Throughout Galbar, wherever hain were found, so were Chippers. This religion, if it could even be called a religion, had just three basic principles: learn new things, teach those things, and travel to find those who will learn and teach if you are able. While simple, these principles made Chippers the most influential group of hain across the planet. The actions of the Chippers greatly accelerated the diffusion of knowledge across the world. While most Chippers never wandered father than the neighbouring tribes, this combined with the aim of sharing knowledge was adequate for spreading knowledge.

Some of this new information came from the cities of Galbar, although this was not as great a source as one might think. The nations of Yorum, Alefpria and Amestris (although no longer the capital Xerxes) all had a good Chipper presence. However, the trappings of civilisation in these nations with the uncivilised tribes outside tended to dissuade all but the most devout from expediting to the tribal hain. And more often than not, the sharing of this knowledge served to draw the tribal hain as migrants to the cities rather than encourage them to make their own civilisations.

But [url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3859744]the meddling of a particular Chaos God[/url], soon before the Realta attacked, provided another way for knowledge to get out of the cities. On that day, numerous random people across the globe received strange visions about peculiar technologies. However, the recipients of these visions rarely had the knowledge or resources to make use of them on their own. This was where the Chippers came in. Chippers took note of these visions as they heard them, many considering them as gifts from Stone Chipper, and talked of them with other Chippers. As Chippers collected and shared more of these visions, links started to be made as related concepts were brought together and enabled each other. Technologies which had once been isolated to the cities began springing up in locations across Galbar occupied by hain. Wheels and carts. Melting down surface copper ore deposits to create metal tools. Basic agriculture. Taming animals. Improved weaponry and armour. Very rarely, enough of this knowledge converged in a single location to allow the formation of actual towns of hain, which might some day become fully fledged cities. If nothing else, the places which benefited from the technologies tended to be better armed and more equipped to defend themselves, or march out to battle.

The Chippers also spread more mundane knowledge developed by regular hain. The medicinal properties of herbs and plants were difficult to determine. It could take many generations for an isolated village to develop a broad enough catalogue of remedies to handle common ailments. But the presence of Chippers meant that once one village discovered some useful medicine, the neighbouring villages soon learnt of it too, followed by their neighbours and so on. The use of drawings and pictures was very valuable in the dissemination of this information, as names of plants would often vary between groups.

Even more prolific than medicine was alcohol. Even non-Chippers saw the benefit of a good brew, so Chippers tended to be more than willing to go out of their way to discover new ways to make alcohol. These brews had simple bases, such as chewed grains or pressed fruit juices, although what distinguished many brews were the different additives, such as spices, herbs, berries, or honey. With only crude brewing techniques, these beverages rarely contained enough alcohol to cause intoxication unless consumed in excess. But the constituents of the beverages made them quite nutritious, and the process of brewing tended to sterilise the drink. The work of the Chippers provided hain tribes, and even neighbouring human tribes, a plethora of choice when making alcohol.

And independently of the work of Vestec came rumours from southern Mesathalassa of a great hain who had discovered how to grow food plants, and that fire could be used to manipulate star-fiend carapace. Other hain villages in the region began trying to farm, with varying degrees of success. And while not many villages had ready access to a star-fiend, or the means to break one down into manageable pieces, through various other avenues of knowledge a few villages were able to associate metal ores with the process, and thus unlock metalworking and draw the link between star-fiend carapace and metal.

This was all just a part of what Chippers had done for hainkind. The Chippers continually spread knowledge which they found. While their progress was not especially fast or focused, it was much more than what other people would do. Even though Teknall had not intentionally created the Chippers and had little direct influence in their development, he was glad they had emerged.

[hr]
[hr]
[i]Alchemy was a powerful art in practised hands. The various aspects and uses of alchemy would grant civilisation another great boon, potentially accelerating the development of other technologies like metalworking, medicine and materials, and provide a bridge between the mundane and magical. It granted nigh limitless possibilities, if only the right ingredients could be obtained.

But the trouble would be discovering those ingredients. While patterns existed, the nature of the occult made such patterns extremely esoteric. To figure out the patterns ex nihilo would take far longer than for more conventional sciences like chemistry or physics. It would be a largely trial and error process, one fraught by frustration and confusion. Until such patterns could be deduced, creating new potions would require combining seemingly random ingredients with seemingly obscure methods. If alchemy were to be made useful, guidance would be necessary.

