Chemist

A Najdi apothecary-distiller who works with colocynth — the bitter wild gourd — sulphur, natron and pitch, and with the alembic, a word the world took from Arabic. Sun-side chemists distil: clear water, saffron, patience. Moon-side chemists render: pitch, sulphur and fire under the alembic.

Origin: the Order of the Alembic

The Chemist’s order is the Order of the Alembic, the distillers of both cities: clear water, saffron and patience in the Sun, pitch, sulphur and fire under the brass in the Moon. Glass, brass and bitter herbs, and fumes that fight. His first weapon is a Cheap Wooden Flask from the Herbalist in an alembic room: “Cheap wood, honest fumes. Mind your breath.”

The Chemist poisons from range and never has to stop. Bitterness keeps gnawing for about seven seconds after a Colocynth Flask, Delirium Fumes leaves a foe staggering about, and Gazelle Elixir lets him outrun almost anyone — after which his next flask flies instantly.

Abilities

• Level 1 · Colocynth Flask: a solid hit, then Bitterness gnaws at the target for about 7 seconds. Or Colocynth Splash: instant and thrown on the run, a lighter hit for more reagents.
• Level 5 · Fume Burst: crack a flask at your feet — it hits everything around you, slows it for 2 seconds and leaves a Sulphur Burn. Or Sulphur Pool: throw it instead, as a pool that burns and slows every foe standing in it for 6 seconds.
• Level 10 · Natron Dust: a pinch of natron interrupts a cast and silences for 4 seconds. Or Delirium Fumes, the default: the target staggers about for 9 seconds and cannot fight; any damage clears its head, and your own poisons wait until then.
• Level 15 · Pitch Glob: a glob of hot pitch glues the target’s feet for 2 seconds. Or Quickening Drop: a light hit that makes Bitterness bite twice as fast, with two extra bites.
• Level 22 · Brass Alembic: set down a brass still whose vapours burn nearby foes for 6 seconds and leave them Bitter, while you stay free to move. Or Boiling Alembic: stand over it and keep it boiling for harder hits and a heavy slow — moving ends it.
• Level 30 · Gazelle Elixir: drink and run 80% faster for 3.5 seconds, shaking off slows; your next Colocynth Flask flies instantly. Or Gale Elixir: 130% faster for 1.6 seconds, and it tears you free of roots.

Leaking Flasks

The Chemist’s flasks never quite seal. Whoever strikes him breathes a little of the fumes — a small pulse, at most every second and a half — but only someone who is actually fighting him. Outside duels and the arena it never hits a player who is not flagged for PvP, never reaches into a sanctuary, never touches allies, and never raises the Chemist’s own flag.

An Epic or Legendary vessel adds Saturation: on a target carrying Bitterness and one more of your effects, a heavy hit plus half of every poison still waiting on it.

Gear

A turban with a long side tail that leaves the face open, a long coat with a leather work apron and a bandolier of small corked vials, leather work gloves, and a big vessel strapped to the back. From walnut leather and rust-red wool up to verdigris silk with gold-wire embroidery and rock-crystal vials.

Ten vessels