An Intro To Potioncraft

The lab is well lift with lanterns hanging over half a dozen rows of tables laden with chemicals, beakers, tubes and stoves.

You and several other students are somewhat taken aback with the complexity of the devices as you spread out through the room.

You make yourself comfortable, waiting for the teacher to arrive, when they do they aren’t as you imagined them, though you don’t quite know what you imagined an alchemy teacher to look like.

A gnomish woman with long, frizzy red hair, almost touching the floor, she wears an assortment of clothes that appear home made.

![]https://imgur.com/gallery/IxOJ2fl

“Greetings students! I am known as mother Talsa and I shall be guiding you through through the exact science and high art of alchemy!”

“The structure of a potion is made from 3 parts…” she says as she walks up a strange stair way made from hefty alchemy books to reach a chalk board.

“The base, which is the foundation upon which the other parts will build, this could be anything from a vial of water, grease, fruit juice or blood”

“The catalyst, The magical compound that introduces a spark of arcana into the brew, each catalyst could produce a set number of different products which is where the reagent comes in”

“The reagent will play off of the catalyst, giving you a specific effect as opposed to a random one”

“It’s possible to create a potion without a reagent but it’s impossible to know for sure what you’ve made”

After looking around the class, seemingly looking for raises hands, she pulls pulls a curtain that had been covering a portion of the chalk board, revealing todays focus.

“Today class you will be learning the recipe to ‘The Waters Of Life’ potion, dramatic name I know, but it’s a staple within the work of potioncraft”

She takes a ruler and points to several annotations around the crude drawing of the potion.

“The base, is one vile of fresh spring water, the purer the better”

“The reagent, a tablespoon of bone marrow, ideally from the same species as the consumer, though this is not a requirement for this to work”

“And lastly, the catalyst, which for this specific creation, will be fairy’s blood, this is due to the fact that fairy’s have a strong connection to restorative magic”

Several students in the room seem unnerved in using parts of a sapient species in the brew, most notably an elf who looks like she’s going to be sick.

“Unfortunate, I know, but this is a vital part of the curriculum, every student who enters this class MUST know how to create the potion”

“Let’s make this interesting, whatever you make here today, you may take with you when you leave, Wintermoor can be a dangerous place and I’d hate for any of you to be hurt”

Several students sit up, excited to take their creations home with them.

“Alright students, pair up and grab a workstation, each one will be equipped with everything you need for this potion”

Looking around the room you see several students pairing up, most of them likely already knowing each other, you on the other hand know nobody in the room.

As you’re working out who to approach you feel a tap on your shoulder, turning to look you see a dragon-kin of all people.

Where you come from the dragon-kin were a rare sight indeed, rumored to be the progeny of humans who’ve made a pact with one of the dragon lords of yore, leaving a permanent mark on their bloodline.

This particular dragon-kin wears little more than their academy robes over her crimson scales, a pair of yellow reptilian eyes stare down at you as she extends a clawed hand for you to shake.

![]https://imgur.com/gallery/IxOJ2fl

“Hey, I’m Kora, care to partner up?” The corner of her mouth raises in a grin as you take her hand.

You don’t see much to lose so you agree before moving over to one of the workstations.

Three bowls rest aside from the alchemy equipment each filled with one of the ingredients required for this brew.

“Excellent, now students, to start pour the water into the cauldron, don’t worry about measurements for this part”

Kora grabs the bowl, lifting it up before pouring it into the cauldron which begins to heat up as the small stove beneath it is magically lit.

“Next, measure out a vial of the fairy’s blood and pour it in, don’t be startled by the color, I assure you it’s perfectly natural”

You do as told, pouring a vial of the light blue liquid into the cauldron, almost instantly the color is taken over by a sickly lime green color.

“Finally you will add the bone marrow, this is important you must add exactly a tablespoon of bone marrow”

“If you add too little the potion will be impotent and if you add too much…. There will be disastrous consequences”

You’re about to grab the bone marrow when Koras hand grasps yours, turning to her she holds out a small twig, under the table and out of the teachers sight.

“A twig taken from a dryad… I wonder what would happen if we used this instead…?” She asks with a mischievous smile on her face.

“We’d fail the class, that’s what would happen” you say opposed to going off course.

“Come oooon… where’s your academic curiosity? If we put this in the brew we might get an even better result, and you know what that means? Commendations…!”

It’s clear she’s only interested in seeing what happens and honestly you kind of are too, though if this blows up in your face this will be a serious blow to your fresh record.

And besides that, if the potion is useless then that means you don’t get to keep a healing potion on hand for free.