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[cobbledtogetherenvy]

[No recording. Envy doesn't want to talk to any stupid humans.]

Comments

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

I've been trying simple alchemy, but it either doesn't work or it's not strong enough. I don't really want more warden attention. And I never studied the basics like a human would. I'm not an alchemist, I'm alchemy.

[a_titanum]

Are there any texts on the subject available in the library here?

Does alchemy require any inborn capability or can anyone learn?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Anybody who wants to study, though there's talent like anything else. There are some things you need to be a human to do. Human meaning, not artificial, like one of us.

[Since he's pretty sure half the people on the barge who insist they aren't human are just humans with minor variations.]

I know plenty that no human alchemist would have time or access to in a lifetime, and I also never sat down and learned all the basics like a beginner.

[a_titanum]

Of course. I will have to look into it once I am no longer in Zero. It does not seem the sort of thing to ask someone to get for me.

[ well, maybe Max. ]

If I should have any talent for it, I would be willing to assist you with your experiments and crafting your theories.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

[A lot of alchemy is a lot easier with humans around. Father didn't just involve the government and army for convenience.]

The library's supposed to have everything. I may not have learned whatever exercises they give little humans, but I can tell you if you're looking in the right place or missing anything major.

[It should be a good field of study for someone who likes to set people on fire.]

You've already got a better version of the Flame Alchemist's little trick, but it's a versatile skill.

[a_titanum]

Yes, I have noticed that about the library. I work there, you see. Thus it will not be difficult to spend some time looking.

I will take some time to collect a few likely texts and check them with you before I begin?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Sure. I may not have read them, but I'm sure basic texts exist for the military to train alchemists.

[a_titanum]

Certainly. The military is nothing if not excellent at the basics.

Now, unless you have anything you would care to ask or anything I can do for you, I will leave you to the rest of your day. Was there anything?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

No-- Oh.

[This guy seems like the ambitious type.]

If you start playing with alchemy? You'll run into forbidden things. Most of them are just a squeamishness thing. But the one about bringing back a dead person really won't work, and the side effects are nasty.

[a_titanum]

[ That will earn him a very dry laugh. ]

I am not in the least bit squeamish.

And I learned that lesson many many years ago. But thank you for the warning.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

There's just no difference in the warnings between don't do this because it's icky and don't do this because you'll lose several organs and it flatly won't work. Humans wrote all those books.

[a_titanum]

Those writing the books would want to prevent both and what better way to do it?

Are there any other feats that might dismember me?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Not that I know of, but it's entirely possible there are things no one I know has tried.

[a_titanum]

Thankfully, this place affords some greater leeway but no one likes mistakes. I will certainly keep it in mind.

Perhaps once I know the basics the reason for that particular line may make more sense.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Some of them might, but some of them are just Truth being capricious.

[a_titanum]

You speak of Truth like a being unto itself.

Is that what you meant?

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Oh, it's not a metaphor. If you're human and you go through the right hoops, you can meet something that names itself Truth. Father's a powerful, inventive place where a lot of confluences met and created something nasty. Several somethings, if you count me and my brothers and sister. Truth, I'm pretty sure, is the same, just older, bigger, and meaner.

[a_titanum]

I did not take it to be. It sounds very much like a god.

I serve a goddess. Many think her a metaphor or a fiction, but it is she who gave me Johann and she who made me what I am and gave me my purpose.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

I've seen humans call Truth a god, or talk about gods the same way. Both. I've never seen a definition that meant anything other than bigger, older, and stronger.

[a_titanum]

That is part of it. But there is also purpose.

She is the goddess of the sea and also the goddess of death. She is the watcher of that gate from whence the Gods will come at the end of the world to fight their final battle upon the ruins of humanity.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

[Sounds very made up.]

Truth just takes some pieces out of you--assuming you don't die--and you come back better at alchemy.

[a_titanum]

She took my other half and gave me Johann.

Similar enough.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Well, if you want to get hold of Truth for that sort of thing, do try to bring back a dead human. It'll turn up right away.

[a_titanum]

Good advice, to be sure. Thank you, Herr Envy.

[cobbledtogetherenvy]

Just don't die before you finish your stay in the only quiet spot onboard.