SOLIFICATI

By Andrew Larsen

History

The origins of alchemy date back to the dawn of human civilization, when primitive smiths and potters first mastered the art of transforming matter with fire. The earliest smiths and potters were regarded with the same awe granted to shamans. Even at this point, the art had a strong association with celestial phenomena, as early mages harnessed the power of meteors to forge some of the earliest sword talismans. Throughout Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China, as civilization grew, the art of alchemy spread, although the exact origins of that word are obscure.

While many alchemists assert that the origins of the Solificati date to Egypt in the first millennium BC, when the mysterious figure Hermes Trismagistus is claimed to have established the basic features of the craft, the first historically identifiable alchemists are a group of women active in Alexandria in the first few centuries AD, and some Tradition scholars suggest that Hermes was invented by misogynist mages during the early Renaissance, so they would not have to admit that their art was first codified by women. The greatest of these women, Maria the Jewess, made a permanent imprint of the practice of alchemy with her dictum that the four classic elements of earth, air, fire, and water represent the basic states of matter, and that physical matter is the passive reflection of the spiritual truths of the heavens. Yet her work was precisely measured and carried out with intense scrutiny and observation, thus showing that from its inception the craft was situated between the nascent Traditions and Conventions, having something in common with both. Its closest allies were that Tradition which would eventually become the Order of Hermes, and at this stage there was little distinction between them.

The Alexandrian alchemists slowly cohered into a system of formalized teaching, based around the Serapion, a temple in Alexandria. When Theodosius I ordered the Serapion closed at the end of the Fourth century (under the influence of the Celestial Chorus, some say), many of the school's teachers fled to Arabia, where they continued their work, and eventually became accepted into Islamic culture in the Eighth century, when the great alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (known in the West as Geber) opened his school of alchemy in Damascus. It was during the period just before Jabir that the craft formulated many of its chief characteristics. The physical matter is but a pale reflection of the spiritual truth, and the external appearance is a metaphor for the internal reality. By drawing out the internal reality, the exterior is transformed. The quest to transform base metals into gold is a metaphor for the process of Ascension, which the alchemist pursues by learning the spiritual lessons which his research offers him.

While this was happening, in China, the craft was undergoing a parallel but distinct development. The first great Chinese alchemist was Li Shao-Chun (c.90 BC), a mage at the Imperial Court, who possessed the ability to transmute matter and to miraculously transport himself from place to place. His teachings were similar to Maria's, but he was far more interested in the realities of organic substances. He argued that matter grew and naturally changed from one substance into another. By the mid-Fourth century AD, the art of alchemy had developed into a broad system of life magic, and Ko Hung perfected an elixir of immortality that caused the spiritual body to shed the physical one like a snake sheds its skin.

When Ninth century Arabic travelers encountered their Chinese counterparts, there was a prolonged period of conflict and argumentation, but by the Twelfth century, pressure from the incipient Technocracy on the one hand and the Celestial Chorus on the other led the Eastern and Western alchemists to realize that they in fact had a great deal in common. Toward the end of the century, the Chinese alchemists came under direct attack from the Artificers, led by Chu Hsi, a former Akashic monk who apostatized from the Tradition. Chu Hsi opposed all forms of Taoist superstition, under which category he included alchemy. Many of the more scientifically inclined alchemists were swayed by his arguments and joined him, while the more mystical among them held out and went into seclusion.

In the West, alchemy spread with Islamic civilization and found its way into Europe through Spain and Sicily. Its strong spiritual content appealed to many monks, who saw the craft's emphasis on fire as a transformative principle as similar to the Chorus' use of fire as a manifestation of the One. It quickly spread to the Universities, and the Chorus desperately attempted to stamp it out, viewing it as a threat to the True Faith. Roger Bacon, who practiced and privately taught alchemy at Oxford and Paris, was censured by the Church in 1277. This proved the first shot in the Chorus' attempt to eliminate the craft, and many alchemists either abandoned their work or took up with the Cabal of Pure Reason. Those who remained found a spiritual truth in their suffering, arguing that they had been transformed by the fire of the Chorus into something stronger and more pure.

