Essences

Essences are the wondrous substances behind most of alchemy's great works. The theory holds that alchahest does not destroy matter but reduces it to its purest form, the essence, which lies on the border of the physical and the metaphysical and can be fixed in physical form only by the alchemist's will. Each needs 12 drams of the chosen metal or element, a quarter fluid dram of alchahest, an aludel, an athanor, a full lab and at least two weeks of total concentration. Success is a save vs Will; failure means repeating everything, with a 10% chance of mishap.

Some essences enchant items by dousing: washing a finest-quality object in the liquid for an hour every day, where one missed day spoils the process. Only the maker can douse with an essence, so these are never sold. True Copper adds +1 protection per week (to +4), True Iron +1-4 to a weapon or up to 20 missiles, True Silver makes a ring store 1-6 spells, True Gold lets a staff, rod or wand hold 5-30, and True Platinum after six weeks lets any object hold 2-7 spells that recharge daily, or makes a cursed item. Essential Tin grants immunity to control spells and rule over 200 levels of creatures, or keys an item to a command word.

Others work directly. Variable Mercury, the Philosopher's Stone, turns 100 pounds of molten lead or mercury to gold per grain; True Lead paint makes a surface 95% spell-proof; Waters of Sulfur revive someone dead up to an hour or fully heal the living; Essential Lodestone makes or dispels a force field; and Essential Earths yield eight elixirs giving a 25% chance of one permanent elemental power of Earth, Air, Fire or Water.