Trouble Brewing (Cassius/Simon/Open)

[jarahamee]

Cassius frowned at the tables he had just finished setting up. Things just didn’t seem to be right without the appropriate mysticism. And he had never really thought himself a good teacher of anything but combat, but they wanted ‘practical’ applications. He never wanted to be anything but useful, so he decided to deliver as requested.

It was a teaching laboratory he had converted into an alchemy lab. The equipment was basic, standard. It went against the ideals of alchemy, but it would work for this. For today. For these basic steps and this very basic potion.

He turned one of the heartstones around in his mutilated fingers, and then stared into its center. The purity wasn’t great, but it would work for their purposes. Just like the rest of their set up. He put it back down in the basket and then sighed, looking back at the chalkboard. At least he wasn’t expected to use a computer, or the projector…

The principles of alchemy and the creation of potions were straightforward, but he’d have a difficult time explaining it conceptually. Maybe he’d stick to the practical considerations of the art form. That was, simply how to understand and use the components and skip over the theories.

Officer Telmore seemed to understand things best from this standpoint, and so would the rest of the youngsters, he imagined.

The set up was basic; at the front of the room was a wide laboratory counter with several beakers and a distillation set up, mixing equipment and a titration set. Vials and ingredients were labelled and arranged in the front, and behind, in the ancient plastic chair, Officer Cassius Lucidus sat as if in a throne.

The Gold badge seemingly hadn’t aged since the 1980s when he joined the department, and had apparently existed for far longer, if the photos on his desk were to be believed. Or maybe he was already so old that time hadn’t made much of a difference. The man seemed to be in his late 40’s, the right corner of his mouth drawn up into an ugly half-smile by a grotesque scar; the most remarkable of the scars that appeared to cover most of his visible body.

Two bandages were visible above the collar of his shirt, and the left side of his face was nastily bruised. Business as usual for him.

[qhostqrowls]

A timid knock signalled the arrival of the first student. Faolan pushed the door open a moment later - five minutes early for the lesson. If not exactly on time, he was usually a few minutes early, and today was no different. Though he had expected a few other people to be here by now, otherwise he would have walked a little slower...

Great, he thought, though he only smiled politely at the man. Officer Lucidus had always been nice to him. He was just...intense. And having his full attention was a little unnerving.

"Hello Officer Lucidus." He said as he stepped into the room. Although this was a bit awkward he was looking forward to the lesson - where else would he be able to learn this type of stuff?

[jarahamee]

Cassius stared at him a moment, his brow in a slight knit as he spent a moment recognizing his earliest student. He considered himself excellent with names, and this was no exception. He’d think of him soon enough. He had met him several times, and knew he was one of the surgeons working in the Medical department. As he pondered, it came to him;

“Dr. Mura. An unexpected pleasure. Please, choose a station, and take one of each ingredient. Do not worry about combining them just yet, that is what the class will cover.”

His uncomfortably crooked mouth twisted into a rather toothy grin. He was one of those people who just seemed to have too many teeth that were just a little sharp. It gave his already angular face an especially wolfish appearance when he was angry or delighted. And now he was delighted. Someone eager to learn was always a boon in these sorts of tedious affairs.

He gestured towards the reagents with a broad gesture, and handed him a container of distilled water. He would be needing it for this beginner potion.

[okami1reeka333]

zavijah:


She needed a change in the scenery desperately . . .


Although she has not been ripped from the present while her body went under the consequences of having delved into the time stream with unstable talismans. . . .she needed to get out of the nearly solidly white room she was kept in . . .

Has she told them about why the room 'bothered' her? . . . No . .She found it hard if not impossible to tell them. . . . But they have found her with the pillow over her face. . . Plenty of times if not curled up in the closet. . .Sometimes she was under the bed. . .



Though she did not have to worry about her consciousness being ripped from her body at random and either her heart stopping, her breathing stopping, sudden sever bruising, her limbs tearing themselves asunder.- That must of been interesting scene to walk into. . Bleeding from the ears and nose, sudden internal organ damage, coughing up blood. . .then there was the curse kicking in after each time. . . Oi vey. . .Or when they used storm energy to try and bring her back, only to discover it did even more damage, her body collecting the storm energy while it tore her apart from the inside out. . . . . she could only assume they had a storm weaver come in to pull the storm energy out. . .as quickly as she finally came too. . .

She did tell them not to touch her with storm energy. . . .she wanted to leave so badly after that day. . .


Now it was just spacing out as she came back in contact with the portions of her aura that were scattered among the future portions of the river of time. . .
Though the nurses speaking of this 'class' among themselves . . .she had gotten dressed as if she was leaving before gaining directions to this by a few who patients who passed by. . .



Though surely, they will not mind her being gone. . . .shes not technically leaving leaving like they told her she was not to do 'until the effects subside' . . .



Coming across the door that was where this class took place within, she knocked on the door before entering. . Perhaps curiosity was the lure. . . What sort of alchemy did this realm have? What were the differences between it and what table alchemy she knew? Was it based on equal exchange?

Field alchemy was similar. . But in how much life energy and blood needed for the talisman to perform what the formula carved apon it required. . . Sorta. . .

Must be a trip to watch her talismans at work for those who can see aura . . .


She recognized the Officer teaching this class. . . Far more clothed than when they first met . . She bowed in greeting to the officer. . "Greeings, Officer Lucidus" she spoke as she bowed, before stepping into the room . . There was one other within the room as well, she recognized the aura as being one of the ones whom worked within where she had just left. . .The room was. . .odd. . . Counters that seem to streak across the room like lines. . rather tall ones to boot. . .perhaps neck height for her. . . . she might settle with summoning her quarter staff to use as a foothold for this. . . The monks had called her 'monkey' a few times . . .

Hopefully shes not shooed away. . .or back into the forsaken room. . .

[beastly]

Simon was decidedly a little excited as he organized his desk, tidying up before heading out. He loved learning new things about this hidden true world he'd bumbled into fifteen years ago. Despite eagerly absorbing any magical or mystical knowledge that came his way, there was always more to learn. The idea of creating something more than mundane himself, it appealed to him.

He gathered himself up and made his way down, hesitantly poking his head in the door before brightening. Yes! Right room, first try, excellent. In fairness, it kinda smelled like the right room, but he wasnt sure what he'd be sniffing for. He saw the fella teaching, the guy Eric invited him to hang out with. He knew him, had seen him around. He briefly drew a blank on his name before remembering. Cassius... something. Ludicrous? No. Wrong. Well... He just wouldn't use his name. Someone else would use it and he wouldn't have to make a guess.

"Hey there."

He gave a little wave, and scanned the room for familiar faces. He recognized the doctor, but not the small lady. He smiled and them both, and hesitated. They were sitting down. He should do that. The werewolf planted himself in a chair nearby the doctor. Blonde. Cat eyes... It started with an 'M'. If he could remember HIS name that'd be nice...It wasn't coming to him. He just smiled, then glanced at the set up.

[indeath]

Grim wandered in after the guy with the eyebrows. He didn’t want to seem like he’d been following the small woman who looked like she didn’t belong, but the WDSA buildings were like rabbit warrens and he didn’t want to end up somewhere he shouldn’t. As tempting as it was. Last thing he needed was WDSA up his ass. He gave a nod to the guy teaching up front, real slick and took a seat. No idea on the others though. He had found a advert and it had peaked his interest since he still had no form of magic to call his own. Time to even things out.

He was hoping mostly for something cool like invisibility or fire but he had a feeling it would be something completely useless to begin with. As long as it wasn’t something you could do in a 5th grade chemistry class he’d be happy.

[Vaitris]

Kazan stopped before the door, tail swishing restlessly behind him as he pulled a watch out of his pocket and checked the time. Not exactly class time, but Friday had told him to arrive early.

She had been the one to tell him about this, having learned about it through her extensive web of gossipers, and it was immediately clear to him why she was suggesting he attend. He rarely spent time “out on the town” as she described it. Instead he liked to split his day between the shop, the greenhouse, and the mountains. He had his routine and he enjoyed it. But the little faerie, as well meaning and nosy as she was, insisted that he get out and experience more of Wathais. The centaur had little interest in the city at large or its people outside the scope of his work. Halflings were exhausting to deal with but the idea of a potions class appealed to him as a small way to fill the void where his magic had once been.

As he stepped into the room he was mildly disappointed to see few beings any more exotic looking than a typical human. There was one halfling with gray skin, another student who stood significantly shorter than the rest… Kazan’s eyes subtly narrowed, had he known this was a class for children he would have turned it down.

But what was done, was done. He was already here. Hooves clacking loudly on the tile floor, the centaur took up position similar to the others behind one of the open stations. He had selected one at the rear of the room so there was room to move without his flanks bumping into anyone else. The counter itself was a tad short for his liking, but it would do.

