Rokies
Rokie (From roko rokh = reed smoke) was a flute used to smoke herbs, tobacco, or other ingredients. They were also used to administer medications and drugs. The reed tobacco tradition was born in Ikharonia, adopted by Yonians, preferred over the classic curved pipe due to its simplicity and cheapness.
Rokies came in three common types: single-use rocoo reed tobacco, cheap multi-use wood flutes that were by far the most common especially among the commoners, and then the status items made of fine materials.
Disposable rokies were finger-long cut pieces of arrow rocoo reed packed with the ingredient. These were very cheap, sold by the stack. The shell degraded and the used, brittlened shell was ditched after smoking, but still, some cheap folks re-used them.
The reusable basic rokies were carved out of wood or clay, and were simple and cheap in design. With proper care, they could last ages, being cheaper than rocoo rokies in the long run, and hence were popular among the laymen.
High-end rokies were status items, and there was almost no limit to their extravagance. The finest examples were made from bone, soapstone, volcanic glass, clear Ikhalian glass, bronze, even silver and gold, and other costly materials. They might be engraved, gilded, set with jewels, clad in leather, or fitted within ornate frames of metal or glass.
Toeweed
Toeweed was a herb harvested from the mojavine plant. Its name came from the curious shape of its broad, divided leaves, which reminded people of the sole of a foot, complete with splayed toes. The resinous flowers grew yellow.
The plant was native to the southern continent, where it grew especially lush, tall, and also more potent. Smaller species had spread through Ionia, with colder climate species all the way to the Norths.
It had a sweetish-pungent, lingering stench that clung to everything. Dried bundles were commonly smoked, though in some regions the leaves were steeped, chewed, or burned as an incense of sorts.
Toeweed was used to soothe ill temper, fear, and anxious thoughts. It could ease pain, dull grief, encourage appetite, and bring sleep to those troubled by wounds or worry. For these reasons, folks made frequent use of it.
However, habitual smokers tended to grow forgetful, sluggish in judgment, easily confused, and at times strangely agitated. Some suffered wandering thoughts, fits of suspicion, or bouts of what common folk called toeweed fewer.
Metuskh
Metuskh root was an extract of the named wasteland plant that was chewed raw. It increased alertness, reduced the need to sleep, decreased appetite, and improved energy and focus. Longer term use could cause severe anxiety and tremors.
Minatsi (drug)
Minatsi plant was native to Milonia, and was introduced to Selerian lowlands at some point. Its leaves contained an active ingredient called minatsi (marble) because of its extraction process resulting in a marble-like texture upon drying. It was highly euphoric, mood and energy enhancing substance with some ability to dull pain.
Unthom Poppy
Unthom Poppy Extract or simply unthomang came from the Unthom flower and was used as a highly effective painkiller and sleeping aid.
Nirva
Nirva Root Extract was a herb that caused strong drowsiness and quick loss of consciousness. Was used as a drug for cases like painful surgical and healing procedures, but also as a weapon. Effective and lethal doses are close, which is why its use was left to the most experienced surgeons.
Bitteryflower
Bittery Flower Extract was a pungent-smelling tincture that caused an involuntary shock reaction in the body. Used for waking drowsy people up and making them alert, and as a short-acting incapacitating weapon.
Gloomycaps
Gloomycap was a mushroom with strong hallucinogenic effects.
Halvar
Halvar was a Vaskitic substance derived from a mold used for making cheese. It was used as an effective antibiotic to cure infections.
Essence of Ektohong
The Essence of Ektohong was the heartwood extract of the Millennium tree, petrified and ground bits of its core. It was a strong hallucinogen that affected the person's ability to distinct between thought and speech. Often dubbed as the truth serum.
Trenck
"The Berserk Drug"
Trenck was a substance extracted from Ironrams during their mating season. When consumed, its immediate effects caused quick increase in alertness, blood pressure and muscle activation, making one fearless. It was used by the Iron Empire Seafarers as a sort of berserk drug.
