Now, several of them were studying alchemy themselves, using texts from the Amestrian soldiers and writings from Little Brother's brother. And one had gotten as far as being able to transmute simple things.
Some people had brought the Central City Ishvalan to him. The High Cleric held a pot in his hand, and remembered the conversation.
"This man has done alchemy. Has he sinned?" they asked.
"How does Alchemy profane the creation of Ishvala?" he responded with a question.
"It creates things that are unnatural," they answered.
"Alchemist, what have you made?"
The man held out a clay pot, and Bozidar took it.
Then Bozidar picked up another pot, made the ordinary way. "Is not this also unnatural? Does it exist apart from the work of human hands?"
"But the pot of the Alchemist is not the work of human hands," they said.
"Alchemist, how do you make a pot?" asked the Cleric.
"Master, first I gather the correct measure of clay. Then I draw the construction circle. Then I activate the circle."
"Can you create the pot from nothing, Alchemist?"
"No, Master."
"Can you create the pot from anything, Alchemist?"
"No, Master. I must have material suitable for my purpose in the suitable amount. I can transmute earth into a pot, but not water. It is the principle of equivalent exchange."
"What does it mean to activate the circle, Alchemist?"
"I call on the power that is in the earth, Master."
"Then you call on Ishvala himself, Alchemist?"
"It must be so, Master."
"So Ishvala performs at your bidding, Alchemist?"
"That cannot be so, Master."
The problem with Alchemy was not blasphemy against the creative power of Ishvala. Alchemists did not create from nothing - they transformed.
It was not even the perverse nature of what was created. That which was transformed could be wholesome or perverse. That perversions were among what was created was only to be expected - did not humans find a way to pervert every gift from Ishvala?
The problem with Alchemy was the source of the power used to transmute. If it was simply a power of nature, like the sun or fire or the flow of water, then the lawfulness of an act of Alchemy would depend simply on the lawfulness of the means and goals of the act, as with any other act.
It was not to be imagined that Alchemy involved calling on Ishvala as upon a servant or a beast of burden. So if the source of power was not natural, and it was not Ishvala, then it must be demonic. And in that case, every act of Alchemy was unlawful.
What was the source of the power of Alchemy? Bozidar, High Cleric issued a calling to gather testimony to resolve the question.