Update

I have decided that while it probably won't take much to get access to private posts if we interact a lot, I probably won't be allowing it immediately. It's not even so much an age concern, since I can always tag things of that nature on its own but I do feel that some things should be shared with close friends but not everyone.

I will say there are a couple people already on their way with that, aside from the folks I know from tumblr. But I can't really say I have an open blog policy now that I know more about how the system works and decided what I want to do.

Urbano the Alchemist and a bit about education in his world

Name: Urbano Valenzi

Species: Human

Race/Ethnicity: Larentian

Age: 21

Height: 5'1"

Weight: 114 lbs

Occupation: Alchemist/Physician

Personality: Very insecure at first glance, except regarding alchemy. Actually somewhat snarky when he’s comfortable with someone, unless he has good reason not to be. Tends to cling to people he likes, especially in unfamiliar situations. Excitable when his medications are working properly.

Likes: Plants and most animals, tea, short walks in the morning (if it’s not too cold), pomegranates

Dislikes: Fish (actually a bit of a phobia), strenuous activities for long periods


I'm more used to doing quick bios for characters so that's what I started with, but here's some extra background about him and his universe:

Urbano Valenzi was born into a large peasant family and would have likely remained in his home village or one nearby if it hadn't been for him becoming sickly in his childhood, and the local hedge witch Elesa taking a shine to him. Despite being very young, he picked up the basics of herbalism quickly by working with her and learning simple treatments for his own illness. While he was never what most would call healthy, he was able to help others in his village, and working with Elesa made for less of a burden on his family, who knew he'd likely never be able to do physical work like his siblings.

It was decided that he should find an apprenticeship as a physician or alchemist once he was old enough, and if he lived to the proper age. Elesa wrote letters to find Urbano a mentor, since she had connections to people in the alchemists guild. Cozmas of Larenti, a well known alchemist himself, took an interest in Urbano both because he was an obviously bright child but also because Cozmas recognized Urbano's condition. Cozmas kept in contact with Urbano for a few years, at first through Elesa and then directly until Urbano was old enough to officially be Cozmas's apprentice. Even before then, Cozmas gave Urbano suggestions on how to improve his diet in order to remain as healthy as possible. Even then there was some concern his health would decline on the trip from his hometown to where Cozmas lived.

Even aside from his illness, there were reasons why Urbano's apprenticeship was unusual. First, the apprenticeship of an alchemist was longer than that of most trades, and depending who they apprenticed under they might be learning anything from astrology, to the workings of the human body, to the compositions and relations of metals, to botany, to theology and many other subjects. Most alchemists focus on a couple areas of study, and that study is extremely indepth, although generalists do also exist. Urbano with Cozmas's guidance focused very heavily on the alchemy of biological systems (medicine, botany, etc), with some astrology (one of Cozmas's areas of focus) thrown in for good measure, plus some basics for other areas of study. What made this strange was actually the breadth of his learning while still having a specific focus AND that he finished his apprenticeship at 21, a very young age by alchemist standards.

At the beginning of his story, Cozmas is contacting prospective employers for him. This would usually be nobles or rich traders who are able to more or less subsidize his research. Since Urbano had already put much of his attention into finding treatments or a cure for his own condition, that was one of the details that Cozmas would address in the query letters, as well as what exactly could be covered as far as budgeting for supplies and the like.

In a normal case, an alchemist would find an employer who wants them to focus on a specific project and allow some time and resources for free research, or to be allowed to research at will, but pay and amenities would usually be less. However in Urbano's case, since he's recognized as being a bit of a prodigy and because his research would directly affect his own health and well-being, and hence anyone who hired him would be best served by letting him research into that, he was able to be employed as a journeyman alchemist in a very rich noble household, the Savellis of Etalon, as long as he also acted as the household's physician and any side discoveries were - lets say - licensed to the Savelli family to develop or sell as they wish. So overall, a pretty sweet deal it would seem.