Ingenue

A drug made from the Eatuflos flower popular among the social elite¹⁾ of The Balance Coalition for its aphrodisiac, stimulant, and sensory enhancing effects. It is most often found in a bright red fine powder similar in consistency to powdered sugar which is ingested via inhalation and absorption through the body's mucus membranes. As with many recreational substances, higher purity products are prized, this is due to the increased potency and reduced withdrawal effects present in high purity varieties of the drug.

The primary effects of Ingenue are an immediate feeling of increased energy followed by a rapidly growing state of arousal that masks the dramatic increase in sensitivity to sensory stimulation. These effects typically encourage the individual to take action to satisfy their urges enthusiastically. The secondary effects of dulled reflex speed, impeded coordination, and reduced capability for critical thinking are often considered part of the charm of the experience.

Due to the large positive feedback from taking the drug, as well as the reduced capacity to appreciate its negative effects the substance lends itself to misuse if not carefully managed and it is easy for a user to continuously use the substance if provided with a sufficient supply potentially extending the experience indefinitely due to the human body's inability to form a tolerance to the substance with continuous use.

While overdose incidents are rare due to cravings for additional doses only occurring as the amount of Ingenue in a person's system decrease as it is metabolized, overly enthusiastic users are at a risk of neurological and nerve damage should the drug be consumed in too large a dose or too frequently. A greater danger to users is the neglect of one's natural needs such as sleep, food, and hydration which can lead to health complications and potentially death.

Withdrawal from the substance is typically quite potent and even short term users find it difficult to function normally in a period of 12 to 48 hours following its user. The primary withdrawal symptom is severe lethargy making any task beyond laying about or sleeping unpalatable, secondary to this is muscular weakness partially as a result from caloric deficiency as well as irregular nerve impulses as the brain struggles to properly instruct the body to function. After the initial symptoms pass near insatiable hunger and thirst become more apparent as the body tries to replenish depleted resources.

Ingenue is produced through the distillation of a pulp made from the whole of the eatuflos flower which is first processed at a low temperature before being gradually heated allowing many undesired compounds and much of the moisture to evaporate leaving a dry pulp which is then ground. This pulp is then mixed with ethyl alcohol and left to sit for up to a week, and then distilled leaving behind the red crystalline substance which is then powdered and distributed as the final drug.

In higher purity production additional steps of mixing and distillation are used as well as periods of storage where in impurities are isolated and removed by chemical bonding and eventual evaporation repeated over a period of several months. Due to this protracted production cycle near 100% purity varieties are coveted and highly expensive.

Several Balance chemists are credited with the initial creation of the initial compounds which would later become Ingenue. These chemists are believed to have worked together crossing political borders in their quest to better understand the chemical composition of the eatuflos flower as well as its effects upon the peoples of Balance.

While these discoveries would find their way into the market in the form of stimulants, nerve therapy medicines, and psychological aids, the cultivation and proliferation of early Ingenue within Felsal would prove to be the most well known result of their work. Though its original intended application within Felsal was covered up and the records destroyed during an internal coup, the introduction to the elite of Balance through illegal smuggling would make its mark as the substance entered the global pop culture and for a time dominated Balance media as the go to for the socially desirable.

Following its initial bloom in the public conscience, the prevalence of the drug was slowly reduced and the populace effectively weaned following a sharp decline in productivity which resulted in a brief global economic depression. While still a popular substance educational campaigns as well as an increased social awareness of the negative effects of the substance have led to Ingenue settling into a position where it is fondly regarded as a party drug for special occasions, though a cultural association with self destructive decadence keeps it from being regularly employed outside of those who feel they can afford it.

Eistheid tried.