Solilux
You miiight want to head to a different bar for the night. The bard's been giving a lecture on the merits of different weaving techniques for three hours.Solilux is a recreational drug found usually in the south of Valathe that has long since been made illegal throughout the continent. It's known best for the eloquent speech it grants those who take it, and is dreaded by healers for the utter annoyance its side effects bring. It's mostly the fact that the drug's takers can't and won't shut up, and when they're told to, they can't even hear the order.
Bardic Enhancement by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
As a drug created through alchemical means, the drug itself can avoid detection by magic-sensing devices and is relatively simple to smuggle. However, it does count as a poison for abilities relying on detecting poisons, and thus cannot be easily smuggled into venues equipped with magical poison detection.
A version that is considered a drug does exist, but it is exceedingly rare due to the complexity of its creation.
Solilux first appeared in 5460 as part of a massive surge in recreational drug creation in the past few centuries. It was subsequently popularised across Vosmeno during the uprising that would spell the nation's end over the next couple of decades, and is credited for bolstering the resolve of some of the uprising's more passionate speakers.
It was restricted in the Aletheian Empire by 5490, and banned outright in the large crackdown that happened in the mid 5500s; similarly, it was banned by the Medimian Empire in 5479.
Creation
Methods to create illegal drugs or poisons will not be listed in the Codices unless by exceptional circumstance or unless the document in question is restricted. If one has a legitimate reason to need to purchase or create this substance, then local alchemists may be able to direct one in the appropriate direction, or one may contact the dell'Oleandro family of the Vostene Republic.
Symptoms
Can you hear me, or are you too busy talking about yourself?If solilux had simple, easily-managed symptoms, it is entirely possible that it would be a legal - or at least restricted - drug. Unfortunately, significant doses of solilux heavily outweigh its benefits and cause extreme negative impact on the drug's users.
The initial primary symptom, through which solilux became popular for recreation, is the gift of the gab it grants its users. Those taking solilux experience a strong increase in both confidence and speaking ability, and find themselves more able to access the full breadth of the language they speak.
In small doses, this works well as a boon for anyone involved in public speaking, and is especially useful to counter nerves. It is not uncommon for those dealing with legal matters to take solilux in order to more easily handle the complexities of courtroom speech, despite its status as an illegal drug. In higher doses, this boon encourages the taker to speak to excess, often using such flowery language that it may not be possible to follow along with what they say.
When too high of a dose is taken, this confidence and speech becomes somewhat overwhelming. The taker may present with a constant stream of consciousness that they cannot cease, or may have reduced themselves to merely making incoherent sounds.
Soliloquy of the Red by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
Secondary Symptoms
Are you drunk? Why are you falling all over the place like this? By the gods, be silent for a moment, I'm trying to ask you things!When solilux first was created, it was thought that the hearing loss was simply a representation of magical counterbalance to the speech boon the drug grants. Unfortunately, this was an extreme underestimation of the drug's impact. It would eventually be revealed that solilux is a degenerative drug that powers its advantages through the rapid degradation of other aspects of a person's body.
Tragedy in Crimson by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
The hearing loss it triggers is a direct result of the drug's first choice of target - the inner ear. Damage to the area is such that the taker does not experience physical pain and cannot notice the initial damage, but tinnitus is an immediate presentation of the damage caused. If experienced, the user should stop taking solilux immediately.
Further damage to the body continues along logical pathways, if solilux continues to be abused. Dizziness and vertigo represent attacks on the vestibular system within the inner ear, and after hearing loss has begun, these symptoms are the next to manifest.
The damage continues along multiple paths at once from here, creating a confusing confluence of symptoms that represent the body's response to the attacks from within.
Attacks on the nervous system result in arrhythmia and rapidly shifting blood pressure and extreme nausea, among other symptoms.
Final Stages
Cleric! I need a cleric - or a druid, or-- anyone who can heal! My partner, he's gone utterly mad, and I can't... I can't help him...!If the victim survives the attacks on their body, then they begin to experience visual disturbances and neurological challenges as their eyes and brain begin to suffer attacks. This can manifest early depending on the dose of solilux, and can present as incoherent rage, rapid and severe memory loss, or complete catatonia, depending on where the drug takes from first. This is typically when the effects become so severe that survival can no longer be expected, and the effects of solilux are the only thing maintaining the body as any sort of individual. If the effects of solilux end while the victim is in these final stages of suffering, the victim typically expires when their sounds end, as solilux is no longer maintaining them. They may be prolongued through further doses of solilux if strong magical restorative magic is on the way, but the body will continue to deteriorate.
Prevention
I have no desire to speak myself to death. With all of these tainted drinks, then, I must find ways to survive...As solilux is relatively hard to detect in those who are already quite confident and charismatic, at least in its early stages, it is occasionally weaponised against politicians, celebrities, and chatty locals. This form of assassination typically relies on the victim being exposed repeatedly to small doses of solilux, often by sneaking it into their drinks at consistent venues they attend, followed by a much larger dose to trigger the more severe effects all at once.
