Alchemy Basics (Tock)

[Rayage]

Summer 15 512 AV

The professor entered the classroom. This time he was a bit behind. Have you ever heard of a nuit being late, and to his own class if that? What a joke. Though he did have his reasons, a certain investigation had taken most of his time, and he has just so happened to have lost track of what day it was. His studies were of the upmost importance, and included more sensitive matters concerning the University. He was glad that he was still allowed access after being gone for so long, but he would restore it to its rightful glory. He was an agent of change, and in being so transformation was what he brought to the world best.

The classroom was full of chatter, but as soon as the professor walked through the doors it became silent and all eyes were on him. This was the third class period, but he had made quite a mark on the students. He was good at what he does, and that is Alchemy. If they had any desire to learn then they would play by his rules and no one else’s. ”Welcome class.” he said, walking down the aisles to get to the front of the room, ”Today, yes, today we will be learning about the very basics of Alchemy. Up to now Ive given you a brief introduction and you have studied some famous Alchemists, but now you learn the theory, and with the theory comes your first transmutation.” he said, acting like he wasn’t late at all. In fact, he didn’t even mention it. How late was he? Well, he didn’t care to keep track.

With that he went up to the giant chalk board in the front of the room and picked up the chalk, ”The first thing you need to know about Alchemy is where it stands regarding all other magics.” he said, writing on the board. The chalk moving in swift, and practiced motions spelling out the words “World Magic” ”But you should already know its classification. Lets look into this a bit deeper shall we?” he asked, his hand busily writing on the board, ”As with all magic, Alchemy fits into the very basic laws of djed.” Writing the number one, he put a short dash by it, ”Law one” he announced, ”Djed cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed” he said, hand busy writing the law on the board.

”Law two,” he went one, ending law one with a period and numbering the law he was about to announce, ”Some forms of Djed are purer than others.” he smiled at that law, nodding as if approving it.

”Law three,” he wrote out the last law, ”Some Transformations are irreversible.” This was probably the easiest to represent with Alchemy, but the art did tie into all three laws. That is why they are called laws in the first place. They cannot be broken. Or can they? That is another matter in itself. A real alchemist knows that the only limits to reality are the restraints that one puts on it.

The nuit stopped writing and looked out at the class, trying to see if they were paying attention. Understanding the very basics of Alchemy was important if they want to stretch the limits. Or rather, to stretch the limits one first must know the limits to be stretched. Yes, without a basic understanding of Alchemical theory and of the circle, an alchemist is nothing. Ray would make sure his teachings would be taken to heart or he would take them out of his class. It was something personal to him, and he would not have it trashed by snot nosed students with no respect.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock was in a bad mood. She was still a bit sore in the ribs from her fight a couple of weeks ago, and her right hand was still aching. Of course, with Handy, her brand new wooden hand Automaton, she didn't actually need the use of her hand. When the teacher was late, she sat there, chin propped in her left hand, while Handy, strapped to her right wrist, was impatiently tapping his little wooden fingers on the desk. Tock was bored of waiting, and also tired after a long day at work yesterday, which had included wrangling her coworkers into agreeing to help her with her Monument. Finally, the teacher showed up. Tock wasn't paying attention, but Handy twisted around and tapped her on the arm, then pointed to the front of the room. Tock sat up straighter, eager for a chance to finally learn something new. Except, for the first few minutes, she didn't learn anything new. She groaned quite loudly when the professor started going on about the laws of Djed. She knew this stuff. She had learned it three years ago, when she first studied Magecrafting under her apprenticeship to Archimaneus. She had far better things to do than sit here and get boring, useless, repeat lessons of what she already knew. By the time the teacher finished writing the three laws, she huffed and snorted. Then she realized he was staring at her. She frowned as the rest of the class turned around to face her. Great. When the teacher asked her what her problem was, she waved her hand derisively at the blackboard, with Handy mimicking the motion from his perch on her wrist. "Oy, I done already knows 'at stuff, Teach!" she protested. "Weren't nothin' 'bout 'Alchemy' 'ere! What were the same stuff fer I learned already fer Magecraftin', fer Animation..." She shrugged and asked him, "Where's the Alchemy stuff what fer 'ose o' us what already knows all 'bout Djed, aye? I's a bloody expert, I is," she said a bit smugly, thrusting a thumb against her chest. "Jus' what needs ta learn the good stuff!"

