Storm-Queen's Kiss, also sometimes called 'Alchemist's Spark' or 'Lightning
in a Bottle.'
Alchemical flame and solvents are relatively common, but a rarer sight is a
substance known as Alchemist's Spark.
The primary ingredient is called 'lightning water,' and is rain gathered from
thunderstorm in metal pans that never touch the ground. This can be substituted,
with varying levels of success, with river water that has been touched by lightning,
with natural or druidic lightning seeming to be most amenable to use, and conjured
arcane lightning somewhat less effective. I have heard of an alchemist in Korvosa
who uses seawater that has been repeatedly struck with lightning from a spell
of his own design, a mere *cantrip* he calls 'Ray of Shock,' but cannot verify
if this is true, or, as is so often the case with rumors of alchemical reagents
and procedures, willful misdirection. Into this water are placed precise measured
quantities of flaked lodestone and slivers of iron. If the weight is off by
even the slightest measure, the materials are wasted, so the measurements must
be exact and identical in weight! These materials clump together uselessly at
first, until droplets of clear liquid extracted from brain or nervous tissue
are placed within (any blood in the liquid tends to reduce it's effectiveness,
and this is the most challenging ingredient to extract, and, it is rumored,
that while most use liquid extracted from the brain tissue of slaughtered cattle
or pigs, that the spinal fluids of predatory animals associated with quickness
of action, such as falcons, is the most ideal solution), at which point the
metal flakes separate and begin to dance around each other within the suspension,
until they are pressed away, as if repelled at the sight of each other, and
lining the other surface of the container, which will appear to be filled with
flakes of metal and stone, which will shine with a silvery hue, the clear fluid
within no longer visible, if the appropriate amounts of material has been used.
At this point, the container must be fully sealed, or else the metal and stone
will begin forcing their way out of the opening, by whatever force repels them
one from another. The sealed container will have a slight tingle to it, as if
humming with contained force (which, in fact, it is!), and when thrown and broken
open, the tiny metal flakes tend to adhere to whatever surface they strike,
all standing at attention like tiny spikes or the hackles of an angry hound,
crackling with blue and white discharges of electrical energy.
The effect is essentially the same as from Alchemical Fire, but the injury
is caused by electrical forces, and not open flame. The clinging bits of iron
and magnetite can be wiped away, again, much like the clinging oil of Alchemical
Flame, to avoid any further injury, if one has the will and wit to do so.
Due to the extremely secretive nature of whomever discovered this formulation,
it remained a secret for decades. Occasionally a flask would be found, but no
evidence of it's manufacturer could be found, until most recently, when a workbook
with the formula was found in an abandoned laboratory. To this day, none know
the inventor of this compound, which harnesses the power of the storm into a
tiny flask, nor do any know why it was referred to as 'Storm-Queen's Kiss.'
There are reports of an identical effect being produced from specially prepared quartz crystals that are thrown to shatter against a target, releasing an electrical discharge that lingers on the target. No information regarding their origination or creation have proven to be accurate. Another mystery of alchemy, it seems...