Fable - Ask The First Group Project (College of Elbion, Freshman Class)

[Atticus]

Atticus sipped his coffee, and a surprising and delightful sound came from him as he looked down at his drink. No milk. No cream. There was something about this in the way it was prepared that made it feel light across his tongue. Soft and smooth, the crema still intact even as he gave it an appreciate swirl about the small glass it came in.

Talk about their assign had begun, and Atticus raised a brow. "There are books on testing what potions can do. I've seen them in the library." Asking for help from someone seemed like the wrong way to go about this project. If they had all this time to work together on figuring it out, then it was intended to be a lesson to be learned.

"I say we read as much as we can. Meet every week to compare notes?"

 

[Yuebing Coquelicot]

Yue watched the others inspect the potion as well. Her eyes following Aiko as she sniffed the vial and expressed disgust. While unpleasant it could be an important clue.....or it could be another attempt to through them off the trail.
"....It could be that a more pungent ingredient was thrown in to hide any other aromatic ingredients...." Yue mused half under her breath as she stared thoughtfully at the bottle. She glanced at Svenia as she purposed an alchemical test. She had no intention of leaving any avenue unchecked if they could get away with it. However Atticus' suggestion seemed the move practical. At least for the time being. They had been given a very substantial amount of time to study and experiment. The true constraint here was that they only had four samples. For each test that required them to use the potion they would have one less chance to compare what they produced latter.
After all a potion is not merely ingredients. Determining the purpose of the potion and it's efficacy would also be necessary to re-create it was required. Her mouth set in a small frown, whatever the potion was she would endeavor to make two versions. One with the exact same properties if possible and one with ....improvements.
She fully intended to ensure they could shove the results right back in the Maester's face.
"Yes...I agree. Research comes first. We have time to be thorough."

 

[Aiko]

Aiko capped the potion and gave her nose a minute to adjust, forcing a deep breath through her senses. She brought her cup to her face and tried to absorb the aroma of the coffee to cleanse her palette. Her success was . . . moderate at best. The elf frowned. She knew much of taste came from her noise, and likewise knew her later sips would not be what they should.

"Once a week sounds like a good starting point. We can meet more or less frequently if we find ourselves ahead or behind." Aiko said, then took another sip of her coffee.

---

Two weeks later

Today Aiko had secured them a 'study room' at the College Library, and on the first floor no less! It was a simple square room with a large chalkboard taking up an entire wall. A circular table was in the middle of the room, large enough for six students. Aiko had taken the liberty of arriving fifteen minutes prior, and had spread ceramic cups next to four of the chairs. In the center of the table lay a teapot, heated with a minor work of magic rather than fire. As each of her classmates entered the room Aiko would bow and pour them tea, before eventually pouring herself tea after all her classmates were taken care of.

Last week the group had met and determined a plan of action, and each had conducted their own testing of the potion they had been given. She understood each of them had their own breakthroughs. They had a week before having to present their finding to Ironheart, which was far enough to do good work, but close enough to feel pressure. Still, Aiko had begun to find some confidence in her cohorts. They would figure something out.



OOC: Every character will get to 'declare' their findings, introducing a new fact about the potion. This can be simple ("It smells of fish") or more complex, but should give enough room to other posters to do something fun.

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

Svenia was the first to arrive of group, puffing as she came through the door. She paused only a moment to sweep her eyes across the room before making her way to one of the seats. She did not return the bow Aiko offered, but not out of rudeness. More out of fear that she would dump herself on the floor and make a show of herself for the others.

"Thank you," she said as tea was poured, "but that was not really necessary." She would have said they could have had a servant perform such mundane tasks. Except that they didn't have any. They were just lowly students here, whatever their station in the real world.

She had the bottle with her, of course. There was less of it than there had been before - price of having an alchemist run analysis on it for components. She had not asked what the thing did, only what was in it. The man had said that there were components he could not identify, but there was a list of ones he could be reasonably sure were contained therein.

Svenia had copied out the list in her painfully neat script, the text made to be easily readable to anyone and lacking any of the delicate curves of calligraphy or cursive script. She had copied it so that there were enough for everyone. Written on the pages was a simple list:

Bogwort. Mercury. Sulphur. Greater hadrock oil (source of the fish scent). Insect of some kind or some part thereof. Venom of some kind, possibly reptilian.

Potion does not seem to be made for consumption, considering ingredients? Meant to be applied externally to something?

Following that were some thoughts of her own, including likely sources and potential costs to acquire each known ingredient.

She sat in silence, waiting for the others to arrive with her hands neatly folded in her lap.

 

[Atticus]

Atticus held several books in hand, and was not smiling due to having to lug them all the way from a class several floors above. He had dropped a book, but a passing fourth year girl with a confident smile was able to save it from splaying open upon the stone floor. The way she executed the spell was seamless, to him at least, and that alone made him realise he had a long way to go to be admired for the spread of knowledge there was to gain at the College.

Upon seeing his group members, he grinned.

"I think I got some theories. I have saved the pages and chapters in these books."

Finally, he was able to drop the pile safely from his arms to the table they were beginning to gather around.

"But, you ladies first." He added, respectfully.

 

[Yuebing Coquelicot]

Yue sat amongst the group and exchanged her own notes with the group. Her writing like most things about her was sharp. It was precise and slanted as if written in one decisive motion.
They had likewise divined some of the ingredients albeit only the ones which could be traced back to a living thing.
Bogwort, dogbane beetle wings, and a type of venom from a somewhat rare snake that lives along riverbanks.
It was a strange assortment. While she hadn't written it in her notes, after divining the venom and beetle wings, the initial purpose that came to mind was a type of potion very unsuitable a class assignment. The dwarf had seemed scheming sort but not the inappropriate sort.
Perhaps, an overzealous remedy for arthritis but this seemed much too mundane for a potion worth so much of their grade. She hadn't been able to puzzle out the use of the potion either.
The combination of ingredients had struck her as all things which could be gathered in swampy-marshlands.

