Bloodfallen: Curse of The All Knowing

Several hours and over one hundred bottles later Arthur was finally done with the potions and poisons he was tasked with creating. By the time he was done he managed to fill up one of the crates that the ingredients came in with the filled and labelled potions and poisons. There were five different potions/poisons he was tasked with creating, the first was the blind leaf poison of which twenty bottles were filled. The second potion was an actual potion rather than a poison and it was known as amanita berserkcaria, the potion was derived from several plants that would normally be poisonous unless mixed with ectoplasm which apparently was a common binder in potions and poisons alike. The potion would induce a state of rage and anger within the drinker as well as boosting their physical capabilities somewhat based on the skill of the alchemist, Arthur just hoped that he was good enough that it wouldn’t have just been a waste of time.

The third potion was just basic healing potions, but instead of the twenty that were requested for the first two Captain Tasius specifically stated in his writing that he wanted thirty instead.

The fourth potion was actually more of a weapon, specifically a thrown weapon. Entropy Dust as this potion or poison as known as would affect the mind of those that breathed it in and cause them to act erratically and slowly become babbling idiots, thankfully the ingredients wouldn’t react and act in that way until they experienced a large amount of up and down motion, and thankfully the effects wouldn’t last all that long and would dissipate after a minute or two at most of open air. The dust required a few different things, the first was synthesized dust mites that were too placed within a bottle or jar that was to be thrown, then you needed to add grounded up woody cap mushrooms after using a mortar and pestle, then a distilled liquid that resembled water that was just listed as ‘water 2’.

The fifth and final potion was actually far less horrible compared to the other three potions/poisons that Arthur was basically forced into making. The potion in question was called the draught of ease, this potion would relax the drinker and help them remain calm in stressful situations. It wasn’t hard to figure out that this would be used to help the guardsmen in whatever operations the Captain will put them through while remaining calm and collected. The ingredients for the draught were, osage lemon mushrooms sliced up, ectoplasm, and red deer bone dust all mixed together and distilled with more of this ‘water 2’.

By the time Arthur was done with every single of the one hundred and ten potions and poisons he was exhausted. Normally he would make at most thirty or maybe even forty potions if he really needed a lot of cheap potions. He ended up just laying down on the closest bed and rested his eyes for a moment, doing the same repetitive motions over and over again while also doing them for the first time was both boring and nerve racking. Poorly mixed potions could have bad end results, thankfully all the mistakes he made were small and at best were not dangerous at all, but the more complex the potion and it's effect the more dangerous it would end up.

The stress from it was enough to keep Arthur’s full attention for just about every single potion he just created, and now he needed some time to rest his weary mind. He laid on that bed and enjoyed the silence of the room as he began to allow himself to begin drifting off to sleep. Suddenly a loud series of heavy metal footsteps coming towards his location stirred his mind away once again like a terrible hangover.

‘Please just go away.’ Arthur inwardly begged, but the footsteps only moved closer and eventually opened the door to the dormitory where he was laying. Arthur lazily opened his eyes and found Captain Tasius himself standing in the doorway looking around the room, specifically towards the set up tables where all the ingredients and finished potions were.

“Hello Captain.” Arthur lazily said as he slowly sat up on the bed.

“Hello Arthur. I see you were quite busy with the time provided.” Captain Tasius didn’t even look towards Arthur as he spoke, instead he inspected the bottled potions one by one looking quite happy with what he saw. When he was done looking only then did he turn to see the exhausted looking Arthur barely managing to keep himself awake.

“I am quite impressed with your work Arthur, I assume it won’t be of any issue to have you come and do this again tomorrow would it?” Arthur managed to keep his truest thoughts within his own mind as he answered.

“I don’t see why not, but I am expecting some other form of compensation aside from the prisoners for my apprentice. This was an absolute slog, and I don’t even know what time it was or how long I took doing all this.”

“It is actually just a little after two o’clock in the afternoon now, I wasn’t expecting you to be done for at least another hour or two. I was just here to see your progress, and to keep how I am feeling simple, this is impressive.”

Arthur perked up a little at that statement, something about the way Captain Tasius said it was just ever so slightly off putting. Like a wolf complimenting a deer on how it ran away, excluding the killing that would eventually happen and the wolf eating.

“Could you help me by carrying the crate for me into the main hall of this hidden room, it will be easier to distribute the potions and poisons when we have them all in a central location.” Captain Tasius didn’t wait for Arthur to respond before exiting the repurposed dormitory, Arthur quickly stood up and picked up the crate pushing back the yawns as he did so.

Towards the hidden entrance of the room the Captain and Arthur placed the crate full of potions along a nearby wall where it would easily be found when it was needed most.

“Thank you again Arthur. I will have a few more recipes here for you to make tomorrow along with the necessary ingredients. You can keep the recipes you were given today as your payment along with the prisoner for your apprentice. Though I will drop by with a reward for you at around the same time, I hope you figure them out as quickly as these ones.” With that the Captain exited the room and into the hallway that it connected to with Arthur behind him. At the stairway leading up they took separate paths, and Arthur was happy to. He didn’t understand why but the way the Captain was speaking was quite unlike what he had seen before, it was like some sort of sadistic secondary self was peeking out from the depths. Even three of the five things he had him make today were off putting, a poison that literally made the victim blind for a short time would be tactical but also often impractical and cruel. Entropy dust was basically a weaponized drug, it literally used a magical substance to induce entropy in those that breathed the substance in eventually resulting in the victim becoming a helpless fool. The only positive note was that he still seemed to care about the well being of his subordinates as shown with the extra amount of healing potions and the draught of ease.

