Diving Trance

Prompt 5 of WA SummerCamp 2020: Describe a condition in your world caused by a drug or medicine.

"You've ever been a dream, flying through the skies, your fingers delicate as they caressed the clouds, and found yourself disappointed when it ended? Worry not friend, for you can make your dreams come true with just the right help! Here at Kamau's Aerial Escapades we offer experiencies for all the family where you too can traverse the airs and the highest altitudes, only with the right amount of the safest Free Falling Adrenaline, certified by doctors all around Barenae. What are you waiting for! Call now to the num [...] _{Use of FFA not advised to persons with heart diseases, pregnancy, respiratory problems or suffering from Diving Trance}"

-Extract from local radio intermission

Many good things come at a price and irresponsible use of FFA can lead to many irreversible problems. Of all the affections caused by this substance, maybe Diving Trance is the most evident and the most dangerous. We advise everyone to take this seriously and only use FFA when strictly necessary.

Causes

The Diving Trance develops from the prolonged consumption of the FFA (Free-Falling Adrenaline) substance.

Symptoms and Evolution

The immediate effects of a normal dose of FFA (relative to body mass) are centered around the annulment of the gravity on the body until the drug is processed. As with most drugs, irresponsible consumption leads to addiction and major symptoms.
The initial symptoms include indiscriminate weight loss and random bursts of gravity on the body in a random direction. However, the major effect Diving Trance induces in the body is sensory confusion. The affected will start to feel other spatial dimensions without changing position in space. This starts to happen sporadically and gets more and more common as the illness progresses. Eventually, the change is so fast the excess of information nullifies all senses, turning the affected blind, deaf, and unable to touch, smell, or taste. Fortunately, this only happens if the affected overdoses regularly or is exposed for excessive amounts of time.
It's likely that those who enter late stages of planar visions go mad and start to babble incomprehensibly about what they have seen or have epileptic attacks due to the constant change of setting.

Probability of contracting

While FFA is a relatively complex compound to create and the persons who are meant to use it are expertly trained on the responsible use of it, the materials are commonly found all around the Outer Edge of Etaria, which means often people manufacture for selling purposes. Even then, it's impossible to contract this condition without consuming FFA, and it's only fatal in the cases mentioned before (regular overdose or prolonged consumption).

Treatment

The minor symptoms will fade away if the patient stops taking FFA. Once these fade, it's safe for the patient to take another dose, although their tolerance will be lowered for each time they've suffered from Diving Trance.
Once the visions start, the minor symptoms will fade away as previously explained, but the visions will still appear from time to time for the rest of the life of the patient. The senses that have been broken by the trance can't be recovered by non-magical means.

Affected Groups

While generally each case presents the same symptoms, it's true that the effects of being forcefully impulsed are worse for those races with a higher average weight, since their mass represents a major impact upon landing.

Prevention

As long as you don't take any FFA, you'll never suffer from Diving Trance.

History

The first case of this illness was that of an Etarian scout around the 1700s that was part of the first unit to ever test FFA. Their companions reported that after several months of training, the scout in question started to contort at night and talk about places they had never been to. Eventually, this person ended up going mad and in one of the practices with a harness, they overdosed on FFA and jumped into the spatial continuum, never to be seen again.

The most famous person to be irreversibly affected by this condition was the Grandmaster Stoul Noeploe, famous explorer and cartographer, responsible for the discovery of the Planar Teeth.

Cultural Reception

Most people that are not taught about this compound might need an explanation but are normally comprehensive about the condition if they know the person would not be reckless about consuming FFA. While the annulment of gravity is normally observed with wonder, other symptoms like weight loss and random impulses are looked at with wariness. It's common for someone to be thrown to the ground or into the air and for the people around to try to pick them up or make them land properly. The sudden weight loss in a teenager when related to this substance, is usually a cause of concern for parents.

When it comes to the people affected by visions (be it sometimes or those whose senses are no longer functional), the general sentiment tends to pity. It's normal to give a person a moment to compose themselves after a sudden vision, and older people that suffer from this are normally accompanied at all times in order to ensure their security.

Type

Chemical Compound

Origin

Engineered

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare

Did you know?

That Free-Falling Adrenaline's main component is the gaseous essence of the Spatial Continuum, carefully taken with a special net and kept in a highly tight and hermetic container.