Dragon's Repose
Dragon's Repose is a plant whose leaves possess a mild hallucinogenic, which makes it a very popular harvest only from the forests of the Living Lands. It's also highly explosive when improperly dried. Entire communes of Occurus families grow the plant for export by various factions of drug lords around the country. The plant was historically used for medicinal purposes, as it is found to calm and raise the spirits of the user when smoked or cooked into foods. In fact, long term usage of the plant often led to longer life spans and healthier bodies much farther along into their lives; the long lives of Occuri is often jokingly attributed to their copious consumption of the plant.
Its use as a drug did not develop until much later as tribes began to unite into cities, and the plant spread farther and farther across the quickly populating country. It began to lose its historical name as 'Greencalm,' and gained popularity as 'Dragon's Repose.' Those who took large amounts of the mass farmed plant often developed semi-addictions, depending on consumption in order to function in daily life. Today, with the mass produced drugs that hit the streets, over-users are often identifiable by the black streaks in the veins around their eyes. These marks are usually caused by over-ingestion of the resin that sometimes ends up in the plants that aren't dried properly.
As grow operations popularized, drug runs from Everia to the surrounding countries developed swiftly under the watchful eye of the Crescent Council. Other drugs like Dulsa Dust have quickly grown in popularity, but Dragon's Repose remains in power in the black markets. While the Silver Brotherhood have forced a crackdown in recent years, the drug continues to influence the country, and keeps the black market in business.
Dragon's Repose was popularized in the time after Everia's Rising by Asmond Atlas Alkasyr, who regularly used the material. While the plant was well known, the stigma behind it did not fade until many years after the Great Heroes left Visctheria.
Asmond discovered the plant on the battlefield at age 15, after a nearby warrior recommended it to clear his mind. He also discovered its explosive properties while escaping a burning house with undried Dragon's Repose in his satchel. The smell has also gotten him in trouble more than once, the strong scent of skunk allowing him to be found in stealthy situations.
Comments