Ghamiq
“Nobody will laugh long who deals much with opium: its pleasures even are of a grave and solemn complexion.” -Thomas De Quincey
Description
Stored in what can only be described as a small statue with a stopper sticking out of the top, Ghamiq has a decidedly dry taste, seemingly a mixture of desert air and dust. The bottle, though there has been some change over the years, is generally in the shape of a sleeping dragon, with the stopper sticking directly into it's heart.
History
'Ghamiq is a drug famed far and wide for its ability to induce a state where one's ties with the mystic are enhanced, where one is able to make himself a bridge between the realms of magic and our world; and as such its use is proliferate.' -High Mage Yhrwind in his 'A Treatise on Magic'
The drug is produced from the Ghamiq mushroom, a fungus found only in the abandoned mines of the city of Khaniq, and the plant and the secrets of the purification of the drug itself are both closely guarded secrets of the city. The drug is produced by a small segment of the population refered to solely as the Hidden, boys that were bought from their families at a young age to work on producing the drug.
The children are forced to work first at refining the actually Ghamiq, and if they survive their first three years and are still sane (a feat few achieve, due to the constant exposure to the drug) they are slowly moved further and further away from that part of the mines, first to delivering the mushrooms to be refined, and then growing the mushrooms, until finally, when they've reached the end of their lifespan, they work in the mouth of the mines, bringing food to the others, and bringing the finished drug back to the surface.
Properties
Ghamiq allows one to use magic far more proficiently, and for far longer, than you'd be able to do unaided. Unfortunately there are side-effects, most of which are mild or avoidable. The first few are a sensitivity to light, the positive side of which is that it makes it easier to see at night, secondly it causes you to rapidly dehydrate, making it unwise to double dose, and finally prolonged exposure produces mild to severe psychosis, as the veil between what is real and the other realms is weakened and shredded. Lastly, when exposed to light of any kind, it rapidly loses its potency, becoming little more than horrible tasting water.
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? Responses (5)
Poor children.
This would be the perfect item to let your magician use, with the player of course neglecting to read all on its background. Next time he boasts about being the good guy, let someone point out the source. Fun item.
I agree with Manfred and Checka, this is a useful item for a RPG campaign, I hope I remember to use it. You have here in this write up both a spring board for a plot and an interesting item that could offer player both meta game advantages and roleplaying directions.
Altogether a good idea. A little more detail would be helpful. For example, is it expensive? Is it plentiful? Why does it shred/damage the mind? How does it change the magic as it's created? Can one magic user tell that another is dosed? How does the drug effect a psionic? Can prolonged exposure produce permanent night vision/light sensitivity? Just a few thoughts on how this could be developed further.
This is excellent and can easily spawn an adventure, if not impact an entire campaign. Regres questions of scarcity amd cost I think are answered by the description. Rare and dear, given the human cost in its manufacture.