• Closed • A Cause for Celebration

[Doran]

Continued from here.

5th of Saun, Arc 718


The sky was darkening rapidly as Doran met Jon at the university’s gates. He had told the Aberrant to wait for him while he retrieved a few items from his classroom since he wasn’t sure if he would come back that evening, a sword of exquisite make that was in a sheath at his belt now among other things. At first only a few snowflakes fell here and there, but after a while it began to snow more heavily, and somewhere in the distance thunder could be heard, a sign that the weather would get worse before it got better again.

It was cold, as it always was in Viden around that time of the arc, and the Mortalborn pulled the hood of the fine dark wool cloak that he was wearing over the head, not necessarily because he was freezing – the son of Ziell was rarely truly cold - but because he didn’t appreciate potentially looking like a wet dog, disheveled and utterly unappealing. He nodded at a few colleagues and students that they passed by, but he didn’t stop to engage them in conversation, finding his newest acquaintance much more interesting than them, despite the man’s unfortunate penchant for that soul-destroying magic.

“You never told me whether you are a student or simply somebody that is interested in magic and science”, he remarked and looked at the man next to him curiously as they left the university grounds behind and walked down the street. Evening was approaching quickly, and all around them lights went on in the windows, and the streetlamps were being lit. Jon would find that the alchemist was far more relaxed and less stiff now that they had left the Academy, and the tone of his voice was a hint softer.

“I have to admit, I find myself curious about you”, he spoke and looked at him for a moment. “It’s been a few arcs since I met somebody like you.” That somebody had been Sintih, the son of the woman he had once loved, a man of similar talent and temperament that had foolishly decided to stay in Rynmere despite the fact that the king had ordered all mages to be burned at the stake. He wondered how he was doing sometimes – and if he was still alive.

“It’s not very far”, he informed him after a while. “I come to the White Fox quite frequently after a work. It is somewhat popular in academic circles.” True to his word, the tavern came into view just a few bits later. It was one of the more upscale taverns in Viden and located in an affluent part of the city, but it was nevertheless cozy.

The Mortalborn stomped the snow from his boots in front of the door before he walked in, gesturing for Jon to follow him. The patrons were quite varied. Professors, students, merchants and even a few couples sat at the many tables, and waiters and waitresses moved through the common room, carrying trays with food and drinks. The atmosphere was one of joy and relaxation. It was truly a pleasant place.

Doran navigated through the room effortlessly and found an empty table for them in a corner. “Considering the fact that the experiment was your idea, I thought that I would pay for our drinks tonight”, he offered before he gave a waiter a sign that he had need of him. He didn’t celebrate often, but this, he thought, was an occasion that merited such. This evening, he decided, he would allow himself to let himself go a little. “Unless you are still unwilling to accept anything from me?” he asked and raised an eyebrow.

[Jonathan Burr]

Jon waited to meet Doran outside of the University. It was damnably cold out, and even though he wrapped himself up in his jacket as much as he could his fingers were going numb. He desperately wanted to get inside, and grinned at Doran when the man finally walked across the quad toward him. Thank the gods, they needed to get somewhere with a fire! The cold didn't seem to bother Doran...but then again the man was used to it. He had been here for a while, or so Jon assumed, to get used to this sort of hideous weather. He eagerly walked next to Doran, warming up slightly from the brisk pace they were setting. The question he wasn't quite sure how to answer, and so he shrugged. How could he tell Doran that he had essentially broken into the Viden Academy out of sheer curiosity? He smiled sheepishly. He couldn't answer that, not truthfully. While he was fairly sure Doran wouldn't throw him out on his ears he wasn't one hundred percent sure.

Then again, maybe it was worth the risk.

"I...I'm the second option." he said, shivering and rubbing his arms. "N-not really enrolled. I don't have the n-nel for it. Can't even afford a damn inn really." he chuckled at the bad joke. He was fleeing a bad relationship with a bad man to protect his Harvester. That was a long conversation to be having. Viden might not have been the best choice weatherwise but it had been the most practical one. Alistair wouldn't look for him here and he was safe with Hob here. Gods, when they reached the White Fox he could hardly get in quick enough! He stomped his boots and shivered off the last of the cold. Food, drinks, and warmth abounded. Jon couldn't help but be in better spirits, really. Academics were his people. He was glad to be among students and professors both. He hurried to their table, settling in and pulling off his wet jacket. He laid it over the back of the booth to dry out, and smirked at Doran.

