[Bernard Marx]

Yeah, I'm familiar with the secretive nature of alchemy and the guilds in general. Now that you mention the red sulfur/dragon connection it rings a bell: I've run into it before. It might be key to the question I've been mulling about the dragon tradition in England and why dragons play such an important role in both Orient and Occident. Sulfur's an important ingredient in gunpowder and it's just plain nasty stuff when ignited. It's also found near fiery volcanoes which have a way of bringing famine and pestilence to affected areas.

[RightWhale]

Those were the days when moveable type, firearms, and the magnetic compass were considered the greatest inventions and boons to man. Even as late as the Constitution rights to the first two were included in the first two Amendments and the third implied in the idea of freedom of movement. But by then monster scientist Franklin was already drawing electricity from the sky so times were changing.