Alchemical Processing
Alchemical materials are gathered in their Natural forms, but must be processed and refined into their Alchemical forms before their Potential Omnessence can be used by the Alchemist.  This processing time is in addition to the period of preparation needed to create the alchemical effect (see the Alchemy Profile for more detail on effects).
Alchemical techniques are varied, but the most common ones bear some relation to either cooking or brewing (from which many of the techniques of Geozan alchemy are derived).  Some materials must be carefully harvested in a certain manner.  Some require that only a small portion of the material (a part of the plant or animal, for example) be separated out and used.  Many are reduced to a liquid or a powder, to better enable their use in easily used forms (potions, for example).  Sometimes, the material must be combined with other alchemical materials, and the combined result is then refined into a unique alchemical material.  Other materials must be purified as much as possible, extracting the alchemical essence out of the dross.
Whatever the process for the particular material concerned, there are a few general mechanisms that apply to nearly all alchemical materials.  First, the Alchemist needs to gather a sufficient quantity of the necessary material(s) in its Natural form.  The Jalani term for such a quantity is a Fasa ("measure").  One Fasa may vary in weight or volume from material to material, but a Fasa is always a sufficient amount to process using standard alchemical techniques.  One Fasa of Natural materials yields one or more Fasa of Alchemical materials.  Refining the materials requires a Craft: Alchemy Trial (some materials allow the use of Craft: Cooking or Craft: Brewing, or even Medicine).   Each alchemical substance has an associated Difficulty rating, and an associated minimum time.  The degree of success on the Craft: Alchemy Trial determines two things: one, the amount of Alchemical materials obtained, and two, how much time over the minimum is required to process the materials.
Degree of Success Time required Fasas obtained
Marginal Base * 4 One
Complete Base * 3 One
Superior Base * 2 One
Exceptional Base * 2 Two
Mythic Base Two
Failure on the Craft: Alchemy Trial usually means that the materials are ruined for any alchemical purpose, but on a Marginal Failure, the Mythguide may allow another attempt with the same materials.  Extra caution and time spent preparing may reduce the difficulty, at the Mythguide's discretion.
Further refinement or distillation is necessary to obtain the Mystical form of a material, including an additional Craft: Alchemy Trial.  Each material description includes the number of Fasas of Alchemical material necessary to obtain one Fasa of Mystical material, and the associated difficulty and minimum time.  Use the table above to determine the time required, based on the degree of success of the second Craft: Alchemy Trial.  Only one Fasa of Mystical material will be produced, regardless of the degree of success.  Any failure on this trial indicates that all of the Alchemical materials used have been ruined.
When the materials have been processed to their desired form (whether Alchemical or Mystical), the Alchemist must store the materials in appropriate containers.  Some materials remain perishable even after processing, and must be magically preserved or used within a short time.  Such requirements should be noted in the material description.
Each material description will also indicate how much Potential Omnessence, and of what Configuration, each Fasa of Alchemical or Mystical material yields.  Materials in their Mystical form often yield significantly greater amounts of Potential Omnessence than materials in their Alchemical form, but not as much as might have been obtained had the required amounts of Alchemical materials been used in their Alchemical form.  The Alchemist should note the amount of Potential Omnessence he has gathered and processed.
Generally, when an Alchemist uses Alchemical materials (in either form), he can choose to use just enough of the materials to supply sufficient Potential Omnessence for the effect being created.  The Mythguide may require another Craft: Alchemy Trial in some situations, the results of which determine how accurate the Alchemist was in estimating and measuring the materials used.   Failure on such a Trial might indicate that the Alchemist used too little, and the effect will be reduced or fail.  Failure (or even Marginal Success) could otherwise indicate that too much was used, and that the Alchemist has effectively wasted some of his gathered materials.
Other notations in the descriptions of Alchemical materials indicate typical prices for materials in their Natural, Alchemical, and Mystical forms.  Due to the time and effort involved, some Alchemists rely on others ("alchemists" with no magical talent, or only limited talent) to gather and refine commonly used materials.  Such supportive processing normally occurs only near major cities with extensive alchemical activity.