Description

Personality

Alchemical Talents: The majority of Emil's talents have only been honed as recently as the past three years. That said, his skills are very localized and don't cover many substances or materials. The only substance he believes to have complete and utter mastery of is the Alkahest his father created. While the substance's amazing properties alone might make this worthwhile knowledge, the fact that it is in very small quantity limits its potential. His only abilities outside the transmutation of Alkahest is in dealing with basic liquids- water, namely. Even then he can only manipulate temperature with ease, nothing more. Because he is only used to manipulating the small amount of Alkahest he has, the range (distance) of Emil's transmutations isn't very far either. What he lacks in this area he does manage to make up for in accuracy, in many ways. He is capable of replicating very delicate and specific designs with his transmutations, even to the point of counterfeiting keys.

Personality: Emil is a bit of a quiet one by nature. Outside of his interests, he typically doesn't speak much to anyone. This is the result of a life spent mostly in solitude, quietly working on watchmaking and, later on, alchemy. His first time in Northgate was a major social development for him, particularly since it was his first time being around many other alchemists. His lack of exposure to women makes him shy and nervous around them, but he always means good at heart. He'll try to do whatever he thinks is the right thing and to put others before himself, but in the end his goals are simple- Emil's directive as an alchemist, above all else, is to honor his father's name and to uncover the truth of his work.

Equipment

Equipment: Emil always carries a sample of Alkahest, the "universal solvent" that his father created. As the name and legend implies, it's a substance capable of dissolving all other materials it touchs. Because of this, it has to be frozen into its solid state any time it is carried so that it doesn't simply eat through the container in which it's held. The only material that can contain Alkahest in its fluid state is more solid Alkahest. Emil's supply is permanantly depleted every time he uses the substance's dissolving capables, since he cannot recollect a fluid sample and is not yet capable of recreating the Alkahest himself. It is, however, also effective in its solid state in that it is extremely durable and harder then most metals. The substance itself is a dark red color and somewhat reflective.

The two samples Emil carries on him are a vial at his hip and a blade on his back. The vial is a rather large, solid chunk of Alkahest that he keeps looped on the right side of his belt. It's used for any number of reasons, but primarily as the only sample he's willing to melt. The blade is a three foot long Eastern Backsword in its plain state, though Emil frequently shifts the weapon into whatever is most effective at the time. He keeps it in a wooden sheath on his back, so that he doesn't have to transmute the blade dull again every time he isn't using it. The sheath is held by a black strap hung over his left shoulder.

Besides his Alkahest, Emil also keeps a silver pocket watch. It's connected by chain to his belt where it is often tucked. It possesses a dual mechanism, one that tells the time, and another that winds a high tensile coil for storing mechanical energy. Emil refers to the watch as the "Lemniscate", in reference to its seemingly ability to be wound infinitely. It, like most of his equipment, was also forged by his father.

History

History: Emil was born to a Western mother and an Eastern immigrant. His father Victor had traveled to Crossroads via a shipping vessel, with hopes of studying alchemy among esteemed scholars of the West. There he met Emil's mother, a local fisher, upon arrival in Bay City. She was visiting from her home in Fairpoint to sell her catches, and decided to take the immigrant back to her home rather then let him join the shanty towns of the Eastern Relay. A relationship soon developed and she eventually gave birth to baby Emil, though not surviving the labor herself. After the death of his lover, Victor traveled with his child and applied for a research grant in Northgate. He used the money from the grant to purchase a home in the nearby village Cross Town, converting the upstairs into a lab to practice his alchemy. As Emil grew up there, Victor tried many new developments, but would always return to the prospect of creating an Alkahest. He tried and tried, but with each attempt the reality of the problem became clearer- the ultimate solvent he was creating could not be captured for observation and use because of its inherent properties. At least, this is what he told Emil in the later years as he abandoned his alchemical research. He then took up the profession of a watchmaker instead, a job he taught Emil and continued doing up until his death at the hands of illness, three years ago now. After his father's death, Emil struggled to afford their home with what little work he could do on his own. To afford to live, Emil began digging a well in the basement, with hopes of purifying and selling their own water. He found no water however, but instead a rich deposit of red gems, soon recognizing them to be his father's. Though initially stunned, he concluded that based on the temperature, the Alkahest substance had frozen at some point and remained solid. Seeing this as an opportunity to finish his father's work where he had left off, Emil put all his time and work into understanding the Alkahest and its properties, as well as learning the necessary alchemy to maintain them. At the age of 19 he packed up his essentials and traveled to Northgate, hoping to publish his father's developments there. The substance was at first regarded as an amazing development, but professors of alchemy decided that the Alkahest could not yet be recognized as a chemical until it was readily capable of being reproduced in the lab. It has since been Emil's goal to recreate his own sample of the Alkahest, and to find what really hindered his father's work so long ago. With rumors of the "Eternal Knowledge" being located in the South, Emil considered that it might be his best chance at learning the secret to creating Alkahest.

Note: Emil was given the nickname "Jack" in his childhood as a more Western alternative to his real name. It's frequently used by those close to him and even himself when wanting to hide his Eastern ethnicity.