Imaginary Colours

>#Imaginary Colours

>##Narkōtikos, Purveyor of Consumables, Circa 4E 190

Annotation: The tome “Imaginary Colours” has been banned by both the Lorekeepers Union of Yneslea and the Historians of the Imperial Library located within Tamriel, due to having been written and published with a malicious charm hex that has distorted the minds of those who read it, and bent them to the will of the original author. You have been advised.

If you’re reading this, then you must know the risks and have heard the stories…and yet, you still continue to read this as if you don’t care about being damned. I do not mean to scare you, but reading this book may or may not stir feelings locked deep inside of you that have been waiting to break out, and if and when they do, I believe you’re going to choose to let it happen. That’s not an easy decision to make, kith. It’s admirable, honorable, and lets me know that you are a force driven by resolve…however, resolve will not save you from this special madness you are inviting into your life – a curse of GORATH and SANGI, it is – and if you can’t find a way to satisfy it there won’t be enough of you left to burn.

The first step on this path is aegrotat, a foul-smelling herb that grows in Yneslea and has only found value and appreciation in the Western Lands in the last century or so. It can be likened to Tamrielic tobacco, but is effects are much more…sensational. A dark, rotten yellow with blue edges in hue, aegrotat (which means “rainbow shrub” in Echi; “piss mist” is also a valid translation, if you mean to be derogative) is a saltwater-nurtured plant that sprouts in dirt or sand that has been scorched (like the areas of the archipelago that was affected by the Great Burning of Uriel Septim V). The roots of the plant is badly poisonous to all who consume it, and its leaves taste extremely bitter due to the high amounts of corroded saltwater they contain. It is only after a lengthy drying and fermenting process that the inner beauty of the leaves is exposed, and they become ready to be used as a smokeable substance in cigars and pipes.

Have you ever witnessed men and women meeting their kith-kat (“group of friends”) smoking cigars or indulging in hookahs, blowing amazing smoke-animations and rings? And aegrotat produces the most beautiful of them all – smoke that comes in all of the colors of the rainbow, and emits a tantalizing aroma one would not believe exists. The immediate effects of aegrotat inhalation causes one’s vision and depth perception to alter dramatically – colors become brighter and more saturated, while perceived movement results in surreal hallucinations. The tongue and eyes of the smoker also change colors with every inhale, while the mind becomes much more alert as a general sense of happiness and wellbeing overcomes the self.

Yes, aegrotat is sensational indeed. But the feeling of happiness results in the pursuit of better, stronger happiness, and you’ll find yourself growing discontent with rainbow shrub and will begin to search for better things. And if you know the right people, me for example, then you’ll definitely find a better thing.

If you are a fellow Echmer reading this, then you’ll know what oruen is. If not (or if you slacked off in your studies, kith), then I shall explain: oruen is a type of fungus that grows deep within the Dweech, and when boiled in water creates the highly valuable medicine tetra, which functions as both a pain reliever and sedative for severely wounded individuals. Healers are known for creating hoarfrost ecru (the old slang term for “ice cream”) containing tetra because it makes it easier for patients to digest it and benefit from its effects. However, tetra itself can be used to create another substance – a liquid – when put through a special process – lavoi’la, or “synaesthetic splendor”.

Heh, lavoi’la…lavoi’la is everything.

Whereas aegrotat has momentarily effects that go as soon as they come, lavoi’la has more profound effects that permanently alter the consumer’s mind and body; it instigates changes in the brain that allows the user to better satisfy their individual needs and desires. Vision is forever warped as the drug mutates the eyes, allowing one to see the world in a way very few can. Smell is also enhanced, but hearing is decreased to the point where one cannot hear metal pin impacting a floor (that is an Echmeri saying; for a Tamrielic metaphor for you foreigners, liken it to not being able to hear yourself breathing). The pupils become translucent, and strength and dexterity is greatly diminished.

But the detriments matter not, for the greatest enjoyment of lavoi’la outshines them. For by consuming it, you can see colours. And not just any colours – colours that don’t and shouldn’t exist. You may begin to think you’ve gone mad, and truth be told perhaps you have. But this is the complete, ecstatic truth. Have you ever wondered what despair looked like? Time? Heartache? Lavoi’la lets you see all of these things and more. Courage…pain…music…love…death…

These imaginary colours will entice you, wrap you up in their warm embrace and not let you go. That is their curse and their blessing. Ultimately, continued use of lavoi’la will result in the substance literally corroding the brain. Memories are the first to go, then your sanity and control of your bodily functions until your entire body shuts down in a sensational coma, your brain dissolved in its entirely. We call those who sail this path to the end of the sea ‘no-brainers’, although the term is used affectionally instead of in a demeaning way.

Of course, there will always be those who attempt to escape such a fate, and those people are foolish; once you take lavoi’la into your body there is no turning back from that. If you don’t ‘cleanse’ the substance from your body after a period of five days than you never will, and if you go five hours without consuming it than you’ll being to suffer from withdrawal – and that is very unwise. Withdrawal is a painful experience, and it feels as if every type of suffering you have underwent in your life is attacking you all at once in a sevenfold fury. And even after ‘cleansing’ yourself you still won’t be free of the roots lavoi’la has burrowed into your system – you may no longer have to consume the drug, but you’ll become eternally empty and lose all sense of self without it. So, in the end, you have two choices: death or the complete loss of the self. And with those choices, why not continue to embrace the love of lavoi’la?

Lavoi’la is consumed in three different ways – digested like food, inhaled through the nasal cavity in powdered form, or injected into the veins through the use of needles. Each of these ways dictate how fast the substance will affect the user as well as how powerful:

Like its parent substance tetra, which can be used to create a medicinal ice cream, lavoi’la can also be used to create frozen cream that harbors its effects. It usually takes about eight minutes for the cream to digest within the stomach and spread its effects throughout the body, the longest out of the three normal ways of consumption.

In order to powderize lavoi’la you must first take the cream created from the substance and then freeze it, before grinding it firmly into dust-like ice specks and placing it in a refrigerated place so it won’t melt. When the individual is ready to inhale, they must simply breathe in deeply; there will be a moment of pain as the small ice shards cut their way through the nose and an unpleasant feeling of coldness in your brain, but the wonderful effects will be practically instantaneous. And as we Bat Elves say: “If it doesn’t hurt, then why are you doing it?”

Finally, to inject lavoi’la you must attain a hollow needle which the individual will then proceed to fill with a cooled off brew. Next is to find an ideal vein (usually located on your arms or on your neck) and make an incision in order to insert the needle, which will deposit the liquid lavoi’la into your body. It usually takes three to four minutes for the effects to begin this way.

For those who use lavoi’la, there will be times where your mind will win some inward struggle and you will be able to converse and move about as if you never consumed it. Yes, the brief periods where you are you are always nice. But when the colours return, that is where the real happiness begins. This is the price we pay. This is the price we pay to see the colours. And this is the price you will pay as well. Because deep down, in your heart of hearts and in your spirit, you want to see the colours too. And I can’t wait to introduce you to them.