Taking alchemy can sometimes result in the alchemy skill level starting as zero. This doesn't happen every time, so I'm not sure of the exact trigger. Probably the first character created when the game is first loaded. A save & reload fixes it.
May have something to do with taking Werediggle at the same time, since it's the only thing that changes it during play that I know of... and I took it at the same time, although this happens before it's even used.