[Rayage]

When the nuit looked over the class he say that most were taking notes like they should be. The basics, the foundation of Alchemical understanding, will define their career as Alchemists. A good knowledge of the first stepping stones is what will lay the path to further endeavors. Without being shown the right path people will often get lost and mess up, and in magic if you mess it could mean the practitioners life. Not that Ray particularly cared about the lives of his students, but rather the impact it would have on his reputation if a student of his died while preforming Alchemy. That was what he wanted to avoid at all costs. Yes, he wouldn’t risk a life by skipping over the very basics, and so he started at the very beginning.

Though there seemed to be one person who wasn’t satisfied with the class so far. It bothered him, and when he asked her the problem all he got was attitude. How disrespectful. He frowned at the response he got. The nuit would have to make an example of her somehow. ”You claim you already know it?” he asked her as if he had misheard what she was trying to say, ”Very well,” the nuit set the chalk down, and turned his gaze to the woman in question. The eye contact was unreeling, challenging, and worst of all he didn’t blink. ”Can you, Miss Zapporah, explain to me the meaning of the three laws and how they tie into Alchemy?” he asked her, a smirk growing on his face. He expected to have just won the challenge at hand. Surely she didn’t know Alchemy well enough to explain what he asked, did she?

”Magecraft and Animation are different disciplines than Alchemy.” he stated, ”They have their own limitations and rules to follow.” he nodded, not nearly an expert in either magic, but knew of them from brief encounters by mages who wielded their powers, ”In Alchemy we have our own set of rules and limitations. It’s very important to know what you are dealing with before we get to the ‘good’ stuff.”

He waited a few moments before adding, ”If you cannot answer me, then I suggest you stop complaining about today’s lesson and listen up. You might miss something important that will cost you your life down the line.” Oh it wasn’t a threat, but a fact. One little mistake could mean the end of the line. It was horrible, but true. Then again, failures didn’t deserve to wield alchemy in the first place. He was glad the magic itself could ‘weed’ people out. Though there were the lucky ones who get away… The nuit had to remind himself that everyone’s time will come sooner or later. ”If you think that I am wasting your time, well, nothing is holding you there.” he commented, ”You are free to leave anytime you want, just don’t come back.”

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

OOCI still haven't read the Alchemy Lore. So this is all guesswork... Tock scowled at the teacher. She hated it when professors acted like they were better than students, just because they knew more about their particular subject. He wasn't better than her. She was quite sure if they got on the subject of woodcarving or building things, it would be HER who was teaching HIM! Though she was a bit stumped by the question, and scratched her head, staring at the board for a long, silent moment. She didn't know the first thing about alchemy, beyond 'turn stuff into other stuff.' Or as the teacher had put it on the first day, 'elevating an object to a higher state of being.' But she didn't know how it worked yet, nor how the three laws applied to it specifically. But she was a genius. She could figure it out, through logical analysis. "Well," she said, Handy still tapping his wooden fingers on the desk. "I ain't knows what fer the 'rules'n'limitations,' what cause 'at's what yer gotta teach us. But..." She thought about what she DID know about the three laws, and how they would tie in to turning stuff into other stuff. "If'n Djed ain't been created o' destroyed, what 'en when yer makin' stuff wit' alchemy, yer not makin' nothin' from scratch. Like fer 'ow if'n I wants ta build a desk, o' sommat, I needs the parts... wood'n nails'n stuff. So's as whatever ya done gonna needs ta make fer Alchemy, ye'd need the parts. Like as when I's Animatin' sommat, I needs a Source fer ta put in what I needs. So ye'd need sommat wit' the right kinda Djed what as ya needs, fer ta transform." She then pondered the second law, sucking on her teeth for a moment. Finally she said, "If'n some kinda Djed is purer 'en others, 'en the more pure ya starts wit', the better yer Alchemy done gonna been. Like, fer ain't no good what ta make a desk o sommat outta rotted wood, aye? An' can't use wood what's too soft, o' she gets banged up too easy-like. So it'd be the same wit' Alchemy... ya gits some good parts ta start wit', ya gits better Djed outta 'em, an' whatever ya done makes done been better for it..." She then thought about the third. It seemed pretty self-explanatory. She didn't know how else to explain 'irreversible,' other than simply the way it was listed on the board. But she thought in terms of building again, and said, "If'n she's irreversible, 'en ya done better make sure ya gots good parts first, an' knows whatcha doin'. Cause like, once ya cuts a piece o' wood, ya can't uncuts it, aye? Measure twice, cut once... So's as ya done better make sure ya gots the right plan, o' whatever it is, fer yer Alchemy-ing stuff. Cause if'n ya mess up, ya can't git yer parts back the way 'ey was, an' yer stuck what wit' whatever ya gots!" She grinned. "An'... well, if'n ya says fer she might cost yer life, I guess what as ya might make sommat dangerous by accident. Like 'is one time, when I done spilt molten copper all over my shoe, an' almost lost me some toes! An' 'ere's probably stuff fer Alchemy what does worse stuff, like..." she shrugged, trying to think of an example. She thought of the statue she had at home; the one that had sparked her curiosity about this class to begin with, and prompted her to enroll. "Like... git yerself turned ta stone, o' sommat..."

