"We sanctioned alchemists work alone because others fear we'll blow them up during battle by accident.
There's only about a 2.5% chance of that happening, though... or so the studies say."
Name: Lechies Delaroc
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Class: Sanctioned Alchemist
Faction: Steel Empire
Lineage: Ajendra Apothecary
Equipment: Lechies is almost never without a healthy supply of gels, elixirs, and concoctions, lovingly mixed in her humble shack of a laboratory before embarking on each expedition. If by some nasty misfortune she finds herself out of mixtures to throw, she has her alchemist's knife tucked into her right boot. It's usually used for cutting plants, but it works fine against goblins and the like in a pinch. When adventuring, Lechies keeps her alchemist's tools and handbooks in a large leather pouch slung across her chest. A second leather pouch is strapped across her chest the opposite way, intended for carrying any ingredients she finds or discovers in her travels.
Skills: Alchemy, wondrous and dangerous. Some accuse of it being an offshoot of the forbidden magic arts, others insist it's a necessary tool for continued scientific advancement. Taking from her foster father's philosophy, Lechies views her discipline as an efficient combination of both. She admits that despite her sixteen years of hard training, there is still much she doesn't understand about alchemy. Every new concoction mixed without exploding is at once a victory and a miracle. Lechies' studies were not for nothing, however; she
is sanctioned by the God Emperor and wields her alchemic knowledge to devastating effect. The trick is directing that devastation at the right target...
Description: Lechies has copper hair tied back in a ponytail and hazel eyes. Standing at no more than 5'1, her thin and scrawny figure often encourages laughter when hardened adventurers spot her coming into their taverns; that is, until she starts threatening people with uncorked bottles of her Acidstorm brew. Her passing brings many stares anyway, as she is covered in runic tattoos. Supposedly they help her concentration and augment her alchemic power, never mind those naysayers who howl that it's a form of witchcraft. Most of the runes are hidden beneath her clothing, but they do cover her hands and part of her face: her right palm and the back of her left hand have more ink than skin exposed, and her right cheek from chin to below her eye is covered in them.
Lechies dons official alchemist's robes, specially tailored to resist the hazardous substances she works with, and pretty darn fashionable to boot. She always orders them in hues of dark green and bronze, her favorite colors. They're almost useless against physical damage, but she values the ease of movement more than protection, and she's agile enough to evade most blows. Her concoctions are clipped to two thick belts criss-crossing her waist for easy access. A pair of sturdy leather boots and a conical bamboo hat complete her ensemble. When wandering within the Steel Empire's borders, Lechies has a round silver seal pinned to her robes that signifies her 'sanctioned' status and prevents her from being attacked on sight for heresy, in theory (the occasional zealot requires more convincing). Outside the Empire she doesn't bother to wear it, as she dislikes having to prove her official status with a little piece of metal rather than her actual alchemic prowess.
History: Her earliest memories begin in the slums of the capital, alone and hungry, dressed only in a large tattered man's shirt. Five years old and too young to work, she occupied the long hours by following strangers and begging for food. Within a year she would have died, but few cared. She was a product of the Empire's stupid and poor, those who were in the way of progress and so were packed into the most broken-down regions of the city, out of sight and out of mind. Another dead street urchin would hardly be stirring news.
On a cold winter day, Lechies was found by one Okaris Delaroc, master alchemist. By then she was lingering on the brink of starvation, too weak to speak, a physical struggle just to cup her hands and extend them towards him. By the grace of the God Emperor, rather than kick her away like most of the Empire's elite were wont to do, Okaris took pity on the child and scooped her into his arms, carrying her back home. By the next day he had become her official guardian.
Okaris was a man with compassion as fiery as his mixtures. Having lost his wife and young daughter to Ashpeak beast attacks a few years ago, stumbling upon Lechies seemed to him a sign from above. "Take her in," it said, "and let both of you fill the hole in each other's hearts."
He raised her like his own flesh and blood, personally overseeing both her academic and societal education. Lechies, not knowing so much kindness could exist in the world, latched onto him like a puppy, insisting on accompanying him everywhere. It wasn't long before she showed interest in the alchemical arts. Proud and happy to the point of tears, Okaris enrolled her in the Ajendra School of Alchemy, his alma mater.
Her first formal lesson took place shortly after she turned eight, and from that day forth she lived and breathed alchemy. During the day, she studied with the masters at Ajendra. At night, she would return home where Okaris imparted some of his personal wisdom. There was nothing Lechies refused to learn; where she had once hungered for food, books were now her nourishment, and she simply couldn't get enough.
Twelve years later, after one last examination to convince the local Imperial inquisitor that she wouldn't accidentally blow up the city, her teachers considered her training complete and encouraged her to further her training in the wide open world. Lechies was overjoyed to receive the documents that proclaimed her as a sanctioned alchemist. With these in hand she would finally be able to join her foster father in his travels.
But it was not to be. Even master alchemists make mistakes, and once Okaris got word that Lechies' training was finished, he was so elated that he lost his concentration and dropped the wrong ingredient into his elixir, sending the whole house up in a giant ball of flames. Lechies mourned, but not for too long; she knew he wouldn't have wanted to see her sad, and besides, death by explosion was part of the alchemist's cycle of life.
Since then, Lechies has sworn allegiance to the God Emperor and makes constant expeditions into the wild, searching for new ingredients and accumulating scientific knowledge in the Empire's name. In this way too, she believes that through her work her beloved foster father can live on.