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One of the primary, yet least acknowledged economic bases of several Anorian kingdoms was the cultivation, sale and trafficking of many different varieties of mind-altering drugs. The most common, and therefor the most accessible, were spices derived from certain herbs and roots which grew in and around the far southern nation of Kedesh.
Though most of these herbs were imported from Kedesh were of the aromatic variety and used primarily for food seasoning, there was one, known as “Demon’s Bristle” which in a concentrated form was a volatile poison. Too bitter to have culinary uses, when dried, powdered and ingested, the spice produced hallucinations, dullness of thought, euphoria, and in extreme cases, convulsions which led to death. Ingested in various ways (through inhalation, smoked in pipes, or mixed with wine), Demon’s Bristle spice was incredibly addictive. After only a few uses, the ingesters would find themselves cursed with a physical dependence of the substance. Successful withdrawal from this fiendish spice has never been reported.
Certain tribes of the inland Angora Jungle used the spice as a sacrament in their religious ceremonies. The physical effects of the spice made it attractive to both primitive and “civilized” members of Anorian lands. Allegedly, colors became more vivid, music was more pleasing to the ear, the doors to beauty and perception seem to have been flung open. The spice was so powerful that it made little difference how it was ingested; however, old medical codices report instances of those who had inhaled too much would soon suffer from nasal and anal hemorrhaging. Because of this, and other factors, the lives of spice addicts were often brutal and short.
In many ways, the effects of Demon’s Bristle spice were similar to “Heaven’s Jade” crystal, a mineral found in the foothills of the Grey Mountains. The unusual properties of these greenish crystals were attributed to their mystical origin. They were reported to be the petrified tears shed by the Chaos Beasts when they were exiled from Anoria during The Great Banishment.
In any event, the crystals were boiled for three days in pots of wine. At the end of the third day, the “Chaos Fluid” contained within the stones was considered to have been properly mixed with the wine. The resulting mixture was then bottled and sold as a fine liqueur. Though not physically addictive, rapid intoxication was attributed to this liqueur, not to mention delusions, madness and blindness. The liqueur was in much demand by the aristocratic class of several large nations, and many generations of hill people devoted their lives to doing little else but providing the mixture to merchant guilds.
Peasants of Amarath cultivated the root of the Changa Lupus plant; known in local vernacular as “The Werewolf Weed.” This substance was extremely popular with worshipers of the god, Baal. When burned in open braziers, the fumes would induce a form of atavistic regression in those who breathed the noxious vapors. Those so effected would in due course, revert mentally and emotionally to an animalistic state. Brutal appetites and hysteria developed among the people who overused the Werewolf Weed. Historians remarked that even cannibalism was reported at weed burning sessions. Soldiers of Baal dominated lands reputedly burned the substance for twenty-four hours before going into battle. Whether this is truth or fable cannot be ascertained. The only long range physical detriments attributed to the usage of the root was permanent brain damage.
Demon’s Bristle Spice, Heaven’s Jade crystal fluid and the Werewolf Weed were all easily accessible, at least in major metropolitian areas. Pandona, long known for its cosmopolitan and decadent tastes, enjoyed a steady market of spices. The Guild Darangar, contracted by the House Vharday was responsible for the import of the more exotic mind altering substances, especially the Demon’s Bristle from Kedesh.
For those unfortunate enough to be addicted to the spice, yet not in financial condition to buy it at House Vharday’s inflated price, there existed a lucrative underground market – not only in Pandona, but in other cities. The laws restricting the sale of these substances were not easily enforceable and they were imposed more from an economic view than a moral one. At one point, in the early 3500’s, when the price of Demon’s Bristle spice increased due to a drought, House Vharday mounted a military expedition to Kedesh to take the crop and oversee its continued cultivation. The Kedeshian army successful checked this incursion and several years of diplomatic maneuvers were required to reopen the trade lanes. Situations such as this made the development of criminal merchant syndicates such as the Morab Brotherhood not only possible, but inevitable.
Based in Dystryll, seaport city of the nation Cathia, the Morab Brotherhood was a vast web of vice and crime which radiated out its filaments to entrap other countries. In most of the larger Anorian cities, the Brotherhood maintained “Spice Dens” where addicts could safely retreat to in order to indulge their destructive habit. They maintained a rock solid monopoly on the underground market of spiced, and independent dealers were dealt with in a ruthless fashion. Even Guild Darangar was forced to pay a percentage of profit to the Morab Brotherhood (an “import tax”) in order to transport the substance to Pandona. More than one “Spice War” erupted as various powers tried to wrest the monopoly from the Brotherhood. But because their influence was so widespread and far-flung, none of these attempts were more than temporarily successful. The Morab Brotherhood maintained their grip on the underground spice trade, as well as a string of gambling halls, brothels, ale-houses and outlaw safe-houses
In sume, it appears with the benefit of many years hindsight, that the use and abuse of drugs was generally restricted to citizenry of Anoria’s more “civilized” nations. One cannot help but wonder why. Cetainly their lives were hard enough already.
Excerpted from “Where The Faith?” by Gwynn Asserious, Sage of Pandona, C.E. 5222.
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