Fugue

Notes from Zoologist Artur Lawren
Over the past week, I have managed to get the plant to take root in my field laboratory and have begun testing. Last night I did something careless. I ingested some clippings of the plant to experience Fugue for myself, and I must say it was close to a divine excursion. It took about an hour or so–I forgot to keep track because of my excitement–for me to notice any effect it would have. As I sat there in my tent, eyes closed and prepared for the high I knew was coming. I heard a soft clearing of the throat from my left. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was that I was no longer in my tent or sitting down. I was at the mouth of a cave looking into the darkness, and to my left, there was a small child with the head of a deer. Its Her lips moved but I heard nothing from them. She trotted or seemed to trot, deeper into the cave waving me along to follow her. I blinked and I was in a meadow, far from my lab, the same fawn girl sitting cross-legged a few feet away. She sat in front of a large tree blooming with pink flowers that one by one fell from the branches. They engulfed her, swirling around until I could barely see her form. And then they vanished and she was nowhere to be seen. I blinked again and I saw the same meadow, but this time the tree bore no flowers. Its branches were curled in burnt and decayed. The bark cracked and peeled away from the trunk and fell onto grassless dirt. The sky was grey and sunless and ash slowly floated from the sky. A skeleton decorated the foot of the tree half-buried in the thin topsoil. It was small, human, except for the deer's skull that sat at the top. I remember crying at her final resting point. I had not known her, but I felt I had all the same. She was the family dog I had as a child, the deer that would eat my father's vegetables, and the daughter I had not yet had. I don't know how long I sat there crying before I was back in my laboratory, still sitting down, clothes soaked to the bone.

– A. Lawren 'Mysteries of Red Nettle'

Treatment

Time

Hosts & Carriers

I've finally managed to get ahold of the plant known as Red Nettle. It sports a ring of dark red leaves spread out along a green stem. From its appearance, I would guess it exists in areas with minimal to absent sunlight. The roots are thick and hard almost like stone. Perhaps they grow underground in caves, but what locations could foster such plant life I have no idea.

Cultural Reception

Those that spend most of their time in Fugue are seen as lowlifes with no prospects or ambitions. It's used in all circles of society although its use has been made illegal. It can be found in the backroom of noble parties or in the alleyways of large cities.

Type

Chemical Compound

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare