The fantasy potion making processes

[LesserCodex]

Previously I wrote a chapter and inside delved into how my character creates a potion, now he isn't an alchemist, but does this process feel like what you imagine the potion-making process to be like? I plan to go into detail in the near future but does this sound good?

[Chapter extract]

Cooking was a general skill, but it applied to a broader field; it sadly didn’t improve on a specific aspect like the alchemy skill. Still having a general was a boon, as did his passive skill second nature.

Igniting a flame of mana in front of him, a flask hovered above the flame; inside was boiling water and a generic monster tongue. As the flask bubbled, the tongue shrivelled up.

‘Monster tongue extract,’ Martyn listed the ingredients of a common-grade healing potion.

As the first flask boiled the tongue, he grabbed the mortar and pestle, throwing in bluegrass and mushrooms he gathered from the dungeon. Grinding them into a fine paste.

Once the tongue was shrivelled up and the herbs turned to paste, in another flask, he threw the pastedown first, then poured in a bottle of green liquid, and finally the boiled water.

‘Herbs first, solution, then fresh tongue extract,’ he remembered. Once the flask was filled, he closed it with a cork and placed it on top of a Bunsen burner, turning it on a blue flame. He repeated the process for five more potions.

 

[Jocelyn_Uasal]

Reads like fantasy chemistry to me, and that's basically what alchemy is, so yeah I guess so. Might be cooler to recreate the idea of a bunsen burner into something more fantasy-ish. Weird to imagine some old forest wizards knowing who Robert Bunsen is lol

 

[LesserCodex]

Reads like fantasy chemistry to me, and that's basically what alchemy is, so yeah I guess so. Might be cooler to recreate the idea of a bunsen burner into something more fantasy-ish. Weird to imagine some old forest wizards knowing who Robert Bunsen is lol

fair enough.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

fair enough.

I think your scene describes alchemy pretty well ... They had basically no idea whatsoever what they were doing and why stuff was working ...

 

[Zagaroth]

I am a touch analytical once someone starts describing ingredients.

Monster Tongue: What constitutes a monster? does the type of monster affect the potion? are there creatures that some consider to be monsters that others consider to be people?

General: The potion is magic, thus it needs magical energy during creation. Does this come from the ingredients or the person? If it's the ingredients, how long is a given ingredient good for? If it's the person, does their control over magic or their power affect the final potion?

For my own writing, the raw ingredients are catalysts, the magic itself is infused by the person doing the alchemy. However, it is a lot like a spell, so the correct catalysts are needed along with the correct infusion of energy. You need to infuse an ice bomb with elemental ice energy in addition to using the correct ingredients.

Mind, you don't need to answer all of these sorts of ideas the first time you write out a scene like the one you posted, but it does help if you already have the answers in your head and can thus consistently answer them should they come up in context during the story.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Be like chinese medicine and start fermenting tiger penis, horse penis, bull penis and assortment of penises to form the ultimate penis brew.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Previously I wrote a chapter and inside delved into how my character creates a potion, now he isn't an alchemist, but does this process feel like what you imagine the potion-making process to be like? I plan to go into detail in the near future but does this sound good?

[Chapter extract]

Cooking was a general skill, but it applied to a broader field; it sadly didn’t improve on a specific aspect like the alchemy skill. Still having a general was a boon, as did his passive skill second nature.

The first sentence is good but the second is a bit convoluted - Are you saying that "Still, having the cooking skill in general was a boon, especially as it was high enough rank to be a passive skill and thus nearly second nature." or something like that?

Igniting a flame of mana in front of him, a flask hovered above the flame; inside was boiling water and a generic monster tongue. As the flask bubbled, the tongue shrivelled up.

Suggest: "A flask hovered in the air above him as he ignited a mana flame. Inside the flask, a generic monster tongue floated in water, and he quickly brought the water to a boil. As the flask bubbled, the tongue shriveled up."

Though typically the object in the water would either swell as it absorbs the water, or dissolve into the liquid, at least in conventional physics!

‘Monster tongue extract,’ Martyn listed the ingredients of a common-grade healing potion.

As the first flask boiled the tongue, he grabbed the mortar and pestle, throwing in bluegrass and mushrooms he gathered from the dungeon. Grinding them into a fine paste.

"As the tongue boiled in the flask, Martyn grabbed his mortar and pestle, throwing in the bluegrass and the mushrooms that he had gathered into the dungeon. He then ground these items together into a fine paste."