[Rayage]

The nuit grinned and clapped. One couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or not, ”See class,” he pointed out, ”This one is not as stupid as the rest of you.” the one he was talking about was Miss Zipporah. ”Very well.” he said turning from the class and returning to the board, ”I hope all of you were listening to Miss Zipporah’s explanation because Im going to skip my own.” there was a sort of nod of appreciation directed towards the woman in his class. ”Though,” he cocked his head back to the class, ”The third law is probably the most important to understand in Alchemy.” he said underlining the third law in white chalk.

”Some transformations are irreversible.” he repeated, ”For a beginner and in a 101 class the answer given by Miss Zipporah is acceptable but not fully true. You see, the product of the transmutation, of the magic of Alchemy,” he explained trying to remember that they do not know the lingo that most Alchemists know, ”slowly decays over time. Eventually the item will regress to its former state of being. Some transformations are irreversible but not Alchemies. A better example would be to use the chargers, the items of which are factored into the Alchemy Circle, for this law. Because once something has been used for Alchemy it cannot be used again, or for anything else really. It’s very identity stripped or warped based on the magic one has just tried to perform. Really neat.” he said, ”But in the end, garbage.”

With that he started to draw on the board. If it seemed like he was ignoring any part of the students explanation it was because he was saving his knowledge and insight for future references. His hand moved in a wide, broad circular motion. He drew a near perfect circle with ease and finesse. The alchemist has been making circles for quite some time, and so it came almost naturally to him. ”Today we will be discussing the most basic Alchemy.” he said. On the very top of the circle he drew another circle, smaller than it, but centered the smaller circle on line of the bigger one in such a way that it bisected the one he drew. Or as much of a bisect as he could manage. He repeated the process directly below it too, on the other side of the circle. From there on either side of the circle, directly right or left, he drew two equilateral triangles, their points facing inside, while the two remaining points were left going vertically. From the right-most triangle and from the point facing in, he drew a line that reached just about the center of the big circle, and then made a smaller, a much smaller circle to finish it off. ”This class is the most basic alchemy circle.” he said.

”Every Alchemy circle is made of four basic elements: The Keystone, the Chargers, The Target, and Djed Wire.” he said drawing arrows and labeling different parts as he named them off.



”Alchemy circles are not complex if you break it down into those parts. First we will talk about the circle itself. The alchemy circle is usually constructed of metal wrapped in Djed-wire.” he explained, ”Now Djed-wire, called D-wire for short, is special wire treated with advanced glyphing techniques. It is known to be quite pricy,” he grinned at that, ”But it is used to transmit all sorts of magical energies through its length. It is vital to a good alchemy circle. Vital.” he repeated the word to make sure they understood just how important it was. ”Using a circle without wire will result in more resistance, making higher and more stable transmutations near impossible. You can get away with not having the wire for minor transmutations, but an observant alchemist will find that the products are not nearly the quality they could be if one just had the wire. A grand investment indeed.”

”The target.” he pointed to the very center ring, ”Is the object in the center. The target will receive the alchemical flux and be changed by the energies. It is imperative that the target be chosen with care. It could be the difference between, say,” the instructor cut off thinking of an example quickly, ”leather with the properties of steel, and steel with the properties of leather. Chargers and the target cannot be switched, changed, or otherwise tampered with and the same results expected.” he wrote the two exampled he thought of on the board.

”Chargers, aside from the target,” he started pointing at the top and bottom of the alchemy circle, ”are perhaps the most important part of the circle. For you, they come in two basic forms the fount and the filter.” writing down the two types of chargers for the class, ”The fount is the positive side of the circle.” he explained, drawing a dividing line between the circle splitting it in half between the labeled ‘keystones’. He labeled the top charger the fount, ”The fount takes the properties, the very identity, of what is put into it and adds it to the alchemical flow. It is these properties which are transferred from the item in the charger to the target.” he pointed, from the fount charger to the circle labeled target.

