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A Not-Entirely-Brief History of Alchemy- by Verdandi Snowblood In the beginning, there were two kinds of herb vendors. One was found in some shaman cities and had a set of herbs that each could be combined with a different dropped item, like a cyclops eye or undead froglok tongue. The other type of vendor was the gypsies, found in gypsy camps across Antonica. They had a different, smaller set of herbs that each also could be combined with a different kind of dropped giant toe to make other potions. However, shaman guild trainers across Norrath refused to train their pupils in the fine art of alchemy. It was well nigh a year before they received their instructions from The Powers That Be and began to teach us the fundamentals of alchemy. The herbs and potions at the time were extremely expensive and of very limited usefulness. (One of them with an herb cost of more than 30pp and requiring a drop from the Plane of Hate had the tremendous effect of Endure Magic.) Therefore, when our guildmasters were fixed so that we could train, our line of potions available was completely replaced with new ones. This change is commonly called the Revamp. All of the old shaman city vendor herbs were removed entirely, effectively removing access to those potions. Only the gypsy vendors remained and their potions continued to work. In the cities, the old herb vendors were replaced by a whole new set of herbs that took up two vendors because there were so many. These are the herbs that are most familiar to folks nowadays, the ones that can make sow potions and invis to undead potions. For these potions, no dropped component is required, they are made entirely via herbs bought from the vendors. Thus the world remained, with Revamp Alchemy and Gypsy Alchemy composing almost the entire line of alchemy available. During the Revamp era we were granted the ability to create dyes for use in tinting fine plate armor. However, as these can only be applied to that single type of armor, they are not widely used. With the advent of Luclin two additional sets of potions were added to a shaman's menu. First was a whole new set of potions with brand new effects. These include the mana potions and grow potion. These herbs are available in a few different places, all in Luclin. The other set of potions...well, shamans exploring Shar Vahl came across these strange herbs with naggingly familiar names...until it hit them. Old Alchemy. Once again available, this time in Shar Vahl, are the herbs used to make potions from the old, original, pre-revamp alchemy. These are the ones that required the drops like cyclops eyes and undead froglok tongues. The discovery of the Plane of Knowledge brought only a single additional recipe for shamans, Quintessence of Knowledge, used as a reagent for a couple new items available in the new Planes. Some time after we ventured into the new Planes, we also learned to create the Grandmaster's Medicine Bag as a trophy of our accomplishments and useful reward for our hard work. Most recently, the Ykesha brought us a diverse wealth of additional potions. Some of these grant the illusion of a different race, some grant new focus effects, some allow the creation of dyes effective on any armor, and some bring new effects similar to those we had in previous lines of alchemy, including gating to one's bind spot or group shrink. Some of these use vendor ingredients found only in the Ykesha zones, some require dropped ingredients, some require herbs from Revamp alchemy, and some require a combination of all these sources. Truly a mixed bag. And this is where it stands, with five major lines of alchemy products:
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