If only there were a people who would try weird and random things for no reason other than to see what it would create. And if only there existed some kind of global network through which information could be broadcast to and shared amongst these people.

How convenient.[/i]

[center]~-====-~[/center]

The listening horns of Ovaedis were vast caves, filled with nodes of pastel light monitored by biomechanical drones. The minds of thousands of Sculptors echoed through the horns in telepathic signals. It was cacophonous, but somehow piecemeal conversations could still be carried out through the network. Poems could be recited, help sought, meetings arranged, discoveries announced, and so on.

[i](green papers whispered/bright princes approved warmly/flat princes pondered)
(The crystal trees have crossed the barrier by the start of the great mountains. Asking help to contain it again)
(Did you hear the one about the cat?)
(~the sun rises yet again, the one constant in this world)
[color=Peru](Boil beer to liberate the spirits of the drink. Capture them to harness their powers.)[/color]
(there is emptiness/seasonal gray ragged tint/each is made of dust)
(oo, do tell)
(What rhymes with heart?)
(There is a narrow path up a cliff. Avoid Blackhammer Crater, though)
[color=Peru](Try tea of tannin, nightshade leaf and goat's blood)[/color]
(Fart. Ha ha)
(Informed the rockmen. Assistance on the way)
[/i]

[center]~-====-~[/center]

The Sculptor reclined in the shade of a tree. With a hand which had once been human, one among five, she lifted up a cask and drank of the water within. She then held the cask up and eclipsed the sunlight filtering through the leaves. Needle fae fluttered above her. As she watched idly, she pondered what she might do today.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Make something.[/i][/color][/sub]

She decided it would be good to create today. But what would she create? Would she carve a piece of art into the tree she was resting upon? Would she compose a poem to sing?

[sub][color=Peru][i]Perhaps something new; create a new substance.[/i][/color][/sub]

Then inspiration struck her. She would create something new, something never felt or tasted before, until she made it. She got up to gather ingredients.

[sub][color=Peru][i]You will need water, and a bucket to hold it and everything else.[/i][/color][/sub]

The first thing she did was fashion a crude bucket from some leather she had. Then she headed down towards the river to collect some water. There she filled her bucket half-full.

[sub][color=Peru][i]You will also need to find some dandelions, a dead bird, and the sun-dried feces of a buffalo.[/i][/color][/sub]

Next she picked some dandelions, found a bird perched in a tree and killed it with her sling, and found a pile of dusty dry manure. She had a hunch that these ingredients would do something.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Burn the dandelions and keep the ash.[/i][/color][/sub]

She set up a small fire, put the dandelions on a stone, and transferred across some of the fire to ignite the dandelions. They were quickly reduced to ash, which would surely be useful for the new substance she was making.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Strip the flesh off the bird and keep the raw bones.[/i][/color][/sub]

She then used a knife and her teeth to strip the raw and bloody flesh from the bird's skeleton. She decided to eat the meat raw today. She set the bones next to the dandelions, for she would use those too.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Mix together a handful of water, the ashes, and the feces.[/i][/color][/sub]

She scooped up some water with one hand, the ashes with another hand, and the powdery feces with a third hand, and brought the three hands together, mashing together their contents. She rubbed them together until she had a stinky homogeneous brown sludge. This was an interesting substance, although was hardly novel. There had to be more.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Stir the paste into the bucket. Take the bones and add them too. Then sprinkle in a pinch of dirt.[/i][/color][/sub]

The paste was only an intermediate. She mixed it into the water and added the bones. She decided it would be a good idea to add in a bit of dirt too. Maybe it would do something.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Now leave it out in the sun, and come back when the sun is within two hand breadths of the horizon.[/i][/color][/sub]

Now that she had mixed the ingredients together, it would obviously take time to finish. Time and sunlight. Sunlight felt like an important step. She would come back for the substance late in the afternoon. Until that time she tattooed a twisting pattern into a tree using a few Needle Fae. When she decided that it had been long enough, the Sculptor checked on the concoction she had prepared. What had once been dirty water was now an opaque brown solution, with a sharp and pungent aroma. She picked up the leather bucket and looked at the liquid. She hadn't seen anything quite like it before, but making a plain brown solution which smelled of poo made for underwhelming art.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Pour it onto that bush over there.[/i][/color][/sub]

Clearly the substance must have properties beyond its appearance. It needed to be used. And what better thing to use it on than that bush over there. That bush was not the healthiest bush; its leaves were yellowing, its branches withering, its bark peeling. Perhaps this new substance might give it beauty in some way. She slowly poured the solution in a circle around the base of the bush, sprinkled some over the leaves, then emptied the rest of the solution onto the base of the bush. She watched, yet nothing seemed to be happening. Had she failed?