They had concluded that potion had a somewhat acidic like property. Luckily, they had used spirits to gather the information indirectly as it seemed this potion was best handled avoiding skin contact at least for humans.
Yue quietly read over Svenia Albrecht 's notes with a thoughtful expression.
The missing ingredients painted some key gaps in.
This potion was even nastier than she had perceived. It was a wonder that none of them had ended up in the infirmary. If the missing element were Sulphur alone then she would have guess this to be a potion tied to a flammable use. However mercury threw that notion out. It would throw off the balance.

"It seems that we've come quite a way in discovering the ingredients but not in learning what the true purpose is."

 

[Aiko]

As Aiko was joined by her companions she would bow, pour the tea, and eventually pour the tea for herself. Svenia and Yuebing both had found worked to identify the components of the potion. Aiko was glad of this, but it also made her feel like her own testing was inelegant or brutish in comparison. Atticus had eschewed the mark, letting the ladies get in their observations first. That meant she was up.

"Well, I suppose it better to simply show you." Aiko said. She went to her pack and pulled out two small vases, each holding a simple yellow flower. The one she placed on her right was healthy and bright, while the one she placed on the left was beginning to wilt and showed significant bites, tears, and other damage.

"A week ago I put both of these in vases in the community garden. This one " she motioned to the decaying flower. "I watered every morning. The other -" She motioned to the much healthier plant. "I watered and put in two drops of the potion every morning."

The experiment had made her a bit more positive about the assignment, but reconciling the results with the lists Svenia and Yuebing had put together confused her. She sat and picked up her cup of tea, bringing it close to her mouth. She allowed herself a nose of the scent before taking a sip.

Perhaps Atticus' theory would bring this all together.

 

[Atticus]

He opened the first book to where he had marked a place within, cleared his throat and read. "There are three ways to test unidentified potions. Exposure to natural elements, spellwork, and the potion testing. Please turn to page 681." Atticus then found the next marked page.

"Potion testing often is the most dangerous of executions. Mixing bad components together may result in disaster, and if this route is to be performed, then one must be prepared."

He glanced up. "Should I keep reading?"

 

[Yuebing Coquelicot]

Yue sat letting the tea warm her hands as she listened to the others discuss. They were certainly closer to the answer but not in a straight forward way.
The ingredients would suggest the potion harmful but Aiko's test inferred that perhaps that wasn't entirely the case. Perhaps the potion was protective in nature then a sort of external ward.
Or perhaps like many other even non-magical foods several ingredients alone could be harmful but combined became benign. Or perhaps it was the brewing process which fundamentally altered the combination.

She sipped the tea with a thoughtful expression as Atticus read from the book. It seemed that they had naturally come to testing the potion in each of the three ways without a real discussion of it. Though they might need to ramp up their testing if they wanted to uncover the real purpose and brewing method.
"Go on."

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

"Yes, please continue," she said. She was mulling over the findings of the other students. Picking the facts apart one by one and arranging them in her head. Completely unaware, she had begun to sketch her thoughts on the back of the papers she had brought with her.

"...can be used to help..," she muttered to herself. She drew a vase with flowers in it and made some notations on the side about the effects Aiko had noted. She scratched at her face absently, eyes distant. "What does it say of further testing, Atticus?"

Perhaps there were some final things they could do to narrow the purpose of the potion down. She had ideas...

 

[Aiko]

Both Yuebing and Svenia told Atticus to continue. Aiko meanwhile, was evaluating theories in her mind, trying to find a reasonable marriage between the ideas of the sinister ingredients and it’s helping of her flowers.

“Atticus, did you find anything on strengthening tonics? Or . . . “ she thought aloud and examined her two flowers again. She caught sight of the leaves of the flower more eaten and decayed. It held several small circular holes, each the bite mark of some sort of insect.

“Maybe it protected the flower from bugs.” She continued aloud. Could the venoms, mercury, and roots have made it unappealing for consumption? Or protected it from disease?

 

[Atticus]

Atticus shot them all a look of light disappointment. "I'm only reading what I found interesting." He frowned, exhaling as he tried to find where he had been reading.

Granted, he had no clue on what was going on. He wasn't all that great with potions, and gods no, Atticus didn't have the idea to start testing anything with the potion. So he turned to books, just for the sake of appearing as if he was doing something.

"Foul scents and and sickly sweet aromas are signs of unsuccessful trials. To know if you have mixed bad elements together, look at the colouring of the reactions."

 

[Yuebing Coquelicot]

Yue pondered Aiko 's flowers and Atticus reading.
"Strong scents could be a sign of failure......." She half murmured in her musing "Would a Maester stoop to giving students an imperfect batch on purpose?"
She sipped a bit more of the tea with a frown. re-constructing an unknown was a truly tedious endeavor.
Yuebing began to nurture thoughts of extracting the answer from said Maester more directly.....but ultimately stifled the urge. They could still yet beat him at his game she was confident.
"For now the plants are our best lead."

 

[Svenia Albrecht]

"I do not think they would give us an unviable potion to try and replicate. That would defeat the purpose of trying to learn the process." She shook her head, brow scrunching in thought. "If it seems to be of some benefit to plants, we could try to experiment. Find some and intentionally infest them with parasites and treat them with a sample of the potion and see what happens?"

This was not her area of expertise, but considered from a logical standpoint it made sense. It would not be difficult or time consuming to procure plants and insects or some other parasite to test the efficacy against such things.

Or it could lead to a dead end, of course.