Cherry Scorpion Venom

"No, this is mine, you can't have it." 
"What's a small hunk of stone going to help you with?" 
"It's to remember my wife by." 
"You'll need to use your memories." 

— conversation between S.A. Ayloffe and Mornse

Properties

Material Characteristics

This purple liquid can be found in the venom sacks of the cherry scorpion, and then gently squeezed out. It will ooze to the surface and collect onto the creature/being/item that's being pressed against it. The venom is slightly sticky as well and depending on the surface touching it, may stick for hours later.

Physical & Chemical Properties

When freshly squeezed from the creature it rightfully belongs to, the venom is warm. After about five minutes away from the venom sacks, it cools down enough that nimble fingers can shape it. After ten minutes, whatever shape the venom is in can't be changed. The venom is most dangerous when freshly taken as that's the point when most flesh can easily absorb it. As soon as it starts to harden, there is a layer between flesh and venom, so while accidental dosing is rarer, it can still happen. 
Amusingly enough, if flame is applied to fresh venom, the result will be a cloud of dark purple smoke that will injured a person's lungs. That same flame applied a few minutes later can guide the molding process, but later on does nothing.

Compounds

Most people use this venom as "nature intends" (they kill or maim people with it). However, a few enterprising characters have been able to craft a few items using the venom as an ingredient or tool. 

Venom as a Tool 

When added to fur or any hairy texture, venom can be transferred to another person or object. This has an interesting affect on paint and metal, the first being an aged effect / purposeful pattern and the second giving a slight purple sheen. 

Venom as an Ingredient 

When the venom is soaked up by fibers and left to dry in the sun, a small purple crystal forms on the rope. This crystal can be added to food for a safe kick of spice. In addition, if the venom is added to ink, then a hidden message can be displayed by writing the word first and then covering the whole paper with venom ink. The paper dissolve in the places that have been double hit by the ink, leaving the message shape behind.

Geology & Geography

The Red Desert is the only place where this material can be found in the wild, however, there are people at the Pearl Lotus that know of this venom and have a cherry scorpion or two encaged since trips to the Red Desert are rare.

Origin & Source

The venom can only be found inside the venom sacks of adult cherry scorpions. The cherry scorpions are native creatures in the Red Desert, one of the deserts inside the Shifting Sands.

Life & Expiration

If left to completely harden in the shape it emerged from, the venom is at its highest potency when heated back into a liquid. If the shape was molded, but then heated back into a liquid, then the potency has a range between weak to dangerous.

History & Usage

History

When the White Lotus Hotel set up in the Shifting Sands, there were tours to each of the colored deserts nearby (Red, Green, Blue, Violet, Black, Yellow, and Pink). However, due to the nature of some "untouristy" elements in several of these regions (the cherry scorpions in the Red Desert, as an  example), the desert tours were restricted to the White Desert only. At the same time that some of the first tourists died due to venom, several employees of the Hotel realized that this would be a good way for guests to accidentally pass on while staying at the hotel.  
Currently, not many people know about the uses for the cherry scorpion venom beyond using it for assassination attempts.

Discovery

While the use of cherry scorpion venom as a deadly agent discovered during the first tourism trip into the Red Desert, the other uses of the venom sacks didn't come up until MC fled the White Lotus Hotel and began living in the various deserts of the Shifting Sands.  
Xe saw how the venom could be soaked up by fibers, so xe took a plaited rope and used that to experiment. When the purple crystals emerged, xe didn't eat them at first, but fed them to several creatures he'd capture that were usually effected by the venom. When they didn't die, or even show an injury, xe tried them out xemself.

Cultural Significance and Usage

There is no cultural significance or usage since this is from a world where there was no culture using it.

Refinement

The item can be, and is constantly, used in its found state. However, if another person wants to use the venom and it's been allowed to harden into a solid piece, then warming it will bring it back to its natural state.

Hazards

The way of taking the venom from the cherry scorpions means that there is a high risk of being bitten (non-venomous) and/or being stabbed with either of the two tails (venomous). 
As this is still a new substance, there are no known hazardous effects, however, one of the Hotel employees, who uses this with guests that need to disappear, has started to take small "tastes" of the poison so if it's ever used against him he'll be able to resist it. So far he's looking and acting healthy, but it's unknown if this is building up within him or if he's actually building up a resistance.

Distribution

Trade & Market

There are three times when cherry scorpion venom can be sold: first, from assassin to assassin in the original venom liquid state. Second, in the hardened state, as a stone given from staff member to staff member as a memento (it's rare to find, so it represents choosing love over money). Third, in the original state of being in the venom sacks of the cherry scorpion.

Storage

The venom itself must be stored at a higher than average human temperature, usually around 150 degrees. This allows the venom to remain in its liquid state. 
When the venom is hardened, anything under 150 degrees would keep it hard, but the best temperature would be around 100 degrees or less for safety reasons. However, it's not uncommon for hardened venom to reach human temperature, especially when it's warmed by skin. 
A live cherry scorpion needs to be kept in a dark, quiet, and cold place. It'll live off of small creatures for a week or so, but will come greet fresh water being sprinkled into a small drinking pond for its enclosure.

Law & Regulation

If a staff member is found with venom on them, it will be stripped from them. The higher up staff members don't want the "underlings" to discover the stones contain a venom that can be used against them, so the item is usually stripped away to put a down payment on the staff member's loan or against a future fee.

^N/AN/A

Odor

Nutty

Taste

Bitterly / Spicy

Color

Purple

Common State

Liquid