@matt when I think about alchemy I always assume that there is a whole bunch of work and/or negative side effects. Like you want to turn an ounce of lead into gold? It will take 1 hour of careful inscription and incantation and then you have a 20% chance of accidentally creating chlorine gas instead of gold.
@Simon @matt It's like when people talk about shooting for the moon and ending up among the stars, only it's lead that turns into chlorine instead of gold and maybe you still net a small profit