Passion Purge
Fanaticism can be just as dangerous as fire. Spreading like fire, it could spark rebellion and could lead towards violence. As a way to curb devotion to the abstract, king Hareth of Garilroot asked his Mages to come up with a solution for those too invested in an ideal.
'Enough is enough... I ... WILL... NOT...ABIAAARGH!!!'
-Final Words of rebellious peasant Garret Polhamus
A simple mixture of Friel Root and Ried stone shavings, followed by a powerful magical evocation produces a dark grey liquid with the ability to dampen emotional investment. The theory was that the chemicals supplemented by magical compound would produce among most humanoid creatures a dampening effect on emotion. All tests were conducted on imprisoned rebels, showing a positive correlation between those taken the concoction and their emotional stimulus when met with the injustices of the king. No longer fiery, they seemed submissive and willing to return to their station. It appeared as though it was a success, king Hareth eager to mass produce and distribute among the masses.
For awhile, the kingdom was docile, until the first testee, tilling to his fields, was met with one of the king's tax collectors. Many of the altercations once held over the unjust taxes had been a thing of the past, allowing collectors to claim taxes with little hardship. It was until this day, that an unknown variable of the potion came into effect. Met with a cocky arrogant tax collector, the peasant was given an ultimatum, give up his farm or give up one of this daughters. Met with a flood of emotion that had been stored away til this day, the effects of the drug faded, and the peasant snapped. With an emotion so powerful, his hatred and anger had formed a metaphysical flame that immoliated him and the tax collector until both were nothing but cinder.
From then on, the flames of abstract, became the flames of physical, taking many avenues. Those who were once in love, their relationship deadened by the concoction, would meet in one last fiery tryst. Those with a passionate enthusiasm for music, would be set ablaze with their instrument as they continued on with one final fiery crescendo. The king's kingdom was burning to the ground, because he could not contain the raw emotions of his people. With the smoldering remains of his kingdom, he made it so that Passion Purge would be banned from his kingdom.
Still, Passion Purge circulates among Thieves Guilds and Black Markets, often used as a tool for assassinations. Only strong magics or divinations can cancel out the weight of the potion's effects. It is said that though they burn physically, those who imbibe the potion do not feel any pain once immoliated, allowing them one final chance to indulge in their passion before their bodies cease to function. They feel only the strongest passion they've invested the most emotion towards.
1d4 Weeks before the dampening ends. Please consult a physician if body combusts.
'FIRE!!'
Summer may be winding down (in most places), but the fires of imagination still burn bright.
Thousands upon thousands of years ago, role-playing was invented by our ancestors. Long before the first wheel rolled down a hill, and long before the first loaf of bread was sliced, early humans sat around their caves regaling each other with tales of gods, creatures, heroes and villains, and entertaining themselves with impersonations, play-acting, and role-reversals. All this was made possible by the roaring FIRES inside their caves, which warmed their bodies, roasted their meats, and shone light on their faces.
This month we celebrate FIRE and Role-Playing!
'The Quest revolves around the element of FIRE. Water, Air, and Earth need not apply.
Items, Locations, NPCs, or Plots. All are welcome as long as FIRE is involved! Don your asbestos suits and enter with us, into the all-consuming inferno that is this month's Quest!'
15XP for each submission with 100XP for 1st and 50XP for second.
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? Responses (10)
Well, first of all welcome to the Citadel, VIM40! Way to jump right in and join a quest.
On to the submission...
Wow. I read this sat back and had to think about it for a few seconds. So what we have here is, a potion that temporarily dampens all emotions (particularly, a person's passionate emotional 'investments'),the effects of which last 1-4 weeks, and after which, causes the pent up emotions/frustrations to manifest into an actual flame, which erupts from said person, immolating completely and irrevocably a small localized area of effect.
Yep, i can get behind this stuff. So many ways to play around with this substance, and ideas for in-game, comical (and deadly) scenarios involving this substance and its uses, flood my brain as I write this.
