Substances! Illegal and Otherwise

Hi, hello! I'm curious about what recreational drugs exist in Avaria, from caffeine to tobacco to opium to everything in between. What substances are illegal? Which are legal but frowned upon? Which are legal and used pretty regularly? Are any substances considered as something only the dirty, filthy plebs would indulge in? Are any substances considered so hoity-toity no self-respecting street thug would touch them?

There are many recreational drugs available in Avaria, and even just in the Sirdabi Caliphate. Caffeine is frequently consumed in tea and coffee, and qat is another fairly commonly used stimulant. Opium of course exists and is a thing you can smoke in-game. There would also be cannabis available in smoked (hashish) and drunk (bhang) forms. Bhang is especially popular in Omrazir among the lower classes, while hashish is more often smoked by the middle and upper classes, especially from a hookah.

All of these drugs are legal, though opium in particular is heavily regulated with high import duties placed on it by the caliphate (it's a reliable source of income, after all, along with hash). Since intoxication is frowned on under the Azadi faith, use of these substances is not entirely approved -- it would generally be considered a vice, though how serious a vice is up for debate. Coffee and tea are most typically judged to be acceptable, qat is tolerable, and cannabis use is also fairly normalized although officially somewhat less acceptable. Opium is a little more fringe, as some people consider it a valid way of briefly forming a deeper connection to the Dream, but don't approve of its being used "frivolously". Its addictive properties are also known, so it's not entirely respectable.

There are several other Avaria-specific drugs too, so I started up a page on the wiki for them: Recreational Drugs

This certainly shouldn't be considered a complete list, but these would be among the most common and best-known drugs of the Sirdabi Caliphate. Blunt is a lower-class thing, lace is very high-end and high-class. There would be exceptions of course, but this is a general rule. Most other drugs could potentially be used by anyone with the ability to obtain them.

Thanks so much for this!

I assume that the designations of control/legality are based on the laws and regulations of the Sirdabi Caliphate... if that is the case, can you possibly speak to the situation in the Kalentoi empire? Or perhaps more to the point at the moment, the legal situation on Kalentoi vessels traveling international waters? ;D

Thank you for this! A fun lore dump.

Drug use is definitely less acceptable in the Kalentoi Empire, and most drugs are also less available there. On the other hand the drug trade is much less regulated under the Kalentoi Empire than under the Sirdabi Caliphate, in large part because too much of the empire is too decentralized to exert coordinated control over imports. Most of the drugs on the list would be more common to the eastern, Ruleskan part of the empire, and Calentium and some other eastern cities are considered rather decadent for local use of hashish and opium. But overall there's less drug use across Kalentoi lands and Ruvera.

On board a Kalentoi ship like the Greenest Dolphin, what happens there is largely up to the captain! They might have a more permissive attitude than in Kalentoi society as a whole (everyone knows sailors are a bunch of moral reprobates, after all), or they might crack down on drug use even among passengers for fear of encouraging bad practices among the crew. So.... everyone should give it a shot and see what Paldeo decides to do to them!

(sits back and makes popcorn)