Liao
Liao is a drug processed from the blood of the bholes found in The Elder Wastes. When consumed, it allows one to perceive things across space and time, at a distance relative to the dose size.
Properties
Physical & Chemical Properties
The effects of liao is often described as being in phases. The first phase, named the darkness phase, is a sensation where some objects fade from the users sight, while others remain visible.
The second phase, called the regression phase, floods the user with sensations of living lives from different points of time. These lives are often connected to the user, usually by ancestry
The final phase, and the most desirable, called the travel phase, puts the user in a dreamlike state often described as 'shunting' your consciousness outside of your body. The user can travel anywhere they want as soon as they think to. The travel phase allows the user to travel through time, usually to the past, but in rare cases the future can be traveled to.
It should be noted that the travel phase does not shunt one's soul, and there are reports of a user under the effects of liao having their soul removed from their body from unrelated incidents.
History & Usage
Everyday use
Liao is often used to scout out locations that would be too dangerous to visit in meatspace
Cultural Significance and Usage
Liao is used by the Deathseers of Zothique in order to perceve their dead god Cthulhu.
Hazards
While chemical addiction to liao is impossible, psychological addiction is often developed from the feeling of freedom it is known to give
The travel phase is known to expose users to hidden mgahoth'soth normally hidden from view, which often holds things not meant to be observed by anyone. This can also expose the user to Tindalos and the creatures that lurk there, which can prove dangerous to even the physical body of the user.
Common State
Most commonly found in pellet form
Related Locations
Related Species
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