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Chapter 8: Skills
Chemistry
All matter is comprised of a particular combination
of the 5 elements: air, earth, fire, water,
and ether. Chemistry is the science of exploring
combinations. Through combining substances, new
substances may be made, such as acids, bases, gas,
metals, and new toxins (poisons). However, Chemistry
may also be dangerous and explosions may result
depending on the whim of the Aedile and what
is being created.
Some ancients asserted that the universe is
comprised of only atoms and the void 1 . An atom
was considered the smallest divisible unit of matter.
Where atoms do not exist is the void, which surrounds
all atoms. The atomist view of chemistry
has been both modified and abandoned in favor of
5 elements.
Originally, 4 elements were postulated as the
basis of all matter 2 . These 4 elements are the result
of 2 properties: hotness and dryness. Then, each
element became associated with a geometric shape 3 .
These shapes are considered the particles of the elements.
Each of the 4 elements is posited to exist
in an ideal or pure form, though they cannot be
found in this world, except in lesser purity.
Air: This element is between hotness and
wetness, and is related to an octahedron.
Earth: This element is between dryness and
coldness, and is related to the shape of a cube, due
to its hardness.
Fire: This element is between hotness and
dryness, and is related to a tetrahedron, due to the
sharp points of this shape.
Water: This element is between coldness and
wetness, and is related to an icosahedron.
Later, a fifth element was added 4 , which is
called ether.
Ether: This element is equidistant to the 2
properties. To some, it is the substance of stars 4 ,
although the concept of ether developed into a version
of the void, because it is considered to be everywhere.
Ether is related to a pentagonal dodecahedron.
Another name for ether is quintaessentia,
or the quintessential.
Chemists seek to mix pure substances -- pure
in the sense of nature, not in the sense of ideal and
pure elements. The following are considered to be
pure substances: gold, silver, lead, tin, iron, copper,
mercury or quicksilver, salt, vinegar, lime or quicklime,
bitumen or pitch, and extracts from plants.
Prerequisites for Chemistry include: Library
Research + 10, Herbalism + 5, Toxicology + 5, Nature
(Plants) + 5, Nature (Minerals) + 5.
Check: Roll 3d10 and apply the average of
the modifiers from the sub-abilities of Intuition,
Math, and Analytic Intelligence. The higher the roll,
the more likely is success. If the result is 3 or less,
than an injury determined by the Aedile occurs to
the chemist.
1. The original atomists were Leucippus and Democritus, as cited from The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus, which is a
translation of fragments of text by C. C. W. Taylor. For more information, see the References section at the end of this book.
2. Empedocles of Agrigentum (490 - 430 B.C.E.) first asserted the four-element model of nature.
3. Plato and Pythagoras associated the four elements with geometric shapes.
4. Aristotle added the fifth element. For more information, see the References section at the end of this book.
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