"You can pay for me. I can't really be choosy now can I in this situation." Jon chuckled. "Besides, I need to talk to you about our next steps. We need to be able to hook them up in series and see if we can't amplify the current. Then we can try and do something with it. I was thinking we could roast an apple to start."

[Doran]

“I told you before, I would be willing to give you the money that you need”, the Mortalborn reminded Jon in a mildly critical tone. He was not a particularly charitable person – he didn’t care about most people – but the man next to him was intelligent, and he seemed to be quite the scientist, and thus he had no interest in him losing his fingers to frostbite, thus rendering him unable to conduct any more experiments – or possibly freezing to death in a house entrance where he had sought refuge from the snow. “A room only costs a few nels per season, and tuition feels amount to slightly more. If you don’t want to owe me anything, there’s the possibility of applying for a scholarship though”, he pointed out as he secretly wondered why the man didn’t simply have a job. Was it because of his somewhat unfortunate second magic?

He pondered the matter for a few moments before he turned to the waiter and informed him that he wanted a bottle of Venora Rose and two glasses. “I developed a weakness for Rynmeran wine during my time as an ambassador there. I served as the ambassador of Etzos for a few seasons”, he explained, in case Jon didn’t know, before he filled the glasses and stated, “To our shared experiment – and many more.” He raised his glass in a toast and took a sip before he set it down again and explained, “Venora Rose has a comparatively high alcohol content. I thought you might enjoy that more than something that tastes like water with a few spices in it.”

“We can continue our experiment tomorrow morning”, he decided. “Perhaps the device could also be used to fry meat rather than simply charring apples. If it works, and if we can simplify the process a little, it could earn us a fair amount of nels. People wouldn’t depend on a campfire anymore”, he pointed out, sounding fairly fascinated at the prospect, before he decided to ask the Aberrant something that he had been wondering about for a while, “Tell me, Jon, what exactly brought you to Viden? Was it just the lure of the Academy or did you travel to this frozen wasteland because you were running away from something? Viden is a fairly inhospitable place after all …”

Somewhere at a table in a corner a man, a handsome fellow with dark locks and blue eyes that was dressed in bright silk, pulled out a lute and began to play, a song that was fast enough that you could dance to if you wanted, and the Mortalborn cast a glance in his direction for a moment before he leaned back in his chair. His cheeks were colored a light pink now due to the warmth in the tavern and the wine that he had drunk, and there was a soft smile on his face. He had to admit, he was enjoying the atmosphere, more than he had thought that he would.

[Jonathan Burr]

Jon shrugged. "Alright, alright. Don't twist my arm. I didn't like the thought of sleeping outside in this weather anyway. My...uh...companion isn't the cuddling type." he admitted. "If it's that cheap I won't feel so bad. Besides, it helps that I wont be skulking around the laboratories anymore. I'll be a legitimate lab assistant of yours. Learning chemistry and alchemy and all that. I'll apply for a scholarship. You know, to pay you back. You've been kind so far, but the practical part of me says that's just so a valuable master Transmuter doesn't freeze when you could use him." He took the wine glass in front of him and raised it likewise in a toast. He sipped, to seal said toast, and set it down. He'd never been much of a wine man. He'd been drinking hard liquor and beer for a very long time. Wine warmed though, and he could feel it help the fire take root on his skin and chase the chill away. He brightened at the prospect of continuing the experiment.

"We could do that. I thought we could eventually build a sort of oven. Not one of the brick wood-burning things but one that relies on cells that could be longer-lasting. Say we built a glass box with higher amounts of reagent that could be used to discharge a set amount of lightning to cook food. You could raise or lower the wires into the cell to get more or less power and thus control your heat source. I mean, we could even hook up the wires to something that ignites flame, and control cooking that way. It would be incredibly hard and we'd need to find a blacksmith willing to build us a frame, but I think we could do it. I was going to draw up some plans for it. Maybe it could be something that could exist in every noble household. Venora and Burr, lightning extraordinaires." he chuckled at the idea.

