Throughout the centuries, the colonists of Pemonia and their descendants alternated between embracing and rejecting alchemy for religious and political reasons. While observant physicians recognized the value of exotic New World medicines used by the natives—some proving more effective than Old World remedies—most people remained ignorant of alchemy’s true nature. They viewed it as mysterious and unknowable, something to be feared rather than understood.
This ignorance fueled a belief among the colonists and their descendants that Pemonia’s original tribes practiced magic. Colonial alchemists faced persecution for spreading “heathen magic” and serving as “conveyances for the false curses of the wildermen.” Many alchemists and physicians recanted their work, destroying their workshops and laboratories to avoid being burned at the stake.
Yet alchemy retained its value among those who rejected such fearful beliefs. A precious few continued their work in secret, finding shelter in hidden societies away from the prying eyes of churchmen and magistrates. Some alchemists were nobles themselves, or found protection among the nobility, preserving alchemical knowledge at the risk of their lives and livelihoods. Today, these underground practitioners—alchemists, machinists, and others—are collectively known as arcanists.