[jarahamee]

Cassius watched the rest of the students filter in. Quite an assortment of persons had responded to the WDSA posting. While he’d hardly call it full, it was more than he expected. He shifted his position away from Faolan, moving towards the front of the class with an easy loping gait. Fewer agents, more civilians, but these were not going to be dangerous concoctions. They were, at the very least, helpful, and at the very most, useful.

He stepped forward to greet the new students as they came in. Some were familiar to him, others were not. Admittedly, he was not expecting everyone to be someone he knew. He would have been surprised if that were true. And it didn’t seem any of them knew anything about alchemy already. Good, good, that would have made things more difficult.

Zavi:

The first, the small woman, was familiar but a surprise all the same. The woman who had reported the hunter attack. What was she doing here? He spent a moment remembering her name; she had, at the very least, done well in remembering his. When his rusty brain decided to regurgitate the information, he attempted to twist his expression into something like a proper smile;

“Ah, Miss Zavijah. Please, collect one of each ingredient, and a flask of distilled water. Do you know how to operate a manual titration device? I’ll be going over everything while we’re working.”

Simon:

He slipped over towards Agent Groves, and smiled. It was good to see a familiar face, however, the object of his affection merely saw a terrifying toothy grin, highlighted by his slightly caffeinated excitement. He did like seeing his coworkers, and improving the skills of trustworthy agents improved the quality of the department as a whole! It was a delightful cycle.

He put a hand on the desk behind him, supporting his weight, and gestured for Simon to come forth and pick up his reagents and distilled water flask.

“Agent Lucidus, good to see you, Agent Groves. Please, take one of each, and a flask of distilled water. Don’t worry about examining the ingredients just yet.”

Malgrim, Kazan;

The next two men he didn’t know, but then again, he did not need to know everyone in the class, at least not initially. Likely more members of the general public. He decided it would be best if he didn’t do anything obvious to try to discern what sort of supers they were, but the centaur did not seem to be the traditional sort of centaurs he had come across. Fascinating. He did like coming across new Supers.

The two men could see the officer pause and consider extending a hand to the gray-skinned man and the centaur, and then decided not to put either man in that awkward position. Better not force people to touch him if they didn’t have to. Most people were not nearly as friendly, or as tactile, as he was, he had found.

Instead he addressed the two of them;

“Good evening. Good to meet you, I’m Agent Lucidus at the WDSA and I’ll be teaching you how to make a temporary color-changing potion today as a proof of concept for some things we’ll do later. For now, please collect one of each reagent and a flask of distilled water.”

Once everyone collected all of their ingredients, the agent retreated to the chalkboard, before writing ‘The Principles of Alchemy’ in big letters on the chalkboard.

“Today is the first of twelve lessons in Alchemy, in which I’ll be teaching you both concepts of alchemy, and a few practical and useful applications of potion-making. I will not be teaching any advanced alchemical knowledge, nor any type of potion-making which will cause harm to others. If that is what you have come here for, this is not the class for you. If you have come here for a basic overview of how to think about common potion ingredients, concepts, and how to make some simple and useful potions, you will not be disappointed.”

He turned to the titration machine, and touched it lightly.

“The potion today will merely require your concentration and a sense of good timing, rather like cooking. It is a potion that changes hair color for an hour. You will have to take what results, and I will judge how well such potions were made based on what we see before us.”

Cassius turned around and then grinned hugely;

“If you are unable to make this concoction successfully, I will be happy to show you what step of the process needs further work. I feel this is an art everyone can succeed in, with good work, patience, and attentiveness.”

[qhostqrowls]

"Hey." Faolan smiled brightly at Simon as he completely blanked on his name. They'd met eachother in passing a handful of times, he knew he should know his name by now, but...he didn't. At least there was someone else he knew in the class, even if he'd forgotten his name. "Done anything like this before?"

Agent Lucidus stalked up to greet the werewolf - Agent Groves, he said, and Faolan felt silently relived. He could pretend he knew that already.

He glanced back briefly as more people filed in, smiling if their eyes met. The only other person he recognised was Zavijah - who he wasn't entirely sure was supposed to be out of the hospital at all. Faolan watched her for a moment and then decided that if she was here she must have been cleared by another doctor. And it wasn't exactly a strenuous activity.

He lay the equipment out neatly in front of him before settling back to listen. It felt like science class but much cooler. Actual potion making - Faolan glanced at Simon excitedly as Cassius explained. Patience and attentiveness were both qualities he prided himself on, so he was feeling optimistic about the results. He didn't want to dissapoint Officer Lucidus either.

[indeath]

Grim smiled warmly at the teacher when he greeted them.

“Malgrim Albercroft, PI. Pleasure to meet you, Agent Ludicrous.”

