[✗] [Drug & Plant Lore] Arrisk and Rusk

[2samspan 240]

An arrisk is a conifer shrub that grows in groups along mountain ridges, in areas where not many varieties of foliage are capable of growing, or mountain meadows. It typically grows to be around 16 inches (.4 meters) in diameter and 18 inches (.45 meters) high. In the summer, if it is in a fairly temperate area such as a meadow, the shrub can fruit, giving off fleshy red cones that can can be eaten like berries, however they do not taste particularly good. If they grow these 'fruits', some of the leaves will flatten out and look a little bit like scales on a fish, and oftentimes these leaves will form around the berry, making it look almost like a flower. Due to the windy atmosphere it finds itself in, arrisks grow roots that go deep into the ground and then grow tiny barbs so they have a firm grisp on the ground around them and will not risk being blown away in particularly harsh winds. Its roots, when ground up, create an extremely potent drug named Rusk.

 

Rusk

Spoiler

 

Rusk is a depressant that comes from an arrisk shrub. Its roots can be ground up and snorted to create a highly addictive drug that causes a state of delirium, making the user feel tired or drowsy. Common side effects include a decrease in appetite and making the user forgetful (i.e. forgetting things he said a few minutes ago, where he put stuff, nothing major). Rusk should only be taken in very small doses, as what might be considered a medium sized dose for something such as quartz dust can cause memory loss and muscle atrophy. Due to the potency of it, a tiny sliver of the root the size of a sewing needle would be enough to make a grown human male high if ground up. Arrisks don't have a particularly large amount of roots, but due to the portions that it is typically consumed in, a single shrub can supply someone for a very long time, and as such it is usually fairly inexpensive.

 

Dosages and Side Effects

Spoiler

 

Rusk should be taken in very small quantities for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, because of its addictive qualities and side effects, it can quickly lead to someone wanting to ramp up their dosage. Secondly, it is an incredibly potent drug, and it does not take a lot to overdose and die. And as such, all doses need to be measured very carefully. To a 200 pound adult human male who had never had Rusk before, 100 milligrams (a small dose) of Rusk would be enough to get you very high. A full grown 350 pound Orc or 230 pound Dwarf could take 150 (a medium sized dose) to achieve the same effect. However, for even a fairly bulky Elf, it is extremely important to keep your dosage extremely low, as a tiny dosage to one would have the same impact as a small dosage to a human, unless they are exceptionally resilient. And while Ologs have the highest tolerance for this drug out of the descendants even the hardiest Ologs should be extremely careful when considering increasing the dosage. But, of course, with the increase of dosage, the state of delirium gets much more powerful to the point of becoming, according to the few that have managed to survive tremendous doses, something akin to a coma, with the user completely aware of himself, but doesn't respond to any external stimuli for as long as they are in this state.

 

Keep in mind that usually you will not feel every side effect. At tiny, a human or kharajyr will typically only feel one side effect, and an Orc or Dwarf none. Here, it goes up linearly, with small meaning you would feel two side effects, and an Orc/Dwarf one. At medium, however, a human would usually get three short term side effect and one long term, and an Orc/Dwarf two short term. At large, a human would have to start worrying about overdosing or risking a major health complication, and would get 6 short term side effects and two long term side effects. An Orc or Dwarf, at this point, would get four long term. At extra large, a human would almost surely reach the point of having some life endangering side effect or just flat out death by overdosing. Here, an Orc or Dwarf would also begin to risk death or causing some major health problem. These doses can continue to go up if somebody really wanted to try and press their luck, however anything over 300 milligrams is near certain death for even the healthiest of Orcs. For Elves, take their dose and move the side effect scale up one, so a tiny dose would be equivalent to small, and so on.

 

Tiny- 50 milligrams

Short Term Effects (Immediate-24 Hours)

• Short term memory loss (e.g. forgetting where you left something you put down a minute ago, forgetting what you said a few minutes ago)
• Loss of appetite
• Cold sweat

 

Small- 100 milligrams
Short Term Effects 

• All previous side effects
• Dry mouth
• Shortness of breath
• Increased heart beat
• Long term memory loss (forgetting the names of people, where you are)
• Irritability

 

Medium- 150 milligrams

Short Term Effects

• More severe versions of previous short term side effects (e.g. complete loss of appetite, minor heart palpitations)
• Shivering

Long Term Effects (1-4 Weeks)

• Migraine headaches
• Nausea & vomiting

Permanent Effects*

• Memory loss, ranging from that day to a week
• Loss in muscle
• 25% chance of death in Elves

 

Large- 200 milligrams

Short Term Effects

• All previous short term effects

Long Term Effects

• Full body rashes
• Muscle spasms

Permanent

• Severe muscle atrophy
• Memory loss, ranging from a month to years to, in rare cases, complete memory loss
• Yellowing eyes or skin
• 25% chance of death in humans or kha, 75% in Elves, 5% in Dwarves and Orcs

Extra large- 250 milligrams

Permanent

• 75% chance of death in humans or kha, 100% in Elves, 45% in Dwarves and Orcs

Gigantic- 300 milligrams

• 98% chance of death in Dwarves or Orcs

 

*will only occur if a human repeatedly takes medium doses or an Elf takes one

 

Preparing Rusk

Spoiler

Making and preparing Rusk is fairly easy. Acquiring the plant needed for it, though, can be a bit more difficult. Since arrysks grow high up on mountains, and on areas where you could be near a steep dropoff, you need to be extremely careful. To get an arrysk's roots safely and efficiently, it's suggested that you bring some very warm clothes, a shovel, a knife, and something to secure yourself to the mountain. Once you have secured an arrysk, try to dig around the area to get as much of the roots as you can. Next, you should cut off the shrub for the sake of convenience, but that is not a necessity.

 

Once you have brought the roots back to wherever you wish to prepare them, all you'll need is some water to wash the roots off, and a mortar and pestle, to grind the roots up until they are a fine powder. After that, you should have a bowl of a brown-grey powder with a scent similar to peanuts. Make sure to carefully measure out the amounts of this, using whatever method is most convenient to you, but a good rule of thumb is to take a tiny blade of grass and put the Rusk on it. Then wipe off all excess powder so the only powder left is what's in the groove on the blade. That should be a fair estimate, but it is highly suggested you find more accurate ways to measure this before taking any Rusk. 

 

 

[Man of Respect 5436]

How do I use it? I mean, its a powder, is it via snorting or through a different way

[2samspan 240]

Just now, Man of respect said:

How do I use it? I mean, its a powder, is it via snorting or through a different way

You snort it. I'll edit it so it's a bit more clear on that.

[Mephistophelian 972]

This is likely to get denied simply because it's in the wrong area. Save both of us some time and post this on the link below and in the correct format. That way, we don't need to edit the lore and maybe crop out some parts, or even deny it for being in the wrong spot.

 

 

[Jistuma 1995]

Denying because it was remade in the plant index.

[Jistuma 1995]

This Lore has been denied. Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.