From: Peter Metcalfe, CAPE Canty (CHEN190@csc.canterbury.ac.nz)
Date: Wed 21 Sep 1994 - 12:58:08 EEST
The following is something I penned a year ago, while trying to develop an
alchemy system that was more like a magical system than the bland Blade venom
20 found in RQII ie trying to develop alchemy schools and such like.
Eventually I had to figure out how the world actually worked and this is what
came out. Some of it is without a doubt erroneous but comments are welcome.
--Peter Metcalfe
So attested on this day
fire/truth/sea wane 7/23.
Sir Hieronymus of Worion
On the Origin of Metals.
It was once believed that each metal was a manifestation of an element on the mundane plane. This had to be revised when nine metals could be named by the common scribe and only five elements were known to exist by the most learned and wise [Ifmenel does not mention his own work here where he attemped to revive *naive multiplication* and construct para-elements. It sank like a stone - censor]. Fruitless elucidation produced such wild notions as each metal was a manifestation of a rune [making silver the metal of love for some arcane reason as Ifmenel does - censor]. The solution to this conumdrum in recognizing that there are only five basic metals. These are Lead (who corresponds to *Nakala*), Gold (likewise for *Ehilm*), Copper (*Ga*), Quicksilver (*Sramak*) and Bronze (*Worlath*). All other metals are either derivatives or combinations of these metals.
To comprehend what is meant by a derivative metal, we need only look at the transformation of Lorian. Lorian is the Sky River that invaded the Heavens and turned all the skies from gold to blue. Indeed when we look at Tin which is the metal of the Heavens, we see that its colour is blue rather than yellow, its fiery connotations would suggest. But Gold is yellow and ancient accounts of the sky dome state it was gold. Can Gold be transformed by the action of Water to Tin? To find the truth of the matter, I purchased some gold artifacts from a merchant from *Ehilmwal* and placed them in a barrel of water. The barrel was then placed in a dark cellar and left to stand for a year. At the end of the year, the barrel was opened and the articles had acquired a fine silvery sheen. Magical analysis showed that this residue was in fact tin. I believe sunlight would be sufficient to halt this reaction but whether it can be reversed I have no idea. My guess is that since Lorian remains in heaven to this day, the action is irreversible with mundane means.
Silver is another derivative of an element. According to Bakis's renowed book, Here be Dragons [Warning: Ifmenel, several years after the writing of this document, confessed to writng Bakis's "renowned book". He had talked to Bakis about his travels to the *Dragon Empire*. Bakis about the varied people who lived in their lands and said he planned to write a book about it. However Bakis died before he could organize his work and so Ifmenel hit upon the idea of "including" several "observations" of Theyalan barbarians in Bakis's papers to validate his own work. The source of these observations were songs Ifmenel had himself heard in younger days but did not transcribe to paper at the time. As a result they are likely to be *prone to manifest error* -censor] the Theyalans say when Worlath killed Ehilm, his corpse was but silver. This suggests that it is formed by the action of air upon gold. Despite this, I had difficulty replicating this feat on a mundane scale (presumably this is due to the dilute nature of air). It wasn't until recently that after a dream, I stood a golden javelin into the crest of a hill and forbade any to approach it until the year (and several thunderstorms) were up. When I retrieved the Javelin, it had the appearance of silver. After melting it down, I discovered I had made electrum. [His inability to distinguish between the two shows the long term effects of consuming Elvish Liquors of which Ifmenel was a great connoisseur - censor]
A conundrum that follows is the relative abundance of silver compared to gold. The truth is [in reality an educated guess - censor] of the *teological* gold that was deposited during the Ice Age, most were corroded by air during that long time. Another riddle posed by this theory is that it explains why Worlanth is connected to silver but raises the question why Ehilm is not? My theory is that Ehilm was killed by Worlath and seperated from his physical body of which a portion had turned to silver. When he was raised at the Dawn, it was a new body formed from his spirit. As for the relationship of Uleria with... [Ifmenel then goes onto to cite a legend about Uleria and her connection with this metal. It is from Bakis's "Theyalan observations" and also is unclean and fit only for the recreational consumption of degenerates and broos...- censor]
The Transformation of Lorian is joined by other basic types of alchemical actions such as making of *Lodril's metal*. Lodril's metal is a rare metal, found so far on the surface world only around the *Greylands*. The Greylanders tell of how their Ancestral Dehore defeated Lodril and imprisoned him beneath the earth. From this it is easy to theorize that Lodril's metal is made by a strong action of darkness on gold. I have not yet managed to duplicate this since the reaction is too slow when using ordinary shadow. Something stronger is needed such as powerful darkness magic is needed as a result. Lodril's metal is rare due to the fact that at the places where it might be found, the heat is strong enough to meld it with copper to form brass. Since brass has more useful qualities, the rarity of Lodril's metal is seldom missed by all.
