The Gaseous State [Solo | Research]

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy | Rested

---

There was a limit to how much one could do without tools. Tools of the trade are essential, and as Icyferno got more used to putting away his weapon to lob knives from a distance, he had a sudden revelation.

He could create a grenade that suited his needs. And what better test subject than the oldest offensive weapon in the Pharmacist arsenal? So he spent the next few days in Londinium, scouring libraries for the data he needed.

Poison. A substance which inflicts harm onto it target. A favorite of assassins in the days of old, it was, and is still used, widely in the old world, though the usage has greatly differed. Where it was once used to inflict death upon figures of importance or for revenge for an injustice, in modern times, it was an agent of death on the battlefield, no longer confined to the blade of a killer's knife. Where once it took only the life of a single person, now it took thousands upon hundreds of them, in the form of weapons of mass destruction. Obviously, he had no intention of recreating such monstrosities. He doubted that it was within his capabilities to do so, nor will he ever gain the aptitude for it. A team of mad scientists may be able to pull it off, but he would definitely not be a part of that group, since there was nothing to be gained from warring. Adventurers could be killed, and can feel pain, but in the end, they come back to life. As a Pharmacist, poisons and potions were his field of expertise, yet there was only so much that could be done with a bottle of liquid.

That was where the grenades came in. Or more accurately, ampoules. Where the old world had metal canisters to use as gas containers, the currently trend in Elder Tale was to use ampoules, which was essentially some kind of glass grenade that shattered upon impact to free the highly compressed gas held within. The designer, probably an Artisan, was able to create several designs for it, with a single ampoule being able to house at most three liquids for reaction. This was good, because corrosive substances could possibly burn through the glass before the item was used. Similar to the modern world, all he needed to do was find substances with an extremely high reaction rate, and fill the glass grenade to the brim with it. Upon reaction, it would release a poisonous gas, and due to the quantity of reactants, a huge quantity of gas could be generated. Of course, he needed to measure how much of each reactant to use, since a poison cloud that was too big might end up hitting the user. The end goal was to create a grenade that, when shattered, would encase its surroundings in a cloud of poison, with an intended range of around three meters in radius in the shape of a sphere. Of course, when aimed at the ground, the intensity of the gas would probably cause it to expand faster and further.

This was all assuming he could find the correct ratio, though. It would be for the best if he could find a reaction that would not require a catalyst, since that would mean using a triple chamber ampoule, which meant less of each reactant. Also, the catalyst may not reach where it needed to be, so he definitely needed a double chamber ampoule and two substances that could react with each other quickly.

If he were going by the standards of the old world, an obvious reaction would then be the reaction of a strong acid and a strong base. However, the end result would be a salt and water, and a salt was anything but corrosive, and was still in liquid form.

There had to be something. He just needed to look harder than he currently was.

---

Word count: 656
Total word count (Pharmacist): 656
Notes: Researching poisoncloud grenade, post 1.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy | Rested

---

He was starting to be grateful for the abundance of old world text available in the libraries of Londinium. It was obviously omitting much detail, as according to game lore, much knowledge was lost after a disaster struck. There was, however, some lore regarding modern warfare, which was exactly what he needed. In particular, he needed to know the componenets of the gas grenades used. However, it was noted that most of the gases used were stored in highly compressed shells, something he could not recreate here since he only had glass ampoules. After some examination of the text, which took roughly an hour, he was no closer to finding the materials he needed. Perhaps he should ask some of the shopkeepers to see if they have any idea. The common sense of regular folk could come in useful sometimes.

...Sometimes. There were some evident differences between an Adventurer's and a Person of the Land's common sense. Hopefully this would be one of those times it was helpful to him.

So he went on his merry way, to begin the interrogation of what was hopefully not a dozen shopkeepers. He could only ask so many times before he gets tired of it all and gives up, afterall. The first shopkeeper he asked, a middle aged lady in her thirties, was completely baffled by his question. Poison gas? Why would they have something like that? How would they even keep it? He had to agree that it was ridiculous for a random shop to have it, but he had at least hoped that they had the knowledge to procure it, though.

The first attempt fails, and the second went the same way, this time with an even older lady (don't tell her said that, though). Third time's the charm, right? For his third shopkeeper, he met up with a really, really old man, who looked to be at best, in his late nineties. "Shouldn't you be retiring soon?" Was the first question that blurted out of his mouth upon seeing the unfamiliar face, which would naturally be unfamiliar since he rarely went exploring Londinium, especially in this area, and especially in the morning when he would usually not be researching things. As for the stall itself, it appears that the man specialized in poisons. Many basic poisonous plants he recognized upon walking in, and the waft of those herbs which threatened to erode your very skin could be felt the moment he entered. Clearly, this was the place he was looking for. If this place could not help him find what he wanted, then he doubted there would be many others that could.

