As you walk from the temple into the Lower City, your steps wend their melancholy way through the streets. You are idly wandering for the most part, deciding which of your tasks you will start with when a rich tapestry of scents unfolds before you. The redolent whispers of alchemical elixirs beckon, weaving a fragrant symphony of arcane complexity that caresses your senses. The air itself seems to hum with an otherworldly resonance, carrying the enchanting aroma of the shop's wares.

Mirthwind's Alchemical is the name on the sign above the simple little shop, nestled between two larger, more visually impressive buildings. Upon crossing the threshold, you find yourself enveloped in an aromatic dance, a testament to the unseen artistry within the confines of the establishment. The atmosphere is laden with an ethereal embrace, as if the very molecules in the air bear witness to the alchemical masterpieces being concocted within. The realization dawns upon you that this is no ordinary apothecary; it is the sanctum of an alchemical maestro.

Amidst shelves adorned with mysterious vials and ornate glass containers, the alchemist meticulously crafts potions, each concoction a symphony of mystical ingredients. The room is bathed in the soft glow of flickering candles, casting a warm, amber hue upon the myriad of colorful liquids and powders that line the shelves. Ancient texts with gilded edges, filled with cryptic runes and diagrams, are strewn across a sturdy wooden table where the alchemical maestro works.

Elowen Mirthwind is an enigmatic figure with silver-flecked auburn hair cascading down her shoulders, framing eyes that shimmer with an ancient wisdom. Her slender fingers dance gracefully over the alchemical apparatus, a reflection of the mastery she holds over the mystical arts. Clad in flowing robes adorned with arcane symbols, Elowen exudes an aura of serene confidence. Behind her calm exterior lies an insatiable curiosity and a thirst for unlocking the secrets of the magical world, making her a revered maestro in the realm of alchemy.

As the bell above the door rings out, Elowen speaks out from her workbench in the back. "Be with you in a moment, this mixture is at a crucial stage."

Lost in dark thoughts of home and how his homecoming would contrast with Eleni's, Boorgrub only really became aware he'd entered the magic district when his nose picked up the familiar scents of an alchemist at work. The blend of acrid and herbal was a familiar scent to the former noble, being a practitioner of the art himself, though he held no illusions that he was even close to Archimander's level of skill. Curious, he lifted his head from his musings and looked around for the first time in what felt like hours, remembering that he had some business that a proper alchemist could definitely help with.

The swashbuckler forced a smile onto his face, turning from his aimless wandering down the street and into the brightly lit Mirthwind's Alchemical, forcing down the black thoughts that had plagued him since leaving the temple. The soft tinkle of the bell ringing was bright and inviting, and Boorgrub found himself feeling better. Something in the air, perhaps, the sharp tang of dried thyme always reminded him of better days after all, and it was there among the melange of aromas filling the shop.

Promptly put off by the proprietor, her back to him and not even turning to greet him, Boorgrub nodded serenely, just taking in the aroma and atmosphere within the apothecary. "To be certain my lady, take all the time you need for your compounding. I will be here when convenience allows."

Turning back from the workbench, you can see a silvery fluid with multicolored lights dancing beneath the surface slowly simmering in an Erlenmyer flask over a low heat.

"Greetings and welcome to Mirthwind's Alchemical, I am Elowen Mirthwind, at your service. What can my humble shop do for you?"

Boorgrub was fascinated by the soft swirl of light in the silvery fluid Elowen was preparing, his head tilting to the side as he watched the concoction simmer. A sharp shake sent his big ears flopping, and he drew himself back to reality. "A pleasure indeed Madam Mirthwind. Boorgrub Pandilk; and I am hoping my request will take only a moment of your valuable time. I am seeking an alembic to discern the formulae of potions, and I was hoping you might have something of the sort in stock?"

Elowen nods, her tresses bobbing with the motion. "An alembic? Simply done, master Pandilk. Might I inquire if you are of the Pandilk line of the West Morres?"

It was a little strange to Boorgrub, how many people were interested in his past these days. For five years, he'd been practically no one, an outcast and pariah in society for the loss of his holdings, living hand to mouth as an adventurer. And now, it seemed he couldn't turn around without someone knowing of his heritage, or showing an interest in it. The swashbuckler scratched over his right ear, the smile still on his face as he beamed up at Elowen. "You would be correct Madam. I am of the West Morres; and the Pandilk barony thereof. It is a pleasure indeed to make your acquaintance." He sketched a bow, formal and proper before straightening back up to converse with the alchemical maestro. "I must confess a curiosity as to what you are brewing. It is a most fascinating mixture?"

"The pleasure is mine, master Pandilk. I wonder if you know of the current state of affairs in the Morres. I have several clients that normally take regular shipments of certain supplies that are of use within the leather trade, but I find that they have not placed orders in the last 3 or 4 months."

The alchemist looks behind her. "Oh, yes, that is a rare and difficult-to-procure extraction." She points to a simple sign at the end of a nearby shelf.