[sub][color=Peru][i]Patience. Check back tomorrow.[/i][/color][/sub]

She was being impatient. Why should something happen right now? Plants were slow. She would check tomorrow if anything had happened. The Sculptor found a place to set up camp, found some food and slept the night. The next morning she danced among her Faery swarm in the rays of sunrise sunlight, her arms moving fluidly as she twirled and leaped. When sunrise was over, she remembered the bush, and went to check it.

To her surprise, the bush which had once been sick was vibrant and green. The colour of the leaves had been restored to a bright shade of green. The branches were strong. The plant was healthy, healthier than any other plant in sight. The Sculptor danced in joy at the new beauty she had created.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Remember.[/i][/color][/sub]

She would remember this recipe. It made for such glorious beauty.

[sub][color=Peru][i]Share.[/i][/color][/sub]

She would have to tell others about how to make this substance. That would be the best way to ensure that this beauty was spread.

[center]~-====-~[/center]

[i](~the sun is gone, consumed by the earth. i rest once more)
(Hey, don't pick that vine, it will give you a rash)
(The brown liquid makes plants grow greener)
(Before the moment of tears the poets turn/and sisters, that boy outta sight /for little spots, that itch and burn/And elephants don't take flight)
[color=Peru](Put melanterite in the heart of a fire, capture the fumes with water)[/color]
( [ I have found a most elegant proof to the cyclic quadrilateral theorem ] )
(Dem alcohol'c spirits be a stron' drink)
(Look at the pretty clouds. That one looks like a fish)
[color=Peru](Cook guano in a sealed container. See what you get)[/color]
(When we get rain/which soaks the soil 'neath our feet/what better gain/than a fresh harvest of wheat)
(Visit a valley in the shadow of the tallest mountain. I hear good things are happening there)
(How did you capture the alcoholic spirits?)
[/i]

[center]~-====-~[/center]

The Shrine of Jvan, that charred ruin a safe distance from Alefpria proper, was a hub of Sculptor activity and experimentation. Many covered the structure and its surroundings in strange paintings, sculptures, carvings, scratchings, scrawlings, and other forms of 'fine' art in the Jvanic style. Underneath the Shrine was a place for experiments best kept away from prying eyes. But the ground floor of the Shrine was currently host to a Sculptor dabbling in a novel art form he had been inspired to pursue after hearing whispers in the mind-waves.

Sliddlvik the goblin Sculptor was currently perched over his apparatus. A fire burned underneath a pot, and above that pot was an upturned brass funnel, with a pipe which turned back down to a second pot. The pipe was wrapped in wet rags. With one eye stalk Sliddlvik watched the contents of the pot, adjusting its position occasionally to ensure that it simmered but didn't boil. The second eye stalk twisted around to watch liquid slowly drip into the second pot. With one lanky hand he wafted the scent from the second pot to his face, smelling the sweet aroma from the liquid within. Another hand felt the damp cloths, and determining them to be insufficiently cool a prehensile foot picked up fresh cloths from a bucket, reached over to replace the warm cloths, and put the warm cloths back in the bucket.

It all started when someone suggested boiling beer to release the spirits of the drink. It was a strange suggestion, but Sliddlvik had tried it anyway. The vapours had a sweet aroma, like the flavour of alcohol but stronger. The process had left the beer weak, meaning that heating had liberated the 'spirits' which made the beer alcoholic. The tricky part was capturing those vapours. 

Sliddlvik had travelled far, roaming with the urtelem herds to reach the golden jewel of Alefpria. From his past life as a goblin, he knew how to shape metal and the uses of that material. It had taken a lot of coin to get the metal he needed, and the alcoholic beverages to boil, but he had done it. He had forged the funnel and pipe himself. Then came testing and experimenting. He had had to learn not to heat the alcohol too much, or else the water in it would boil too. He had figured out the trick for condensing the vapours using cool wet cloths. He had learnt, the hard way, to not collect the spirits until their aroma was sweet. And he had discovered that he could increase the purity of the alcoholic spirits by repeating the process on the distillate.

