselves to its dangerous ingredients and even on a successful roll, an alchemist who is not specifically immune to the mixture will grow Sick (E:PG 138) for 24 hours. Failure brings worse effects, while a botched attempt will easily kill a mortal alchemist in seconds.

When the bomb is later thrown or smashed open, its contents, now reduced to a thick green mist, billow outwards up to three yards. Anyone standing within the cloud must make a successful Stamina + Resistance roll at difficulty 3 or else suffer 8L damage and a -4 penalty to all dice action. Those who succeed their rolls suffer only half of this damage. In a closed environment, the cloud will linger for at least three turns, while in the open air it tends to settle in only one, in both cases leaving behind a emerald colored powder which can actually be reused in place of the expensive and rare plant spores later.

Fifth Circle Formulas

Essence of Grace
Alchemy: 5
Roll: Intelligence + Occult
Difficulty: 5
Cost of Materials: 5
Effects: This powerful restorative requires the cooperation of a spirit related positively to health or well-being. While safer and more immediately potent than Sweet Cordial, in addition the need of cooperation from a little god there is great variety of rare plants with natural healing properties are needed to make the formula work, the sheer cost of which made such potions rare even during the First Age. In the Third Age, the formula itself is all but unheard of and Essence of Grace worth a Dynastic ransom in jade. After the alchemist has prepared the proper herbs and ointments, the spirit must invest three motes into the mixture. Potions of this nature often glow faintly and have the sweet scent of freshly bloomed flowers or the distinctive odor of birth. Imbibed or rubbed onto a wound, Essence of Grace can almost instantly heal two levels of lethal damage and up to four levels of bashing damage. It takes a single minute for the wounds to completely heal and clear up. Wounds healed by Essence of Grace never scar or run a risk of infection.

Essence of Belladonna
Alchemy: 5
Roll: Manipulation + Occult
Difficulty: 4
Cost of Materials: 4
Effects: While named for the deadly nightshade, this formula is actually the act of extracting the poisonous spirits out of any plant. The plants must be crushed in a mortar of green jade, with a pestle of the same, until the substance is reduced to a thick and poisonous paste. Sprinkled with the silvers of shattered diamonds, the alchemist must then find some way to freeze the substance in a silver urn and leave it to soak in the cold for several days. When the pot is later opened, the paste will be fill of thousands of tiny silvers of ice. Yet, more importantly, it will also be filled with a far less number of crystallized poison, soaked into the diamonds until they turn faintly purple. Extracting these from the paste, as well as telling poison from ice, is a time consuming process which requires an accumulated 10 successes on a Perception + Occult roll. Failure will likely only result in plucking a useless silver of ice, while a botch on this roll might mean mishandling of the tiny silvers and result in the alchemists most assured death. Any poison put through this treatment increases its effectiveness by half-again, in both the damage it causes and the penalty it inflicts.

Through a very time consuming and difficult process, these crystallized slivers of poison can actually be assembled into weapons. Small things such as arrow heads will typically only require half a dozen preparations worth of slivers, while short swords may take more than twenty. Weapons made from this material, despite their fragile and insubstantial appearance, are nearly as hard as adamant and every bit as sharp. In addition to adding +2 to the base damage of any weapon, they will poison those struck with a single dose of their refined toxin composition. Creating these weapons requires an extended Manipulation + Craft roll with a number of successes dependent on the weapon being created. Arrowheads may only require 5 successes, while daggers double that to 10, and short swords to 20. This is on top of the rolls needed to create the Essence of Belladonna in the first place. A botch on these rolls, like a botch on the roll to pick the poison shards, will almost certainly kill the craftsman.

Comments

Looks like someone's been reading Bridge of Birds.  :-) I particularly like Ghost Rum. You might want to rename Essence of Belladonna, as it produces solid shards rather than a fluid essence. Also, I assume that daggers and swords crafted in this way are Macuahuitl-style weapons rather than solid crystalline blades; if so, this should be spelled out in the text. Either way, the formula uses enough shattered diamonds (and is of sufficient utility) to warrant a Resources 5 expenditure. - Quendalon