Magic in Laeryk's Proving Part One
Magic in Laeryk's Proving Part Two
The Alkesarim Gift
The Alkesarim Gift is the gift of physical and biological transmutation. Alkesarim and Alkesarimiin create special Elixers which imbue a single act of transmutation upon whosoever imbibes of their contents. One could simply say that these Gifted make "magic potions," and indeed their detractors say just that, but the actual process is more complicated than simply making a brew and pouring into a glass vial. The act of creating an Elixir (which is the name formally used by the Triumvirate for any concoction created using the Alkesarim Gift, regardless of the form it takes) requires that the Alkesarim pass a small measure of the energy of their Gift into the Elixir, creating the magical effect that Elixir will create when consumed. The actual amount of energy required is quite minuscule when compared to the energy required to create even the most minor effects using the Saritar Gift, but the process of channeling and focusing that energy is much slower for the Alkesarim. The creation of an Elixir can take hours, sometimes days. Often, the energy used by the Alkesarim to create the Elixir is actually replenished by the time the Elixir is completed, leading many younger Alkesarim to feel that their powers have no personal cost to them. Wiser Alkesarim recognize that such hubris can cause a foolish Alkesarim to overreach their own capabilities, attempting to create too many Elixirs at any given time and causing disastrous results to both the Elixirs and the Alkesarim.
While the creation of an Elixir has only a minor cost to the Alkesarim, the same is not true when someone actually uses an Elixir. Imbibing an Elixir consumes the personal energy of the drinker, whether they are Gifted or not. Indeed, a sufficiently powerful Elixir could kill a non-Gifted imbiber by burning away at their life force before an effect is sufficiently powered. The Gifted are normally more resilient, and can often handle the loss of energy by bolstering it with power from the Gifts. Alkesarim are even able to convert their personal energies with extreme efficiency when imbibing an Elixir, allowing them to use an Elixir with less of a cost to their energy than other Gifted.
Once the energy needed to power the Elixir's effects has been supplied, a physical transmutation of the subject's body occurs. The effects are many and varied. Some Elixirs enhance the strength and durability of a person's muscles, giving anyone who consumes the Elixir superhuman strength. Others might speed up the recovery process when someone is trying to heal injuries, though these Elixirs are rarely used for non-Gifted (the amount of energy needed often outweighs the benefit of the increased recovery time). Likewise, an imbiber might find their body better insulated, helping them to retain body heat and function in cold environments.
More esoteric effects can also be created. These Elixirs typically require that a Gifted make use of them, and often are safely used only by Alkesarim. These Elixirs impose radical transmutations upon the body, creating new organs to generate their unnatural effects. For example, an Elixir could create a special gland in the windpipe that allows the imbiber to exhale flame. Such an Elixir would also need to protect the rest of the subject from the heat of their fiery breath, or the imbiber would incinerate themselves with their first exhalation. Other Elixirs might cause spinnerets to grow in the subject's forearms, allowing them to shoot webs at people. Or perhaps an Elixir might cause the subject's nails to lengthen and harden into deadly talons.
No matter their effect, Elixirs always have two limitations. The first is that their effects are always temporary; the human body is adept at repairing itself into its original state, and no Elixir has sufficient energy to perpetuate a transmutation forever. This does not mean that negative consequences of using an Elixir necessarily go away when the transmutation ends. Indeed, if an Elixir gave a subject the ability to breathe fire without protecting them from that same fire, the burns the subject would suffer from simply using the transmutation would remain even when the other effects of the Elixir had worn off. The second limitation is that all Elixir require a biological component to function. An Alkesarim could not create an Elixir, pour it onto the ground, and expect something to happen. The ground would simply get wet, and the Elixir would be wasted. They could, however, create an Elixir which grew a special gland to secrete a substance which dissolves stone from the subject's hands, as such an Elixir would cause a transmutation in a biological organism.
(There are some who say that pouring an Elixir on the ground would allow any plant life in the area to be transmuted by the Elixir once it was absorbed through the plant's roots, but no evidence exists that this is the case. Most plants seem governed by an attached spirit, falling under the purview of the Vordanitar Gift.)