Once the tongue was shrivelled up and the herbs turned to paste, in another flask, he threw the pastedown first, then poured in a bottle of green liquid, and finally the boiled water.

Where did the green liquid come from? Ignore this question if it is explained earlier.

‘Herbs first, solution, then fresh tongue extract,’ he remembered. Once the flask was filled, he closed it with a cork and placed it on top of a Bunsen burner, turning it on a blue flame. He repeated the process for five more potions.

Would kind of reverse this then, with something like:
"I have monster tongue extract, and the herbal paste. Time to combine them," he said aloud as he took out another flask, threw in the paste, added a green liquid, and then the boiled water. Once the flask was full, he sealed it with a cork, and placed it over a Bunsen burner set to a blue flame to finish. He then repeated the process for five more potions."

 

[Jocelyn_Uasal]

Be like chinese medicine and start fermenting tiger penis, horse penis, bull penis and assortment of penises to form the ultimate penis brew.

Who invented Rocky Mountain oysters again? But sure, go ahead and add something not-so-vaguely racial, why not

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

I am a touch analytical once someone starts describing ingredients.

Monster Tongue: What constitutes a monster? does the type of monster affect the potion? are there creatures that some consider to be monsters that others consider to be people?

General: The potion is magic, thus it needs magical energy during creation. Does this come from the ingredients or the person? If it's the ingredients, how long is a given ingredient good for? If it's the person, does their control over magic or their power affect the final potion?

For my own writing, the raw ingredients are catalysts, the magic itself is infused by the person doing the alchemy. However, it is a lot like a spell, so the correct catalysts are needed along with the correct infusion of energy. You need to infuse an ice bomb with elemental ice energy in addition to using the correct ingredients.

Mind, you don't need to answer all of these sorts of ideas the first time you write out a scene like the one you posted, but it does help if you already have the answers in your head and can thus consistently answer them should they come up in context during the story.

I think that is part of the point, as alchemy is not science, and it took a long time for proper chemistry on scientific principles. Until then, it was mostly trial and error, with discoveries being mostly coincidence.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Who invented Rocky Mountain oysters again? But sure, go ahead and add something not-so-vaguely racial, why not

People that live in Caucasus region? ?

 

[LesserCodex]

I am a touch analytical once someone starts describing ingredients.

Monster Tongue: What constitutes a monster? does the type of monster affect the potion? are there creatures that some consider to be monsters that others consider to be people?

General: The potion is magic, thus it needs magical energy during creation. Does this come from the ingredients or the person? If it's the ingredients, how long is a given ingredient good for? If it's the person, does their control over magic or their power affect the final potion?

For my own writing, the raw ingredients are catalysts, the magic itself is infused by the person doing the alchemy. However, it is a lot like a spell, so the correct catalysts are needed along with the correct infusion of energy. You need to infuse an ice bomb with elemental ice energy in addition to using the correct ingredients.

Mind, you don't need to answer all of these sorts of ideas the first time you write out a scene like the one you posted, but it does help if you already have the answers in your head and can thus consistently answer them should they come up in context during the story.

See its questions like these I plan on answering in the later chapters. For one, not all potions require the creator's mana, a majority of monsters can eat the herbs in their raw state and gain the healing effects, certain evolved or advanced races such as humans don't have that luxury which is why they'd get the tongue extract and a safety solution to allow them to safely consume. This is something I mentioned in passing between characters.

Be like chinese medicine and start fermenting tiger penis, horse penis, bull penis and assortment of penises to form the ultimate penis brew.

See thats the thing at which point does it stop being fantasy alchemy and Chinese medicine?

 

[Jocelyn_Uasal]

People that live in Caucasus region? ?

Tad far away from the rocky mountains but we'll call it close enough ?

 

[Sola-sama]

Previously I wrote a chapter and inside delved into how my character creates a potion, now he isn't an alchemist, but does this process feel like what you imagine the potion-making process to be like? I plan to go into detail in the near future but does this sound good?

[Chapter extract]

Cooking was a general skill, but it applied to a broader field; it sadly didn’t improve on a specific aspect like the alchemy skill. Still having a general was a boon, as did his passive skill second nature.

Igniting a flame of mana in front of him, a flask hovered above the flame; inside was boiling water and a generic monster tongue. As the flask bubbled, the tongue shrivelled up.