However, the first question that came to mind was the old man's age. The tanned old man was already completely bald, and the soft cotton brown robe which covered his body did little to hide the man's thin, frail figure. It was obvious that the old man was nearing the end of his life. So why tend to this stall? Did he have no one to hand down to? "Hah! Adventurer, I know I am old. And no, I have no children to leave this shop to. Every potential helper that comes through those doors always runs away. The only people that come here are Adventurers and people who turn to this place as their last hope for a cure." The man put his hands on his hips. "So, what are you after? Poisons, or cures?"

Icyferno explained the situation to the man, and the man nodded. "A wise plan. It would certainly allow poison to be used more offensively." He stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "I should have the items you require, but take care, if you handle it incorrectly, it will probably backfire on you." The old man went to the back of the shop, and brought out a jar of cloudy gas. He explained that there was a herb inside with was emitting this gas, and that the poison emitted from the herb immediately turns into gas upon contact with air. "Basically," he said. "You simply need to obtain extract from this herb, and keep it sealed airtight in that glass of yours."

Finally obtaining a lead, Icyferno purchased two jars of the herb from the old man, then returned to his lab. He had work to do.

---

Word count: 725
Total word count (Pharmacist): 656 + 725 = 1381
Notes: Researching poisoncloud grenade, post 2.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy | Rested

---

Upon returning to his lab (or what could technically be considered a lab, more like random assortment of laboratory equipment scattered around a room), he set to work on extracting the poison. Since it reacts quickly with air, he would need to extract it in a place where the concentration of air was low, and the only place that could be that he currently had was inside the jar, amidst the poisonous vapour. Either that, or he could take the gas and try to compress it until it was forced back into liquid form, assuming he had the capability to compress. He put on some rubber gloves, then with a flask, a grinder and a thick cloth, made preparations to put his hands into poison. He summoned Skuggi, and gave it some quick instructions. He was ready. Probably.

The moment he unscrewed the cap, he flung it away and with a hand of flask and a hand of grinder, thrust his hands straight into poison. Skuggi brought up the thick cloth to cover the new opening, to minimize contact with outside air. A waft of poison escaped, though, and diffused into the air quickly without harming anyone.

His skin prickled with pain as the poison went past the rubber gloves. He needed to work quick. He had been unable to see the plant due to the thick green fog, but it feels like a bunch of mushrooms, so he trapped a mushroom cap between the flask and the grinder, and pressed down hard. He repeated the process in random places, not knowing how much he had collected, nor whether he was trying to squeeze liquid from the same area. All he knew was that his arms were tingling with pain, and his health was slowly dropping from the constant exposure to poison. When he could take more, he withdrew his hands, letting Skuggi cover the entire jar with the cloth and go fetch the cap. As he did so, he immediately dropped the grinder, then grabbed a stopper to prevent the liquid from dispersing into the air. He jammed it into the neck of the flask, then dropped it on the table as he quickly consumed a [Medicinal Formula] from his inventory. It did nothing to subside the pain, but it helped him to stay alive as the poison was worked out of his body.

For the next few minutes, he simply sat back on his chair, pain wrecking his arms as Skuggi pulled the cloth from under the cap and quickly sealed it shut. Where the cloth was once green, there was now a circle of dark, sickly green where the poison got stuck to the cloth. Rather than the muscle strain that came with overuse, it felt like his nerves was on fire, as though someone had attempted to cut off his arms, but the nerves were still transmitting to his brain. This continued for a while, then subsided quickly due to his passive.

"How much did I get?" He asked Skuggi, wearily laying back on the chair he was on and staring at the ceiling. "About half a flask. Not bad, but you probably need to do it again. If we're using this substance, then we'll probably only need a single chamber ampoule, so we need more fluid."

He sighed. It was going to be a long and painful craft.

---

Word count: 563
Total word count (Pharmacist): 656 + 725 + 563 = 1944
Notes: Researching poisoncloud grenade, post 3.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy | Rested

---

A few days after that event, he decided to continue working along the current vein of research. Truthfully, the fruition of his last research project could still be felt mentally, but now that he had a known source of dealership, he knew that he needed to press on before others caught wind of the same information and thought they could replicate his work in another form. True, imitation was the greatest form of flattery, but he was not really getting anything out of said flattery. There was not only no money to had, but no real credit unless the person who copied him felt it necessary.

So here he was, once more, looking to the old man for materials he could work with. The next type of grenade he wanted to make was an [Acid Grenade]. No matter how finely crafter his gear was, sometimes it may not be enough to penetrate his opponent's defenses and hurt them badly. If he was able to create a grenade that spews out gas or liquid which could corrode his opponent's armor, then that would benefit him greatly since most of his attacks were physical in nature. He had faced enough opponents to know that some animal's hide was extremely thick, and some armored opponents really tough to take down. If there was anything that would burn through their defenses like fire to paper, then it was acid.