”The filter,” he labeled the bottom charger ‘Filter’, ”captures and restricts the energy forced through it. The filter is the negative side of the circle. It subtracts properties while the Fount adds them. It keeps the reaction in check, and makes the transmutation go more smoothly. With this you can control exactly what properties you would like in your reaction. However,” Rayage looked over the class, ”The filter only blocks the properties of the fount, and remember that one filter can block multiple founts. Used properly the filter can remove unwanted properties and make your reaction go smoothly. Usually though, there is some trial and error involved.”

”The last part of the circle is the Keystone.” he introduced it. ”The keystone is the alter of the Alchemist. It is where we directly influence the circle. It is where we take control of the powers of change, and bend reality to our will.” he said with enthusiasm, ”The keystone, like any alter worth its salt, requires a sacrifice to be used.” he held a single up, ”A drop of blood.” he said simply, ”A drop of blood shed upon the keystone, and hand held in place. With the power of your will, sacrifice paid, you will have dominion over the space inside your circle.”

”Through the Keystone anything is possible. There is a connection the Alchemist gains when the price is paid. You can feel the djed inside the circle, you can feel it, become it, command it. All Alchemy relies on the command of the Alchemist. If you do not will the energies into motion then there will be no reaction, nothing.” he paused to allow the students to take into account everything he just said.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock smirked and glanced around the class a bit smugly when the teacher praised her intelligence (well, in a manner of speaking). She knew she was a genius, but it was nice to have other people recognize it. She began taking notes on what the teacher said, though a few things he pointed out confused her. Like the part about the transmutation decaying over time. She raised her hand, and without actually waiting to be called upon, asked, "Why's fer it gotta decay? I mean, if'n ya does a good job, can't ya make it... not decay? An' 'ow long's it last?" She suddenly thought about the statue she had at home. How long would it remain stone? Would it turn back into a man one day? Would he remember the time he'd spent standing in her cottage? "An' if'n it starts decayin'," she asked, "can ya like, re-does 'er wit' the alchemy? Like, give 'er another round, so what as she gets all good'n'stuff again?" Aside from wanting to learn how to turn things to stone, Tock wanted to learn to make parts for her Golems with Alchemy. But she didn't want her creations to decay. She'd need to give some serious thought into how to incorporate the two magics together. The rest of what the teacher said mostly made sense. The concept of the circle, while different from an Animation circle, seemed to follow similar principles, including the need for blood. She also added a line to her notes: Learn how to make Djed-wire. She preferred to use entirely self-made tools and supplies, whenever possible. If it was made with Glyphing, then she should be able to master it soon enough.

[Rayage]

”Why does it have to decay?” the alchemist repeated the question, ”My, why do we age? Why do people die? Is it the result of the endless march of time, or is it something more?” he asked, answering the question with a question, ”Djed.” he laughed, ”Djed, the answer to everything. It is because of Djed that we age and die, it is because of Djed that the item reverts to its original state.” he introduced the concept, ”Alchemy is like a living being. You humans,” he said looking around the room, ”age and die because your own bodies.” he pointed out, ”Over time you lose the ability to process and absorb the Djed you intake. Unable to absorb it, you die.” he grinned, ”The same principle can be applied to Alchemy. Over time the charged items lose the djed applied to it, resulting in the item reverting to its original state. We measure the progression to normality in half-lives. A half-life is the amount of time that it takes for fifty percent of the alchemical reaction to be reversed.”

”No alchemical reaction is everlasting,” he stated, ”and how long the reaction lasts largely depends on the Alchemist.” he smiled feeling a little superior in this regard, ”There are many factors that go into how lasting a reaction is. Some of them are, concentration, the alchemists skill, and the size of the alchemy circle. You see, Alchemy relies on speed at which the alchemist can throw about the energy.” he said. ”The more concentration one has when preforming Alchemy, naturally, the faster and better he will be able to control the circle resulting in a better overall transmutation.” he smiled at the class. Rayage really enjoyed talking about Alchemy. ”Skill should be an obvious factor.” he laughed, ”One who has just picked up Alchemy could not expect the same results as an Alchemist who has studied all his life.” He insinuated.

