Physiology
Physiology is the study of the biological processes required for life. Alchemists trained in Physiology will find themselves able to utilise this knowledge in two primary ways:
With the first they may manipulate the humours, or vital fluids, and the second aspect being the creation and control of homunculi.
Abilities in Physiology
| Ability | Description |
| Humourism | Tinker with an enemy's vital fluids. |
The body is held in balance by four vital fluids, called humours. Humourism is the science of manipulating these humours via the ether to cause illness in another. To raise a target's humours, you must TEMPER that humour. Humours can be reduced by the target eating the ginger herb or antimony mineral. The maximum number of times each of a person's humours may be tempered is ten. Each time you TEMPER a humour it raises the level by 1. If the target is afflicted with afflictions related to that humour, this number may rise. Each humour will cause the victim to be disadvantaged in some form. The penalties and related afflictions are as follows. Choleric (yellow bile): Random curing abilities will have a chance of failing. (nausea, sensitivity, slickness) Melancholic (black bile): Irid moss and potash will have a reduced healing benefit. (anorexia, impatience, stupidity) Phlegmatic (phlegm): Smoking will have a chance of filling your lungs with phlegm, leaving you unable to smoke for a short while. (asthma, clumsiness, weariness) Sanguine (blood): Bleeding will increase over time. (haemophilia, recklessness, paralysis) Only one humour may be tempered at once with this ability; training in Physiology will allow for more freedom in tempering multiple humours. | |
| Cultivation | A homunculus will serve you faithfully. |
From within an appropriate physiological laboratory in which you have permission to work, you may CULTIVATE NUCLEUS, using a small amount of your own flesh to create a small mass of living tissue. This nucleus can then be germinated from anywhere, so long as you hold in your hands some alchemical salt, sulphur, or mercury, into a full-grown homunculus using GERMINATE NUCLEUS <prime>. This homunculus, which is a small, imperfect copy of the alchemist who created it, may be controlled via the ethereal bindings between the creator and the created. Initial control is weak, but further training in Physiology will allow for more proficient control of your homunculus. You may only have one homunculus alive at a time, and it will perish should you take the form of a Greater Dragon or depart from the realms. HOMUNCULUS FOLLOW will order your homunculus to follow you. If it is unable to follow you because it is in a different location, HOMUNCULUS RETURN will bring the homunculus back to you. You may also HOMUNCULUS ATTACK <target> to have your homunculus attack another, though its attacks will be weak without training in Physiology. Finally, HOMUNCULUS PACIFY will command your homunculus to cease its attacks. Most homunculus abilities work on their own special balance, while requiring balance and equilibrium. | |
| Eyes | See through the eyes of your homunculus. |
Having gained the ability to control your homunculus's eyes, you may look into whatever room it stands so long as it is on the same continent as you. You may also specifically check for exits from its current room. | |
| Legs | Control your homunculus's legs from a distance. |
So long as you and your homunculus stand within the same area, you may order your homunculus to move from room to room. | |
| Wrack | Afflict an opponent by assaulting the humours. |
By assaulting an opponent's humours, you can afflict upon him several common maladies. Each has several afflictions associated with it, and any afflictions from wracking a humour will come only from this pool. When wracking, you may specify the affliction you wish to use, or you may allow the affliction to manifest at random at the cost of a slight delay in speed. It is possible to wrack an opponent's untempered humour, though this is done at a balance penalty and may be done only via specifying the affliction. Wracking operates outside of humour balance, and may be used off-equilibrium immediately following a symbology ability. The humours and their affliction pools are: Choleric: Nausea, sensitivity, slickness. Melancholic: stupidity, anorexia, impatience. Phlegmatic: clumsiness, weariness, asthma. Sanguine: Haemophilia, recklessness, paralysis. | |
| Arms | Specialised attacks for your homunculus. |
By mastering control of your homunculus's arms, you may now use your homunculus to more effectively attack your opponent. In addition to increased damage, your homunculus's damage type will change depending on the prime used to germinate it, and each prime will grant the attacks a special effect: Salt: Magic damage - Attacks will cause bleeding. Sulphur: Psychic damage - Attacks will drain mana. Mercury: Poison damage - extend the next herb balance of the target. Note, however, that if your homunculus becomes separated from you, its attacks will revert to its original, weak attacks. In addition, you may administer one of the primes with which your homunculus was not germinated in order to temporarily grant the effects of that prime. Note that attacks under the effects of administered primes will be less effective than those of its native type. | |