Why did Sliddlvik go to all this trouble? To Sliddlvik, this process of experimentation and creation was an art of itself, one which gave him much satisfaction. Plus, the alcoholic spirits was a far more potent beverage than anything obtained from the breweries, and some of the Sculptors at the Shrine had developed a taste for this new drink.

But Sliddlvik knew that the alcoholic spirits had more uses than as an intoxicating drink. Already, he had discovered that it was highly flammable. It washed off and dissolved grease and oil which water would not. And he suspected that this was just the beginning. And if distilling wine and beer could give alcoholic spirits, what other things could be distilled to create new substances? Sliddlvik was giddy with the possibilities. Or maybe he was just giddy with the alcohol. It's hard to tell.

[center]~-====-~[/center]

[i](and that's how I did it)
(Careful with the vitriol, it causes burns)
( [ Use an object with a straight edge to help draw the fractal patterns ] )
(~auricolor casts down its dull light, for the twin moons are resting)
[color=Peru](Heat quicksilver, get crystals red and white. The two are opposites)[/color]
(Triumph needlessly like a sweet face within love./Ever to hear a moon, it gave a lock./What is the empty hate to rapidly fight the rainbow?/Cheeks breathe and within them desire rises!)
(I met a skeletal hain today)
(Cinnabar makes a great red pigment. Amestrian traders sell it)
(Has anyone ever told you that your poetry makes no sense?)
[color=Peru](Powdered iron, dissolved in vitriol. Red mercuric oxide. Blood of a Herakt. Distill, then sprinkle pot ash into the distillate)[/color]
(Spooky)
(Look for the campfire on the rocky bluff)
[/i]

[center]~-====-~[/center]

The bloated Sculptor sat in the middle of the darkened house, its multitudinous fingered tentacles reaching out, touching and tasting the contents of the various pots in the room. A net hung from the rafters held even more vials, tangled within the ropes. The walls were covered in sketches of symbols and connections, which at a cursory glance may have appeared as some Jvanic scrawls, but closer inspection would reveal an intricate web of information and accumulated data, cross-referenced to symbols marking the pots and vials. And by the fireplace some foul liquid was simmering away into a distiller.

This Sculptor, Margos by name, had received a sizeable inheritance some time before ascendancy, so was able to afford a small house within the Amestrian nation and fund its artistic endeavours. And some time ago it had taken up a new pursuit, one which definitely benefited from its supply of funds.

It had heard the whispers of the other Sculptors, and one of those whispers had new knowledge about a new art. An art of substances, chemical, materials and tonics, of mixing, boiling, distilling, burning and purifying. Margos' curiosity had been piqued, and it sought to learn this art.

Margos had followed the clues he heard, both from that one whisper and then the others who were following the same path as it. It had acquired the materials and tested them, and sung what it found into the sea of whispers. But Margos was not satisfied with simply copying the work of others. Derivative art was beneath it. The true artist creates from their own inspiration, creates what is new.

It was hard getting started. This art seemed so strange and abstract, but as Margos took notes and covered the walls with them, it started to see the patterns. Each new material had some new property, which could be used to make more new things. And there were several well-defined methods which could be used to transmute one substance into another, such as distillation, calcination, and dissolution.

Margos had found that the corrosive vitriol was a powerful solvent, able to dissolve even metal and consuming water. Its potency was invaluable in many other transmutations. Saltpeter dissolved in vitriol, for instance, created a new acid, aqua fortis.

And quicksilver, which could be distilled from cinnabar, seemed to have many properties too. Margos tested every new material by tasting it with its sensitive tentacles. While such experimentation may have poisoned or killed regular mortals, Margos had exceptional constitution, although even it felt ill occasionally. But Margos had found other substances which could treat the toxicity of others. It found that green vitriol alleviated many ills caused by organic substances.

Margos found that many substances, both natural and created, had some properties, some aspects, which when combined seemed to produce wondrous results. The tools used to combine such substances seemed to have an effect too. Margos had many experiments running simultaneously, many combinations to test, and its work was paying off. Green vitriol, paste from faba beans and white mercuric oxide fermented in a lead pot created a potion which induced temporary paralysis. Adding sal ammoniac to the brown plant-growth potion another Sculptor had discovered increased its potency two-fold, and Margos had begun selling the concoction to farmers to help fund further experiments.

And Margos had many more experiments to do. Every discovery it made led it to even more questions, even more possibilities. Each new substance was like a new colour added to its pallet, and its paintings were to potions made from the combination of these substances.