Further, no Elixir can create any effect resembling "mind control." The transmutation of actual thoughts or free will is beyond any of the Gifts used by humans. That said, an Elixir could alter the chemical balances within a subject's mind, creating strong feelings of lust or affecting their judgement in a manner similar to alcohol. These effects still allow the imbiber to resist commands, but can make them less likely to do so.
Prejudice Against Alkesarim
There exists a certain amount of prejudice toward those with the Alkesarim Gift. To the common man or women, these Gifted are thought of as "witches" and shunned. There was a time when Alkesarim created Elixirs which functioned as poisons, affecting anyone who either inadvertently ingested or otherwise had the Elixirs enter their body.As with any other Elixir, a transmutation would then occur, fueled by the victim's life force. Many of these poisonous Elixirs were lethal, creating transmutations that warped the bones of the victim until their body was crushed, or transmuted their lungs into gills. Some of the crudest poison Elixirs simply harbored effects too powerful for the victim to create, burning their life force out on purpose.
Though the Triumvirate had taken a harsh stance toward any Alkesarim or Alkesarimiin who creates these poison Elixirs, the fear that they might be transmuted against their wishes has led most non-Gifted to view those with the Alkesarim Gift with suspicion. People still whisper of the witches who poisoned village wells, turning anyone who drank from the wells into hideous monsters. Despite the Triumvirate's best efforts, it has been unable to remove this fearful image from the minds of most non-Gifted outside of Fardan. Inside the homeland of the Triumvirate, the Alkesarim and their Elixirs are welcomed in public. Outside that nation, however, revealing oneself and an Alkesarim can mean facing an angry mob intent on burning the Gifted at the stake.
To avoid this suspicion, many Alkesarim and Alkesarimiin hide in plain sight, taking on rolls such as apothecaries, medicine women, or other forms of healers. These disguises allow them to create "medicines" and "tonics" which are far more effective than what the common healer can create. Often those who suspect that the Alkesarim for what he is will keep their suspicions to themselves if it means potentially losing access to the medicines the "witch" could have provided for them. Regardless, many Alkesarim prefer to travel the road of caution and keep their abilities secret.
Eternal Youth Elixirs
The Alkesarim provide an invaluable service to the Triumvirate and their fellow Gifted: they create Elixirs designed to retard and delay aging. These Elixirs, could with naturally longer lifespan of the Gifted, can allowed a Gifted to survive upwards of two to three-hundred years. The usual limitations of Elixirs apply to Eternal Youth Elixirs, however, and a constant supply is needed as a Gifted lives beyond their normal lifespan. When a Gifted stops imbibing the Eternal Youth Elixirs, the body quickly ages to the state it would have been without the interference of the Elixir. For those who have lived past their natural lifespans, this proves fatal.
Preponderance of Alkesarimiin
There are far more Alkesarimiin than Alkesarim within the Triumvirate. The ratio is something like 3:1. Many theories as to why women are more likely to develop this Gift have been proposed, but none have been conclusively proven to the exclusion of any of the others. The most popular theory is that the ability of the female body to create and grow life within the womb gives women a predisposition toward this Gift, as their bodies already adjust to the rather significant changes pregnancies create. At one point there were several studies proposed to investigate the validity of this theory, but the Arakon firmly opposed them, and those who were caught violating his ban on the research were severely dealt with.
The Other Gifts
Though there are no known Sartitar or Saritariin who possess the Alkesarim Gift, the opposite is not true. Indeed, the rare Alkesarim who possess a second Gift (and that amount is perhaps 1 out of every 100) often possess a small degree of the Saritar Gift, though they often require constructs such as spellspheres to help them actually use their Saritar Gift. An even rarer number of Alkesarim show signs of the Vordanitar Gift, allowing them to see, but only rarely Compel, spirits. Though they keep it to themselves, many Alkesarim and Alkesarimiin are amused that the arrogant Saritars seem incapable of using the Alkesarim Gift, while they remain capable of using both of the other two Gifts.
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