Sting

Sting, also known as Kaszur Sting, is an illegal and highly addictive narcotic drug, similar to opioids but with more intense effects.
What makes the drug so unusual is the manner of it's administration. It takes the form of a naturally occurring venom that can only be produced by the living Kasjani Needle Scorpion.
This unusual and extremely rare arachnid is only found in a few places in the hot rainforests of the north-eastern coasts. The only way to have the narcotic venom reliably administered is to allow the living scorpion to sting the victim, usually on the soft joints of the body. The needle sting of the scorpion then breaks off and the arachnid dies.
The effects of the drug are immediate and extreme. Short-term effects are an extremely intense pleasurable "rush", usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin and extreme arousal of the senses.
Long-term, the drug is highly addictive, and when taken in larger quantities can lead to nausea, severe itching, and eventually brain damage and/or coma and death.
Recent times have seen growing use of Sting as a recreational drug. Supplies are still limited, though there are rumours that someone has found a way to breed the scorpions in captivity and have secured a reliable supply.
Addicts of the drug, commonly known as Stingers, enter a euphoric state where their ability to think clearly and feel pain is greatly reduced. They also become highly suggestible.
Those who have been exposed over longer periods of time also develop extremely bloodshot eyes that, like the needle scorpions themselves, glow with a fluorescent light under some circumstances.
Sting is very hard to source and extremely expensive, as it can only be delivered by live needle scorpions. A box of ten Kasjani Needle Scorpions might costs as much as 50 gold pieces to an end buyer. For that reason most of it's use has been limited to the noble classes.
Sting can now be found, albeit still in small volumes, in most of the larger settlements of the western and southern shores of The Azure Sea.
It is considered highly illegal within the Cerulean Empire and elsewhere, and there are severe punishments for those who distribute the drug.

Kasjani Needle Scorpion by Joanna Liang

The sting of a Kasjani Needle Scorpion by Nick Volye

Item type

Drug / Narcotic / Medicine