|
Alchemy is a collection of magic arts that have the power or process of transmuting. Some Alchemists attempt to research ways to transform the body into something stronger and more powerful, or to reverse the aging process. Master alchemists brew many elixirs and potions of great potency. However, alchemy is also used to rarify ores, improve weapons, and construct complicated arcane devices.
In a world where magic is generally feared, Alchemy is one of the more acceptable forms of magic. This is largely because the works of alchemy are tangible--a sword made sharper through better alchemy is still but a sword, and an alchemical explosion hurls shrapnel similar to a siege engine.
The originators of Alchemy were the Baal, specifically the Baal'Yr scholar caste, who practiced and perfected the arts for ten thousand years. Many of the most powerful alchemical devices were lost in the city of Yr'Kesh when it sank into the sea. Some of the younger races, particularly Southmarens, have become adept at alchemy but have not matched the skill of the ancients.
The Baal'Mot began experimentation with alchemy as a means to true immortality, which spawned the black arts of Necroalchemy. At the height of their blasphemy the Baal'Mot hierophant created the truly dark arts of Draconecroalchemy, which led to the Baal Schism between Baal'Shem and Baal'Mot, and the purging of the Baal'Mot from Baal culture. The Avathars, some of whom were Baal'Mot or apprentices of the Baal'Mot, continued the practice of Necroalchemy, and some transitioned into Blood Alchemy.
The Baal'Yr remain the undisputed masters of White Alchemy--both their ancient and modern works far exceed the efforts of any other races. The Baal continue to make advances such as increasingly explosive Baalfyre and the powerful Yr'Stone of Dagor.
The Southmarens have learned much from their Baal allies and mastered many of the Alchemical arts. The Imperial Alchemists have harnessed the power of alchemy to fortify their legions with arms and armor forged of Orichalcum. In addition, the Southmarens employ alchemical explosives and early firearms on the battlefield against the howling hordes of the Great Goblyn Empire.
The Avathars have long since mastered Black Alchemy, so named for its use of the blood and souls of unwilling subjects. The arts of Blood Alchemy are used to bolster their armies with super-soldiers who possess tremendous strength, endurance, and resistance to pain. The Kurgans are the epitome of this meddling with the body, infused with Blood Alchemy. Likewise, Necromancers are made immortal through the arts of Necroalchemy--their souls removed to safer locations than the frail mortal body.
-
-
Some ancient legends speak of a forgotten sect alchemist-priests who worshiped forbidden gods. While nearly all records of this cast have been stamped out, and no Baal will acknowledge that they ever existed, a few references to the "Baal'Mot" still remain in obscure texts and prophesies. Scholars believe that the Baal'Mot were branded as heretics and wiped out by the Baal'Shem. Although it most commonly believed that the cause of this schism was simply a political or theological power struggle, some evidence suggests that the Baal'Mot were the first practicioners of Necroalchemy and were perhaps the progenitors of the Avathars.
-
-
Some evil Alchemists use dark rituals or prayers to steal life essence from others, extending their lives by absorbing the souls of other beings. These spiritual vampires are often said to practice "Black Alchemy", which is made up of a variety of dark arts such as Blood Alchemy, rites of obeisance to the Duirgurth gods, or magic of the Kaeden.
-
-
Blood Alchemy is a dark bioalchemical art that blends "Blood Magic" with other forms of Alchemy in order to transmute or mutate flesh and blood. Kurgans carry Necroalchemical power hidden within their veins, while Blood Scorpions openly bear the insectoid stings and pincers that have been surgically grafted onto their bodies. The tools of this dark art are similar to those of Alchemy, with the addition of all manner of knives, saws, syringes, and other grisly surgical apparatus. Without the invention of anesthetic, the process is excruciatingly painful and most subjects are bound to a table unwilling. The Avathar Blood Witches of Val'Negra are the most noted "Blood Alchemists", and accredited for the invention of Blood Wine, a vile fluid that is poisonous to humans yet able to to heal Kurgans.
-
-
In the important matter of life and death, everything is impermanent.
Those who turn to the abstruse arts of Necroalchemy wield terrible power over life and death. Avathars are often drawn down this path as Necroalchemy is a strong part of their culture and Kurgan faith.
The word Necroalchemy is derived from the terms Necromancy (magic of the dead) and Alchemy (magic of transformation). This has led most people to confuse Necroalchemists with Necromancers, who are commonly believed to be evil masters of the undead. While it is true that some Necromancers bend their will to summon and control the walking dead or slay the living, there are other purposes of such magics, and Necroalchemists use this to extend life after death. Death in itself is not an evil thing, despite the opinions of the many who fear death. For a Necroalchemist, death is only the beginning, a step along a much longer journey (q.v. the Duirgurth religion.)
In ancient Baal belief and Necromantic lore, a person was divided into two parts at death: the ka and the ba. The ka (meaning double) reflects the perishable human body. The ba, on the other hand, is a bird with a human head and represents the imperishable soul. The death of the body (ba) is only a pause to the ka, which continues to a new life. The new life typically begins in a new body, but in ancient times, Baal practiced mummification as a means to preserve the body and induce the ka to revisit it.
One sect of Baal alchemists, known as the Baal'Mot, strayed from the commonly accepted path and were stamped out by the Baal'Shem as dangerous heretics. The Baal'Mot sought to delay or cheat death through the dark arts of Blood Alchemy or rites of obeisance to the Duirgurth gods, who preside over the dead in heretical Baal'Mot traditions now held only by the Avathars. Others sought ways to accelerate the process, rejoining the ka and ba in other ways. Necroalchemists use tools such as phylacteries, magical embalming. The most infamous Necroalchemical process is the transformation of oneself into a liche, in which only a few Baal'Mot likely succeeded, and fewer survived the Necrodraconic Wars so long ago.
|
Login