A few questions, 1. How easily is this stuff made? (or, how common are necessary ingredients?). 2. Is there anything that can help determine how long a person's vested emotions are dampened? (or purely random 1-4 weeks?)
I really like this. Some of the little details, like people feeling no pain as they immolate, but only an outpouring of pent-up emotion, rings a perfect tone. This is a short but fully presented concept, yet really gets the mind spinning. Kudos.
Love the tagline by the way! ...a solution for those too invested in an ideal :) (sub curb for curve though)
Thanks for the welcome and comments! And I applied the correction.
Gather the components should be easy, it's the magical evocation that'll require a very powerful magician or a joint effort among group of skilled spell casters. I like Valadaar's idea of the duration being dependent on the intensity of the drinker's passion. Still, it could be just a random variable like a 1d4 where a person who holds out the longest releases an even more powerful combustion.
Indeed! This is an excellent first sub!
As for the duration, perhaps it is more of a function of how strong the dampened passions were. Someone very passive might be able to go longer without exploding, since they didn't really have a driving passion.
Much better then my first sub,and a very good way to bump people off.
This is an excellent idea and I enjoy the flippant tone of the piece. These sorts of narrative devices have a long tradition in the old morality tales of the middleages and the disturbing fables used to scare children into obeidence. The game uses of these are endless.
A PC could ingest this and then have the challenge of not overeacting to things. The Passion Purge could be a very useful hammer for the GM who wants to force a player to explore a different emotion or a character they want to blow up.
The PCs could have to escort a person of importance (or royal child if you are feeling very dark that day) who has a tendcey towards indignation. The villians could then find a way to get Mr. McGuffin to ingest the Passion Purge. Now the PCs have to keep him safe and calm.
The placebo effect of this thing is also something that could be explored with a light hand. Passion purge could be used to expose the realtive shallowness of activists. The so called burning hearts could be fed an exiler very much like passion purge and once they believe they have ingested the passion purge they simply shrug off the cause of the endangered flame fowl or the Holy Firestick registration act.
Finally there is a suicide bomber angle, which is perhaps best left unexplored. But a fatalistic army could ingest the passion purge before entering battle and then, god's willing, hold back their rage until the enemy is upon them. It would also make the army easier to manage until the time of battle, assuming your seargents were easy with the lash.
I do feel that the use of this is limited to historical fantasy setting. The item could not be used in any setting that has an internet or similar system. The surest way to destory a city would be spike the water system and give everybody free internet. The conflictual attitudes, the superserious logic, cultural narrowness and the anomyous arrogance of chat rooms, message boards and massive multiplayer games would no doubt boil the blood all those on the PP.
This is an excellent submission regardless of how many you have submitted before.
Haha, I love your ideas. I had actually thought about the suicide bomber angle, a tactic often used by rebellious peasants with little resources to fight with. Thank you for the comment, it is very much appreciated.
Now of course, the potion would be after some time metabolized... the question is, how long will it take, with a potion designed to last long? Months, years? And who is safe from his own emotions for such a long time?
A very neat and destructive creation, and a first submission even! Welcome, WIM40. Enjoy your stay.
An ingenious invention, without a doubt, and perfect for a dystopian fantasy session, much like the series of games I'm planning to run which mix magic and tech. In this setting, the two main sides are based off of Communist China and NATO/ the UN, but there are numerous smaller, third-world nations between the two belligerents who would pay top dollar for a product like this. One angle might be that the players are working fro the Covert Actions Directorate (pretty much the CIA), and they're tracing a shipment of this potion in order to assassinate some enemy leaders or something. Or, if you're feeling REALLY grimdark, the player characters might actually be assigned to administer the stuff secretly to a rebel leader.
Great potion which is fully justified and almost poetic in its final results. Taken to quell the flames of emotion, when they can be subdued no longer it bursts into flames. Awesome!
Since most have already taken the potion, the bursting into flames of their neighbors may not bother them too much. Until finally their own fear of it may overtake them and they burst into flames. Crazy countryside where everybody is a ticking time bomb with an unknown amount of time on the clock. Crazy.
I have nothing to add to the previous comments. Excellent!