In reply to Masugatan (msg # 805):

Masugatan is an intimidating figure. Keep building the skill, all he will need is a glance.


Sent Mcnealy a pm. It might be the (American) holiday weekend

OOC McNealy also happens to be Balir, and I just returned from a Week's vacation.  Apologies for the bad timing on that.  Seems you guys have been waiting on me for a good few days.  Oops.

---

Since they arrived, Alchemist McNealy has been quietly testing the water with various beakers, and mixing it with select ingredients from Cookie.  Then he responds, at long last, with "I think I have it figured out."

[Private to GM: Made the Alchemy roll by 5.
18:52, Today: Secret Roll: McNealy rolled 11 using 3d6.  McNealy Alchemy 18 - 2 = 16.]

In reply to McNealy (msg # 807):

"Go on...we are itching to hear!"

[OOC: All good, I was just starting to worry!]

Masugatan cocks an ear and listens from outside.  He can’t wait to hear what the alchemical maestro has come up with.

In reply to Masugatan (msg # 809):

The liquid is an unstable mixture of potions,and likely very unsafe (ie random effects with a lean towards catastrophic) to drink, but actually ideal for fast brewing, giving a +2 on the roll for unstable instant brewing with a 1 hour shelf life.  Multiple potions have been oozing through the mortar.

Masugatan asks whether or not it’s dangerous just to be around it.  He’s already a teetotaler when it comes to alchemical runoff.

Without even noticing that he has done it, Alchemist McNealy pulls out a beaker from his potion belt, and raises it back halfway, as if to throw it.  Images of a massive fireball of swirling magical colors dance in his eyes, and he's almost completely immersed in the moment.

Then, he registers Masugatan's question, and almost imperceptibly shakes his head.  Looking at his throwing hand quizzically, the tradesman's eyes go wide as he registers the impulsive reaction.  He sheepishly puts the vial away in his belt, before standing up to face the rest of the group.

Slowly he raises one of the beakers he had been manipulating the liquid in, and swirls the luminescent and oily substance around in the bottom.

"This looks to me like a mixture of Janus, Salamander, and Atalanta all mixed together.  I think the darker substance might be some wizbang, but that's much harder to detect than your usual run of the mill chemicals.  I'd have to tst the alkalinity, but it would only work after a dialysis of the lighter compounds.

To address your question, I don't believe you would experience any explicit toxicity if you drank some, but the results would be unpredictable at best.  If things went really bad, then you might decompose into some drool or even crystallize.  The molality of the polymers is impossible to measure when we have this kind of entropy.

I would be very careful using magic around this area.  If we were to agitate this just right, then the combustion level might be catastrophic, although it would also be a thing of beauty the likes of which we might never see again.  That's why I initially thought a little alchemist's fire might be worth adding.

Thankfully, I think we can use it.  It won't last long, but I can make it work for a little while.  I'll need someone to walk Cookie in here so I can do some mixing.  And we want to figure out what's through that worked stone wall.  I have to assume there is a door somewhere, but if not, I can probably mix something that would get us through."

OOC  Made the impulsiveness control roll, but just barely.  This is like the greatest day of the Gnome's life.  I'm going to need to think about what he wants to brew veeeeery carefully.

In reply to McNealy (msg # 812):

I think you have several hours to brew. At this advice, perhaps it may be wiser to have the camp outside...

Christine will go to the side of the wall and shape the earth to open up a small corridor around the stone wall, taking her time to do so.

[Private to GM: Rolled 1 under skill, then 4 under, then 2 under, then 6 under, then critical success (12 under, natural 4), moving 1 cu yd of earth from around the wall at a time. Forming a way around the wall, or through it if possible!]

Less than satisfied with the alchemist’s reassurances, Masugatan heartily concurs with the idea of camping outside.  Preferably in another county.

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 813):

Christine digs out a path along the side of the wall, disvmcovers a corner and rounds it, and proceeds several yards. The opening she has made is a yard wide by two high, and is reinforced. Jednesa myight crawl sideways, but it could be very tight.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 815):

Emma will move in with her light to see what is in there...cautiously.

