People taking large doses of
Shimmerspice risk addiction, and, in extreme cases, an illness widely known as the Shimmers.
Shimmerspice Intoxication
Minor cases of the Shimmers are characterized by an altered mental state, and will usually be reversed over a few days, if the subject stops consuming shimmerspice. These changes generally take the form of greatly increased self assurance and assertiveness. In short, people with the Shimmers are both overconfident and combative (to an even greater extent than the most violent drunkards), and regularly get into duels, brawls, and heated arguments, making them into a danger to both themselves and others. These effects are particularly dangerous for
Adventurers, as keeping a cool head when fighting monsters is often critical to surviving the experience.
Shimmerspice transformation
More extreme overdoses are rarely survivable; too great a dose causes unrestrained growth in the subject, which has various horrific effects. The best case scenario involves extreme growth in all muscle groups and a lengthening of all four limbs. However, any sort of injury someone is suffering from at the time of the overdose will concentrate the effect more on that area. For example, a person with a bad back will likely develop immense back muscles and growth of their spine, coupled with considerable difficulty moving their lower limbs due to the sudden changes to the spinal cord.
The intense physical transformation is accompanied by an equally intense mental one; someone unfortunate enough to experience it will find themselves consumed by an overriding aggression that suppresses all reason, causing the person to lash out at anyone and anything around them as if in a life or death struggle.
Those who are so transformed rarely survive for more than a few hours, even if they are restrained or left to rampage unchecked. The strain of the transformation seems to be too much for the heart to take, and it just gives out and stops beating. In order to save them at this stage, powerful restorative magic is needed to reverse the transformation. People who are restored often require a great deal of care afterwards, as the experience is both traumatic and physically exhausting.
Comments