Cuppat's dust

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POLVO DE CUPPAT

Históricamente, los Cuppat han sido criaturas imposibles de domesticar: Son violentas, escurridizas, tóxicas, y no se reproducen bien en cautiverio. Sin embargo, se ha intentado docenas de veces debido a lo valiosos que son para la creación de Polvo de Cuppat.

Este polvo color verde, hecho con su fibroso y tóxico cuero, mezclado con bilis y algunas otras partes de su cuerpo secadas y molidas, es una popular droga recreativa y en cierto modo, "laboral", utilizada largamente por artistas de las islas del sur y centro del archipiélago por sus propiedades que estimulan enormemente el poder de la imaginación.

Es enormemente codiciada, y la caza de los elusivos Cuppats para este fin es un provechoso emprendimiento.

Características

Olor	"Como la lluvia en el pantano, como el barro del compost terminado en el que se entierran las manos por primera vez, como (...)"
Sabor	"Como el horror de observar los ritos de cortejo de estas criaturas, como lo sublime de la Torre cian de las estrellas, como (...)"
Color	"Como joyas de esmeraldas, como el agua del pozo abandonado, como el fuego de cobre, (...)"

Uso

Cuando se lo consume oralmente, el Polvo de Cuppat genera un estado de "éxtasis literario" que aumenta enormemente el poder de su imaginación.
Las personas entran en un trance en el cual no sienten sueño, ni hambre, y sus ideas estancadas comienzan a fluir velozmente, y nuevas ideas surgen a borbotones, de diversa calidad. Las personas entonces comienzan a producir arte a enormes velocidades, al tiempo que dicen sus ideas en voz alta, y practican los bailes, canciones y actos que se les ocurren, lo cual puede ser divertido, si no vergonzante, de observar.

Los artistas más ricos suelen contratar un asistente que escriba todas las ideas que les surgen y guarde total silencio respecto a lo que vió. Los menos adinerados pero con buenos amigos suelen acumular ahorros para comprar una pequeña cantidad de polvo, repartirlo en su grupo, y uno a uno consumir mientras los demás anotan, luego de prometer honrosamente no hablar de las ridiculeces que el afectado hiciese durante su trance.

Riesgos

La piel de los Cuppat es tóxica, y, sin el debido refinamiento (un correcto secado, y la combinación de estas pieles con bilis de las mismas criaturas) o en grandes cantidades, puede causar una intoxicación en la persona, caracterizada por la inmediata insensibilización de la boca, vomitos, y extremidades dormidas. Los síntomas van y vienen rápido y no suelen pasar a mayores con el debido cuidado.

Por supuesto, también existe el riesgo del ridículo si la persona se atreviese a consumir esta droga en público.

Venta

Este compuesto es vendido mayormente en bares y cafés de día, y en algunos colegios artísticos y foros de filosofía y artes dramáticas. Es bastante caro en comparación a otras drogas y usualmente está reservado para clientes cuyo comportamiento es respetable.

Regulación

Si bien el Polvo de Cuppat no está prohibido, las leyes de varias de las islas establecen que las personas no pueden mostrarse en público bajo la influencia del mismo, que solamente puede venderse en pequeñas cantidades, o junto con leche, o que ciertos aditivos deben agregarse para neutralizar su toxicidad.

Domesticating cuppats has been historically an impossible task: They are violent, elusive, toxic, and do not reproduce in captivity. However, this task has been attempted dozens of times, as whoever manages to do so would be rewarded with a massive advantage in the manufacturing of the expensive and sought-after Cuppat's dust.
This coarse green dust, made with the cuppat's leathery, toxic hide, mixed with the bile and other dried and ground body parts is a popular recreative and somewhat occupational drug, used largely by artists on the southern and central islands of the Haan Archipelago, due to the stimulating effect they have on the user's creativity and imagination.
Cuppat's dust is highly coveted and expensive, making the hunting of cuppats a rewarding business.

The creative dust

I have just what you need for that writer's block

Glorious raven advisor by Naelin

When consumed orally, cuppat's dust generates what's known as a "creative ecstasy": The user will enter a trance of sorts in which they will feel no hunger or tiredness, and their creative ideas (of diverse quality) will start to flow like a torrent, while those that were lying stagnant will rapidly develop.
The person will then start producing art at high speed while loudly telling, practising or acting out their ideas, songs, dances or plays they devise, an act that can be fun to watch, if not embarrassing.
Letting the dust dissolve under one's tongue generates a much faster, but also way shorter effect.
People under a cuppat's high find it difficult to pace themselves down in order to write down their ideas, and afterwards their memories of the moments of euphoria are usually diffused, so richer societarians usually pay for an assistant to quickly take note of each idea spewed out by them, while also buying their absolute silence about what they would see.
Those of lesser economic fortune but with better friends usually save money in a common fund in order to acquire a small amount of dust that they then share among the group, so that they can one by one consume a part of it while the others take note. This is always done after an honourable promise of not talking a word about the ridicule acts that their friends would enact during their trance.

Risks

Cuppat's skin is toxic, so without the proper refinement and treatment (A drying of the skin and the mixing of it with the cuppat's own bile) or when consumed in large quantities, it can cause an intoxication characterized by the immediate numbness of the mouth and extremities, nausea and vomits.
These symptoms come and go in a matter of a few hours and most of the time don't become severe without the proper care.
Of course, another potential side effect of this drug is the ridicule, shame and risk of public indecency if the person doesn't ensure to only consume it in private.

Trade and regulation

Cuppat's dust is mostly sold in cafés and houses of pleasures, as well as in some artistic schools, philosophy forums and drama clubs.
It is extremely expensive compared to other drugs, and it is usually reserved for customers known to have respectable behaviour.
While cuppat's dust is not banned in almost any place, laws about it vary in the many islands of the archipelago, most of them forbidding from consuming or being under its influence in public. Others regulate that it can only be sold in small quantities, alongside milk (a supposed cure for a potential intoxication) or with some additives that neutralize its toxicity.

Cuppat by Naelín

Type

Organic

Value

Highly expensive

Odor

"Like rain in the swamp, like the dirt of a finished compost pile you are burying your hands in for the first time, like (...)"

Taste

"Like the horror of observing a cuppat's mating ritual, like the sublime grandiosity of the Cyan Tower of the Stars, like (...)"

Color

"Like emerald jewels, like the water on the abandoned well, like copper's fire, like (...)"

Related Species

• Cuppat

Paid Muses

Some people with too much money to be happy think that the effects of the dust's high are too embarrassing to consume it themselves, but they still want the benefits.
They have found a way around this by hiring paid muses that will consume the drug in their presence as the employer writes down the ideas they like, that will then be used without the original creator having any right over them.