By the early fifteenth century, the Solificati, as they had come to call themselves, were largely distinct from the Church. Most of them were upper class men and women, since only the wealthy could afford the expensive tools of their work. In contrast, most of the Eastern alchemists were poor hermits, who financed their work by transforming common substances into gold and silver. What they shared in common was a strong insistence that the material world was an allegorical guide to the spiritual one. The Craft as a whole had begun to meet regularly, at 20 year intervals, each time at a different city. At the Baghdad Session in 1455, Diplomate Luis, a Cordovan alchemist, argued forcefully that the Solificati had to join with the other Traditions, and he was appointed to represent them at the Grand Convocation at Mistridge, although many of the Eastern mages had considerable misgivings, given his strongly aristocratic background and personality. When the First Cabal was formed, the Eastern alchemists argued that the Solificati representative must have as strong an understanding of Life magics as Matter, to balance out the two branches of the Solificati. Heylel Teomin, a European who had travelled in Arabia and Asia, was chosen as the ideal alchemist, a person who combined male and female, rich and poor, Matter and Life. Heylel was seen as embodying all that was good about the alchemists, and under his influence, many of the underlying arguments about the nature of alchemy were laid aside.

Heylel's treason in 1470 shattered the Solificati. The more dogmatic Eastern members felt that his corruption was due to the inherently flawed nature of Western alchemy, and many of them broke off contact with the West in disgust, while the Westerners argued that Heylel's biological experiment was misguided and corrupt. The more rationalist Solificati concluded that the spiritual focus of the craft was misguided, and a good number of them were drawn into the Technocracy, particularly the Progenitors and the Pupils of Parmenides. Some of those who joined the Pupils were among the most prominent of the Western alchemists, which has led some scholars to conjecture erroneously that the Solificati were actually the forefathers of the Sons of Ether. Those who remained true to the ideals of the Convocation were scorned by the other Traditions as suspect of treachery, and most of the remaining Solificati were driven out by this pressure. Those who decided to remain were absorbed by the Order of Hermes, which was sympathetic to their approach, and this faction has contributed much to the Order over the last few centuries, but they are no longer true Solificati. Under these various tensions, the weak organization of the Solificati collapsed, and despite periodic attempts to organize another Session, the craft has remained a collection of reclusive individuals who communicate with each other only sporadically.

The next few centuries were unkind to the Solificati. A good number of the more prominent and gifted alchemists were won over to the Technocracy. Paracelsus' assumption that alchemy was the handmaiden of medicine served to funnel many mages into the Progenitors, and eventually in 1541, another Solificati, seeing the damage that Paracelsus was doing to the Craft, murdered him with a bottle of specially brewed wine that caused him to have a fatal accident. Copernicus' heliocentric theory proved a grave blow to the astrological assumptions of the alchemists, for whom the geocentric theory had deep spiritual ramifications. At the Symposium of London in 1661, the Iterator Robert Boyle convinced the Technocracy to destroy the Four Elements theory of matter, and under his influence, the English Royal Society attacked alchemists throughout the Eighteenth century, disproving their work and embarrassing them. This assault humiliated many of the greatest Solificati and gradually drove them to the margins of society, where they remain today.

Philosophy

Matter is that portion of the world which is unchanging in its true form, and therefore it is the most pure representation of the spiritual world, since living substances inevitably wither and decay, and forces are transitory. All matter is fundamentally one substance, and over time it evolves from base to pure, culminating in gold. This evolution is an external reflection of the hidden nature of reality. The universe expresses its spiritual truths in allegorical form, and by studying the material reality the alchemist learns the deeper spiritual lessons that will guide her to Ascension. Western alchemists speak of the attempt to turn base things to gold, while Eastern alchemists talk of the search for the elixir of immortality, but both groups understand this to allegorize the transformation of human nature. Both seek the Philosopher's Stone, which will enable them to complete their work. In many ways, the Solificati view themselves as the perfect Craft, combining the rationality of the Conventions with the spirituality of the Traditions, thereby uniting the opposing poles of magic.

Style

The Solificati are highly reclusive, because their pursuit of Ascension is an intensely individual endeavor. They employ a wide variety of arcane terms and devices because of the philosophical value they find in conceiving of their work in these terms. This is one of the major differences between them and the Order of Hermes, who employ obscurity to close out the undeserving, whereas for the Solificati it is necessary for true understanding. Western alchemists tend to be very wealthy and are most concerned with manipulating the world through their potions, while their Eastern counterparts are generally poor and ascetic, seeking to purify their bodies through mineral-based medicines, on the theory that by becoming as much like the immortal material world they will acquire its spiritual qualities.