| Evaluate | Discern the vitals of another. |
By evaluating your target, you may roughly discern his or her fluid level, humour states, health and mana. This requires humour balance (along with balance and equilibrium), but will use equilibrium. | |
| Ears | Listen through your homunculus's ears. |
Having mastered control of your homunculus's auditory system, you may decide to listen to anything your homunculus hears. | |
| Diffusion | Manipulation of two humours at once. |
You are now able to temper up to two humours on an opponent at one time. | |
| Mouth | Speak through the mouth of your homunculus. |
You may use your homunculus's mouth to speak from afar. | |
| Saturation | Concurrent control over three humours. |
You are now able to temper up to three humours on an opponent at one time. | |
| Hands | Your homunculus possesses dexterous fingers. |
With control over your homunculus's hands, you may now manipulate items from afar. All commands require your homunculus to be in the same area as yourself, with the exception of looking in its inventory. HOMUNCULUS INV[ENTORY] will show you what your homunculus is currently holding. HOMUNCULUS GIVE <item> TO <person> allows to your homunculus to hand an item to another. The homunculus must be in the same room, on the same elevation, as the target, and the target may not be phased or similar. HOMUNCULUS GET <item> will pick up an item from the ground. This can only be done if your homunculus is holding fewer than five items already, and is subject to the same restrictions as picking up an item yourself. HOMUNCULUS DROP <item> will drop an item from your homunculus's inventory into its current room. This is subject to the same restrictions as dropping items yourself. | |
| Effusion | Mastery of all four humours. |
You are now able to temper all four humours on an opponent at one time. | |
| Torso | Your homunculus will prevent an enemy from escaping. |
Your homunculus will now attempt to block whoever it is currently attacking from leaving the room, so long as you stand beside it. | |
| Truewrack | Wrack two humours simultaneously. |
Your skill in humourism has grown sufficiently to allow you to wrack two humours at once. You must target two separate humours and may specify either the humours to wrack, or the specific afflictions with which to wrack. Specifying the affliction will make the symptoms immediately visible to the target, while generally wracking a humour will not. Truewracking may not be combined with symbology attacks. The afflictions that are available to be truewracked are dependent on the level of the tempers being wracked. One affliction is available when a humour is untempered and at level one, a second becomes available when the humour is tempered to level two, and all are available once the humour is tempered to level three. The afflictions (in their respective order) are listed under AB PHYSIOLOGY WRACK. | |
| Throat | Your homunculus's screeching will startle an enemy. |
By controlling your homunculus's throat, you may shriek loudly at an opponent, disrupting his or her concentration. This will knock your target off focus balance or increase the timer needed to regain focus balance, as appropriate. You must be in the same room as your homunculus to use this ability. | |
| Inundate | Attack an already imbalanced humour. |
By inundating an already tempered humour with additional fluid, you may cause an instant reaction in your opponent. This will cause all fluid to be drained from that humour. The more fluid drained, the greater the reaction. The effects for each humour are: Choleric: Health loss. Melancholic: Mana loss. Phlegmatic: Randomly afflict with afflictions from: anorexia, slickness, weariness, lethargy. Sanguine: Bleeding. | |
| Corruption | Capitalise on your homunculus's alien physiology. |
By channelling your powers of humourism through the alien body of your homunculus, you may corrupt an opponent's melancholic and sanguine humours. This has the interesting effect of causing mana loss from bleeding, and health loss from clotting. The effect will wear off after a time. | |
| Transfusion | Eternal life with a brand new body. |
While within your home city's physiology laboratory, you may INCUBATE NUCLEUS, which will then grow over time into a perfect replica of your body. This will take several days, after which you will be able to TRANSFUSE CONSCIOUSNESS should you die, moving your soul into this new body. This must be done from the same continent and plane as the laboratory. TRANSFUSE STATUS will show you the location of your incubating body, and how much more time (if any) is needed for incubation to complete. | |
| Reave | Kill another with catastrophic organ failure. |
If at least two of your target's humours are tempered, you can attempt to shut down his internal organs, causing instant death. This will take some time to complete, during which you can perform no other actions. Having more humours tempered will make the process simpler, decreasing the time needed to induce arrest. | |