Absentia
Absentia is a translucent, faintly opalescent narcotic potion originating in Riedra, refined and distributed quietly among certain circles in Sharn despite its illegality there. When consumed, the user falls into a deep, trancelike coma during which their awareness becomes unmoored from their own body and instead experiences the world through the senses of another, somewhere within a mile. To those who indulge in it, absentia is not taken for thrill or escape, but for disconnection—a deliberate surrender of identity, control, and narrative for the duration of the trance.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Addiction Moderate, Fortitude DC 16
Effects 1 hour; The user falls into a coma-like trance during which their consciousness perceives the world through the senses of another living creature within 1 mile. The target is selected at random and cannot be someone protected by mind blank or similar effects. Sensation is full and five-fold—taste, sound, touch, scent, and vision as if firsthand.
Hidden Risk
During the trance, the user’s body lies open and undefended. A possessing entity, typically a Quori spirit can seize control of the body without resistance, regardless of the user’s personality, ability score, or training. This truth is not common knowledge; most users believe the vacant stillness is simply part of the drug’s effect. The Quori rarely exercise this option—but the fact that they can is the point.
History
Absentia emerged only in the years after the Last War, circulating first in salons and private gatherings before becoming an open secret among the jaded elite. While outwardly treated as a fashionable indulgence, the timing and source of the drug have led many scholars to suspect that its introduction to Khorvaire was deliberate, though no conclusive evidence has surfaced.
Significance
For some, absentia is used in the search for perspective: an attempt to inhabit another life, another circumstance, if only briefly. For others, it is a quiet form of self-erasure. Within Riedran philosophy, the dissolution of individual experience into the communal psychic stream is considered a step toward enlightenment—though this meaning is rarely understood by Khorvairian users.
Absentia is not widely accessible. It is produced through a process controlled by the Inspired of Riedra, and what reaches Sharn is distributed through the Boromar Clan and a handful of discreet intermediaries. It is most commonly found among the bored wealthy, disillusioned artists, certain arcanists, and those who seek to forget themselves without being seen doing so.