”Circle size is the last factor that I’ve listed. This one is also very important. The bigger the circle, the more djed available to command, more djed means a longer half-life equating to a longer overall transmutation.” he finished explaining it simply. ”Those are the basic factors, more exist, but this is enough to get a basic idea. One way to get an idea of how long a reaction will last is through the magic of Auristics. Through that one may see, record, and collect data on the decay of the transmuted item. Non-magical means of measuring do exist and those are your eyes.” he smiled, ”Look carefully, take notes, and estimate based on past experiments. Ways of getting exact measurements and accurate dates of decay have been lost to the Valterrian.” he did not sound very happy about that. ”We now rely on the powers of observation.”

”If it starts decaying, yes,” he nodded, ”you can always re-do the reaction. This brings me to another point.” he said, ”Using a bigger circle than you have practice with without proper preparation or skill will result in less than desirable circumstances. Many an Alchemist have died in explosions of highly charged energy because they tried to push their limits. For the sake of your own life and safety I urge you to stay within a comfortable zone, and if you feel the need to expand do so at a reasonable pace: One fount and Filter at a time.”
oocDidn’t introduce anything more in case you had more questions

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock frowned a bit as the explanation continued. Parts of it made sense, but she had doubts about a few points. Though at the very least she liked the idea that she could re-do a reaction if need be. She didn't want her most precious creations decaying over time. "What about stone?" she asked. "I mean, stone ain't goes nowhere for like, ever. So if'n ya alchemied somthin' inta stone, wouldn't it stay 'at way?" There were stone buildings in Zeltiva that had stood for centuries, since before the Valterrian. It was pretty important for her to figure out whether the stone statue in her house would be reverting back to human next month, or next century. Though she couldn't ask a direct question about it; she didn't want the teacher knowing she had somehow gotten her hands on an alchemically created statue of a once living person. So she added, "An' what 'appens ta it what when it's like, back ta normal? Like, okay," she shifted in her seat and tried to think how to explain this without revealing too much. "Say like, I 'ad some bread o' sommat, aye? It ain't what gonna stays fresh more'n a day o' two. But, if'n I like, alchemied it inta stone, an' it were stone fer like a year... when it turns back, is the bread fresh? O' is it all rotted? Cause, if'n it were stone," she waved a hand out and tilted her head to the side, "'en it ain't been rottin', what cause stone ain't rot, but if'n it were bread," she waved her other hand and tilted her head the other way, "it'd been all moldy an' stuff by 'en..." The rest of it she thought she got, at least as far as the basic concepts were concerned. It was a bit odd to her that the circles needed to be bigger though. In Animation, a bigger circle generally resulted in wasted energy, since the only purpose of the circles there was to contain the Djed, so that it could be absorbed by the Destination. The reaction was more straightforward. But with alchemy, it seemed, there was more to be done with the Djed before it was implanted into the target. It was a fundamentally different process. Where Animation was more about the time spent and how much information was transferred, alchemy seemed to be more about refining the quality of the Djed, rather than the quantity. And there was certainly no danger in Animation of the circles exploding. The danger in that discipline was in an out of control creation. Tock had experienced a few difficulties with such things herself, when her creations flexed a little more free will than she'd intended, such as Handy opening the door for strangers. There was also a danger in the commands she'd programmed them with... Choppy could potentially kill someone if she accidentally used the word 'chop' in a sentence.

[Rayage]

Rayage looked almost concerned when she kept talking about stone, but he quickly controlled his emotions and let her finish, ”Stone.” he said, ”What a unique substance.” he said with a smile, ”Capable of seemingly freezing anything at the exact of moment in time from which it is carved, no?” he let his words fill the classroom, ”As Alchemists we have better things to do than to petrify things, Miss Zipporah. Though, you will find that turning things to stone is much easier than some of the other endeavors you will encounter along your own path as Alchemists.” He turned to the board, ”Let’s take Miss Zipporah’s fascination with stone here into account class. Lets hope she going to try to turn any of us to stone. You are not planning anything as deviant as that, are you?” he joked, talking louder because he knew not everyone would be able to hear him when he faced the board. Though the professors words sounded jovial, there was an unsettling ring to them, almost ominous implications.

Chalk scraped on the board and the lines he made were audible and had a sense of purpose in them. A swish here, line there, dash and eventually he turned away from the board to reveal that he had just drawn what could be made out to be a spoon, a giant spoon, ”Let’s take this spoon as an example.” he said. It was evident that he was no artist, but his representations, as long as he will get the concept through, will stay nonetheless, ”Zipporah,” he said avoiding the formality of a ‘miss’, ”it seems to me that the question you asked comes from a lack of understanding of exactly what the alchemical decay of an item really is.” he told her, ”Suppose I transmute this silver spoon to stone.” he said giving one student a dirty look when he questioned the logic behind turning silver to stone. The professor reassured him that there would be a time when turning things to stone would be of value to him, and that he should not ask questions and just listen, lest he be dismissed.

