Open Chronicles Odd Brews: Alchemical Concoctions, Potions, Plants, and Eccentricities

[Urberus]

Urberus' shop in Elbion once sat tucked away in the merchant district. However, much of the city was turned to rubble by the Herald when he turned the place into a bunch of floating islands. Upon one of the islands, in what used to be the Merchant's District, sits a shop crowded in amongst other shops. A simple sign with a black cauldron it swings above the door: Odd Brews.

This is the shop of Maester Urberus, a professor at the College who teaches alchemy. He recently had to have it rebuilt after the sad events of Drakormir and the Herald.

The shop is gloomy inside and possessed of such an incredible array of smells that it can be overwhelming to the senses. Vials and glass flasks crowd shelves. Strange, sometimes fanged plants loom everywhere. And occasionally there is some random commotion coming from the basement, the only door to which Urberus keeps locked and bolted.

The Maester lives upstairs, however the downstairs is given over to the sale of his trade. Many items are not labeled. Even those that are are often labeled in a foreign, long dead script that few can read. Or in some gibberish that does not appear to be a language at all. There is a large counter in the back of the room which has tubes, mortars and pestles, candles, lamps, and other equipment.

The shop is free to enter for any and all, come as they please. Perhaps Urberus has exactly what they seek. Or perhaps he has something they never knew they needed until now.

A sign near the entrance, however, clearly states: LOVE POTIONS COST EXTRA.

 

[Ito]

Thus far Ito's trip to Elbion has been, in a word, disappointing. On one hand, seeing what he assumed was the first floating city of Arethil was exhilarating. Magic permeated the skies, and even the common street-sweeper held more knowledge of magic than the people of Ito's clutch. However, none of them seemed to heed Ito's presence. He was watched as a thief. Men kept this distance while women hid their children. More than a couple soused guards had taken a swing at him and accused him of being a Drakormir worshipper.

In short, where Ito had come seeking knowledge he had found only vitriol. Still, Ito resolved himself to find something that would make his trip worthwhile. There had to be some tome somewhere he could learn from. After some time he found a shop with a simple sign saying Odd Brews. Ito decided to enter and strolled in, chuckling somewhat at the notice on love potions.

He was somewhat surprised to find a definitively non-human alchemist Urberus, and reasoned quickly that the wizened orc was the most promising lead he had on gaining any real knowledge or experience. Ito's mind rushed for the most useful thing he thought he could afford from the orc and decided to go for it.

"Maester, I am here to seek a job."

 

[Gweyir Faesatra]

Gweyir was sent on a quest of sorts by the man she was cooking for. He wanted some weird product for her to cook with from a shop in Elbion called Odd Brews. The people gave her funny looks as she rode into the town on Bear. He lazily trudged along, with lugs and grunts, but it kept people away from them. It was probably the fact that she rode a bear which caused the people to stare at her, or maybe it was the fact that she dressed in furs. The elf did not know nor did she care.

Bear and her continued on until they reached their destination. The small shop which had the ingredient that was written on a crinkled piece of paper for the 'maester'. Gweyir did not know who the maester was bust she was sure she'd find out soon enough. Her one good eye scanned the place as she saw a...dragon man? She couldn't help but let out a hearty chuckle at the humanoid. Yet he called for the maester. She needed the maester.

She tapped the dragonoid man on the shoulder. "You." she said in her very heavily accented common tongue. "You, know, maester? You maester?" she asked, hoping he'd understand what she meant. Her tone was cold, as she tried to concentrate on her words. Bear stood behind her on hind legs as he added fear factor to her question, making her seem quite hostile.

 

[Quoril]

Quoril casually strolled through the merchant district, occasionally stopping to peer into the windows of the various shops. He had avoided the city like the plague ever since the burning of Elbion. But that had been ages ago, and now, it seemed like, was as good a time as any to venture back to the city.