Organization

The Solificati have no true organization, although there is some informal contact between them, as they share theories and trade results of experiments. There have been sporadic attempts to gather many alchemists together for another Session, but these inevitably founder over a variety of issues. To find more than two or three Solificati in one place at the same time is highly uncommon.

Initiation

Like the Order of Hermes, there is a long period of apprenticeship require, which much hard manual work, which is thought of as the first stage of purification of the base human nature. During this time the master speaks in obscure allegorical language, knowing that when the apprentice has pondered these matters enough, he will begin to understand them for himself, at which time he will Awaken.

Sphere

Matter

Foci

Correspondence and Time: Astrological information. While the most conservative Solificati still insist on using sextants and armillary spheres, other are content with an ephemeris, and some modernizing alchemists employ elaborate computer models.

Mind and Spirit: Meditation or some form of purification, which may range from hand washing to fasting to purgatives to celibacy.

Matter and Prime: Fire, which is the principle that transforms matter from one state to another.

Entropy, Forces, and Life: Alchemical potions, substances, and apparatus.

Stereotypes

Akashic Brotherhood: They pursue enlightenment more zealously than any other sect, but they view the world as an extension of themselves, rather than seeing that its value is intrinsic.

Celestial Chorus: They have always feared us, for we transform ourselves, rather than waiting for something to transform us.

Cult of Ecstasy: To appreciate the world's external beauty is an admirable beginning, but they have not learned to see the true meaning of that beauty.

Dreamspeakers: They shun the material world, assuming that the spiritual world will explain itself plainly. They are too impatient, and unwilling to contemplate these mysteries for long.

Euthanatos: They desire to foster Ascension, but they have no mercy. When the pupil stumbles, she should be corrected, not killed.

Order of Hermes: They understand much, but they are proud and selfish. The craft should be taught to all who care to learn, not hoarded jealously. The journey to understanding is its own reward.

Sons of Ether: These fools are blind to the lessons of this world. They seek to plunder nature of its secrets, not to understand them.

Verbena: They love the world as much as we, but they rely too much on the unstable and changing nature of living things. That which decays is too imperfect to guide us to Ascension.

Virtual Adepts: To flee the world for some shallow copy thereof is the height to folly. They must learn to see the world around them, not invent a new one.

Hollow Ones: Childish and undisciplined. They must learn to ponder more and complain less.

Rotes

The Fire Within (Spirit 2)

By observing how a subject acts and meditating on her demeanor, the mage can determine whether the subject is Awakened. One success will indicate if the subject has the potential to awaken, two successes will indicate if she is awake, while three or more will give some indication of how enlightened she is.

Greek Fire (Forces 3 Prime 3)

Invented by the Byzantine Alchemist Michael Aretephorus in the Seventh century under the patronage of Emperor Heraclius I, this rote was long a closely guarded treasure of Greek alchemists. The mage brews an oily liquid which, when ignited, will consume anything not in a gaseous state, apart from its own ashes. The effect draws quintessence from whatever is burned and uses it to continue the fire. Thus the fire gradually increases in size until the duration of the spell ends or until the fire is extinguished with magical aid. The only other way for the fire to abate is if the wind blows it back over its ashes. Because of the advent of Napalm, this rote is usually coincidental unless it begins consuming something clearly non-flammable.

The Blessed Fireworks of Peace (Forces 3 or 4 Prime 2 Spirit 2)

This rote was perfected in China in the Tenth century, where it was used during celebration to ensure safety from the spirits. The dazzling explosions caused by this effect cause damage of varying intensity to spirits (depending on the level of Forces used) and also raises the gauntlet in the vicinity by one per success.

The Delightful Fireworks of Joy (Entropy 3 Life 2)

A frequent companion to the above rote, this spell grants those who are showered in the light of the display good luck for the duration of the effect. There are variants involving Correspondence 2 and Matter 2 that bless places and objects with good luck.

Universal Solvent (Entropy 3)

This liquid, carried in a golden bottle, will dissolve any substance apart from gold, which is the only substance pure enough to resist entropy. The more successes scored, the faster the substance will dissolve.