Whatever was going on was worrying, and Arthur just hoped that the Captain wouldn’t do something drastic. ‘He did say he couldn’t tell me the details of this operation he was planning right away, perhaps once I am done making what he wants he will fill me in and maybe even let me participate. If it is related to spiking criminal and gang activity then I definitely want to help as that affects me, Calavia, and Gaelin.’

********

The remainder of Arthur’s day was spent sitting around and giving Gaelin instructions while he practiced both his alchemy and magic, with the tense atmosphere from the Captain gone Arthur managed to calm down again and relax. “Sir, I have a question. What exactly did you make for the Captain today?” Gaelin asked with an almost childlike innocence.

Arthur contemplated telling his young apprentice about what he made, how uncomfortable the blind leaf poison and the entropy dust were to make and thought about how they would be used. The descriptions that were given on the recipes were probably something that would make children have nightmares, so he chose to instead tell him something else. “Sorry, but I can’t tell you that. For the time being that is classified by the order of Captain Tasius.”

Gaelin looked a little sad at that statement, he looked quite interested in what Arthur might have been doing. ‘He really does have a passion for alchemy, but I can’t tell him about those poisons. Something like that might cut a little too deep for my tastes, he already has enough going on in his life. He knew why people don’t like taking charity, likely from experience. Best if for the time being he doesn’t know.’

While Arthur doesn’t like lying to his apprentice he didn’t want to destroy that innocence that Gaelin had about him, maybe it was an elven thing, but Arthur wanted to keep him that way. It was a refreshing feeling to be around someone like him, something that he didn’t ever recall experiencing himself but hoping that his family did the same when he was young.

*********

The second day Arthur spent brewing potions, poisons, and other alchemical creations was much like the first with being escorted to the underground hidden room and finding the ingredients and recipes that he needed to complete his work. The first thing on the list was forty basic healing potions, it was a lot more than he was expecting, especially given the amount he made yesterday, but with these extra healing potions came one less new potion he was required to make today which left him with just four things to do.

Unfortunately two of these were not very nice, the second item on the list was a poison used for interrogation called burnt endings, the name being a reference towards nerve endings. The poison would induce large amounts of pain on the nerves of the drinker and could be counteracted by an antidote which was the third item on the list. The burnt endings poison required a plant called fire nettle to be grounded up in a mortar and pestle and mixed with more ectoplasm and the spinal fluid of something called a homunculus and distilled in a retort. The recipe did not specify anything regarding this creature other than it required its spinal fluid which was a clear slightly salty smelling liquid.

The antidote thankfully did not require any more of this homunculus spinal fluid, instead it required green mosscap mushrooms to be sliced up with grounded up pig bones and glow berries, when they were all together you would mix them up and distil them into the antidote. With twenty bottles of each Arthur was more than happy to be done with such questionable recipes. ‘How did Captain Tasius even get his hands on these? Anything like this would be illegal without the approval of the crown or whatever authority rules the land in question.’

Arthur was rather stumped by the question but continued on anyways the last potion which was thankful not worrying at all, the potion was similar to the amanita berserkcaria potion that boosts the physical capabilities of the drinker along with large amounts of anger. This potion by the name of eagle eyes did basically what was expected and improved the eyesight of the drinker to something comparable to an eagle. The recipe called for two eagle eyes, ectoplasm, a quarter pound of cut carrots, and a pinch of sand. The end product was a light blue liquid that was almost clear.

Like the day before all the casting of alchemy spells and keeping an eye on the potions as he was making them was exhausting. Just as he took a seat on the same nearby bed as last time he heard the hidden entrance open and the sounds of footsteps coming towards his location. ‘It must be around two o’clock since that was the last time the Captain showed up, and he intended to be here around the same time as before.’

Arthur forced himself up and waited for the Captain to enter the room, when he did the first thing he saw was the crate full of the one hundred potions he asked for and smiled before walking over to inspect them. Taking a random few bottles he looked at the labels and then the liquid inside even taking off the top to take a small of the potion to be certain that it smells the way it is supposed to.

He was clearly happy with what he smelt as he turned to Arthur with a smile and spoke. “Well done once again Arthur, from what I can tell these potions and poisons are up to the standard that I require. Here is the extra reward I spoke about the last time we talked about this.” Captain Tasius tossed a leather pouch that contained several coins jingling inside, upon opening it Arthur found ten silver and ten copper coins. A decent pay for his work, though it still wasn’t something he wanted to do very often.

“While you're still here I have some more potions that I will need made, it will take about another two hundred more potions or poisons in total over another two days, I will pay you the same amount for each day of completed work. So, are you interested?” Arthur looked down to the money in his hand, it was definitely nice to have but the stress was way worse compared to what he normally did in a given day. But since he was expecting to have more and more expenses once he became an evoker within the guild due to lessons for enchanting and golemancy he looked back up towards the Captain and nodded.