As he passed building after building, one sign in particular caught his eye - Odd Brews. In his mind 'brews' could only mean one thing. Potions. The elf hurried through the door, and in his excitement almost toppled a wooden pedestal with a potted plant on top. He quickly steadied it before moving on to take in his surroundings. An intoxicating scent hung heavy on the air, and Quoril's mind automatically began separating and identifying them. After a moment he noticed that there were other people in the shop. An elf along with a... bear?! and a short reptilian creature he was pretty sure was called a kobold. They briefly commanded his attention before he was distracted by the items on the shelves around him.

Ohikia... Lace weed... Gaxite... Jinter root... Although many of the glass containers weren't labeled, Quoril could still identify most is not all of the ones in his immediate area. Many of the items were extremely hard to come by and it was beyond him how one shop could hold such large quantities of them. Formulas for new potions using the materials around him quickly began writing themselves in the back of his mind.

Quoril began pulling jars off the shelves until his arms were overflowing, and carefully made his way towards the counter, doing his best not to drop anything.

 

[Urberus]

An old orc swirling a decanter turned around, white brows shooting up on his wrinkled forehead as he saw the three, no four, individuals crowding his shop.

"Oh my!"

A monkey hopped from the ceiling down onto his shoulder, where it perched to glower menacingly at the customers.

"Well, well, hello," harrumphed the old orc, "I am Maester Urberus, yes. Let's see, let's see."

He tried to discern what order to sort through the three of them. Well, three and a bear, but the bear hadn't said anything yet - and he suspected would not. Not the speaking kind of bear. Those were few and far between.

"Please, young fellow, set those down on the counter," Urberus gestured at Quoril hurriedly, slightly alarmed at the amount of potions he held between his arms. Some of those, if mixed, produced rather... toxic results. "Let's see, ah. Quite a fine selection you've made. Five silvers. Might I suggest this as well?"

He stooped behind the counter and produced a leather satchel that contained a number of pouches perfectly suited for holding glass flasks, vials, and decanters of all shapes and sizes.

"Every young alchemist needs a proper satchel," his eyes twinkled, "Cured with my own ointments to prevent acid from eating through it in the event of a spill. I'll throw it in for another silver."

Turning, he regarded Ito. "Now then, what sort of job would you be after, my friend?"

Gweyir Faesatra

 

[Ito]

My Friend the orc said. It was nothing more than a pleasantry, but a pleasantry the Kobold hadn't received from the rest of Elbion. Ito tried not to read too much into it, but decided it was a good start.

"I came to Elbion, like most, to learn the arcane." Ito said and looked up the orc. He could've sworn the monkey on Urberus shoulder wanted to wrestle with him.

"I believe I could learn much, and help your shop as a . . . " Ito paused for a moment and considered titles. "Junior alchemist. I have experience making poisons, acids, and invisibility potions as part of my tribe's trap making." Ito continued, justifying his claim.

"Though I will confess I've never worked with several of your more . . . exotic materials." Ito admitted, eyeing the multitude of ingredients on display. He recognized many, but many others he did not. Ito would learn much here, should the Maester agree to take him on.

 

[Urberus]

“Do you?” Urberus leaned over the counter between them with one hand, while the other stroked the braids of his beard. His fingers were stained and blackened by acid burns and his nails were unnaturally long.

The old orc’s eyes sparkled with interest. “Fascinating. Fascinating. Yes, of course. I could use the help, truth be told. Could you show me this invisibility potion of yours? I am curious about the ingredients. I’m guessing sweat of the Frog? Or skin of the chameleon?”

Ito

 

[Ito]

The orc seemed intrigued by Ito's proposition. This was going well. The kobold wasn't quite sure how to handle himself.

"While skin of chameleon is far more potent, it's much more difficult to obtain in mass, especially in the caves I used to dwell." Ito replied to Urberus as he opened his pack and looked through the potions. He pulled out a vial with a green liquid and gave it a small shake. It bubbled for a moment, then changed into something clear and transparent.

"This particular brew lasts around fifteen to twenty minutes." He put the vial into the blackened fingers of the wizened orc. "Nothing world class, but more than enough time to cause quite a bit of trouble."