Catalurgy and YOU!

An introduction to the painful world of Catalurgy by Champ Winstar

Fear not, mortals! Though yes, there is a significant chance of death, you will most likely make it through alive! And after that, despite the dangerous "Burn" you receive from practicing Catalurgy, there's a good chance you'll survive that as well! And after that, all you need to do is make sure you keep yourself in line, lest you piss off some nation's hit-squad of Catalurgists, designed to keep the secrets of Catalurgy under wraps. All in all, it's a tough, but fair life.

— Champ Winstar, author of Catalurgy and YOU!

Chapter 1: Surgery and the Basics

Part 1: Surgery

To even become a Catalurgist, you have to go through a pretty scary procedure. This procedure is secret -- only Catalurgists, and those in the Catalurgical field know of it. While I myself cannot claim to be a Catalurgist, I have done enough research to be considered an expert! I have here a step by step process of how the Thymalladus, the organ that processes Ichor into Catalyst, is implanted. This has been borrowed from The Peninsula Estates, but don't let them know that. And PLEASE ignore the late notice.

Patient Prep

Patient must not eat for 24 hours prior to the surgery. If patient uncooperative, heavily sedate them the day prior. Apply compression bands to patients arms and legs to promote blood flow in the desired paths. If patient is cooperating, have them indicate which kidney they want to remove; otherwise, flip a coin. Draw an X on the desired side of body.

Removal:

Cut into patients abdomen, where X marked. Take note of layout of kidney before carefully cutting all veins and arteries as close to the kidney as possible.These are to be re-attached. Cut the adrenal gland off the kidney before removing the organ. Discard a portion of the ureter, and tie off the rest of it. Keep the removed kidney nearby.

Placing the Thymalladus

Place the Thymalladus lengthwise into body cavity. Connect the renal arteries and veins to the top of the Thymalladus. Lead the input and output tubes of the Thymalladus out of the body cavity.

Transplanting the Adrenal Gland

Reference the removed kidney to ensure proper placement of adrenal gland, as you transplant it back onto the Thymalladus. As long as the adrenal gland is in the right spot, the Thymalladus will accept it and absorb it into its self in time.

Finishing Steps

Before sewing the body cavity back up, connect the I/O tubes from the Thymalladus to a starter tank of saline solution. Ichor is not to be introduced until after 6 months, so the body may properly accept the Thymalladus. Sew the body back up, ensuring a proper seal around the I/O tubes. Keep patient under heavy sedation for 48 hours, and then confine to bed rest for 2 weeks to allow for proper healing.

Late Notice

Late Notice

This page's Trinket Collected! View it in your Trinket Chest.

^{Featured above: A doctor's step by step Thymalladical procedure. Not so scary, right? You can almost ignore the 30% death rate!}

Part 2: The Basics

Congratulations! You most likely survived! A mere 6 months after the operation, and you're ready to receive your first hit of Ichor. I hear it packs quite the punch when first introduced to the Thymalladus, so it's recommended you are sitting down when connecting your first tank of Ichor. Hopefully by this point, you've given some thought as to which type of Catalurgy you'd like to specialize in! That, or hopefully you've been told which type of Catalurgy you will specialize in. Not all of you are so lucky to have a choice!

You can however choose your accessories. What's the point of this dangerous life if you can't look good living it?
To properly prepare yourself for conducting Catalurgy, you need to get yourself a tank harness and some pumps. You might've even been briefed on these already! This is so that you can carry around 1-3 tanks of Ichor, so that you are always ready to cast a spell, should the moment strike. Along with the harness, you should find a really nice jacket. Something that can help cover up and hide the fact that you're carrying around tanks of literal god blood. It's best to keep your secrets, as the general public is quite superstitious about blood from the gods. Now you're ready to become a beginner Catalurgist!

At this point, you need to consider your training. If you've so far been forced into every aspect of Catalurgy, it's likely that your training has already been decided. If you're a volunteer, well, you have a few options! Depending on which country you originate from, you may have a few choices of Catalurgy schools to go to. Examples include the Veiled Academy in Degrunda, or the Azca Wastes home of Catalurgic Progress in Keyazcallen.

Catalurgists are notoriously secretive. Due to the dangerous procedure to become one, and common superstition surrounding the God-husks, Catalurgists don't like to talk about what they are. Most are snatched up by various military, as they make fantastic human weapons -- while others work in research and development of new technologies.

The Power of Gods

I realize that becoming a Catalurgist seems quite dangerous, and you might ask yourself, what is the point? Well, I've assembled here a short list of so called "spells" and "abilities" one gains access to, upon becoming a Catalurgist. I've sorted them into amounts of "BURN"¹ incurred during the casting process. A Catalurgist must carefully track the amount of Burn they experience, lest they become Burnt-out.

Low Burn

Electromagnetic Armor: Cast by Aural specialists, this low level burn spell is easy to maintain for long periods of time. By focusing on breathing patterns, and flexing certain muscles in a determined order (stomach, back, arms, stomach), an Aurist may harden the electromagnetic field that surrounds them into a basic protective barrier.

Medium Burn

Permanent Genesis: Should a Genesist choose, they can make a generated object exist only temporarily -- this costs a low amount of Burn over time, ending when the object ceases to exist. For a higher initial Burn cost, and greater visualization requirements, a Genesist can create an object that will continue to exist without the Genesist's outside influence.

High Burn

Freeze: Heat likes to flow from warm to cold -- attempting to make it flow in the opposite direction, until something freezes, requires an incredible amount of effort and Burn on the Transmutists part. They must properly understand the process of heat transfer, and what the target will become when most or all of its heat has been removed.

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^{1: We'll get to "BURN" in the second chapter, but in short: it's the second "cost" that you pay to conduct Catalurgy, aside from the spent Ichor.}

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Editors Note:

The original work we received from Champ ends here, and it is apparent that he was forcefully stopped from finishing his book. Our publishing company has decided to make this work publicly available at no cost, in memory of Mr. Winstar. We hope you enjoy this brief but interesting look into the early life of a Catalurgist.

— Opheline Danesque, Editor in Chief of MYTHS, THE OCCULT, AND MORE - TRUTHFULLY REAL BOOKS LTD

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