The question Doran asked him made him feel uncomfortable and dimmed the light of his experimental brain a little. He didn't like thinking about Alistair. About Daeva and her murder. He bit his lip. "Look. Aberrants are hated. Even by the people we love most. They don't understand the bond, and they don't try to. It's not just some pact, a deal. It's so much more than that. It's like an umbilical cord of ether between yourself and the Harvester. My old Harvester was tricked and murdered by someone I thought I loved. I felt her die. She trusted me, and I let her down." Jon took a bigger gulp of the wine; damn being noble. "...Alistair Venora was supposed to be my teacher. Daeva brought me to him because I couldn't control the Aberrant ether at first. I was still recovering from being addicted to drugs and...well...Aberrancy was just another drug. I needed to respect it, and since Aberrants don't have mentors she had to bring me to someone powerful. It was a mistake. Alistair wanted to beat the magic out of me, and he murdered Daeva in cold blood to drive that spark from me. I had to protect myself and Hob from him. I can't let that happen again."

Jon took a deep breath. "Alistair Venora is a murderer, a butcher, and a hypocrite. I never want to see him again." He drained his glass with a certain air of finality, and shook off old memories. "Now, there was something I wanted to show you. I discovered something tinkering around in the lab while we prepared to come here."

He pulled out a tiny fragment of greenish-black stone from his pocket and set it on the table. "Now, watch." he said, a grin on his face, and put his finger on the stone shard. It couldn't have been much bigger than a fingernail, but a sudden green flash consumed the table for a few blistering seconds. Little green sparks bounced around and fizzled out into nothing. A faint odor like sulfur curled in the air and was gone. Jon grinned. "Rapid oxidization produces sparks like this. I think I can harness it, maybe shoot it into the night sky. Make something beautiful. Just....not a tool. Just something fun. To fund experiments."

"Talkin"

[Doran]

“You are a very observant man”, the Mortalborn remarked with a hint of amusement in his voice as Jon guessed his true motives and took another sip from his glass as he listened to the man expand on their initial idea. “A small oven”, he decided. “I want it to be portable. I agree, as far as involving a blacksmith is concerned. That would be prudent”, he admitted somewhat reluctantly as he had little knowledge of blacksmithing himself beyond the very basics. Having said that, he looked at Jon for a moment with a somewhat puzzled expression on his face. Apparently, he realized, the man took him for a noble from Rynmere – which, he decided, was just fine with him since he had no interest in him finding out the truth just yet.

“Indeed”, he thus remarked, chuckling softly. He had thought that they would spend the remainder of the evening drinking wine, celebrating their initial success and planning their future projects, but never would he have been able to imagine what came next. Jonathan Burr admitted to being an Aberrant, quite freely, and in a public place at that. He briefly wondered if the alcohol was already getting to man’s head or if he was usually that willing to admit to things that could get him in a lot of trouble – and if he expected him to be shocked now – and then he told him in a cool and very dry tone, “I already know what you are, Jon. It was rather obvious, everything considered.”

That he didn’t freak out or pretend to freak at least out didn’t mean that he was completely accepting of Jon’s magic of course. He wasn’t one of those trusting fools that were of the opinion that Aberrants and Necromancers and all the monsters of Idalos were poor, misunderstood creatures that just needed a hug, and everything would be alright again, but neither was a murderous idiot that slaughtered them wherever he went. He was the pragmatic sort – and saw certain advantages in being on civil terms with Jon’s kind, as long as they did the same. The man was intelligent. There’d be worse assistants to have – although he did briefly wonder what would happen if he met Zana.

The woman was rather … special.

As Jon mentioned Alistair Venora and proclaimed that he never wanted to see him again, in quite a passionate tone, the Mortalborn raised an eyebrow. “It seems as if both of us were rather close to him at one point”, he remarked, somewhat amused by the fact that Jon had apparently enjoyed the noble’s affection as well. “If he really did what you said, then he is less intelligent than I thought that he was. You cannot beat the magic out of somebody or kill their familiar and hope that said magic goes away again. Magic is permanent, barring divine intervention or acts of similar power. I would suggest that we continue this particular conversation in the laboratory though.”

“A tavern is not the best place to discuss Aberration”, he pointed out, in a low tone so that they wouldn’t be overheard. He had little interest in all of Viden finding out that his future assistant was an Aberrant and probably flayed other people in his spare time.

As Jon told him to watch, the Mortalborn raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was up to now and if he really wanted to know. Upon seeing the green flash, his eyes widened for a moment, and then he wanted to know, “Which chemical did you use to make it green?” before he remarked, “One of my students and I did something similar, a few arcs ago, but nothing came of it as I had to travel to Oscillus soon after that.” He was referring to the mission that had ended with him stabbing an Immortal.

