| Across A Field In Winter |
| Summary: | Alia and the auxillia continue work on Darius' request. |
| Date: | 1875-02-09 |
| Related: | A Relief for Boredom and Fire and Water |
| NPCs: | Minor Only |
| Players: |
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"Everything is prepared, Tribune." Joana spoke quietly, not wanting to startle Alia as she was working. It was courtesy, though, rather than fear that made her voice gentle. Whatever else the western woman was, she never treated any of her auxillia poorly, nor raised her voice, even when they were in the middle of a project. "We have set up in one of the cleared fields that will be used for planting when the spring comes."
Alia nodded, as she finished adding a final few drops to the solution she was working on. "Thank you, Joana. I will join you shortly. Please make certain that each of the alchemists who worked on each solution is there so that we can question them as the test progresses."
Joana nodded, turning on her heel and departing the workshop even before Alia rose to her feet. For her part, Alia simply moved to the wall, retrieving her cloak, and her book of formulas, before she began to make her way through the grounds of Candeo and towards the field in question. If she did not miss her mark, and she never did, there were five potential formulas to be tested today, the results of a handful of weeks worth only. But in Alia's experience, it was better to test early and often, lest you waste time and materials with something doomed to fail.
Once she joined the line which was already assembling, she looked over the field. The sheets of leather had been set up on wooden frames, each of them coated with a different formulation of what they all hoped would eventually be the solution Darius had requested. Something that could be applied to wood or leather, or dipped over steel to preserve it from damage by flame. She turned, as she waited, looking to her teacher Juliana and her fellow sorcerer, Marcus as they approached the small cluster of alchemists. She managed well enough, but both of the imperial trained and battle-hardened mages had finer control than she. As would the Qatunax. "Thank you both for coming. When you are ready, if you would, I would like you to attempt to destroy each of the sheets with the strongest fire that you can summon." They were far enough away, that if there were any explosions, they would not be potentially injured by the blasts.
Juliana and Marcus nodded, their expressions showing no skepticism in the work being ask of them, nor in the work being done. The Princeps' will would be served.
Alia stepped back, allowing the two sorcerers their space, though she could feel her skin shivering with awareness as she felt them draw on their magic, the natural sympathy of sorcery impinging on her senses. She watched with interest as they worked, each sending a ball of flame at the leather sheets, though they took their time and shared the load, neither of them working so hard that they would tax themselves. The steam that rose off of them in the chill of the winter air was minimal.
'They make it look so easy,' Alia thought idly, as she watched each sheet hit by the flames that sped across the empty field. The first two sheets blackened and crisped immediately, the third exploded outright, the fourth bubbled and smoked. Fifth, fire. But the flames seemed to flow and catch on the leather like oil skimming across water.
When the sorcerers had done their work, a handful of the auxillia stepped forward to offer them water and such as they needed to begin the process of replenishing themselves. Alia waited until the flames had died out, before she called two of the alchemists to walk with her to inspect the results of the test.
Her voice, when she spoke, was crisp, terse, hearkening back, if any of those standing with her had only known, to the voice of her once upon a time master Millicent, "No." The first, "No," the second. Both were irreparable damaged. She did not even bother to comment on the third, as they could all see how completely the flames had destroyed their target. She slowed at the fourth, "This. Here…see how the flames burned, but did not penetrate past the outer skin?" Yes, this one had promise. It was still a failure, but…she looked down, marking the components that had been mixed for this formula. She made her notes as she walked, knowing each of the alchemists were doing the same. She stopped at the final sheet. "Again, promising. The flame clung to the leather, you see? Here, and here, as though something in the formula attracted it. It will not do for our work, of course…but if this could be applied to fortifications…" Joana nodded, already following Alia's train of thought. "A side project. We will test how to increase the duration of the burn."
The two alchemists beside her nodded, as she dismissed them, the pair who had been her assistants moving to make more detailed notes of the five sheets, allowing Alia to walk back to the line. She would return of course, but after. She preferred to allow her auxillia to work without her oversight in such cases. They were all capable. And she preferred to allow them to think and experiment freely. Alchemy, in some ways, was as much luck as skill and talent, and one never knew when inspiration would strike.
"It is not success…yet. But it is progress." She offered a polite nod to each of her auxillia, before she allowed them to return to the workshop or the remain and join in the note-taking and theorizing. "And thank you both for your assistance. Juliana, Marcus." The pair nodded, Juliana accompanying it with her usual smile, Marcus his usual lack of, before they bundled themselves off back to the keep and the warmth of its fires.
As for Alia? She would remain. There were samples to collect and far too much work to be done.
It would soon be spring.