[quote=@ClocktowerEchos]
<Snipped quote by Wernher>

No magic is the rule I believe and even more so against necromancy for obvious reasons, at least nothing that can actually do anything. Other wise everyone would be using the Luminark of Hysh and using magical girls in their armies.
If I remember correctly, [@Willy Vereb] used alchemy to make mithril but most of the process is more or less ceremonial randomness but his elves can't figure out which steps are actually useful and which is just dancing around a fire pit and having an Elvish pow wow.
[/quote]Alchemy is basically pseudo-science. They combine scientific observations with mysticism and other occult elements. Whatever advantage alchemists have over classic science is because they just got lucky. Alchemists are also like Guilds of the old days who try to keep their trade secrets at all costs. Mithril in particular is like Damascus Steel. It's Mithral (a mix of titanium and aluminium in properties) containing various alloy metals and carbon from the melted remains of a certain plant which imbued the structure with carbon-nanotubes. Yup, Damascus Steel apparently contained CNT thanks to roughly the same reason. Which is why it was nearly impossible to copy. Now alchemists in Yllendthyr learned this by some accident and use this and its hundreds of different variations for creating all the different types of mithril. Yeah, just like steel there are numerous different grades of mithril to use.
And you're right, they use practical methods combined with rituals even now. Albeit compared to before the amount of rituals dwindled as certain steps were proven to be unneccessary. For example thanks to an experiment in mid-1800s they are no longer limited to smelt Mithril under the shine of the Moon. Which as you can expect intantly multiplied Yllenthyr's speed at producing mithril. Granted, mithril production is still not as efficient as steel. Higher quality steel products also gained an edge over mithril now.