Heroin

Heroin is the colloquial term for the Waters of Heroism Within, a powerful drug derived from Milk Poppies by a secret process known only to The Guild, which has a full monopoly on its production across all of Creation. Fully controlled, intensely profitable, and highly addictive, heroin forms the major pillar of the Guild drug trade, and the merchant cabal considers it the template they must either replicate with other drugs, or expand to push out those drugs and replace them with further heroin consumption.

Distribution

From the noble dandy seeking deeper drug experiences to the soldier seeking to banish all doubt and cowardice before a frontal charge to a destitute beggar hoping to escape his gangrenous body on the streets of Nexus, the Waters of Heroism Within draws in its users from all regions and walks of life. The Guild often uses its influence to force Threshold states to legalize the heroin trade within the regions under their power: in the Scavenger Lands, Lookshy stands as one of very few jurisdictions that still restrict sale of the drug, and Guild efforts continue to expand the market in the Eastern and Northeastern states such as Halta and Linowa. Amongst the Southern cities, heroin can be found aplenty from Chiaroscuro to Harborhead to Gem, Paragon one of few lands to successfully prevent its encroachment. In Varangia, heroin is increasingly emerging as an outlet for those who feel trapped without escape by the astrological caste system, and though trade and use are illegal, Guild smuggling has ensured a growing supply.

Heroin is illegal within the Realm, a law more strictly enforced than that against Opium. However, particularly in major port cities, some smuggled heroin can be found in shady dens within the poorer districts, while a few Dynastic adventurers return with a taste for the stuff and contrive means to satiate their addictions once they have returned home. With the turmoil resulting from the Empty Throne, heroin smuggling is on the rise, and the suffering of the common folk sees more of them turn towards the escape it pretends to offer.

Function

The medical uses for heroin are well understood, with literature produced by The Guild detailing its purpose as a potent analgesic for patients suffering high levels of pain, with effects greater than that of Milk Poppy and requiring smaller doses. Most thaumaturges and midwives in the urban and coastal areas of the Threshold are well-versed in such applications, and the Guild sponsors certain cabals of medical professionals seeking to loosen local restrictions on the sale of the drug.

However, the primary use of heroin is not medical but recreational. Its effects are similar to poppy milk, but faster and more intense, bringing on a sense of euphoria and confidence, melting away pain and worry to place its users in an intense state of bliss.

In either case, heroin is highly addictive and quickly builds tolerance, requiring users to consume greater and greater doses for the same effect while driving them to do so regardless of the cost. Some say that the first dose of the drug is the most beautiful experience a mortal will likely encounter in their lifetime... but no matter how much they try, they will never again be able to reach the perfect state they glimpsed that first time.

Heroin can be deadly for those who use too much of it, but withdrawal from it is the most terrible of its costs: this withdrawal begins quickly after the last dose is consumed, and grows quickly as time ticks onward. Addicts are driven to find another dose, and those who (willingly or not) are stopped from this begin to suffer severe symptoms (more intense even than Opium) such as sweating, chills, pain, powerful muscle spasms, depression, paranoia, nausea and vomiting, and diarrhea. It is quite possible for the person in withdrawal to injure themselves severely through spasms or attempted suicide, or to lose fluids and die of dehydration, unless there are careful caretakers present.

These symptoms are far less severe for the Celestial Exalted, but those medics who have dared compare the travails of mortals with those of Dragonblooded note no discernable difference between humans and Terrestrial Exalts.

Consumption

There are four methods for consuming heroin. The least popular is orally, where the drug is eaten, a method that produces results little different from opium. Vapour is much more popular, the heroin heated in a metal pan or plate over a flame and then inhaled, a method which is predominantly seen amongst the poor. Insertion, as suppository or pessary, is also popular, particularly where heroin is seen amongst the wealthy of the Blessed Isle.

The last method is injection, where the heroin is pushed directly into the bloodstream. In the far Threshold, some regions see this done through use of strange cutting rituals and reed tubes, though these are quite prone to infections. The safer system for injection is the small device known as the Uvanavu's Kiss, a medical tool adapted by the Guild to serve as a delivery method for its most profitable drug. Though, properly used, the Kiss is relatively safe, the Guild's production standards for its product are not high, and the cost of the device (another profitable good for the Guild) means the poor often share and re-use Kisses, causing significant ill-effects upon their health.

Production

While most believe that heroin is an alchemical concoction, the true source of the drug is from several Beasts of Resplendent Liquid. These creatures, bioengineered by the Solar Deliberative during the Golden Age, consume vast quantities of milk poppies and process them internally, pissing out pure heroin at the end of digestion. The secret of heroin's production, along with the location of these beasts, is amongst the Guild's most closely guarded secrets.