Blightshade

Blightshade, also known as Zarilite in the Shadow Dimension, is a plant which was engineered by the Zar'il in order to warp the mortal plane. The plant feeds off of magic, and corrupts it, thus drawing even more negative magic into the area. With enough Blightshade, small regions can be totally warped and turned into lands in which dark magic becomes exceedingly powerful, bolstering the strength of Devils. Blightshade is relatively rare on the mortal plane because the plant struggles to grow in regions with little negative magic and therefore must be husbanded carefully. Many devil factions also try to get their followers to destroy the plant, as they fear it will lead to Zar'il encroachment into the area. In the Shadow Dimension, however, it is ubiquitous, and has become one of the main types of foliage that can be found there, so the opposition factions don't even try to clear it out.

The plant itself has been compared to certain varieties of nightshade, and this comparison stuck in its common name due to its toxicity. When the plant is under deep shadow or by the dim light of new moons, it is indeed almost indistinguishable from nightshade, however it is visibly cloaked in darkness even outside of shade, making it easy to differentiate in most cases. The plant has leavews and stems which are almost entirely black, while its flowers are a shockingly vivid purple. The reason this plant is not green is that, with the lack of sunlight in the shadow dimension, it has no need of photosynthesis. Instead, Blightshade feeds on the magic present in an area. The plants are highly adapted to chaos-suffused environments, to the point that they will wilt, turn a pale color, and then die if left in an area with little to no negative magic for too long. It is this which makes them difficult to grow on the mortal plane, as the eddies of magic can pull away negative magic or flood an area with positive magic such that they die. In the shadow dimension, where almost all magic is negative, there is little danger of such eddies causing them to die.

Despite blightshade's use as a tool of conquering the mortal plane for devilkind, few are aware of this grand plan- it is actually more commonly known as a hallucenogenic drug. The effects of blightshade on the psyche are horrifying, as the victim will begin to have mood swings, memory loss, personality changes, and lowered intelligence. Eventually, these periods of lucidity will cease altogether, leaving the victim trapped in their own decaying mind, which will soon cause their death as their body's functions break down. During this phase, they are prime prey for devils to feed on their fears and insane visions, while also being full of the negative magic which acts as a beacon for devils in the know. Most of the time, such effects only occur if one willingly ingests or smokes the plant in large quanities, but being around fields of Blightshade for long enough can passively rot the brain and lead to death. It is also highly dangerous to burn the plant, as it sets off a stream of chaos and negative magic into the area when this happens. If enough Blightshade is burned, whether out of fear or in a natural fire, the results can cause enough magical radiation to scar the area for decades.

Blightshade is most dangerous as a drug, however, whether smoked or injected. Through mental discipline, one can control the visions they see while on the drug, and can essentially live in a fantasy land. This can feel extremely real, and encourages victims to abandon their normal life to live an "augmented" reality. Many of these addicts and the culture around them claim that there are ways to forestall or prevent the harmful effects that occur when smoking blightshade long term, but these are just the unfortunate ramblings of those too deeply addicted to stop, or scammers trying to get a quick buck off they dying. Although short terms use is usually recoverable, long term users are essentially stuck for life as the body becomes dependent on the drug and craves more negative energy. It's essentially irrevocably damaging without the use of extremely powerful healing magic, which is both expensive as well as being unable to totally cure the effects. Long term users, though they may stop hallucenating if weaned off the drug, will still have to cope with permanently lowered intellect, personality changes, and potential magical defects. While applications of positive magic would seem to be an effective cure in theory, in practice blightshade binds with the bloodstream such that applying positive magic in an attempt to cure those effected can cause pain, death, or even set off explosions. For this reason, discipline must be maintained when treating those who are aafflicted with blightshade addiction. Even if cured, if one has used the drug long enough, victims may become little more than zombies, with all the joy sucked out of their world and only being able to do menial tasks.

During the early days of the Duskborn, blightshade was used to commit many murder by extremists on both sides due to its abundance and extreme toxicity. It was cultivated in large quantities for this purpose, and used as an early method of biological weaponry. However, over time its use waned as the Voidheart developed a natural immunity to its toxins as they embraced chaos, while the Startouched gained a natural resistance as well as other counter measures. A black market trade for the drug does still exist, fueled by evil voidheart dealers selling through middlemen for use on the mortal plane (since Blightshade grown in the shadow dimension typically has stronger effects). The plant is also used by devils for its effects on mortals, which is useful for torture, since the devil can extract more fear and pain from the victim.

Strains grown in the mortal plane, though less powerful, are still able to cause the same effects, and some plantations do exist. In particular, blightshade is cultivated on parts of Yyradayn, Cet'aenn, and south Ærellion, especially in communities under the sway of the Zar'il. The plant can also be found growing wild in these areas, and there exist small pcokets of the plant all across the world, wherever pockets of chaos tolerate its existence.