Songbird
What is the most prolific drug in your world? How did it come to be and what does it do?
Songbird is a performance enhancing drug that was developed to help people training to use their magic break through plateaus in training. It was quickly co-opted by the military go give an edge in battle. It is a quick way to get everything a caster could want for a short time. It lets a user access more mana at a time and not get exhausted as quickly. Its name comes from the chirping sounds it makes as the two inert parts are mixed to activate them before usage.
The downside that was discovered after the drug became more widespread is that it is habit forming. Between the rush of going beyond your abilities and the chemical dependency users quickly begin making excuses to use the drug. As the drug is used over time the user begins to find it harder to focus on their mana reserves without it. Eventually a user wont be able to access their mana without the drug and even then not to their original levels.
In the past years Songbird has been outlawed in Andorell and society shuns those who use it. Despite this, it is quite simple for a decent alchemist to make doses of the drug. It is a favorite of students who think they can use it responsibly and sometimes adventurers will use it to push deeper into ruins. It is not uncommon to see respectable looking people travelling to the seedier parts of the city in search of a few doses of songbird.
Militaries and competent adventuring parties will have members that can use their abilities to greater effect than this drug gives with less downsides. A support caster can give the other casters access to more of their mana pool at a time and help keep exhaustion away during a fight for longer. Large scale military actions may not have sufficient support casters for all squads but most countries will still prevent usage of the drug inside of their militaries.
Overview
Songbird is a performance enhancing drug that was developed to help people training to use their magic break through plateaus in training. It was quickly co-opted by the military go give an edge in battle. It is a quick way to get everything a caster could want for a short time. It lets a user access more mana at a time and not get exhausted as quickly. Its name comes from the chirping sounds it makes as the two inert parts are mixed to activate them before usage.
Long term effects
The downside that was discovered after the drug became more widespread is that it is habit forming. Between the rush of going beyond your abilities and the chemical dependency users quickly begin making excuses to use the drug. As the drug is used over time the user begins to find it harder to focus on their mana reserves without it. Eventually a user wont be able to access their mana without the drug and even then not to their original levels.
Societal reactions
In the past years Songbird has been outlawed in Andorell and society shuns those who use it. Despite this, it is quite simple for a decent alchemist to make doses of the drug. It is a favorite of students who think they can use it responsibly and sometimes adventurers will use it to push deeper into ruins. It is not uncommon to see respectable looking people travelling to the seedier parts of the city in search of a few doses of songbird.
Militaries and competent adventuring parties will have members that can use their abilities to greater effect than this drug gives with less downsides. A support caster can give the other casters access to more of their mana pool at a time and help keep exhaustion away during a fight for longer. Large scale military actions may not have sufficient support casters for all squads but most countries will still prevent usage of the drug inside of their militaries.
Item type
Drug / Narcotic / Medicine
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Entry for WorldEmber 2020
In response to the prompt What is the most prolific drug in your world? How did it come to be and what does it do?
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