4.53 - Xotl
Theo listened with waning interest to the conversations floating around his dining room table. His thoughts centered on the concept of his manor. At first he thought it would be a place where he could be alone with his thoughts. That was an impossible thing from the start with the way Broken Tuskers were. As ti went on he realized that the purpose of the manor was to bring people together. It was a sanctuary of formless etingsthe governntal nonsense they had to deal with stripped away to reveal a cozy spot to share tea. Folks stopped by when they wanted. They stayed in whatever room was free. Rowan and Sarisa kept it safe and clean.
Wisdom of the Soul ssages would pop up as he pondered how things were going. Fenians plan beca clearer to him by the day. It was always important to consider what the Elf said. To dig through the double-aning and shrouded words to unearth sothing close to the truth. Instead of worrying about what that future held, Theo would prepare himself for the inevitable. That ant having talks with both Xolsa and Zarali.
The extra-planar Elf held more secrets than he knew he had, and through conversation, Theo learned more about his strange people. What little there was to glean, that is. Xolsa didnt have mories of his ho. After breakfast, Theo brought him aside into one of the many side rooms littering the manor for so tea and scones pilfered from Bentons hospitality. The alchemists administration interface swirled with things marked TODO, but they could wait.
Youre finally pushing yourself. Magically, of course, Xolsa said.
This was the cycle of that mans personality. Swinging from a curt headmaster to a comforting teacher, depending on how hard Theo was trying. A knock ca at the door, Sarisa showing herself in.
Salire is here for you, she said.
Ill et her at the lab. Thank you.
Without a word, the Half-Ogre woman ducked out of the room. Theo turned his attention back to Xolsa and their rolling conversation. Ive worked out most of Fenians plan. I always thought he was using to get what he wanted. But I think he wants Tresk.
Not to keep her, I hope, Xolsa said.
No, of course not. When I gave you the potion to repair your soul, I realized sothing. You were given the designation of an extra-planar Elf which is interesting. As if being born outside of the mortal plane is a normal thing.
Isnt it?
Theo couldnt stop himself. He scoffed, shaking his head in disapproval. The more ti he spent in his private realm, the more he understood about the heavens. After taking a few souls into his care, the alchemist understood even more. Souls were a finite resource, generated on the mortal plane, not one of the many godly planes. One didnt need high attributes to understand where this went.
Youre from another place entirely. Another layer were not aware of. Well, Im not aware of it. Theo sipped his tea. He didnt have the stomach to eat more scones. When he faced a problem with no solution, his stomach twisted into knots.
Xolsa withdrew a ream of parchnt from nowhere and began scribbling things down, humming as he wrote. Interesting idea. Id love to argue against the evidence, but Well, here I am.
Youve never thought of this before?
Ive thought of it many tis. Since I arrived on this plane as a child. Since my parents abandoned to fend for myself, Xolsa let out a frustrated breath. But I cannot peer behind the curtain. No matter how much I try.
Your core, Theo said, letting his thoughts co together. Its unique, as far as I can tell. Distill your abilities down for , please.
An alchemy pun? Really? Xolsa asked.
He described his abilities and the spells he had learned over the years. It seed like a standard mages core, thed around manipulating the planes locally to get so effect. He could create a pane of extra-planar glass that monsters would fall into. His ability to interface with dungeons was unrivaled. Especially after getting the [Dungeon Engineers Core]. But there was a gap in his abilities that seed rather obvious. It was sothing both of them had experienced together. When Xolsa tried to poke his head into a heavenly realm, he was sent reeling.
Put everything together, and what do you have? Theo asked. Xolsa held his theories back, waiting for the alchemist to answer his own question. We can assu youre from sowhere other than the heavenly realms. Between them, or sowhere else entirely. Can you make a portal into the void?
Xolsas eyes darted around the room for a mont, his thoughts gathering. Thats where I send the monsters.
A stupid idea entered Theos mind, and he entertained it. He wasnt as skilled as Tresk in manipulating their Terogal abilities, but he was certain he could teleport out of the void if he encountered any problems. His Wisdom of the Soul ssages agreed. Shadows swirled sowhere nearby and the alchemist groaned. He turned, glaring into a dark corner of the room.
I was gonna tell you.
No, you werent! the shadows objected. You were going to jump into the void without . How is that fair?
Well, I need an anchor so I can get back. So you cant co.
We both know Alex is the perfect anchor.
Compromise. Ill just stick my head in the void, then co right back out.
Tresk erged from the shadows, her arms folded. Theo could feel what she was thinking. She wanted to find the link between Xolsa and the void as much as him, but held more caution in her heart than him.
Do I have a say in this? Xolsa asked.
Maybe. Depends on what you have to say, Tresk grumbled.
Ive poked my head in there before. There isnt much to see. A literal void.
Tresk let out a low growl-like sound, then a frustrated sigh. Fine. Open the portal to hell. What could go wrong?
