I'd like to have our fifth action for a while, we've barely played with the thing
More generally I see no need for them at this point in time, or for a significant period in the future. Apprentices directly get in the way of doing things like research for long periods at once due to reducing how much leeway we have, so commissions bite harder into the time we have.
Some progress into Akazit would be nice.
Well obviously, we need to do the maximum on Eltharin and Alchemical Almanac, and then do Akazit.
Eltharin?
[Cost: 5 actions, 20 Favour from Kraka Ravnsvake] Journeyman of the Odd will proc. Gain chance at an Elf teacher and proficient understanding of Eltharin.
- Looking for a Native:
[Cost: 30 Favour from Kraka Ravnsvake] Gain Elf teacher and -fluent understanding of Eltharin.
An Alchemical Almanac or Four:
[Cost: 3 actions and/or retainer actions] Gain an understanding of Alchemy. Rewards locked until Eltharin learned or texts translated.
- [ ] Comprehensive Knowledge:
[Cost: +3 actions and/or retainer actions and 20 Favour from Kraka Ravnsvake] Gain Specialty: Alchemy.
- [ ] All of it, ALL OF IT:
[Cost: +2 actions and or retainer actions and 20 Favour from Kraka Ravnsvake] Requires Comprehensive Knowledge. Gain Specialty: Alchemy (Exceptional).
- [ ] Local Knowledge:
[Cost: 10 Favour from Kraka Ravnsvake] Gain 1 progress. Can be taken multiple times and without actions.
[-] Akazit:
[Cost: 10 actions] Journeyman of the Odd will proc. Locked due to Lack of Knowledge about Alchemy.
Kraka Ravnsvake, "The Raven's Roost Hold": Standing 9, Favours 160
Three actions thanks to Odd to get Eltharin is pretty doable once our commissions are done, with Favor spending being the main determining factor between 'You
can speak it.' and 'You can actually have a conversation in it.' Almanac is 3-6-8 actions, depending on how action-heavy we want to be, how much Favor we want to burn, and how much we think Alchemy as a specialty will benefit us. Personally, I'm expecting a pretty major buff to material research, up to and including a full Trait, especially with Eltharin as a prereq. Even if not, Akazit is very likely to solidify into one, given Alchemy is a prereq for it and therefore it requires Alchemy and Eltharin to be learned. So, between 18 and 23.
So, obviously a major commitment, but there's a few synergies to consider. Eltharin maxed out and Almanac maxed out would eat through 90/160 Ravnsnake Favor, and maxed out Almanac is 8 actions. I assume it's going to be a thing we have to spend at least one action on but no more than that with sufficient Favor just like our material research, which will eat the remaining 70 Favor. Akazit requires 10 actions, but I suspect going beyond on Eltharin and even further beyond on Alchemy will proc progress on it, and I wouldn't be surprised if going beyond on the former procced progress on the latter(well, lowering difficulty really, but it would be more or less the same mechanically).
Assuming it doesn't, however, a minimum of 18 total actions, or a maximum of 23. Given how much time this would take, I would suggest we go all-in, burning the 70 Favor to bring Almanac to 1 action, and then 4-actioning Eltharin and Alchemical Almanac. From there, we'll have to see how our research list and Traits are affected.
Pretty sure Snorri would need to do a lot more then an initial project before he even considers teaching it to apprentices. He would want a solid, well tested and proven base before passing it on. Because what kind of teacher teaches his students newfangled, unproven, probably shoddy material. Else he risks teaching them rubbish stuff or even worse, teach them things that are wrong.
It will take quite a while and a lot of effort before he considers alchemy ready and worthy to be taught as fundamentals to beardlings.
I'm pretty sure doing Akazit would be enough to get some sort of actual Alchemy-related skill hammered out, since we gain no benefit from it until Eltharin and Alchemy are sorted out and the fluff seems to pretty explicitly deal with Alchemy. It may be roughly equivalent to the Pt 1s of Rune Metal(that is, figuring out if this weirdness is something Snorri can actually do something about) but actually using Alchemy for something is probably going to be a pretty good way to get it teachable. Especially if Eltharin and Alchemy are both taken to their maximum as of the current list.
