Atlantic Roleplay Community Boards

[Thrax]

---

Now that he had a sample of the powder, Lomar, appreciably skilled in alchemy, decided to unravel its secrets. Setting aside a sufficient quantity for the main purpose of the acquisition, he began his experiments, collecting a varied array of human and animal specimens on which to conduct them.

He made several noteworthy observations of the effects, not all of which were harmful, of the substance, though none occurred in all test subjects.:

It did not lose potency over time if kept dry.

If diluted in water, or heated through cooking, it was a powerful flavor enhancer and did not release any harmful properties.

It could induce euphoria, including hallucinations if ingested raw, or if snorted, even in minute amounts, but not in every case.

It could relieve pain and make the pain threshhold increase, sometimes to the point of numbness.

It could heighten the senses, make one very alert, giving the user the distinct delusion that he or she had great superiority in intelligence, insight and and wisdom far greater than everyone else around them.

It could produce a very pleasurable calming effect.

On the negative side:

It appeared dangerously addictive.

Some hallucenogenic effects were often gruesomely horrifying. It was capable of producing delirium tremens, paranoia, schizophrenia and homicidal episodes in creatures, most especially elves and orcs. Those types would often kill or try to kill to obtain more of the powder for themselves.

It would quickly degrade the lining of the nostrils so that mild bleeding would result even after a few small doses.

It could make weaker-minded creatures more susceptible to suggestion as if hypnotized; even to the extent that their natural tendencies would be repressed. In one experiment, a man's pet dog was easily incited to maul its own master.

Large doses might prove fatal.

What is this you have found, Magnate? How did you come by it? I must... will... know!

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not differentiate nor identify its compounds; he simply was not good enough an alchemist.

But I know one who is!

He took along less than a thimble full to Alderglen, to visit a drow named Dharzhal.

[Thrax]

---

Dharzhal's expression upon opening the door to his home and seeing Lomar standing there spoke volumes about the lack of appeal and respect he held for the priest of Oggaroth. He did not bother concealing his disgust. "Why are you here?"

"May I enter? I should not be observed hereabouts." Lomar glanced around furtively.

"State your business, priest. Then I will decide if it warrants another minute of my time, much less your admittance into my house," came the biting reply.

Lomar accepted the insult with grace. They had never been close at all; he being called upon to track down and hound the renegade drow at the behest of his god, and the other living in fear of the god's reprisals and capriciousness. He showed Dharzhal a stoppered vial containing only the slightest amount of a nondescript powder. "I bring a gift. It is called 'Utopia.' I would like you to analyze it for me."

Dhar looked at it lustfully. "Come in," he said, leading him inside.

Although Lomar was quite used to darkness and darkened rooms, this was pitch-black. He compensated by casting a spell of Night Sight.

"I forget that you are human," Dhar spoke in such a way that Lomar wasn't sure it was a statement of fact or another jab, or both. He tossed a chemical onto a brazier and fire blazed forth from the charcoal within it.

This was Lomar's first visit to his former enemy's home. The room he stood in was the complete alchemist's laboratory. He was sure nothing was lacking. From vials to reagents to books and liquids, everything necessary to run alchemical experiments lay, in organized fashion, on three large stone tables and on shelves. Dhar sat down, extending his hand, palm up. Lomar dropped the vial in it. Dhar looked over the top of his special lenses at the man. "Utopia, you call it?"

"Not I; likely its inventor."

"Who is?" Dhar returned his gaze to the vial and tilted it slightly sideways.

"I believe it is Magnate Isk. That is what my sources tell me."

"Suppositions are not helpful."

"It is all I have been told."

"How came you by it?"

"A certain pirate..."

"Captain Rotten," Dhar interjected. He remembered the man's ship lying at anchor nearby for about a week, and the sight of its Captain staggering between it and the hostel every morning.

"...made a trade run between Papua and Magincia before its destruction. He kept a little back for himself. You know how pirates are."

"I smell sulphur on you. Very strong. Either you have been traipsing about volcanoes or else you are an alchemist yourself. Which is it?"

Lomar chuckled. "The latter. I commend your keen sense of smell."

"My suspicions are far more keen when dealing with the likes of you. I must know everything you know about this substance. Spare no detail. Omit nothing. If you expect me to help you then, as near impossible as it must be for the likes of you, you must be totally open and honest with me. If I sense any deception, consider our association terminated."

Lomar took him at his word and divulged the results of all his own experiments with the powder.

Dharzhal opened the vial and took a very light sniff of its contents, twice. "Synthetically produced... not naturally occurring; reptilian component; floral aromas..."

"But it is odorless to me."

"You are a human. Our sensitivities greatly vary. And mine are honed more perfectly," he said, matter-of-factly. He continued the odor analysis. "Cellulose composition, or at least there is a faint hint of... oakwood."

"It *has* been on a ship for a long time," Lomar suggested.

Dhar nodded and set the vial down on the table behind him. "I will help you on my conditions. They are not negotiable."

"Name them."

"I keep this sample and if I need more, you shall get it for me. You must tell no one what I am doing; not even a hint. Finally, you shall owe me a great debt, a favor I will call in when I need it, and you will not decline it whatever it is. Do you accept?"

"So be it."

"We shall see. I will send for you and report my findings."

Taking his statement as a subtle hint to leave, Lomar departed.

Dharzhal at once began to seek to unravel the mysteries of the strange new powder brought to him by a latent enemy.

[Thrax]

---

*Ultimately this entry was inscribed into Dharzhal's Journal*

"Utopia - Analysis

Substances Identified/Purpose/Est. Amt. per Ounce

Chalk (binder? color?) 50%

Nightshade (hallucinogen) 20%

Reptile Thalamus (unknown) 10%

Salt (preservative?) 10 %

Tree Resin (Reaper?) (binder?) 5%

Fungi (Exec. Cap?) (unknown) 1%

Nox Crystal (unknown) 1%

Blackmoor (unknown) 1%

Unknown 2%

Exact proportions not known. Will require much time to make that determination. More time to determine the effects, if any, of each ingredient. It is possible some ingredients were added after manufacture, or could have been residue from previous items in whatever container(s) it has been stored. Many variables.

Process of synthesis would be laborious and time consuming. The odor would be quite pungent, making the lab very conspicuous from even a moderate distance.

Estimated Purpose

Tenderizer (original purpose I was told)
Pleasure - Euphoria, tension reliever
Pain reliever - Sedative
Poison - in large amounts over short period of time

Personal Evaluation

One or more components make it highly addictive, pyschologically so due to the pleasurable elements.

No honest market value as its use as a tenderizer is offset by its natural disadvantage of addiction and ease of abuse.

Black market value, inestimable."