Arcatar

Arcatar is a derivative from the wizard's clover plant, the processed resin of which is usually smoked with the intent of increasing alertness, energy and confidence. Associated strongly with wizards and academia in popular culture, arcatar has been used as a study aid for thousands of years in scholarly circles.
Despite its commonality, arcatar is widely known to cause damage to the lungs and throat, and while it is legal in most places across the world, it is considered dangerous.

History

Wizard's clover has been used in spiritual and ritual use across many cultures. When chewed fresh, its natural arcatine and aasperine can make the user feel wakeful and alert, which has been useful for strenuous rituals since the dawn of time. Records of its use exist from the First Age; the oldest of which is a relief in West Osmen that claims that the plant was a gift from Liesiel in their famed dragon form, Li'draaca as a reward for placating their brother, Ervian. Arcatar as it is used today is less recent, and has only been popularised since the rise of industrialisation.

Early industrialisation

It is thought that the true widespread popularity of arcatar began in Osmeni churches, where wizard's clover has been used for many thousands of years as a stimulant to aid in the completion of complicated, days-long rituals. Wizard's clover has always been particularly important to Osmeni churches, especially in arid regions where worship of Ervian is important to bring rain. Rain rituals are complex and time-consuming, and often require the non-stop work of clerics for multiple days to complete, making mild stimulants very useful.
The crystallised resin is much easier to transport and store than fresh wizard's clover, and the condensed form of the drug is much more potent and addictive. It became known by its other common name; priest's powder, during the early days of Osmeni industrialisation.

Association with wizardry

While its roots lie in Osmeni churches, arcatar is strongly associated with wizardry, magic and scholarly circles in popular culture and media. Once its production became easily industrialised, arcatar was imported to Aresia where it became incredibly popular in schools and colleges to assist in late-night study and exams. Becoming first popular in Virias because of its trade ties with Osmen, it became a staple sold in the student's grocer at Texora Academy and was widely available in Isvamelle. Now banned in Isvamelle's public schools, it is still commonly used in Texora, with the school boasting its own arcatar club dedicated to the production of high-quality herbal arcatar.

Its popularisation grew when it became mainstream in The Astrellos Academy of the Arcane Arts, which had a close association with The Astrellos Art Academy, a school that produces some of the most respected and successful authors and artists in the known world. Mages often mingled with their neighbouring art students, forming glamourised romances and friendships and becoming muses for their artistic companions. This lead to an explosion of artworks and books featuring characters and representations of wizards smoking arcatar following its introduction to Astrellos, beginning a character stereotype that stands in the present day.

Production

Arcatar is made through a simple but lengthy process of fermentation and drying.

Harvest and fermentation
Wizard's clover is harvested by hand and taken to large vats. The vats are cooked to kill unwanted bacteria before being inoculated with arcatar yeast, a special kind of yeast that converts the sugars in the plant into alcohol, and processes the natural arcatine into hyperarcatine; the more intense variety of arcatine that allows the resin to be so much more effective. During fermentation, the liquid naturally becomes a thick, honey or gel-like consistency.

Crystalising
The resulting fermented clovers are reheated until the consistency becomes thin again. They are then quickly wrung and pressed using mechanised presses, the runoff being collected in vats.

Cloverin
The resulting alcohol biproduct of fermenting wizard's clover is sometimes distilled off and made into a potent spirit. The distillation process reduces the overall final arcatar harvest, so this process is sometimes skipped in favour of evaporating the alcohol off naturally. The distilled alcohol often has traces of arcatine and aasperine if processed correctly, making a grassy-flavoured spirit with slightly stimulating properties.

Crystalising
Once the runoff is collected, it is kept warm until it can be poured into large metal trays, about half an inch thick. The trays are left to cool until the gel-like consistency has returned, before being dried. This can be done in a shady place outside where there is plenty of fresh air, but not so much sun that it overheats the gel. This traditional method is said to result in a less caustic, more gentle arcatar with a more pleasant flavour, but can take up to 6 weeks for the drying process to be completed. More commonly in industrialised cities, the gel is dried in large fan-fed rooms which speeds the process up and controls contaminants, the gel drying in as quickly as two or three days. Once dried, the gel becomes a large crystallised sheet of resin-like arcatar. This sheet can be broken up and ground into the desired consistency.

Consumption

Arcatar is almost always smoked, and most commonly this is done by wrapping the powder in gummed smoking papers. Oftentimes, it is mixed with tobacco to create what is commonly referred to as a "buzzer" in slang terminology. It is also smoked in a special acatar pipe made from ceramic. While this is a more efficient way of getting the most out of the resin, cleaning arcatar pipes can be difficult as the resin residue solidifies quickly and needs to be soaked off.

Arcatar should not be eaten, as it will burn the throat and mouth if it comes in contact with it directly.

Flavour

Arcatar is widely accepted to be unpleasant in flavour and aroma. With a strong flavour often described as powdery, soapy and charcoally that coats the mouth and throat in a drying effect.

Effects

After smoking, users will feel clear-headed, wakeful and their energy is boosted. Depending on the person and their situation, this can either cause anxiety, or can be very calming. This clear-headed effect makes thinking easier and has been shown in studies to improve learning outcomes and memory when learning new things. Because of this, the drug is popular in scholarly circles, particularly in arcane colleges.

Types and Variants

Arcatar's popularity, especially with younger crowds in colleges and the academic world, has led to inevitable variations and forms of the drug dependant on culture and personal preferences.

Cellar Tar
Cellar tar, also called "Old Tar" or just "Tar", is arcatar produced in small batches with crude methods, focused on maximising arcatine content over safety or flavour considerations. Usually black and slightly sticky, it is much cheaper than formally produced arcatar.

White arcatar
White arcatar is produced by fermenting the clovers more dryly than is traditional, and adding an additional strain of mold during the fermentation stage. This mould takes over the fermentation process about halfway through, changing the colour and flavour of the arcatar towards the end of the fermentation. This process creates an opaque white resin. Often smoked in a pipe, white arcatar is milder in arcatine content, but higher in aasperine, with a mild more enjoyable flavour. It is considered a "gentle" or "more sophisticated" form of the drug, but is often skipped by users who are after functionality over aroma.

Herbal arcatar
Herbs, aromatics, flowers and other flavourants are often added to more high-end arcatar productions, creating more interesting aroma profiles. This type of boutique "craft" style product is not as common in arcatar as it is in alcohol or tobacco production, as the flavour of arcatar is so inherently pungent that most people who smoke it are not particularly interested in how it tastes. There is a niche market of consumers interested in the unique flavour and aromatic profile of arcatar, but it's not commonplace.

Sweetpapers
Smoking papers with sweet-flavoured sticky gum have become a popular option for younger, less experienced smokers as a way to make the smoking experience more pleasant. Sometimes, these papers can also be infused with anesthetics that help numb the throat and suppress coughing.

Health Concerns

Addition
Arcatar is mildly addictive, though because it is unpleasant to smoke on its own, and because of its association with mixing with tobacco, the tobacco is thought to lead to more addiction than arcatar itself. Arcatar addiction can be particularly difficult to shake once formed, as the body becomes used to the alertness produced by the drug, leading to brain fog and tiredness.

Throat Damage
Arcatar is incredibly irritating and caustic, causing a distinctive cough in users while they are actively using the drug. Known as "wizard's hack" in reference to its commonality among wizards, the cough is indicative of the damage being done to the lungs and more particularly, the throat. Because the caustic chemicals in arcatar tend to settle in the throat and not make their way to the lungs, throat burns and cancers are the most common complaint among arcatar users, with respiratory issues usually secondary to throat issues. Also commonly referred to in slang is a "wizard's rasp", referring to the rapsy, hoarse voice that results from years of arcatar abuse.

Tremors
Arcatar is well-known for causing tremors in the hands, and schools that regulate arcatar use will often check the hand stability of students before an exam.

Nausea
Arcatar causes nausea and gastrointestinal upset if smoked in large quantities. This caused the phenomenon known as "exam sickness", when classes of college students become unwell following important exams due to gastrointestinal side effects of arcatar.

Insomnia
Smoking excessive amounts of arcatar can lead to insomnia and sleep deprivation, which is one of the leading causes of illness amongst users.

Overdose
Overdose of arcatar is rare to non-existant. Because of its tendency to make one sick they smoke enough, it makes it almost impossible to smoke enough to become life-threatening.