Acid was sour, but that was not really important. For this grenade, he definitely needed a two chambered ampoule. Since a strong acid might be dangerous to carry in the same glass over a long period of time, he would need a weaker acid and some reagent and makes it a strong acid. Either that, or a single chambered ampoule with a strong acid in liquid form. His end goal here was to cause a reaction that would release white fumes of acid: Fumes which stuck to the opponent and went down their lungs. If nothing else, it would still cause organic opponents some degree of pain.

Upon his return to the same shop, the man was surprised that Icyferno had managed to extract the poison in liquid form: Obviously, a much longer health bar than the average Person of the Land helped greatly since no ordinary Person of the Land would be able to withstand the damage accumulated from extracting the liquid. When prompted, he went on to explain how he obtained the extract, gaining a pained wince from the old man. It was to be expected, after all who would just thrust themselves into lethal poison? Still, rare goods meant high prices, and the old man told him that if he ever had some spare bottles, the old man would buy them off him for a high price.

Naturally, he declined and went on to the main point of his visit.

---

Word count: 478
Total word count (Pharmacist): 656 + 725 + 563 + 478 = 2422
Notes: Researching acid grenade, post 1.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy | Rested

---

Upon mentioning the nature of the ingredients he was looking for, the man frowned slightly. "It's certain that I have acids available, but two liquid reagents that could do so... quite the tall order, young Adventurer. Did you have any substances in mind?" That was kind of where he was stuck though. For starters, he asked if there were any weak acids available. "Not diluted ones, but acids that are weak even at high concentrations," he added. The old man's frown deepened. "Why would you want something like that? Everyone always wants the strongest acids... Well, I can have some prepared, so come back later. How much do you need, and do you need any other strange things?"

"Maybe add a few acidic salts to that order. I want to see if there was a way to induce a strong acid from reaction with a weak acid. If not, then maybe we can see if we can get a strong acid in pure liquid form, but I don't think it's even possible to make it." The old man nodded at the statement, agreeing that it was, at the current level of technology, possible. And so he made off, to be back in the afternoon, a few hours away.

As he did so, he pondered how he was going to go about doing it. In what order should he attempt the reactions? Taking out a notebook, he began to fill in the ways he was going to react them. In this way, he spent most of the time he had to wait, eating lunch consisting of a Japanese bento set at a nearby stall. It was not terrible, but he did not seem to remember the taste either. Funny how working on something desensitizes you to other things. In any case, the time went by, and it did not really matter what he did since he did not even have the things he was supposed to work with.

Upon his return, he picked up his things and paid for them promptly, then went back to try out the recipes he had made up to work with. For each experiment, he took a beaker, washed it, then placed the acidic salt in, followed by the weak acid. Initial experiments were a failure, as no reaction took place, or a reaction took place but no acidic fumes were produced. Perhaps he was going about this the wrong way?

---

Word count: 405
Total word count (Pharmacist): 656 + 725 + 563 + 478 + 405 = 2827
Notes: Researching acid grenade, post 2.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy | Rested

---

The chemical formula of water is H2O. Two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The reason why it was neutral was because the ionic form of water molecules was H+ and OH-, which cancelled each other out in terms of acidity. Perhaps one of them would be able to cause the reaction he wanted. After all, some chloride reactions produced white fumes of acid, right?

So that was what he did, testing each acidic salt with water instead, the weak acid long forgotten. Some of the reactions produced some of the results he was looking for, so he triangulated on those reagents and went through testing procedures with varying amounts of water and heat. Through this, he picked out a single whitish salt, which seemed to suit his needs... well enough. The output of white fumes was lacking, but he had yet to field test it in an ampoule, so it may prove him wrong yet, or work at a level acceptable for combat use.

He prepped the ampoule, filling one chamber to the brim with the whitish salt, and the other with plain water. He sealed it shut, then looked for an avenue to test it. He probably had to go outside of Londinium. So he did just that, arriving at the outskirts of Londinium in a single minute with the help of [Call of Home] bringing him straight to the entrance. As he stepped outside, he looked around for a blank spot hidden from view, then approached a thicket of bushes, heading in a single direction until he found a clearing about the size of two meters. It should be wide enough for his experiment. He wound up, as though he were about to punch someone, then hurled the ampoule at the floor, stepping back as soon as he did so.

The ampoule, as advertised, smashed itself to pieces upon hitting the ground, releasing both components and letting them at each other. Upon contact, they produced the white acidic fumes he had seen earlier, but to his disappointment, they seemed to be lacking in width. It was more of a column of fumes which barely went beyond the radius of the grenade. What was he making, a flare signal? Well, that could be something he might be able to make at a later date, but now was not the time for that. He quickly reasoned the possible causes of the failure, with one of the key issues being ingredient quality. It was a possibility that the ingredients had to be varied, and maybe water was not the best substance to react with. But at the very least, it could do what it was advertised to do.

... It would have to do for now, he supposed.

---

Word count: 457
Total word count (Pharmacist): 656 + 725 + 563 + 478 + 405 + 457 = 3284
Notes: Researching acid grenade, post 3.