Indiglow

Indiglow is an eerie, glowing, dark blue ink that only comes from the Deathglow Fungus. It was mainly used as a writing ink that allowed its script to perpetually glow in the dark. However, its hallucinogenic properties and dangerous nature, as well as its other more illicit uses has led to its banning and prohibition in nearly all nations.

Properties

Material Characteristics

This ink is a thin, smooth liquid that glows with a deep, dark blue light. So radiant is this light, that writings made from it will be easy to read in complete darkness.

Physical & Chemical Properties

This material is unusually cold to the touch and any who absorb the ink onto their skin may develop hallucinations, strange jerking motions, and possibly death.

Geology & Geography

The Indiglow comes from the special processing of the Deathglow Fungus and can be found anywhere that the fungi can be located. Regions of particularly high concentrations of the fungi are the Zarici Forest, the Caverns of Everdeep, the Iceblast Pass, and the Plains of Sorrow. Any large cities near these areas are most likely to have the ink secretly for sale.

Origin & Source

It is only through a very painstaking and arduous process that the ink can be extracted from the Deathglow Fungus. This process is both filled with danger and secrecy.

Life & Expiration

This writing ink typically last for about a month before it begins to break down and become ineffective. If it is exposed to air, then it will become useless within a few days.

History & Usage

History

Despite its dangerous nature the Indiglow ink has been used, albeit sparingly, for thousands of years. With proper precautions many organizations and individuals have used the ink for a wide variety of purposes. The most common use has been in penning many tomes and spell books but other uses have ranged from magical sigils on city walls, to warning on tower gates, to even diabolical traps. Today the ink is rarely used as the writing medium that it was intended for and is instead used to create the illicit drug Ultraviolet, as that has become a much more lucrative commodity.

Discovery

It is not known exactly when this material was discovered, but it is believed to have happened sometime in the ancient past by the Erumpere dark elves shortly after the exodus to their underground realm.

Everyday use

This liquid ink is used mainly for writing in spell books and magical scrolls. The innate properties of the ink allow the glowing words to be read even in complete darkness.

Cultural Significance and Usage

The Kiser Tet Seers use this ink in a rather unusual way. During their ritual of Szellem Latas, they have begun to place drops of the ink into their eyes. Their eyes instantly take on a dark blue ghostly glow and the participants go into what they say is a mystical trance. In this trance they allege to see ghosts and spirits and even claim to be able to communicate with them.

Refinement

Although this refinement process has been a highly guarded secret, all can agree that the basic steps are to shave off the fungus from their bones and boil them down into a special liquid. The liquid is cooled and dried into a powder and then rehydrated with a secret fluid that completes the metamorphosis into the ink.

Manufacturing & Products

Aside from being used as a glowing writing ink, this material’s special properties can also be used to scribe enhanced magical necromantic and divination scrolls.

Byproducts & Sideproducts

This strange ink may be further processed and refined into the peculiar drug known as Ultraviolet.

Hazards

During the refinement process, any liquid that is spilled onto a person may cause hallucinations, uncontrolled body movements, paranoia, feelings of dread, and possible death. The exact symptoms will depend on the quantity and strength of the ink that is absorbed by the body.

Reusability & Recycling

This material can only be used once as it immediately becomes a part of the document that it is being used upon.

Distribution

Trade & Market

While this extremely rare ink is quite difficult to come by, it can occasionally be found available for purchase in some of the seedier or more eclectic establishments run by alchemists, wizards, and sorcerers. Searches may also turn some up in the out of the way, back alley magic shops and apothecaries of large cities. For a price, the black market is a more sure way to acquire some of this rare ink.

Storage

This material needs to be sealed shut before and after usage or else it will dry out and quickly become ruined.

Law & Regulation

Due to the unusual hallucinogenic and addictive properties of accidental and deliberate exposure to the ink, this material has been classified as illegal and banned in all but the most corrupt cities. Anyone who is found to be in possession of this ink will be arrested immediately.

Type

Organic

Value

The price is variable, but is usually around 100 g.p. per 50 milliliter inkwell when it can be found.

Rarity

This ink is extremely rare and hard to find. Most have to create their own if they want some.

Odor

This liquid has a faint aroma of freshly dug dirt.

Taste

It is rumored that this material has a taste similar to that of bone.

Color

This ink has a deep, dark blue, luminosity that radiates from the ink.

Common State

This material is creatred from the Deathglow Fungus and is found in the liquid state.

Related Species

• Deathglow Fungus

Related Items

• Ultraviolet

Historical Misuses:

One of the first recorded instances of misuse came about when a group of young library scribes painted their bodies with the ink as a prank in order to scare the librarian’s assistant. Their bodies glowed with a spooky blue light and they were said to begin howling and dancing around erratically for hours until they finally passed out from exhaustion and died.
In another instance several wizard apprentices placed some ink drops in their eyes in order to give what they thought would be a haunted appearance. They quickly discovered that the absorption of the ink acted as a powerful hallucinogenic drug. They claimed to have been possessed by ghosts and had an uncontrolled burst of rapidly casting all of their memorized spells. This spell seizure left them paralyzed for half of a year and unable to cast spells for an entire year.

Famous Uses Of Indiglow:

• The spell books of the Nightwatch
• The Astronomicon
• Voyante’s Futures by Voyante
• The Deathbook by Lillian Dred
• How To Slay by Lillian Dred
• The Tailsmans of Neketole
• The fabled doors of the Veil Spire
• Malgrin’s Map of the Caverns of Everdeep