With a few gestures and words, Xolsa opened a shimring rectangle into the void. It hovered in the rooms center, seeming to absorb the surrounding light. Theo rose, approaching the portal for inspection. Tresk approached it from the other side, grunting and humming as though she understood what was going on. The alchemist poked his head inside.
True to Xolsas word, it was an endless void. Darkness that stretched in every direction. Tresk did the sa on the other side. While they couldnt see each other in the infinite darkness, they could feel each other. Two beacons ringing out among the inky blackness like lighthouses on the shore of so turgid sea. They withdrew themselves from the portal at the sa ti.
Did you feel that, Theo? Tresk asked.
Not sure. Slled like burnt toast.
Maybe your brain was just frying. Tresk nodded at Xolsa, who closed the portal. I felt another will in there. Like soone pushing back against .
That was interesting enough on its own. Theo had thought of the void as an empty place. A place where lost souls went when they were trying to get to their realms. The people of this world referred to multiple versions of hell, instead of the singular like on earth. While it might have been an experiential thing the dead went through, he couldnt shake the feeling of connection. Wisdom of the Soul offered boxes of information he already knew. It couldnt make the connection yet.
Tresk, Theo, and Xolsa sat down to share their thoughts on the matter. No one could reach a conclusion that made sense, though. The best they could do was to establish assumptions based on the existence of a willpower present in the void. Who or what it was settled in on the edges of their knowledge. They had just enough information to make the mystery interesting, but not enough to solve it.
But the entire exercise helped Theo understand Fenians plans better. Even if he didnt dive into the void. It helped him understand why he had been set up in this swamp town. He understood why he and Tresk were brought together. The morning was dragging on. If the alchemist didnt get moving, Salire would find her way to the manor. It was ti to get to work.
Theo excused himself from the parlor, leaving behind more questions than answers. Even worse, he had stirred up Xolsas imagination. It was always a bad idea to get a wizard fired up about sothing. Seeing people out on the street, unbothered by this new mystery, was refreshing. He greeted citizens that passed by. He even spotted Perg for the first ti in a while, lurking near her tannery. That woman was up to sothing, but it would have to wait.
Salire was waiting outside of the Newt and Demon. She was dancing on the spot as he approached, twirling the hem of her newest dress. Dancing wasnt really sothing Broken Tuskers did. When they did, it was bad. The Half-Ogre woman was quite good at it, though. Unbidden, a smile spread across the alchemists face as he approached. Why are we so excited today?
Read your mos! Salire said, still dancing. Why do I give the administration goons reports if you dont read them?
Theo cleared his throat awkwardly.
The new stills are here!
That was all the reason Theo needed to rush up to the third floor of the building. Salire was close on his heels as they arrived, spotting the rows of new distillation equipnt. Even at a distance, he could tell they were different than the last model. There was a blocky flair in their construction that was clearly Dwarven. Thim had a hand in this. There was no doubt.
Ten stills, Theo said, walking the rows. Thats a lot of equipnt. And one of them is already running.
Sorry. I an. Im not sorry, Salire giggled. I finally woke up in the middle of the night. Been working on first tier potions ever since.
Theo didnt know how long he expected her recovery to be. But she was in perfect health, now. It reminded him of the ti he watched Azrug recover from getting his first cores. That thought sent a pang of guilt running through his chest. The boy had been so busy as a Lord rchant, he didnt have ti to socialize. The alchemist read his reports in the administration interface. He had even gone over to the new shop to check it out. But they didnt have the ti to sit and talk. It was a sha.
So, Thim and Throk made so modifications to the design of the stills, Salire said, standing near the foremost still. She held her hands out as though she were a saleswoman pitching him sothing fancy to buy. Improved heating elents. Streamlined capacities. Basic programmable run cycles. And so adapters so we can hook this up directly to the new pipe system. What do you think?
Theo pressed his hand against one of the inactive stills, inspecting the item.
[Custom Drogramathi Iron Artifice Still]
[Alchemy Equipnt]
Epic
Created By: Thimamuri and Throk
A 600 unit capacity Drogramathi Iron still with attached advanced condenser and internal heating elent. The advanced condenser allows for a more efficient cooling of essences, decreasing the ti needed to distill.The internal heating elent provides an even heating of the still, preventing burning.
Effects:
Distillation ti reduced.
Occasionally produces more essence.
Reduces the chance of producing low quality essence.
Attachnts:
[Custom Drogramathi Iron Bubble Plate]
[Custom Drogramathi Iron Vapor Pressurizer]
[Custom Artifice Tir]
The big changes here were the capacity and the [Custom Artifice Tir]. All the other features were things that Theo had seen in the past. As he inspected the artifice, he saw the changes they had made to the heating elent. Throk and Thims first attempt at creating an embedded heating elent was good, but it had flaws. The key difference was in the controller. It could now heat zones within the still, starting at the bottom and working its way up depending on which zone he selected. That would be useful. Alchemical mashes burned on the bottom. Rarely did the sides burn.
Very impressive. More impressive that they built ten. Did Throk take a break, or sothing? Theo asked.
He finished a different project. Had so ti.
What project would that be? Was he helping with the underwater tower?
No, I saw him running so pipes outside the walls. He had Sledge help him with getting them under the wall. Sothing about pumping seawater into town.
What the hell does he need seawater for?
Salire didnt know. But it only took a few minutes of digging through the endless progress reports of the administrative screen to figure it out. Theo cursed under his breath. Things had gotten so busy that he pushed projects aside to make room for others. When he first saw the [Reagent Deconstruction] ability, the only thing he could think of was breaking things down to their elental parts. That wasnt exactly the way the ability worked, but if he tried real hard it just might.
To see Throk swooping in, stealing away the production of salt, hit him hard at first. A montary flash of anger that gave way to a reasonable mind. Theo should have ordered pumps, boilers, and tubes to process seawater into salt to begin with. The fault rested solely with him, not the enterprising Marshling. This was a direction the alchemist had hoped people would move in. Industries they established on their own would create a flourishing economy. The anger faded as quickly as it ca, replaced with a sense of pride.
Salire couldnt stop talking about alchemical processes. Her new cores opened a world of possibility for her. And she had the best equipnt owned by any Drogramath Dronon so far as Theo was aware. He peeled the rind from a [Xotl Orange], setting them on one of the many tables in the room. The scent of the fruit was like the imitation orange drink the alchemist had back on Earth. As his assistant went on, he considered what exactly a Xotl was, and why it would have an orange nad after it. He shrugged, popping a slice out of the fist-sized fruit, then into his mouth.
A ssage popped up.
[Property Discovered]!
Eating the [Xotl Orange] has revealed the property: [Xotls Undercurrent]
[Spirit Fruit Consud]!
You have eaten a portion of a spirit fruit. Your natural dexterity has increased slightly. You may only eat one whole spirit fruit per day.
Hey! Salire shouted, falling out of her trance-like state. Did you eat another spirit fruit? It slls like spirit fruit in hereyou should have told .
Want a slice? Theo asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
That smoothed things over quickly. She took a slice of the orange and took a tentative bite. Her eyes closed as she let out a contented sigh. Yeah. Thats good. Huh. It says I cant learn the property.
Really? Does the system say anything else?
Im too low.
Sad tis. Lets brew a potion. Figure out what this undercurrent property is about.
There were other things to do within the lab. Salire was desperately trying to create so potions to fill orders, but her skills werent there yet. Confined to the lowest tier of alchemy, she had created so interestingly poor quality potions. He never expected to see such horrible potions co out of his lab, but that was to be expected. Only a person with blinders on could look at his past and think those first potions were good. They werent good. They were horrible.
The difference between applied alchemy and theoretical alchemy ca down to intuition. As expected, with Wisdom being the most important attribute, creating potions was more art than science. Even if they were using exact numbers to bind things together, there was finesse involved. The new stills proved themselves in brewing the spirit fruits essence. With isolated heating zones, Theo dialed it in to only heat the bottom layer of the still. The result was an even, low heat that drew out the best parts of the [Xotl Orange].
With so little of the essence available, it wasnt worth creating a dilution and running the potion again for the next tier. Theo did what he did with his last fruit, settling for a second tier potion. Salire aided him, but only in a support capacity. She grabbed things when he needed them, and took notes on the process. While this process was already well docunted, it didnt hurt for her to get a refresher.
The reaction was imdiate and violent. The air extraction system whirred above them as the potion put off a cloud of green smoke that slled like the sea. Inside the ornate vial was a potion that swirled with a mixture of blues and greens, flecks of silver running through it like ore through stone.
[Xotls Undercurrent Potion]
[Potion]
Mythic
Created by: Theo Spencer
Alignnt:
Drogramath (Middling Bond)
Grade: Excellent Quality
Drink to create a Xotls Undercurrent.
Effect:
The imbiber must be underwater to consu this potion.
For five seconds after consuming this potion, the water directly beneath them will beco a vortex that sucks in all surrounding water. Like the mighty deep sea Xotl, everything within range will be pulled within the churn of water.
This potion kills you, Salire said, her tone mocking.
She was right, though. Theo stowed the potion in his inventory, intent on destroying it when he had the chance. He created potions like this on occasion. It wasnt sothing that would kill mass numbers of people, or spread harm throughout the world. But he couldnt see soone using this potion while underwater and not killing themselves. That put it in a special category of potions that he would never brew on purpose.
Excellent. Theres bound to be a few duds until I explore the other properties on the orange. But now, lets check out the rind.
Salire rubbed her hands together. I got a good feeling about this one.
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