‘Monster tongue extract,’ Martyn listed the ingredients of a common-grade healing potion.

As the first flask boiled the tongue, he grabbed the mortar and pestle, throwing in bluegrass and mushrooms he gathered from the dungeon. Grinding them into a fine paste.

Once the tongue was shrivelled up and the herbs turned to paste, in another flask, he threw the pastedown first, then poured in a bottle of green liquid, and finally the boiled water.

‘Herbs first, solution, then fresh tongue extract,’ he remembered. Once the flask was filled, he closed it with a cork and placed it on top of a Bunsen burner, turning it on a blue flame. He repeated the process for five more potions.

Those are words, yes.
They describe what alchemy is, yes. (I don't even recognize half of the tools that he uses)

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Tad far away from the rocky mountains but we'll call it close enough ?

I simply wanted to point out that penis or testicles as a food are used everywhere in the world. And for a long time.

 

[NotaNuffian]

See thats the thing at which point does it stop being fantasy alchemy and Chinese medicine?

When it actually works

 

[Nevafrost]

Call Snape. He will tell you. (TL;DR, so, don’t expect me to make sense)

 

[cabbag3]

Who invented Rocky Mountain oysters again? But sure, go ahead and add something not-so-vaguely racial, why not

I first thought that this was some kind of Chinese cuisine, so I felt bad that my immediate answer was kinda racist...
Then I realized that animal genitals are eaten as aphrodisiacs or 'vigor-enhancing food', so they wouldn't deep fry this so they won't destroy it's "essence". Still kinda racist tho lol.
It's probably invented by American ranchers(is that a thing?), idk where rocky mountain is but it's probably where it came from.


Anyway, I'd like to recommend potions made like the ones in Dresden Files, they feel more like a ritual than an actual brewing method with all the rare materials and heavenly essences mixed in that's only gonna be mentioned one time for a niche and specific use in the novel.
I'm not a writer so don't mind me much.

 

[Jocelyn_Uasal]

I first thought that this was some kind of Chinese cuisine, so I felt bad that my immediate answer was kinda racist...
Then I realized that animal genitals are eaten as aphrodisiacs or 'vigor-enhancing food', so they wouldn't deep fry this so they won't destroy it's "essence". Still kinda racist tho lol.
It's probably invented by American ranchers(is that a thing?), idk where rocky mountain is but it's probably where it came from.

It's very American! American ranchers are the modern cowboy but since bison have a crazy rich history in the americas, the dish was probably first invented by the local native tribes and later recreated as something like a cowboy dish. The rocky mountains are here too.

Cooking and alchemy have a strong link too, now that I'm thinking about it. Since both are about time, temperature and ingredients there could be lots of comparisons I bet. Like an alchemist being a part-timer at a restaurant or something lol

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The dad of a friend of mine offered us "Bison testicles" once - they were actually bacon strips wrapped around pearl onions and baked for a short time.

 

[Plantorsomething]

Previously I wrote a chapter and inside delved into how my character creates a potion, now he isn't an alchemist, but does this process feel like what you imagine the potion-making process to be like? I plan to go into detail in the near future but does this sound good?

[Chapter extract]

Cooking was a general skill, but it applied to a broader field; it sadly didn’t improve on a specific aspect like the alchemy skill. Still having a general was a boon, as did his passive skill second nature.

Igniting a flame of mana in front of him, a flask hovered above the flame; inside was boiling water and a generic monster tongue. As the flask bubbled, the tongue shrivelled up.

‘Monster tongue extract,’ Martyn listed the ingredients of a common-grade healing potion.

As the first flask boiled the tongue, he grabbed the mortar and pestle, throwing in bluegrass and mushrooms he gathered from the dungeon. Grinding them into a fine paste.

Once the tongue was shrivelled up and the herbs turned to paste, in another flask, he threw the pastedown first, then poured in a bottle of green liquid, and finally the boiled water.

‘Herbs first, solution, then fresh tongue extract,’ he remembered. Once the flask was filled, he closed it with a cork and placed it on top of a Bunsen burner, turning it on a blue flame. He repeated the process for five more potions.

I remember HP and the principles of rationality did it as my favorite way. Chemistry has the properties of what’s already there, potion has the sympathetic and homeopathic properties of what’s been done to it, its origins, and cultural expectations of it. For example, elephant stomping on a nut gives it the capacity to bring out that strength if you do it right.