Consulting the Stars (Time 1, Entropy 2)

By studying the heavens before undertaking an endeavor, the mage can reduce the difficulty of the roll by one per success, by ensuring that he is not using ill-aspected tools and making sure that the planets are favorably aligned. Frequent use of this rote, however, generally causes the mage to start discovering that he must wait a few days or weeks before he can safely attempt the task. Should he ignore the readings, the difficulty is increased by the number of successes. Wise mages therefore are cautious when using this rote.

The Golden Petal Elixir (Entropy 1 Life 3)

This pleasant-tasting potion identifies all abnormal weaknesses in a living being (including diseases and injuries) and cures them. With Life 4, it will correct birth defects, while the addition of Mind 1 will allow it to cure mental illness.

Blood of the Red Dragon (Life 3 or 4)

This drink, first brewed by the great Ko Hung, increases the drinker's strength and stamina by one point per success. The effects will wear off before the drinker begins to take pattern leakage, since the intent of the potion is to perfect the body, not harm it.

Resurrection (Matter 2 Life 4 Prime 2 Spirit 2)

This rote brings the dead back to life, by transforming the lifeless matter into living matter and recalling the spirit to its former body. This is a perfect example of the differing approach that the Eastern and Western Solificati take to the same spell. Eastern Alchemists will bathe the body in a hot bath and feed it the Scarlet Snow and Flowing Pearl Elixir, while the Western Alchemists will reduce the body to its essential salts by burning it and then mix them with certain liquids to reform the person whole. This effect requires three successes if the person died recently, but four or more if she has been dead for some time. Insufficient successes will cause the person to die again, while a botch will produce a living thing that is not the person.

The Essence of Venus (Life 4 Prime 2)

This rote, a classic of the Western Solificati, produces a love potion which will cause the drinker to fall in love with the first person she sees after drinking it, by producing intense hormonal responses within her body.

The Transforming Fire (Matter 2 or 5)

A rote so common among the Western Solificati, most Tradition mages think it defines the whole purpose of alchemy. By heating a substance over flame of varying temperature, the mage can change it into almost any other substance she desires. With Matter 5, the substance produced can have virtually any qualities at all.

Sublimation (Matter 3)

By exposing an item to a brief burst of flame, the mage can effectively dissolve it by transmuting it into a gaseous state. As the gas slowly cools, it will gradually solidify again.

Brew Elixir (Prime 3)

This is one of the most fundamental alchemical spells, established in its basic form by Maria the Jewess. By concocting a potion (for Western Solificati usually a liquid or unguent, in the East more commonly a pill), the mage can imbue it with any other magical effect he can create. This potion, mixed from mineral elements rather than herbal ones, is effectively a single-use talisman, usable by anyone, including a Sleeper, which can be dangerous, since any Paradox acquired is suffered by the user. Without this rote, any Solificati potion will only work in the presence and by the suffrage of the mage; otherwise most of their potions are toxic and will cause a point of Health damage per level of effect the potion is intended for.

The Jade-Compounded Calamity-Allaying Elixir (Matter 2 Prime 5)

By distilling expensive ingredients down to their base purity, the mage can create liquid Tass, one point per success.

Alloy Primium (Matter 5)

The Solificati claim that they possessed the secret of making Primium centuries before Iteration X did, and that in fact it was stolen from them in the Sixteenth century when a number of Solificati joined that Convention. They point to the use of gold and silver, their traditional metals, as proof that the substance originated with them, as well as the fact that they can create it in a normal crucible, while Iteration X requires a nuclear furnace for it. Primium armor gives 5 soak dice and 2 dice of countermagic. Primium-edged weapons cause aggravated damage to supernatural creatures.

Enchanted Servitor (Matter 2 Life 5 Prime 2, sometimes Spirit 2)

Many Solificati employ this rote to create magical servants, frequently animated statues or golems, and sometimes homunculi. In its basic form, the effect brings any inanimate object to life and enables it to act as a servant, understanding simple commands. If Spirit 2 is added, the servant becomes a fully sentient being, and may act as a familiar. All Servants require a diet of Tass, however, and most are vulgar. The great Thirteenth century alchemist Albertus Magnus had a bronze statue that acted as an assistant, but it was so slow and stupid he was eventually forced to discipline it with a hammer.