When used daily, it tremendously enhanced muscle growth, making its user remarkably muscular, strong, and reckless; and above all, volatile and violent. Longer term use often caused sudden death at some point due to heart failure.
Trenck was administered orally from ironhog horns sealed with a wax plug, called spikes.
Yall
Yall Grass was Iron Empire Seafarer's aid for sea sickness, but it also worked to cure hangovers.
Salitor Root
Silverfoil or salitor root was a light painkiller. Often mixed into tea or other beverage. The extract got its name from being a staple remedy for soldiers, legionaries, and guards. (Salitor = guard)
Silvermint
Silvermint was a herb with strong, fresh scent. It was used in foods and sweets, and as a breath mint.
Causuck Oil
Causuck oil, or styr, was a toxic, dark, strongly scented oil extracted from the roots of northern marsh rosemary, also known as causuckweed. It was a commodity throughout the Norths.
It was used to treat timber, as fuel, in candle-making, to repel lice and other pests, to seal ships in place of tar, and to preserve food. When heated and inhaled, it was also used as an intoxicating remedy.
Wood treated with the oil turned grey and became nearly impervious to pests. It was also less prone to catching fire.
Digging the roots from marshland was hard, miserable labor, usually left to slaves and other unfortunates. The oil was extracted by boiling the roots, rising to the surface as a dark, viscous layer.
When the oil was heated overnight, it thickened into a waxy substance. If heated until it began to break down, it gave off bitter, black, poisonous smoke, which some inhaled for its intoxicating effects.
Causuck oil had a sharp, musty odor known as the Northern Reek. The smell was so powerful and distinctive that, besides repelling insects, it was quite effective at repelling people unaccustomed to it as well.
The name is believed to have originated with the causucks, among the few known creatures capable of using the raw oil as nourishment.
Other oils
Mascoric oil was used as an insect repellent. It was a mascorine flower extract native to Ikharonia.
Silanic oil was a drying oil obtained from silanna plant seeds. It was used as food, in paints and pigments, and as a surface treatment. The oil had a distinctive aroma, and its use in the Silverland was so widespread that the scent was said to be characteristic of the eastern Yonian people.
The silanna shrub grew throughout eastern Ionia, and with the spread of the Yonians, it came to be cultivated across all of Ionia and eventually in farlands as well.
One of its most significant uses was in waterproofing tent cloth.
Dyes and fragrances
Yaliwood leaf extract produced a deep purple dye. The process of refining it was delicate and difficult to master, but once dialed in, it allowed mass production of relatively cheap dye. The leaves had to be picked at a proper moment as they darkened from pale green to dark purple; picking them too early left much of the potency out, picking them too late made the color murky.
The process was developed early during the Golden Age of the Selerian Empire, and it became one of the most recognizable features of Yonian clothing, banners, and military equipment. In time, the Yalians inherited much of the lucrative dye trade along the Blue Sea.
Thilian flower fragrance was a common perfume.
Qimairan flower fragrance was a strong, floral, sweet perfume native to Masorania.
Mountain salts were used to dye flames into different colors. Red, green, blue, and purple flames could be acquired by mixing these salts into the fuel.
Mana Bush, Manapack and Manance
Mana Bush was native to Arkhanic and Morakhon wastelands. It produced large seeds, from which mana mass could be extracted.
This mass contained a natural toxin, manance, which was strongly hallucinogenic and euphoric when ingested.
Apart from that, the dried, ground mass had a very rich flavor profile. Both were valued by their own properties, and a careful separation process could extract most of the manance from the solids, which were then used as manapack spice.
It was favored as drinks, both hot and cold, and was used for sweet bakeries.
Due to its limited availability, it was rare and very expensive, but during Pax Yanakhon, Ikharonians managed to cultivate the plant in Kharden, creating a market for both.
Janck
Janckroot was soft, tough, and sweet-tasting, and it was often chewed for the lack of better activity and to cleanse teeth.
