Alchemy
Mixes sealing concepts with classical "black box" rituals (made significantly more effective due to a consistent connection with the invoked deity) and enchanting concepts. In terms of implementation, uses a great variety of physical materials with magical properties.
Alchemy as a field can be summed up as the 'not arcanism' magics practiced by Eideli civilization. Most of it vaguely falls under conventional definitions of binding, though its roots stem from different origins than the Whirlpool binding lineage. Admittedly, after contact with whirlpool, the practices intermingled heavily.
A lot of alchemy is powered by blood, being one of the oldest and easiest to access power sources. With Eidel's constant military expansion and relatively harsh laws, there never really was a shortage. Many of these applications don't even require human blood- soul lamps are generally made from small animals such as rats and rabbits.
Alchemy and xiphaem can be thought of as two approaches to manipulating life. Low-level and academic alchemy tends to utilize mostly plant manipulation. Plants are far simpler, and also lack souls. This makes them a lot easier to modify.
What is Alchemy?
Compared to practices like arcanism or artifice, it's a bit harder to define what the fundamental 'unit' of alchemy is. Many consider alchemy more of a general method of approach than anything. This stems from its parent culture having roots in magics far beyond even modern human understanding, resulting in a certain level of handwaving becoming part of the cultural mindset. Mostly though, alchemy can be thought of as the utilization of intrinsic properties in a set of materials in order to change their state. That's not very specific, but it does have a key defining feature of primarily working through physical interactions. Generally speaking, the practice is based around organic material. Alchemy is essentially the bastard child of binding and artifice, with occasional divine help, originating from Eidel. Many of the more complex aspects of alchemy have their roots in xiphaem and the construction of xiphaem pseudo-circuits. A lot of the sub-pages here aren't really that magical. The method for creating bleach from spiderwolf venom is a largely chemical one, though literally everything is magical to a degree because of the world's nature. A lot of tree-grafting is based on mundane tree behavior; unlicensed alchemist tree grafters are basically performing mundane tree shaping (unless they're skirting regulations). Lots of alchemy is basically just facilitating chemical reactions through magic: a different way to achieve the same (largely) mundane end-result. Things like making collagen casings for sausages can be done through alchemy- that is, through application of xiphaem, instead of chemical mixes (which goes something like acid slurry, inorganic salt treatment for stability, and glycerin to plasticize). The main ingredents would be blood, raw material to be shaped, and references for desired attributes in the final product (the last of which can get a bit dicey).Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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