In reply to Emma Wilson (msg # 816):

The passage suggests that this hill has a building under it that is at least partly rectangular abd made of stone.
It is also probably two stories high.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 817):

Can she see stairs, doors, or any sign of the source of the potion pool?

After Cookie is brought in, the alchemist puts together a number of hoses and beakers in a very exacting way.  He pays close attention to detail, before carefully putting together some components along with a double beaker full of the magical water.

OOC It has been a while since I did all the reading, need to review the details to see how long the work will take him.  Ironically, my current show is Breaking Bad...
[Private to GM:
Double batch of Death from Magic 215. Skill is 18, -6 for something he does not know, and -1 for the potion itself.  I believe a second dose is a further -1.  That should give him a skill roll of 10.  He will take plenty of extra time, as much as seems appropriate.  If you provide me some constraints (this being our first brew) I will nail down a judgement.  I haven't seen all the gadget cooking work yet so I am looking for feedback from your side on the process, if it isn't by the book (and it almost never is).

I considered his disadvantages with this approach.  In this case his impulsiveness should be outweighed by his obsession to learn a new potion. ]

The gnome draws off some of the mercurial liquid, and runs it through his set of pipets and alembics while adding enough acid and alkaline salts to titrate out a purified solution, and exposes it to a slow, steady heat...the color changes, it fizzes and...

 make that roll

It's hard to tell, because the color change was several shades darker than he thought.  While the tradesman expected a sort of pale pink liquid for the finished product, the color was more of a burnt umber.  He didn't know at first if that was expected, but then again he was relying entirely on instincts too.  In his brain, it SHOULD work this way, but he'd never read any instructions for this particular potion either.  It was all just a theory...
[Private to GM:
I forgot to add in the +2 because the pool has innate properties that make it favorable for brewing.  With that addition, I believe he made the roll without needing luck.

11:15, Today: Secret Roll: McNealy rolled 11 using 3d6.  ALchemy 18 -6 -1 -1, add +2 because of the pool, 12.

As noted in the general discussion thread, did this use up a gadget slot?  Are these two potion doses permanent?  If so, he can do a couple more potions by using up gadgets, right?]

In reply to McNealy (msg # 821):

If we consider an hour passing,  these are field brews, stable but only worth 10% of list. If you use a Gizmo, it is a few seconds worth of brewing, but with a 24hr lifespan

OOC  Thanks for the clarification.  I'll take the hour and call it a field brew.  The Alchemist doesn't care about sale value for this particular recipe.  He cares about learning the formula, and then this one has real utility for him.  Who cares if it looks like a rainbow, and smells like orange peel.

If the full hour has passed, then we have to decide if we want to go exploring or if he has the time to cook another brew.  Tradesman McNealy would definitely like to do #2, but if we're heading into the lab of an alchemist, then he might prefer to explore.

Masugatan whistles nervously to himself as the alchemical hijinks commence.  He hopes he doesn’t end up in a barrel.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:19, Sun 13 Dec 2020.

In reply to Masugatan (msg # 824):

"This makes me think of a place I worked at, the cellar has a barrel of beer that wasnt vented and exploded, the next door neighbor complained his basement was flooded."

"It could be worse.  That could be a stable on the other side of the wall."

In reply to Elaina Grattan (msg # 826):

What has Emma found on the other side of the wall?

In reply to Emma Wilson (msg # 827):

From this narrow tunnel dug out around the foundation,  she has found no door. Perhaps on the far side of the hill?

In reply to Narrator (msg # 828):

Trying to limit the entrances, but ok. Christine will rest up before moving to the outside to excavate, taking Emma with her.

[Private to GM: Rolled 4 rolls between 9 under and 5 under skill, shape earth.]

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 829):

Fromthefarside,you excavte afewholesbefore you uncover a few stone steps up... into the hill.
more digging needed