[center]~-====-~[/center]

[i](Green vitriol has a definite cleansing aspect)
(~i dance in the rain, feel the raindrops spatter around me)
(Alcoholic spirits, vitriol and aqua fortis makes for a highly reactive new substance. Handle with care)
[color=Peru](Gold is associated with purity and heart)[/color]
( [ Polygons subdivided into triangles. We can thus derive the angles of the polygons ] )
(Hey, aqua fortis and sal ammoniac makes this new acid which can dissolve gold. Useful?)
(Lime, made from heating limestone, reacts with numerous other compounds)
(the blood-red rose and its vicious thorns. such beauty mixed with danger)
[color=Peru](Alchemy is the s͓ͫ͟ecr̝et̝̰͋͢ t͒ͫo̝ u᷂ṇt͇o͇l̲d͟ pͭ͑͊oͧ̋͠w̮̜̖ę̀͡r͈͌̊)[/color]
(You can distill the essence of plants like the alcoholic spirits)
(The light that scatters off the lensling groves is so pretty)
(Take the blood of a feverish person. Mix in natrum, calomel and lavender. Allow to ferment on a moonless night. Quench with green vitriol. Boil it and have the feverish person inhale the fumes. They convulse a little, but the fever dies down)
(I've got a new one. Sulfur, lime and sal ammoniac. It creates this dark smelly liquid)
(I've sent a dove carrying the message. Tell me when you receive it)
(Mercury mixed with faery ink weakens fires. Any suggestions for a more potent mixture?)
(~the light scatters off the rain to create an arc of colours. its pallet is pure)
(Snow melt. Black ash. Maybe silver.)
(The aurora paints the sky. I shall paint the ground likewise)
(Looking for a crossing past the Darkened Spires. Any suggestions?)
(Pot ash has some associations with the body)
(Blood has power. Any shaman can tell you that)
(Initial tests indicate that black antimony has a good set of reactions)
(Essence of balsamine and green vitriol seems to help wounds heal quicker)
[/i]

Critical mass had been achieved. The seeds of alchemy had taken root, and now this new 'art' was blossoming across the Sculptor network. Teknall eased his mind away from the network, feeling a release of psychic pressure as he disconnected from the web of eldritch minds. He had managed to direct the single-minded artistic pursuits of at least a few Sculptors towards the art of alchemy, one which could provide many benefits. The Sculptors would experiment and test with a vigour unseen in other mortals, always seeking new beauty and new ways to express their art. And this would doubtlessly lead to many great discoveries, which with any luck would be passed on to regular mortals.

For now, the alchemical pursuits of the Sculptors were self-perpetuating. Teknall could leave them to their own devices, confident that they would continue producing results.

[hider=It's about time Teknall did something useful for Civilisation]
Two separate sections in this post.

First section, some exposition about the impact of Chippers on technological development.
Chippers help drive migration towards cities.
Chippers have played a notable role in recording, spreading and collating the info-dump given by Vestec to the mortal races of Galbar a while back. This has allowed for the spontaneous generation of a few hain towns across Galbar.
Chippers also spread medicines and alcoholic brews discovered by hain. They've also been slow spreading the agriculture and metal-working Gerrik has discovered.

In short, Chippers greatly accelerate the diffusion of knowledge among hain-kind, giving hain an edge in technological advancement on a global scale.

(No Might spent. Just some exposition)

Second section, the Sculptors become alchemists.
Teknall makes use of the Sculptors' telepathic network to broadcast alchemy hints.
Numerous Sculptors are interested by these messages, and since they're all half-crazy they have no qualms about doing random stuff for the sake of it.
This section alternates between telepathic chatter (with Teknall adding messages occasionally) and stories of individual Sculptors trying out alchemy.
Notable are the discoveries of distillation, vitriol (sulfuric acid), ethanol (referred to as alcoholic spirits), several crude potions, and numerous other simple substances and processes which form important ingredients and methods in alchemy.
Named characters are Sliddlvik, a distiller living in Alefpria, and Margos, an avid experimenter and one of the more prominent figures in early alchemy living in one of the Amestrian cities.

Key point: Sculptors have added alchemy to their portfolio of arts, and will be the chief source of alchemical experimentation on Galbar. Discoveries get spread around their telepathic network.

(No Might spent. Free action under Crafting(Alchemy))
[/hider]