A Research Report on Alchemiosynthesis

Let me preface this document with a declaration of utmost gratitude to my Thalmori emissaries who had sponsored my research and provided the tools that allowed for my research to develop. Without the Thalmor’s support in the way of materials and technologies I could never have made any of the below documented observations.

The topic of my research and curiosity for these last few years had been the working of Tamriel’s plants. Originally I was afraid I had too many questions that could never be answered, such as why it is that plants survive under certain conditions but not others, that despite scholars agreeing that plants are, like the beasts and races of Nirn, alive, unlike all other living creatures plants make no need of eating, and why do plants get their alchemical properties. However, upon completing my research into a process I had come to name Alchemiosynthesis, I had found all my questions answered.

My research began as I decided that the only way to truly inspect the nature and properties of plants is to look at the, extremely closely, at the very figment of their skin. To do this would have been impossible without the aid of my Thalmori sponsors, whom had supplied me with a wonderful contraption of magic and glass capable of magnifying one’s sight hundreds of times upon simply looking into a complex tube. I would ramble on about this machine’s properties longer, however I was prohibited by the Thalmor to study the machine more closely. In any case, when I observed leaves and roots of various plants I had obtained from all over Tamriel, I had found the scholar Calia Adaire’s observations correct that the skin and likely all bodily features of living creatures are made up of great stacks of tiny mostly geometrically shaped figments. Adaire had called these layers “Cells” in her research, and as such I will refer to them as such in the rest of this document.

Upon studying the cells of plants my first observations were as to the features of the cells’ interiors. Among these features were the circular Cellbrain and Mazespheres documented in Adaire’s research, however the plants also contained two additional features worth mentioning, one being a great orb taking up much of the cell’s space which I take to do mot much more than act a storing area for water, and another being a collection of tiny colorful structures. The structures’ color had immediately seized my attention and brought me to a conclusion that a plant’s color is caused by these structures. However, studying the varying properties of these structures both in dead cells, living ones, and ones observed in many different conditions had allowed me to create various theories as to how these structures work to both keep plants alive and give them alchemical property. For the remainder of this document I shall refer to these structures as Alchemiobodies.

The Alchemiobodies’ name comes from the fact that in the Alchemiobodies takes place the process that gives plants much of their alchemical properties, as well as keeps them alive: Alchemiosynthesis, being the process in which light, water, and air are utilized to create mana.

Through experimenting with different environmental conditions I had found that the three necessary ingredients for both the Alchemiobodies to retain their color and for the plant to remain alive are water, air, and light. Plant cells utilize these three ingredients in order to create a substance that seems to be almost like mana in liquid physical form, a pure potion of every alchemical possibility. It is my theory that water and air are absorbed through the skin and roots of the plant and together are mixed to create a basic substance that can be easily utilized magically. Then, the plant’s cells, and more specifically the Alchemiobodies within them, absorb and trap light. As light comes from Aetherius, a plane of pure magic, light within itself is magical in its properties, and the Alchemiobodies seem to be capable of trapping the very magic in light and storing it in the water and air-made substance, making the substance itself a colorful liquid of pure mana. I believe this substance, which I have taken to call the Manacell, is the driving force of all alchemical magic and function of the body of a living creature.

The Manacells, themselves being perhaps some kind of dust or liquid, however too small to tell, are utilized both for alchemical effect and in order to give energy to a living body. As different beings use the Manacells in different ways, the Manacells change in function and effect greatly, giving different magical essences to different beings. These essences are the very essences that are combined and experimented with by alchemists to create potions and solutions of every kind.

However, beyond alchemical use, the most important function of Manacells is to maintain every living creature’s health and function. Beyond the process of Alchemiosynthesis, I had found an additional process, however connected to Alchemiosynthesis in function, a process in which the Manacells are likely broken down and in the process release their magical essence, which is used by a body to create energy for every one of the body’s functions, from walking to speaking to urinating. I had realized that while Alchemiosynthesis may only occur in plants due to the presence of Alchemiobodies, the process of giving energy and health to the body by utilizing Manacells, which I will call Restoration due to its similarity to the type of magic of the same name, likely also occurs in all living things. With help from my Thalmor associates I was able to test this theory on both beasts and sentient people (The Thalmor assure me that those who were tested upon were criminals and deserved punishment of pain) and found that Restoration certainly occurs in all living things.

However, that bodily restoration occurs in all living things raises the question of how non-plants obtain Manacells to utilize. I believe that the reason we eat is because our bodies require Manacells to utilize for restoration. Manacells are absorbed from plants by any being that eats plants, and Manacells are absorbed from those beings from any being that hunts and eats the plant-eating being. As such, Manacells, and respectively Mana and energy are transferred from being to being. Such is the beauty and complexity of the nature of Nirn. This amazing process must be the Aedra’s work, no other being of this world could design such a beautifully simple yet effective process to preserve life upon Nirn.

This said, many things are left unexplained. My friend and associate Senos Posenon has raised the question of whether or not great and culturally mythical beings such as the graht oaks of Valenwood or the Hist of Black Marsh also partake in these processes. I myself would theorize that these trees work as any other plant, however to state so as fact is insensitive of me as it might offend those believe these beings are beyond the normal plant in function and status. It may also be questioned how it is that certain plants manage to survive underground without access to much light, and whether or not magical beings such as wraiths and daedra also partake in these processes, however I’m afraid these questions may only be answered with further and difficult research.

It is of my hope that these finds are popularized and agreed with amongst the scholarly community, without the respect and approval of my peers my research and observations are worthless.