Sorcery

The sorcerers of previous generations were old men sitting in dark rooms practicing alchemy without knowing what they were really doing. Through "mystical enlightenment" (that is, randomly mixing things while inebriated and chanting), they found a few interesting interactions in the minerals and chemicals abundant in some parts. Over a few hundred years they developed their art in secret, improving somewhat on their solutions and tinctures, but never reaching the refinement of today's alchemists.