Turning back to his drawing he drew in little dots all around the spoon. The speckles of white on the blackboard almost obscured the image, ”These dots will represent the alchemical reaction, the stone property added onto the silver. Changing and warping its appearance. You see class how the dots completely cover the spoon?” he asked, ”Now,” he quickly drew another spoon next to the other one, added in dots just like the last, ”We have two examples.” he said nodding at his own work, ”A half-life is the amount of time for half of the alchemical reaction to dissipate, dispel.” he gave them the definition of a half-life once more, ”What does that mean though?” he asked feeling frustrated that he wasn’t going to accurately depict this, ”Does it mean that half of the spoon is magically silver while the other half is still stone?” he asked grabbing a rag from the base of the white board, and with one sweep of his hand, in one spoon, he erased half the dots on one side. Then the professor stood back and looked at it, letting the class take into account what he just said, ”Or is it more gradual?” he asked, ”More subtle, perhaps?” he asked.

”Alchemy is the art of transformation. It changes things, making its products like other things, but so unlike them as well.” he said, stepping over to his second and unused spoon, ”It’s a gradual decay.” he said, taking his rag and rubbing away one dot here, and another there, ”It’s a gradual transformation, journey back to original state of being.” he said erasing more dots, ”The decay does not magically focus on one area, but gradually the entire target becomes more and more silver-like, while the stone fades away.” he said removing his rag and stepping back again, showing the class his representation of one half life. ”If one were to observe this within reality,” he said, ”within Mizahar, they would notice a curious transformation of mundane to something of value.” he said, ”Of stone slowly fading to silver as the transmutation is undone.” Finishing he crossed out the spoon with a giant X that was, as Ray explained it to be, half silver and half stone. He kept the correct example untouched.

”However, that hardly answering your question Miss Zipporah.” he said returning to face the class, ”The short answer is that the transmuted stone-bread will slowly become more and more bread, and less and less stone. As you stated the bread part will not last more than a day or two. I can tell you from experience that even at your level your transmutations will last far more than a couple days if adequately prepared and cast. What does that mean?” he asked dumbing it down for the rest of the class, he was sure that Zipporah got her answer, ”It means that as stone becomes bread based on the half-life factor that bread has the potential to spoil even though the rest of it is stone. That portion that is bread will still be affected by time, as everything is.” he said, ”The bottom line is when the transmutation fully wears off the bread will not be good to eat. Might as well keep it stone after a half-life has passed.” the professor gave his opinion on the subject. Keeping it stone, ”Keeping it stone is a lot neater than having spoiled bread.” he spoke the last sentence right at Miss Zipporah. Although the Professor did not yet know of the stone statue in his students house, he did know that the person who he petrified had disappeared… This young lady sure seemed interested in stone. Was he careless? Did she see the transformation? No... there was no one there except that other nuit that night. Lets just focus on teaching the class.

"Do understand that products of Alchemy are always decaying. We just measure certain points in time as half-lives. No magical amount of time passes and then you notice half your transmutation is gone. No" he shook his head, "Its a gradual thing." he made the point again, "Alchemy is like a living thing, and this decay is akin to aging. You do not magically age a year on your name-day do you?" he asked, "No. That is idiotic. You age day by day, chime by chime, and as humans are to aging transmutations are to decaying."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

OOCSorry it's so short. Tock didn't have any other questions i could think of. Tock took extensive notes on what the teacher was telling her. It made a LOT more sense now. Alchemical decay was similar to a rotting piece of fruit: the dark spots appeared all over the place, at random, as the fruit slowly decayed. When she'd been hungry enough she'd had times she cut out all the discolored parts and still ate what was left behind. While that might not be extremely healthy, the unaffected portions were still edible. But once she didn't have any more questions on her mind at the moment, she started to get seriously bored at the idea of continuing to sit here, listening to the teacher talk. She greatly preferred hands-on learning. So she asked him, "So when does we git ta make stuff?" She wanted to see some of these decay rates for herself, and start experimenting with different mixtures. She still wasn't sure how to deal with mixing different substances together in order to get what she wanted, but she figured she could figure that out through trial and error, rather than by sitting here and getting all fidgety. And if there was a chance that something would blow up, well, that just sounded like fun.