“Do you have more of that stone?” he asked and extended a hand, hoping to take a closer look as he found himself fascinated. Jon wanted to create something fun, but he could already think of several ways to turn the man’s little experiment into something useful …

[Jonathan Burr]

Jon raised an eyebrow. So Doran had been close to Alistair as well? He was Alistair's type to a T. Muscular, handsome, humorless, and coldly intelligent. Yeah, he could see Alistair wrapping those tentacles around the man in front of him and trying to pull him in. He snorted. "Believe me, he tried. For my own good." he said the last with a sneer. He glanced around at the bar when it was suggested they keep that conversation in the lab. He sighed and shook his head a little bit. At least Doran hadn't reacted violently to the news he was an Aberrant, but he was slowly discovering that most people didn't if he was honest with them. All Alistair's talk of being dragged away to be burnt at the stake seemed just like that; talk. Maybe the man's upbringing in Rynmere had soured his experience with mages. Maybe he'd just been paranoid. Either way, Jon was determined to make life better for himself and Hob. Not just that, but for other Aberrants as well. It all started with success at the Academy, and making a name for himself. "I'm going to change perception of us, Doran. My kind. We're not all monsters and I swear I'm going to prove that to the world one of these days. Clean up murderers and rapists, or corrupt mages like Alistair, and then they're going to accept me for what I am." he spoke in an equally low tone, but dropped the subject in favor of his green flash. It was quite the little show, even if it lasted for but a split second, and Jon was unspeakably proud of it.

He grinned at Doran. "That's the secret. This is just used for glassmaking. It apparently purifies the glass, but if it's oxidized very quickly it produces more of that green light." he offered another small rock from his pocket, and took out a vial of shimmering silver powder. "Now look. I ground this up in the lab. Very carefully. This is more of the same metal, but mixed in with bits of sulfur." He poured out a tiny bit into his palm, and did the same. His ether swirled around the powder and corroded it, making green sparks shoot up from his palm. They were different to the flash. These sparks bounced around the table, rolling merrily and fizzling loudly before vanishing into ashes. "I call them fire flowers. Pretty neat, huh? I was thinking maybe this powder could be used to provide a little bit of entertainment for the Academy, if they wanted. I could mess with this, and see if I can't get different colors from different metals. Mix them with a little sulfur, and boom. Fire flowers."

Jon's eyes shone with the light of discovery. He was excited. Very excited. "I thought maybe, that if we pack this very carefully into a paper tube, the pressure would send it....foom! Right up into the sky! A flower booming in the night with colors and sound the likes of which no one has ever seen. Believe me when I say we can use the galvanic cells to spark these off. We could make celebrations last long bits into the trial. Competing with the moon for light and dazzling people across Idalos. It's going to be a great project, Doran. You have to see some of the prototypes I have up here." he tapped his temple. "I wanted to make something special. I have a man who's going to come to Viden, and I want to impress him. He's probably the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. This won't just be for science."

"Talkin"

[Doran]

“They always say that it‘s for your own good”, the Mortalborn remarked somewhat dryly. “In truth, they only do it for themselves.” Having said that, he fell silent in order to listen to the Aberrant’s plans, smiling somewhat wryly as he did so. Apparently, he realized, the man had mistaken his lack of a violent reaction and his disapproval of Alistair’s behaviour for acceptance and understanding, and, perhaps, even sympathy. For a moment he was tempted to ask Jon what exactly he planned on doing about the matter of Flaying and how he planned on persuading people to accept the fact that he likely killed on a regular basis, but then he decided to leave the matter be.

There would be more than enough time for him to point out the flaws in the man’s plans later on, when they returned to the Academy. For that reason, he turned to inspect the rock that Jon had removed from his pocket before he extended a hand. “May I?” he asked and shifted it around in his hand for a few moments before he set it down on the table again. “Not just entertainment – a demonstration of the power of alchemy – and what can be accomplished if mages and alchemists work together”, he informed him. “I have heard that the mages of Viden will showcase their skills later this season. I might be able to persuade them to reserve a spot for us”, he offered.

“Copper for blue sparks perhaps”, he suggested as Jon talked about getting different colors from different metals. “And magnesium for white sparks. I would also suggest attaching some kind of fuse to the tube so that you don’t have to stand directly next to it when it goes off”, he continued, shaking his head and smirking slightly the man’s enthusiasm.