Since the initial side effects are mild and overlap with those experienced by being in consistently loud areas for too long, and perhaps also by the effects of various alcoholic drinks, there is little suspicion of solilux poisoning until the larger dose is used or until withdrawal symptoms are experienced. By then, there is no undoing what has already been done except by very strong magic, and further poisonings remain a lifelong risk.
Thus, protective measures need to be taken by those that may be at risk. As solilux is recognised by magic as a poison, this does make it relatively easy to avoid if one can afford magical protections.
Detect Poison is a cantrip for all casters, and wands of it can be obtained for a minimum price of around 375gp - a steep cost for a commoner, but an essential part of doing business for merchants that suspect they may be at risk.
For those with more money, a common solution is the Vigilant Pillbox, which detects and delays poisons.
Assassin's Equipment by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
History
To speak with confidence is to practice enchantment without ever casting a spell!Solilux is one of an array of drugs and poisons discovered and subsequently produced by the dell'Oleandro family and their associates in the 5400s. The family had a long-standing presence in Vosmeno at the time, and due to the uprising, were rarely bothered by the strict laws their monarchs had put into place. When they did find trouble at their doorstep, the dell'Oleandro family used connections among the nobility to pass the blame elsewhere and thus avoid trouble.
Unassuming Cellar by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
This state of affairs had continued for some three centuries, preceding the uprising, and would continue past the destruction of Vosmeno and rise of the Vostene Republic. Despite the close ties the dell'Oleandro family had to parts of the Vosmen nobility, though, it was barely a secret that they preferred the rebels.
They offered great amounts of financial support to the rebels, and as the fighting entered the 5400s, they established a number of small training and development facilities in the subterranean regions of the nation. These were commonly hidden near or beneath the family's extensive wineries, and as such, became known as the dell'Oleandro Cellars - or 'Cellars' for short.
The town of Mezzotta held the most prolific cellar, and was where solilux would be developed along a series of other poisons and addictive drugs. The cellar was carefully architected to look no different to a regular wine cellar when entered, and had great quantities of wine available to fool loyalist police or spies.
Its creation was hailed as a wondrous thing for the resistance's public speakers, but was very carefully rationed. Though there were no experiments done to ascertain the full scope of danger in solilux, there were multiple poisonous flowers involved in its brewing and the beginning effects were noted almost immediately. Tinnitus is hard to ignore, after all.
More extensive testing was undertaken by laboratories elsewhere on the continent as exports of solilux continued, resulting in its rapid ban from the Medimian Empire as a nation committed to preventing illicit substances, and later its restriction in the Aletheian Empire.
Initially, most alchemists determined the poison to be damaging in a manner similar to alcohol, and assumed the effects on the body were simple magical interference with the body.
The bans in Aletheia and through rest of Valathe came when one laboratory autopsied victims of solilux poisoning.
Solilux Brewing by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
Drugs in Dust by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
The ripple effect through the alchemical, magical, and medical communities was immediate, and for a time, solilux consumption went down dramatically as countries hastened to increase restrictions to outright bans. The cultural impact of the damage did not last, unfortunately.
Nowadays, solilux is a widely-used but highly-illegal substance. In small doses, it is taken as a recreational drug, and in higher ones, it is used for drawn-out poisonings. It is not particularly popular and goes unrecognised by most, but thankfully can be detected by most standard methods.
A secondary form of solilux created as a powder is considered to have the same effects, but does not count as a poison for magic's purpose. This secondary form is incredibly challenging to produce and thus is rarely seen or discussed.
Solilux by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
Type
Chemical Compound
Origin
Engineered
Cycle
Short-term
Rarity
Uncommon
Mechanical Details
Poison Form
Drug Form
Performer's Boon by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
Perchance, my dearest associate, has your fine self had the occasion to lay your ever-sharp eyes on my highly esteemed spouse? She is possessed of a rare and exquisite beauty, the likes of which have rarely been sighted beyond the Heavens themselves! Oh, to remark upon her is to pray at the altar! Pray tell, would you delight in the chance to greet her and depart onto a verbal voyage most wondrous? Tis an extraordinary opportunity unlikely to be offered again, I must humbly request that you give great consideration to that which lies before you!
Political Assassination by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
The damage solilux does is quite extreme for a poison. I understand that the better treatments, magic-wise, are also those that tackle diseases. I've been putting together a research paper suggesting that even the poison form is not quite poison, but more of a drug itself, or some form of magical affliction that defies both categories. I suspect we've all been underestimating this one for quite a long time, if my fears are correct. A poison and a drug cannot be treated by the same brush, but this goes beyond both. I'm currently of the opinion that solilux serves as a mild poison itself, but that it triggers the creation of a harmful condition that is stimulated by the poison's presence. This condition shouldn't be considered part of the poison itself, honestly. If we investigate the long-term effects exclusively, and ignore the initial impacts of the poison, then I'm of the opinion that we'll be more likely to find an actual treatment path for those who have experienced the degenerative condition...
Cellar Secrets by Hanhula (via Midjourney)
I can see why people would take it despite the dangerous side effects, considering that in small doses it really can be a benefit.
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