Alchemy is a school of magic involving the study of magical properties of substances, and thereby the craft of magical properties such as potions and enchanted items, and the otherwise unnatural manipulation of mundane properties, such as material transmutation (not to be confused with transmogrification, the practice of magically causing another living being to embody a particular form other than their own) or the generation of matter and energy in ways that otherwise contradict the known limitations of mundane physics.
Alchemy derives its name from the real-world pseudoscience of the same name, largely recognized as the forebearer of modern mundane chemistry, which posited relations between the material sciences and celestial bodies, and frequently involved the pursuit of certain particular goals, such as the search for an elixir of immortality or the transmutation of common metals into more precious ones. While the protoscientific belief has since faded into predominant obscurity and been eclipsed by more epistemologically rigorous approaches, the term survived in reference to various similar arts in fantasy fiction.
The exact origin of practices described as alchemy in the real world is unknown, but it is widely agreed that the term "alchemy" is attributed in a retronymic sense, and contemporary practices, especially before the Masquerade, were considered perfectly ordinary sciences. Scholars largely deny the notion that alchemical practices arose through the Will of the People from fantasy fiction, as most alchemical schools of magic trace their origins to historical demi-human societies, and new practices are commonly discovered by mages who practice a novel magic and habitually separate themselves from the pastiche of real-world magic seen in fantasy fiction. The line between alchemical practices and material sciences are frequently blurred in magical epistemology, a school of thought that suggests that in spite of the Masquerade, magic practitioners should strive to expand the frontiers of mundane and magical knowledge through their conjunct use.
Alchemy as the magical counterpart to the mundane chemistry is an often-contested nomenclature, but accepted insofar as both the arts are concerned with the study of substances and their properties. The two fields share considerable overlap in the methods and concepts of their practice, as well as many of their tools, but the magic inherent in alchemy and the arcane principles underlying its operations render it a field distinct from mundane chemistry. The nature and origins of the various alchemical schools has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Alchemy is widely understood to be one of the oldest forms of magic, along with shapeshifting and illusion magic, which are each hypothesized to have developed in demi-human communities in response to persecution and discrimination from humans, the same as the commonly recognized impetus for the Masquerade.
History
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Forms
Similar to other schools of magic, different mages and demi-humans have independently developed various practices that, under modern nomenclature, have been termed alchemy. Similar to chemistry, alchemy encompasses many different subfields and specialties which share a common skillset and large portions of knowledge.
These subfields include the alchemical transmutation and fabrication of mundane materials, which is most frequently used in magical epistemology; the production of magical properties such as potions; the analysis of materials for their magical contents, which is most commonly used in forensics, such as by the Veilkeepers and by demi-human members of police forces; and others.
Transmutation
The most common subfield of alchemy is transmutation, which encompasses the fabrication of materials through the tools and knowledge yielded by alchemy. The practitioners of this subfield are the most numerous, and their work is most often employed in magical epistemology. For instance, Sophos International, a technology firm founded by the vampire and powerful mage Eliza Teak that manufactures a line of computers around a custom-designed instruction set architecture, has found success etching silicon at narrow process nodes through the use of magic, allowing the small firm to remain competitive in an industry reputed for being fierce to newcomers. While the finished chip packages are devoid of any trace of magic, the fabrication process involves magical lenses and stencils created using a technique developed by Teak, which otherwise contradict the premises of mundane optics.
Enchantment
Similar to transmutation, enchantment is one of the most common subfields of alchemy, and encompasses the application of magical properties to, or, in some cases, their removal from, an otherwise mundane object. Enchantment has seen the height of its application in wartime across many nations, where in spite of the Masquerade, militaries frequently recruited orders of demi-humans or supplied their forces with enchanted weapons, at the order of officials who knew about the existence of magic. Enchantment has also found application in the demi-human medical sciences, along with potioncraft, due to its application in treating ailments that are magical in cause. Alchemy, along with other magical sciences such as species taxonomy are considered pillars of the study of demi-human medicine, especially as, due to the Masquerade and the prevalence of human society, infrastructure for the care of demi-humans is nearly nonexistent.
Potioncraft
Alchemy can be used to craft potions, which are most frequently either orally ingested or topically applied for either a beneficial or, in the case of poisons, harmful effect. This is commonly referred to as potioncraft, and is one of the less commonly used, though most thoroughly researched, subfield of alchemy.
Potions have historically found widespread use as a form of medical treatment, though the rise of the Masquerade saw with it a rejection of magic-based practices in favor of mundane ones, usually citing reasons such as the scarcity and proprietary nature of magical medicine as well as the reliance on mages and demi-humans, which, in contemporary societies, frequently saw discrimination against themselves. Potions are still considered useful and used in demi-human magical practices when a patient requires an emergency treatment or is not responsive enough to provide a history or undergo an examination, as many potions may provide a stabilizing effect on otherwise deteriorating patients, and in other situations, the nature of the patient's ailment may necessitate a magical treatment.
Potioncraft is also a common form of magical warfare, most frequently used to poison enemies in espionage, and to heal injuries on the frontlines. Potions are often crafted with a single effect, such as a hypnotic or analgesic, and are usually crafted in advance and in bulk by mages. Since the effective dose of a concentrated potion is often extremely small, and potions are frequently indistinct from common substances such as ethanol in human forensic analyses, they are a frequent favorite of demi-human spies due to their ease of concealment.
Potions are occasionally developed with more complex effects, such as Psie, a magical drug developed by Duško Kraus for the Bishops, a vampire hunting group in Offetstine, enabling its members to resist compulsion, most typically vampiric compulsion. Conversely, many potions are designed to provide magical powers to mundane humans and mages who otherwise cannot invoke those powers. Potions have been developed to facilitate duomorphism, the temporary transformation of the user to another form, such as that of a wolf or dragon.
Analysis and identification
Many subfields of alchemy involve the study of the magical content of substances. While these substances are most often potions, and their study may determine their effect or their application in a particular scene or property; they may also various other objects, such as enchanted tools and weapons, and the bodies, skeletons and fossils of deceased demi-humans, with the goal of determining what magics influenced their formation or what magics are currently present on them. Formally known as analytical alchemy after the mundane analytical chemistry, and commonly informally referred to as wizard forensics, these fields are comparatively less common and less influential than others, but still held as equally valuable.
In modern societies, alchemy is primarily used by mages and demi-humans as a form of forensics, especially when magic is suspected. For police forces centered on magical hotspots such as in the Greater Offetstine Area, analytical alchemy is regarded an invaluable tool, as many spells cast by mages are traceable through the magical fingerprints left by the unique signature of the spell caster's mana, and many objects imbued with magical properties carry an equally distinct signature.
While many mages are trained in the fundamentals of forensic alchemy, the discipline is a specialty and its practitioners are typically experts in specific fields, such as the analysis of blood or the identification of materials. Some mages specialize in the investigation of specific types of crimes, and apply their knowledge variously by either working as police detectives, private investigators or for the Veilkeepers, the organization responsible for maintaining the Masquerade. When employed at human organizations, forensic alchemists typically do not reveal the particular nature of their deductions, as they center around a guarded art; and many magical crimes have been convicted by being restaged in mundane terms by investigators. Analytical alchemy is not typically used in the investigation of mundane crimes.
Practices
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