As Jon talked about competing with the moon, the smile on the Mortalborn’s face grew just a hint wider. “Not just the moon. Our creations will light up the sky and burn brighter than Xiur’s stars”, he decided, thinking of his old nemesis and how he had manipulated the stars and painted a warning into the sky in order to persuade the people of Etzos to surrender him. He would do the same so that the Immortal would know that he was still here, that he was still alive, and that he wouldn’t be able to get rid of him that easily and make the sky his, at least for a few bits. He had to admit, Jon’s little invention, those fire flowers, began to appeal to him more and more.

“For science and for love then?” he asked, somewhat amused, and secretly wondered if the new man in Jon’s life knew what he was or if the relationship would eventually turn sour as well. “I’d like to see those prototypes of yours in action. Together we might be able to turn them into something that will impress the Chancellor and perhaps even Yvithia herself”, he decided before he refilled his glass and offered to do the same for his new research partner. The collaboration with Jon was turning out to be quite fruitful.

[Jonathan Burr]

Jon brightened. "Yes! Alchemy and magic working together!" he said enthusiastically. "Mages don't have to be on the outskirts of any society, and if mages and alchemists work together why can't mages and blacksmiths? Mages and engineers? Hell, mages and cooks or politicians? The possibilities are endless and we only need to show them how. Please! Ask them to reserve a spot for us. We can even give a demonstration of one of the prototypes if they need to. I'm sure I can get a working formula by then. Give me a few trials of work and I swear to you I'll have it done. I won't sleep. I'll be working." He was excited at the prospect. Jon desperately wanted to stand up there with other mages. He wanted to see other mages and their work. It excited him to no end that he might witness and get an explanation on everything from Rupturing to his own Sparks. Surely, he'd be the only Aberrant there and he'd not have a chance to explain himself...but he was beginning to concoct a theory that magic was connected somehow. He only needed to find the familial relationships betwixt them. That meant he had to study everything. Necromancy, Defiance, Empathy, all of it. Magic and conventional wisdom, hand in hand. That was what he wanted.

He slapped the table. "Copper for blue! Magnesium for white. Brilliant!" he laughed. "The fuse idea is incredible. We can soak twine in sulfur and water, and braid it carefully into the compound. You see, if we do that then we can control the rate of burning by how much sulfur is in the water. More sulfur, a faster burn and a faster fuse. We could time the blooming of the flowers. We might even be able to make fuses long enough so people can plant them in places and light them off from a great distance. Maybe use them at a festival, or among the battlements of a castle. They could truly light up the night sky with a little distance. It would keep the users safer as well. I'll get on making some of the fuses too. It would also let us make them bigger. We could make one the size of a man. Bigger, even. They could turn the place to midday at midnight. The Immortals themselves cannot control the passage of light into darkness, even for that moment. We would be able to."

Jon eagerly set out his glass for his research partner and lifted his glass. "For science and love!" he said loudly and enthusiastically, and downed his glass. He raised an eyebrow. He wanted to see the prototypes? He grabbed Doran's hand. "Let's go! I have to show you!" he was more than a little tipsy, really, and he wanted nothing more than to show off at the moment. He ended up halfway lurching out of the booth and sitting down hard on his rear, laughing. "Maybe we can invent a Quicksober Solution." he giggled.

"Talkin"

[Doran]

“If mages and engineers worked together, they could construct buildings that are unlike anything that Idalos has never seen before. A blacksmith who had a Transmuter as their assistant could create weapons that are more effective than anything that we currently have, and cooks and mages could come up with new kinds of food”, the Mortalborn added. For a moment there was a smile on the his normally serious face as he imagined a world that was governed by an alliance of science and magic, a world where progress instead of superstition and small-mindedness was held in the highest regard, before he grew somber again. He wasn’t sure if such a thing would ever come to pass. Besides, you needed to take the less than pleasant aspects of magic and the way that it preyed on your soul into consideration as well. Could you really ignore those in favour of heralding a new age of enlightenment? Should you?

He chose not to ponder that matter further, at least not for the time being. That evening he didn’t want to concern himself with such impossibly difficult questions, but only enjoy himself – even though he would eventually have to face them, for the sake of all of Idalos.

As Jon stated that the Immortals themselves couldn’t control the passage of light into darkness, he smirked slightly. The Immortals couldn’t control light, but he could. If he wanted to, he could steal the light of all the lamps in the room and plunge it into utter darkness at a moment’s notice so that the people around him would be unable to see, but he didn’t want to reveal his Mortalborn status to the man that sat next to him, at least not for the time being. He didn’t trust him enough to reveal his greatest secret to him.