The metal Iron was made by the Sons of Urtiam, I believe, from transmuting the raw metal copper. {I believe the sentence here is incomplete due to the sentence structure in the original. The cause of this is most probably censorship. Ifmenel would have been describing by what means it may have been accomplished here which would have been anathema to the authorites - Hiero} This can been seen where untempered Iron which has not been cared for properly and subjected to the ravages of the *invisible (erased word)* shows up with a reddish coating [otherwise known as rust - censor] which I believe is caused by Iron being unstable (it being only a made metal after all) and reverting to copper. Since the Copper was the mother of Iron it can be mixed with Iron, and so the decay of Iron forms a copper-iron alloy which is useless to everyone. [I am told that the Dwarves of Nida dump their iron waste into the Nidan River so as to render it undrinkable by the trolls and elves. - censor]
One metal that is rumoured to exist but has not been found in appreciable qualities for its properties to be ascertained is Han-metal. This is formed by heating lead for over a prolonged time in a bright fire representing Ehilm scorching hell at Hanroo Field [This legend comes courtesy of Bakis's "Theyalan Observations" - censor]. I have not managed to perform this deed as the problems of such an operation are immense indeed [Changes in public opinion regarding *heretical* experimentation was the main reason: sabotage was becoming common - censor]. Due to the location of the incident, significant portions have not been found on the surface world. [Of course if the legend itself comes from Bakis, there is a real chance that it might not be true and thus no "Han-metal" - censor]
The second source of secondary metals is that of mixing two metals together. The most famous of these is Bronze which is mixed copper and tin and is also the birth metal of *Worlath*. Now some critics have stated that this should surely be copper and gold if I am right [Including yours truely - censor]. The reality of this when Lorian conquered the Heavens, he changed the cosmos. {Another censored passage. Ifmenel would have described how the cosmos was changed rather than be succint. We can suspect that important God Learner concepts would have been necessary for explanation making its deltion a foregone conclusion - Heiro} Another metal in this class is the aforementioned Brass. Many more examples exist and will be discussed in my next essay. [The next essay however deals on a completely different topic. Ifmenel said he did this because some of the obvious examples of this type (ie fool's gold) did not have any "story" associated with them -censor] {The censor is probably applying Zzaburs theory and pratcice of truth here. The original documents are numbered and there is a gap between this one and the next which the censor failed to recognize. In actual fact, we know that Loskalm after the expulsion of the God Learners suffered a period of inequitable taxation and resorted to a barter system for a period of years. Little wonder that the document was censored - Hiero}
Glossary of Difficult Words
*Ancestral Dehore*: Presumably Argan Argar is referred to here. For a
westerner to refer to a troll diety as a dehore is a common (if inaccurate
practice) since they usually fear trolls and Dehore is the God of Fear in
their mythology, ergo troll gods are dehores.
*Dragon Empire*: Empire of the Wyrm Friends.
*Ehilm*; Yelm. Lord Light is apparently meant.
*Ehilmwal*: Literally "Sun City". Presumably he meant one of the Solar
Tripolises but Southbank could also be referred to.
*Elvish Liquors*: The Troll Berserks after celebrating a victory over elves
place their corpses along with sevral tree trunks in a sealed lead cauldron
which is then placed in a fire. After a period of time, the seal is broken
and the resulting liquor from the heating is called an elvish liquor .
Consuming too much of this makes humans go blind which is what was being
referred to.
*Fool's Gold*: An trick to double the amount of gold by mixing it with an
unknown metal. It can easily be detected.
*Heretical*: God Learner.
*Ga*: Empress Earth.
*Greylands*: A Troll civilization south of Dragon Pass. They were implacable
enemies of King Palangio and aided Arkat.
*Invisible (erased word)*: Time. The erased word is Kajabor and this was a
God Learner Joke. The word has been erased by our critic for its blasphemous
connotations unintentionally giving it new impetus...
*Lodril's metal*: Ifmenel is almost certainly not referring to Aluminium here.
*Naive Multiplication*: A Malkioni term referring to the belief that there
exists a God for every possible combination of the runes. The error in this
lies in the opposing runes such as Harmony/Disorder for which it is impossible
to concieve a divinity combining such attributes (lawful ones at least).
Life/Death is a special case but cannot be discussed here for lack of space.
*Prone to Manifest Error*: This dismissal of Ifmenel's recollections is
actually grounded in Western tradition. The Western love for documented
literature for it is said that when the Silence robbed them of speech and
hearing, only the written word kept the hope alive. Ifmenel would have been
trying to fight this prejudice when he inserted his work. Of course the
veracity of his recollections is unknown as Theyalan Literature is seldom
found in civilised lands.
*Sons of Urtiam*: Dwarves. This is one of an ancient western family of
phrases (ie sons of Ehilm: Pelorians, Sons of Worlath: Theyalans) which dates
from the time when their own geneology could be easily determined. With the
adoption of the teachings of Hrestol and the resulting increase in local
ancestors (ie excerable Hsunchen) this phrase become somewhat old fashioned.
*Sramak*: Sir Sea.
*Teological*: Earthly. Ifmenel was fnd of using verbose words.
*Urtiam*: Mostal
*Worlath*: Orlanth. He is confused here with King Storm.
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