"What you see behind me are the regrets of an honest man, one named Haraldid Bunfrollo, a man whose honesty was without reproach. Extraction was performed post mortem, as payment for services rendered premortem, specifically the cure to an illness his wife had. I am not too proud to note that I have developed the process of extraction myself, including the tools needed to handle a source material as exceedingly delicate as a soul."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:11, Tue 16 Jan.

A soft frown and a shake of the head. "I know very little of the situation in the Morres, unfortunately. My news would be some five years out of date, since my sibling staged his coup, but I have been hearing the most troubling rumors of crime being on the rise in the region. I was warned just this morning by the harbormaster of an uptick in piracy in the waters around the Fin, and even pirates need a harbor to call home." His frown deepened. "And the only real harbor in the Morres is Gullford."

One more dark thought to add to the rest of them swirling around in the back of his mind. "We, that is to say, my ship and crew, intend to depart for there in the next few days, and if you would like, and would give me their names, I would be glad to look into what has become of your clients."

Boorgrub's attention followed the pointing finger, reading the sign with a growing sense of wonder, and a touch of disquiet, nay fear. "Ingredients such as those must be remarkably challenging to acquire." He managed to keep his voice even as the explanation continued. "You have discerned the means to extract a soul? That is truly remarkable!" He shook his head, awed by the skill involved. "The possibilities of such must be almost endless..." The goblin's voice fell. "And dangerous, if the wrong sorts were to find out what you are capable of."

"Ha! The extraction of an entire soul! You flatter me greatly. No, the entire soul of a creature eludes me. Rather, I am concerned with the residue of the soul, specifically after its departure. To greatly simplify the process, it is a modification of magic that alters the function of weaponry. It normally allows for attacks on insubstantial entities to have their full effect. I thought, why not use that same magic to catch the ephemeral nature of the remnants of life after the functions have ceased? After much experimentation, and even more prototyping of the tools, I have developed the means to capture these essences. Once freed of their normal source, they can be worked and refined into the substance you see there. The soul itself, after much consultation with clerics, has been proven to be unharmed by the process, having departed the physical remnants already."

 A relieved look crossed the goblin's face at the revelation that Elowen was working with the residue of souls, not the soul itself. He wasn't a particularly pious fellow, but Boorgrub found the idea of entrapping and processing a helpless soul into something to be drunk more than a little disquieting. "That is still a remarkable accomplishment Mistress Mirthwind, one that could put your name on every scholar on the continent's tongue." He smiled, a little uneasy still. "It is good to know, though, that your accomplishment is properly blended with compassion and foresight. Too often the quest to know leads to a brewing that lacks either."

Boorgrub wasn't by any means unintelligent, but his field of expertise was skewed towards the practical rather than the scholarly, and so many of the details of what Elowen was explaining went over his head. Not ignored; just not completely understood. Boorgrub would need to study a little to make full sense of what she was saying. "So, if it is not too forward, what do the regrets of an honest man decant into? I cannot imagine going to such effort without an application, one surely comparable in scope to the effort involved in its creation."

Elowen smiles, clearly happy your mind went straight to the most important questions. "Well, it is still in the preliminary stages of discovery. Imbibed directly, it seems to call to the mind all of your own regrets, especially those most concerned with dishonesty. In preliminary testing, it seems to have useful effects in truth-based concoctions, like those that grant true seeing or compel truth in speech, and also might have some benefit to the reversal of effects, like dispelling or removing conditions. I have noted a deleterious effect of those concoctions that do some sort of harm. But, as I said, further testing is needed."

"What sort of further testing do you need?" Boorgrub asked a little hesitantly. "Just based on what you've told me of it so far, it seems someone with plenty of regrets would be ideal..." He sighed gently, some of the wonder going out of his gaze. "And before I walked through your door, that was where my mind was. Regretting the homecoming I foresee in my near future already. Wandering the places I could have done better, seen better, known more. Been better for my people."

Another long sigh escaped him, but he visibly straightened and put his adventurer's face back on. "Perhaps enhancing my insight will lead me to some answers that my brooding cannot." Boorgrub grinned, bold in spite of his nervousness, and bowed his head. "I am at your service Madam."

Elowen looks deeply unsettled at the idea presented by Boorgrub. "Oh, no, that is kind of you, but I could not engage in testing on other sentient people yet. Even informed testing is too risky at this juncture. No, I do all my testing myself, so I can be sure it is gone in the most ethical way possible."

Boorgrub nodded once, acceding to Elowyn's logic. "I am not sure risking your genius is wiser than utilizing foolish adventurers who volunteer is the wisest course, but I do understand your caution." His voice brightened a little. "My statement stands though Madam Mirthwind. I am at your service, and if there is some way I might help, I will. I would rather help the march of science advance than be trampled before it." He cackled mildly, making it clear the last statement was something of a jest.

Elowen considers Boorgrub carefully for a moment, then nods decisively. "You know, I think you could help me with something. I have developed a weapon, one that I believe you may be able to up though some testing for me."

