> "Might be worth roping in someone else with knowledge of esoteric stuff beyond our respective purviews."
> "Perhaps, though everyone who'd know about these chemicals are potential suspects who might try and mislead us"
> "The puppeteer girl from the forest comes to mind... A couple years ago I read a tome containing the first documented magical doll manipulation techniques. Originally a form of children's entertainment the first magical puppets used a primitive system of threads which synced their movement to their puppeteer's. The book documents how the techniques evolved in the early years and explains the limitations they had to overcome, such as being able to manipulate multiple dolls independently of the puppeteer's own movement."
> Catching her breath for a moment she continues "Needless to say I was fascinated, it only took me a week to get a doll to wave in sync with my own arm. From that point on I was obsessed with improving my techniques and researching new spells to take the field to the next level. Even Alice complemented my skills on one of her weekly visits to return and borrow books. One night I invited her over for dinner so she could show me her techniques and they were...
on a whole different level. She had managed to fuse automatic sequencing and manual precision into perfect harmony. Where I had to move each leg independently and carefully balance she could just think of a path and the doll would walk on it's own."
> "So I naturally I asked if she could spare a few dolls for me to study and she happily provided them, which is where my assistant discovered their cores are filled with gunpowder. I had read of the chemical in books but I had never actually seen it before. After further research my assistant was able to discover it has high magical capacitance, making it an excellent material for storing and releasing magical energy."
> "Intrigued by it's properties I asked her about it on her next visit but she seemed very reluctant to answer my questions, giving vague explanations at best. She almost seemed frightened when I asked where she learned about it and how she produces it..."