Instead, he raised his glass in a toast and repeated, “For science and for love – and for progress!” and downed it. He could feel the alcohol more intensely now, but he found that he didn’t mind. He hadn’t reached the point where his mental faculties were affected, he was just warm – the warmth seemed to spread throughout his body – and relaxed, which was something that he realized he needed after all the time spent fighting.

For that reason, he readily allowed the other man to take his hand in order to lead him wherever the next part of the evening would take place – only to let go of it again abruptly as Jon stumbled and landed on the floor in a painful and rather awkward looking fashion as he had little interest in going down with him. He looked at the Aberrant appraisingly for a moment and then he extended a hand to him in order to help him up as he wasn’t sure if he would manage such on his own. “Careful”, he warned him.

“A Quicksober Solution would be relatively easy to make”, he remarked, momentarily returning to his usual professor mode as he thought of which reagents he would need. “Perhaps that could be our next project after the fireflowers are finished. Now then, do you think that you are capable of showing me those prototypes or do we need to make a quick detour to my laboratory and look for something that will make you a little less drunk?” he asked and raised an eyebrow.

[Jonathan Burr]

Jon giggled and grabbed the hand offered to him, getting to his feet. "I'm fine, I'm fine." he snickered. Ah, he wanted to live in that little dream for a while. He wanted to live in a world where mages worked alongside those who had no spark. He wanted it so badly he could taste it...but that would mean accepting necromancers. It would mean accepting Aberrants like himself. He could accept the latter with open arms but the former he still struggled with. It was difficult to see living, breathing humans turned into rotting puppets. Then again, he had met a lich and had rather liked the other man's ingenuity and kindness. After a moment of thought swimming through his intoxicated head he nodded. Yes, he could accept other mages, even those who might frighten and disturb him. At the very least, he could try to understand. Bigotry, on the other hand, was something he would never be able to put himself in the shoes of. He grinned at Doran. "Let's go! Just keep me upright, I know what I'm doing." he snickered like it was a joke.

He ended up half-walking himself, half-hanging onto Doran when they finally got back through the town, into the gates of the Academy and into the lab. Gods, it had been cold out there! The frozen winds bit into his skin and clawed into his joints even easier with the alcohol in his system. He shivered, rubbing his arms. "I g-guess I sh-should invest in a coat." he snickered, breathing into his fingers as he bustled around trying to gather his things. He'd hidden all of his prototypes and the reagents in the one spot people never looked; under the floor. It had been easy to move the floor tiles with his magic, and then persuade the stone underneath to make a little box shape just for him. He plucked out three of the little balls he'd made, and one of the tubes. He didn't have much; the reagent took a while to make and he wanted to know it would work. He fell over with the awkward crouched position and erupted into more giggling.

'Get up, and don't puke on your explosives.' Hob chided. 'Get on your feet. You're supposed to impress this man. You're acting like a drunk idiot. Next you'll be trying to fuck him. You're unbelievable.'

"I'm not!" Jon protested, lurching upright with the last accusation. "Good grief, I wanted you to be a companion. Not my mother...I'm not going to vomit. Humans only vomit when they're trashed."


'If this gets worse, I don't know why you do it at all.'

"It's fun. You know, when you chase around humans and make them piss themselves. Fun. Like that, but harmless." Jon mumbled, gesturing at the air behind him like someone was there. He fished around in the little cubbyhole he'd made and lifted the prototypes up to Doran. "Got em! Come see!" He grabbed the table to get himself to his feet and sat down again hard. He snickered and got up more carefully this time, showing Doran the prototypes. "At first I was just mixing them with water. But there's a secret to get the compound to stick together and dry enough to burn without compromising the compound. It's a combination of metals, suspended in their half-oxidized state, and sulfur. When I push them to decompose with Transmutation....I get something like this." Jon held up one of the smaller flowers. "I call them Buds."

He slowly implanted his ether into the bud, building up the tension that would cause that delicious explosion. He wanted to cause Corrosion, but hold it back a bit. Just a bit, until he had it just right. He tossed it lightly up into the air, and released his hold. The bud burst into a pleasing shower of green sparks that lit up the room. A thick haze of smoke and the stink of sulfur accompanied it, drifting in the air. Jon's eyes watered and he went to open a window, fanning the smoke out. "That's the only, eh, downside! The smoke reeks!"