She dips down below the counter, and after rummaging around for a few moments, she pops back up holding a wooden case with a handle. She flicks a latch on either side of the handle and opens the case. Turning it around so you can see, you find yourself looking at a firearm of some kind. It has a long brass barrel, leading back to a complicated arrangement of brass pipes and a pump handle laying below the barrel. Behind the pump handle, there is a trigger and above the trigger there is a bolt action chamber. At the back is a simple wooden stock. Also in the case is 20 small glas tubes with feathers on one end, and a brass needle on the other.

"What you see before you is my own creation, the Potion Infusion Needle Rifle, or PINR. It allows you to transfer a potion, poison, or extract to one of these needle darts, and administer the solution within at range. The only issue is that I am not an adventurer. I do not live a life that supports the kind of rigorous testing of the effects that I wish. As such, it remains largely untested. If you are willing to test this item, or have one of your adventuring crew test it, and report back to me with this copycat board, I will give you this PINR, which is a prototype of what I hope to be a more masterful creation at a later date, along with the needle darts, and I will even throw in the alembic you asked for." She holds up the copycat board, which you assume to work similar to journals the council gave you all at the beginning of this wild ride.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:04, Wed 24 Jan.

To say the swashbuckler's curiosity was piqued was an understatement. Boorgrub watched the master alchemist dip below the counter with undisguised interest. She designed weapons as well? There had been so many encounters with what had to be the finest Ralan Gul had to offer in the last week that it made his head spin. When Elowyn laid the case on the counter, Boorgrub tilted his head to the side, intrigued to see what the polymath had to offer within.

He didn't touch the gleaming assemblage of brass and glass. Not at first anyway, just examining the lines of it, the construction of the weapon, trying to discern how it would work. Finally, he stretched out a clawed hand, lightly running his fingers down the barrel, over the pump action and stock. "I will admit, I am no expert with projectile weapons Mistress Mirthwind, but yes, I would be delighted to help advance the cause of science for you." He took a firmer grip on the weapon, glancing up at the alchemist. "May I?"

At a nod from the woman Boorgrub carefully extracted the rifle from the case with both hands, shouldering it to get a feel for the weight of it. The balance naturally put his forward hand on the pump, and he gingerly worked it through a cycle, ever cautious to keep the PINR pointed safely at nothing but the wall.

It was magnificently built, though his nimble touch could detect just the faintest wiggle in the action. Nothing to be concerned about, but it would have to be treated with care. Leaning his cheek into the stock, he sighted down the barrel, extended a finger, and rested it on the trigger guard, making certain everything was within reach of his small hands. Satisfied, he carefully placed the weapon back in the case, took up one of the tiny fletched darts, and examined it. He grinned as he turned the dart over in his hands, his imagination already visualizing useful extracts to fill the little needles with. "So you have created a way for us to deliver our extracts at a range." His grin was ear to ear, and he cackled merrily.

"I will be delighted to help test your invention Mistress Mirthwind, and gladly share every single development or idea I come across in using it. The sheer possibilities of it are simply astonishing, and I can already see a myriad of uses that could come of its refinement."

Elowen nods firmly, and you can see that while you admired the weapon, she gathered the alembic you requested and the copycat board, ready to hand them to you.

"I am eager to see the results of your testing. If you have any ideas for improvements, please pass them along. I, being unused to 'fieldwork', as it were, surely have not considered every eventuality during its development."

Passing over the bundle as you gently replace the weapon in its case, she asks, "Do you need anything else?"

Boorgrub considered for a moment as he took the parcel from Elowen, carefully stowing the contents in his pack before the long case containing the PINR followed suit. Straightening back up, he nodded gravely, an idea coming to mind.

"I certainly will Mistress Mirthwind, and you have my thanks for entrusting me with your creation's care. I hadn't intended to get anything else today, but your invention has inspired my creativity! If possible I would like to acquire the formula for the Polypurpose Panacea, and if you have it, an Elixir of Stealth?"

"Of course! Those would be quite simple, and cost just 220 gold for you."

"Done, and done!" Boorgrub exclaimed brightly, digging into his pouch for the coin in question and stacking it neatly on the counter. He took the rolled parchment and oily black elixir with the same care he had displayed with the elegant PINR, stowing them in his pouches for later use.

Concluding his business, Boorgrub took the opportunity to catch one of Madam Mirthwind's hands in his own, shaking it gently. "Elowen, I must thank you once again for being here today. Today has been a challenge on a very personal level, and you, my lady, have brought a bright spot into it with your astounding genius. I look forward to corresponding with you regularly, both about your invention and about the art of alchemy in general. Thank you once again!"

Releasing her hand, the swashbuckler made sure everything was in place and made his way from the shop. This had been more than he expected of what should have been a straightforward shopping trip, and as he headed down the street towards the hospitality district and the Adventurer's Guild, it was with his head high, eager to see what adventure his next stop would bring.

The rest of your shopping trip is less eventful, a quick trip by a magic shop, and a stop in at the local chapter of the Adventurers Guild to drop off your old blade, and you make your way to the hospitality blocks. It takes but a few minutes to locate the rest of your crew, at a wonderful-looking inn called the Red Hearth.