Heartbreak Syndrome
We had to make it work, right? 'Til death do us part and all that. Iuris is a good Lord to have, especially if you've every been to a truly lawless area, but it means that divorce isn't an option.
We weren't exactly rich, but we weren't exactly poor, and paying for a discreet alchemist was not out of reach. We stocked up on a supply of love philters, and used them when we needed to. If we had a function to attend, and had to appear to be deeply in love, we'd each take one together, and we'd truly feel it - for the night, anyway.
Have you ever taken one? The feeling of it is beyond what you can imagine. You make a deep connection, and you know, in your heart, that this person is the other half of your soul. You want nothing more than to be with them, both as a life partner and in the carnal meaning. And when you do come together, it is mind bending the way that you synch completely with your partner.
But there's a cost. The feeling doesn't last, and remembering everything that happened, without the magic, and you start to resent them. You think how you didn't really feel it, and how it's all a lie. But you still have to keep it together, and the sex is so good, that you keep on taking it, in higher and higher doses to keep it doing its job. When you're on it, you're a perfect team, moving together, getting what you want and need. When you're off it, you get paranoid, knowing you've been used. You look at everything with suspicion. And even though it takes more and more to feel the love, the effect on your body is just as strong. The heart going pitter patter with one philter becomes the heart pounding with three. The butterflies in the stomach become intense nausea, as the dose becomes too much for the body to handle.
I held her - the woman I did once love, before we drifted apart and started all this - as she choked on her bile, and as her heart began pounding, then skipping. She grabbed me, and looked in my eyes as that heart stopped.
Causes
Heartbreak Syndrome is the common name for addiction to love philters. Love philters are dangerous potions that inevitably lead to abuse.
When used to make someone love another, even when that person is aware of the potion, it will breed resentment when the potion wears off. This makes the person more resistant to future doses, requiring more of the potion for the same results, and a bigger negative reaction afterwards. When used as a sexual aid for different partners (and it is very effective at increasing sexual pleasure), this negative build up is fairly slow. But reusing the philter with the same partner will quickly increase the negative feelings.
The philters are addictive, and most users will continue to use them, either for the increased sexual pleasure or for the temporary love bond.
Symptoms
When off the philters, sufferers become paranoid and secretive. Their subconscious recognizes that they have been losing control and have had feelings manipulated, so they respond by distrusting everything. They quickly lose the capability to form or maintain binds with others, withdrawing on themselves.
Often, sufferers need a philter in order to function at all. It is possible for an addict to use a philter while looking in a high quality mirror, and being able to function for a time. This can lead to intense self loathing, and suicidal thoughts.
Treatment
If an addict avoids the substance for long enough, they can break the addiction. This does not reverse any of the mental effects, but going without for a month eliminates the mild physical cravings.
Clerics of Devenir have recently developed a cure for the syndrome that can allow a person to feel the full range of emotions again. This requires a ritual to be done under the light of Nila when full. The addict must take a philter to a place of natural beauty, and bare themselves to the light of the moon. They take the potion, and spend the next ten minutes contemplating the beauty of their surroundings. If done properly, they will feel a calm descend over them, as they become attuned with a love for the world in general. Feeling this unencumbered love has a 50% probability of eliminating the mental effects of the addiction, and cures any physical effects.
Prognosis
If unchecked, the addiction will lead to death, usually through heart failure.
An effort of will is generally sufficient to stop using, and mental effects will not progress without further use. The natural love method is the best known method at this point, and can be used repeatedly until the mental effects are cleared.
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