Grim listened attentively, looking at all the ingredients and equipment. Tapping the glass with his long nails. He looked at the other students with interest, were they all agents? Some of them seemed to know each other. When Cassius got to the part about hair, his hand shot right up.

“Excuse me, sir? What about wig hair? I don’t actually have any hair... Does it make other things change color?”

Grim had a rude thought and smirked to himself. He did have some hair he guessed but it wasn’t appropriate for class.

[okami1reeka333]

zavijah:

She nodded and approached to collect one of each ingredient. . . as well as a flask of water. . . When he asked if she knew how to operate a 'Manual Titration Device'. She paused in thought. . . glancing at the Manual Titration Device. . .She pondered apon the set up of the device to try and determine what it might be used for. Perhaps the concentration of a material? Or the slow addition of one mixture to another . . . both methods she was familiar with and have used. . . but not with this particular set up. " . . I'm afraid I am not familiar with the device in particular. " she replied. . . .


Perhaps not wise to express any precious knowledge of the thousands of years shes done alchemy. . . This might be a different form of alchemy for all she knew. . . or its the same and she can only hope to not show her hand. . . . No one likes the boastful student of the class of those who may not know at all. . . besides, she was already largely assumed as nothing more than a sword arm. . . . Better to allow people to think what they will than to prove them wrong. . . Waste less energy doing so.


Eventually she went to go sit at a corner of the class. . well. . 'sit'. . she more or less placed the flask and ingredients down at the table before hopping up onto the chair and crouching in the chair. . . . sitting on her feet. . .


The obvious sign trust Stenson and Sara has tried to build over the many months they had met was broken. . . .She trusted them still, but the trust for the general public was as it was prior. . . Gone. . . Even to the point of she has all of her belongings just in case. . . . .

As the officer spoke, she quietly listened. Made sense they would not teach anything that could cause harm to another- Easy for one of a darker mind to attack others within the class, even. . . hair color changing potion, though. . . . . she pondered. . .

Perhaps she could gift it to one of her allies? . . . She has a talisman that would allow her to mimic the traits of whoever's hair she collects. . . Perhaps she could gift it to Kira . . .perhaps a terrible idea. . . .


Who would want a hair color changing potion that would persist for an hour? . . . . Maybe Sara if she needed to loose the trail of another? But it would only work on those who do not use smell or other means to track . . .

[beastly]

Man the guy was intense, and Simon gave him his own smile in return, not nearly as toothy. Agent Lucidus. Remember it this time, Groves...! He was very, very glad that he introduced himself again to him, though. Hopefully it hadn't been terribly obvious to him that Simon had utterly forgotten his name. Ah well, he knew it now.

"Thanks! Right. I'm lookin forward to learning, y'know?" Should he have added a 'Sir'? Simon was naturally a rather casual guy, he hoped he hadn't offended the admittedly kinda intimidating man. He wanted to stay strictly on that dude's good side.

The werewolf took what he was instructed to, unable to keep the grin off his face. He was a dork, how unfortunate for everyone else. This was probably something silly to be excited about. Still, there he was. He again sat next to The Doctor Who's Name He Didn't Know, and returned his smile. He glanced once more at the others in the class, then back to the doc.

"Nah, not since high school chemistry. heh. How bout you, doc?"

When the officer explained what they were doing, Simon listened carefully, and shared a grin with cat-eye-guy. He felt a little less goofy, seeing how the doc seemed to be excited too. Good.

Simon felt like he could do this. He wasn't a half bad cook. The idea of a hair color changing potion made Simon tilt his head. That'd be fun. Harmless. Something that wouldn't be likely to explode if he got it wrong. Hey, it had potential for a prank, too. Not that he'd ever slip something into anyone's food or drink. He glanced at Malgrim. Oh. No Hair. He doubted something you drank would change the color of a wig. Would it be weird to offer to test it for him? 'Oh yeah, sure random dude, I'll just drink whatever strange magic liquid you cook up on your behalf'. Yeah. That'd be weird. He'd offer if it came to that though, and if the potion's effects could stack.

[Vaitris]

The centaur inclined his head to the instructor. "Agent Lucidus. I am Kazan."

He waited until the rest of the students had collected their materials before going to the front of the room to gather the prescribed reagents and water. Few places in this world were planned to accommodate his bulk, and more often than he liked he found himself in uncomfortably tight quarters when he was surrounded by people, especially small fragile halflings. It was almost an unconscious decision on his part to avoid those situations as much as possible. He was accustomed to wide open spaces, confinement didn't sit well with him.

