Golden Concoctions. [University Lab, Open]

[Basiliscos V Argomedo]

Time Stamp :

Noon, 50th of Summer, 510 AV.

Argos continued setting up his table at the university lab. He liked to come around midday mostly for the lack of other students using it at that time, unless there was a lab class scheduled. Not that it was as necessary to reserve table space in the summer. Coming at this time had become a habit for him. It was certainly simpler seeing all his materials with the diffused, but strong sunlight. He had picked out a table in the far corner, for the right amount of light he received there, among a few other reasons.

With a grunt, Argos lifted up a heavy container of dissolving fish skins sitting in acid, onto his claimed space. The fishy smell coming from him was about to be amplified to the whole lab. The philterers in the university were used to strong odors, but other unlucky students, with classrooms adjacent to the lab weren't. The lab itself had a rather interesting aroma at the moment, seemingly magnified by the summer heat. It smelled stagnant and sulphurous, like a few of the mountain springs surrounding Zeltiva.

Argos' own smells overpowering the existing ones, wasn't likely. The aromas would probably mix into some new, previously unappreciated amalgam, prompting more complaints directed at the lab. Perhaps not as much as he had received from neighbors though, having carried some of his work home with him. In retrospect, he should have put them the containers on the roof, from the very beginning. In any case, the gelatin extraction was in it's final process, and he would have to heat just an hour or two longer to finish it.

Cracking open the case, Argos set the plates of fish skin and acid down on the lab's sand baths. He had heated them in the common fire pit earlier. A brisk walk back to the fire pit, modified for heating philtering instruments, had him begin a water purification with the alembic. It would be the quickest part of the process. Now all that was needed was to finish some of the final hammering of the gold and copper flakes. That would be the most tedious part of the job today.

Argos leaned against his table and opened up his notebook. He would have to time to peruse his notes for the experiments, while waiting for any volunteers that he might have attracted. He had put up wanted ads around the university, and his asking around might have come in handy, as well. He wasn't worried about not being found, he had selected his corner spot for that reason. He also didn't want to attract any gold bugs. Or competitors snooping on his research, which thus far, he hadn't told anyone, but his professor, the exact nature of. All he had told his peers was he needed assistants for a philtery project.

[Azilis Theroulde]

Azilis could smell the philtery lab from a block away: an odd mixture of acidic and conflicting aromas that made her nostrils recoil and her face pinch together in distaste. Get a grip, Azilis, she thought to herself as she strode down the street towards the University building that housed the lab. You'd better get a handle on yourself if you're going to be working with this stuff all day. Since when did you get so squeamish? She wasn't sure exactly what the project was with which she would be assisting, or even the man whose ad she was answering. He was a friend of her brother's, she knew that much, and the two of them had taken a class in philtering a year back or so. Sylvair had come home one night with a flier gripped in his hand and had shoved it towards her. “You'd better go, dear sister of mine,” he'd said, propping his feet up on the table and raking his hands through his shock of red curls. “Eyris knows, I can't philter worth horse dung. Wouldn't have gotten through that class without Argos' help. So I think, as a token of my appreciation for him, I'll send you to help him out with his work.” “What sort of work?” she'd inquired, her curiosity piqued. He'd rolled his eyes dramatically. “Haven't the faintest clue. I just know he needs assistants with his latest project, that's all his flier says. And you, my little nerdling -” with this, he reached out and tweaked her nose obnoxiously - “will probably do far better with it than I. Seeing as I passed that class by the skin of my teeth.” And so it was that she found herself making her way to the philtery lab, ready to assist with gods-knew-what. Although she had barely any training in philtering, she was the sort of person who liked to stick her finger in every scholarly pie, so to speak. She only hoped the man (Basiliscos, she thought his name was?) wouldn't mind the fact that she barely knew the difference between a tincture and a distillation, or an alembic and a mortar and pestle. The caustic, fishy smell grew more overpowering as she headed down the hall towards the lab. When she reached the door to the philtering room, she paused for a moment, hoping she hadn't gotten herself into a situation far over her head, and then turned the knob on the door. A lone figure was seated at a table in the corner, dressed in an old-fashioned black half-cape. His head was bent over a notebook, and all she could see of his face was the jut of a pale nose; the rest was obscured by a mop of black curls and and a tangle of facial hair. She closed the door behind her with a bit more force needed to get his attention before she spoke. “Are you Basiliscos Argomedo?” she asked, taking several steps towards him. The question was more of a formality than anything else, seeing as there was no one else in the room. “I'm here to help you with your philtering project. You do need assistants, right?” She flashed him the flier her brother had given her. “My brother Sylvair said he'd taken a philtering class with you awhile back. I'm his younger sister. Azilis.” She pulled up a stool and sat down across the table from the man, offering her hand. “I don't know anything about philtering myself, but Sylvair thought I'd be interested.” Azilis eyed the the container of dissolving fish skins, trying not to wrinkle her nose. “So what, er, is the aim today?”