Psychotic Slumber

An effect caused by the ingestion of Samaban Liquor, a potent spirit painstakingly distilled from the venom of a Forest Samaban, which when imbibed in small quantities can act as an anaesthetic, but in larger quantities allows one’s consciousness to leave the body and travel to planes of existence otherwise unreachable.
The state that allows the latter is Psychotic Slumber, but the temptation of accessing knowledge and secrets that are normally shrouded from sight of those that live on the surface of Kelbonnar should always be weighed up against the risks that inducing Psychotic Slumber can bring. Even those who have recovered from a bad bout of it, claim it felt worse than death.

Causes

The most common cause of Psychotic Slumber is the drinking of Samaban Liquor in a large enough quantity for it to stop acting as an anaesthetic and to instead work to free the spirit from the body. It is thought that there are magical means of producing Psychotic Slumber, but any attempts to replicate this through magic have not been wholly successful.

Symptoms

In its mildest form, Psychotic Slumber manifests itself as the afflicted looking as if they are sleeping, but with open eyes that become clouded with a foggy film that does not dissipate until they reawaken.
Those who start to experience a severe case experience all of the symptoms as mental symptoms rather than bodily ones. They become confused at first and start to lose sense of where their body is in relation to where their spirit is walking. This may then progress to bouts of amnesia, with the afflicted forgetting where they are and what they are doing for extended periods of time and this may then develop into the most serious symptom psychosis, where they start hallucinating things that do not exist in the plane of existence they find themselves on. It is this final symptom that gives the condition its name.
As all of the condition’s symptoms are linked to mental trauma it is not thought that one can physically be killed by a bout of Psychotic Slumber However, the mental symptoms inhibiting spirit from returning to the body mean that it is possible for the physical body to die of exposure, malnutrition or even old age. If this happens, then the spirit of the person is left to wander forever in purgatory.

Treatment

Sadly, there is no treatment for Psychotic Slumber. It is down to the spirit of the individual experiencing it to return to their bodies. For some this is easy enough, but some wander as spirits far from their physical bodies for years. There are even some examples of people of people who have been wandering from their corporeal forms for hundreds of years, their bodies preserved through magic so that they have a living vessel to return to if they are able.

Sequela

For those who experience no ill effects from an induced bout of Psychotic Slumber there are rarely any long lasting symptoms. However, those that do experience a bad bout will often have their symptoms linger on, sometimes for years at a time.

Cultural Reception

Amongst the peoples of the Yalthar Jungle, Psychotic Slumber is something that is actively encouraged through the ingestion of Samaban Liquor so that they can commune with their deities, gain access to knowledge that is hidden from them, interpret omens and divine the future. Most other peoples in Kelbonnar shun the us of Samaban Liquor in this way, stating that the practice of exposing oneself to Psychotic Slumber is rash and dangerous. Nevertheless, people from all over Kelbonnar do trickle into Greltor Province to visit the remoter peoples of the Yalthar, to be placed into Psychotic Slumber in an attempt to learn more about themselves, or something hidden from them or lost to them.

Type

Mental

Origin

Natural

Rarity

Rare