When he placed the materials at his station a small white snake slithered out of his jacket pocket, dumping itself onto the counter next to them. It curled around itself so tightly its features melted and disappeared, becoming briefly like a small mound of pale dough, before reforming into a white rat. The creature then proceeded to make its own investigation of the reagents, sniffing and touching them with tiny pink paws. Kazan plucked it off the table, shoving it back in his pocket. The puppet was such a nuisance anymore. If he had his magic, he would have finer control of it.

He turned his attention to the instructor, quirking an eyebrow at today's lesson. A potion to change hair color? Would it be a natural color, or similar to what the juvenile halflings sometimes did? He didn't understand that behavior, except maybe they desired to emulate the supernaturals in their midst. But the choice of potions made sense even if he didn't like it, appealing to the layman but ultimately benign.

[jarahamee]

Malgrim:

Cassius’ expression did not change from his enthusiastic grin as he pointed towards Malgrim with his index finger. The focus and energy channeled through his dark eyes was a little uncomfortable when you were its target.

A good point!

He had not accounted for lack of body hair, but there were other possibilities.

“Agent Lucidus, and, it will change eyebrows as well, if you have any. And body hair, and nails.”

He squinted from his position far away. The being, who seemed like they were likely part goblin, appeared to at least have some nails. And possibly some eyebrows. He might have drawn them on. His eyesight had worsened over the years, so he wasn’t entirely sure.

Kazan:

“Good to meet you.”

Cassius said simply, his rough voice strangely genuine. He noted the centaur’s difficulty maneuvering and collected the ingredients for him, before offering him the flask of distilled water everyone else carried. The excess of ingredients seemed to indicate he had been expecting more attendants, but he seemed pleased enough with the number that had decided to come.

The scarred officer then returned to the front of the class with the effortless lope of a carnivorous animal. Despite appearances, he may not have been entirely human.

Everyone:

“Now that we have all our ingredients;”

He then went into a discussion of all of the ingredients in greater detail, explaining what their values were both individually, and what they brought to the whole. He also explained that, if desired, they can use a slightly different ratio to make the potion’s effect either present as a different color, last longer, or become permanent, but right now, they were simply using the color and its effect as proof of concept.

“I assume not everyone is interested in dyed hair, but are interested in making health and energy creations. This will ensure you have these basic steps in order, and that you understand the principles that we have discussed.”

He leaned forward, and then explained how to use the titration machine, and then, how to use the Bunsen burner they had included with the rest of their chemistry kit. They also had a glass stir stick and a timer.

Now the first step came; they had to add the appropriate ingredients to half of the distilled water in a beaker, then add the second set of appropriate ingredients to the second half of the distilled water in the second beaker. Then they had to titrate the ratio of the two suspensions perfectly for the final product.

[You may explain how they do all three steps, and then roll for success if you desire]

[okami1reeka333]

zavijah:


She looked over each ingredient before pulling a small scroll from her butt purse, as well as an ink well and a scribe- a basic wooden one with an ink stained brush at the end. She wrote what descriptions, smells, general physical make up of each ingredient within the scroll. . . her hand writing small, while the written language was rather foreign, primitive looking, and odd. . . granted, it was the native language she spoke. . . Old English written was far more different than it was written in this realm. . . .


When Officer Lucidus began to address all of them, and explain what their goal in this class was, she took notes. From what she gathered- it was fairly similar to the table alchemy she was familiar with. . . .Same general principles. She then wrote notes in how to use the devices provided. . .titration machine. . the Bunsen burner. . .She frowned abit seeing at home, she had special reeds she used to judge temperature . . . it burned a particular color that would tell her if the fire was too hot or too cold. Even sub species she grew that would only burn at particular temperature ranges.


She will need to find these devices on her own time and take them home. . . run some tests to judge what is equivalent to what she knows.


Adding the appropriate ingredients to half of the water. . .then the second set of appropriate ingredients to the other half of the water within another glass. . . a 'Beaker' to what he called it. . was simple.


The manual Titration Machine. . .was different. . . she paused in thought and studied it abit. . .sure, Officer Lucidus explained how it functioned. How to use it.


Well, doing nothing will accomplish nothing. . . .she wrote notes down on the two mixtures, color of each when she added the appropriate ingredients to each . . . . Before moving to use the titration machine how the officer directed.


From a pour to a drip, she prefered to have a slower transfer of mixtures. . . .easier to keep an eye on the change. She kept an eye on the mixture. . . Stiring it as the other mixture was added. When it reaches the color Officer Lucidus described, she will stop the flow.