Peacebloom

Peacebloom
	; Peacebloom in nature.
Scientific Name	Solanum Azothica
Cultigen Product	Analgesic Medicine
Geographic Origin	Eastern Kingdoms
Active Ingredients	Solanate
Main Producers	Stormwind City, Orgrimmar, Gnomeregan, Booty Bay (illicit)
Legal Status	Export and production controlled and limited by international treaties.

Peacebloom (Scientific Name: Solanum Azothica) is a species of plant from which powerful analgesics are derived. It is a naturally-occuring species in the Eastern Kingdoms, and was imported to Kalimdor by the Grand Alliance during the Third War. Today, Peacebloom grows on all continents in Azeroth, and is primarily cultivated as a medicinal plant that is brewed into potent medicine in various forms.

Certain subspecies of Peacebloom exist which cannot be used to create medicine, and they are grown in home gardens for decorative purposes. The untrained eye of a layman has a difficult time distinguishing the subtle but important visual differences between the medicinal Peacebloom and other varieties, but medicinal Peacebloom seeds are heavily regulated and sold only to certified Alchemists, Farmers, and Doctors under international trade law.

There is evidence to support that Peacebloom was originally cultivated by the Azotha, or the first known tribe of humankind. Over thousands of years, the plant was selectively bred and exported across the Eastern Kingdoms, but is native to the Arathi Highlands and Hillsbrad Foothills. It is a hardy annual cultivar that survives in most places of the world, but prefers temperate climates. The environment in which the plant is grown greatly alters the potency of the active ingredients.

Alchemical Uses[]

The active ingredient in Peacebloom, an alkaloid called Solanate, may be chemically transformed into a potent analgesic solution. Solanate can be refined into a free base powder, a syrup or liquid, or smoked and inhaled through a pipe. Depending on how the Solanate is processed or ingested, its side-effects vary greatly. Even at low doses, Solanate poses a risk to most users, and is considered extremely medically significant.

A skilled Alchemist most often extracts the Solanate from raw, leafy Peacebloom by brewing it into a syrup-like mixture. It is kept in vials and distributed to patients and used as a first-line solution to breakthrough pain and chronic pain. Solanate's bioavailability when consumed orally is lower than when it is dermally absorbed, and much lower than when leafy Peacebloom is smoked through a pipe. Rarely, Solanate is processed into a free base alkaloid powder and smoked, but the free base form may also be ingested orally or nasally.

It is shown in multiple studies to effectively treat both physiological and psychological pain, and may also be assistive in providing relief from shock and sudden mental trauma.

Interactions[]

Solanate is potentiated by Bloodthistle in any form, as well as most analgesic medicinal herbs in the Solanum family. The mixture of Peacebloom's active ingredient with any variety of these drugs proves to be fatal in many situations.

Silverleaf is known to reduce the potential for abuse when integrated into a Solanate solution, or as a seperate drug treatment, removing many of the factors which lead to psychological dependance on Peacebloom. Some studies show that Silverleaf also buffers the analgesic potency of Solanate, reducing the effectiveness of the medicine. Most prepared Solanate syrup solutions include a dose of Silverleaf as a precaution, unless the syrup is a high-dosage solution specifically used by battlefield surgeons or medics for severe traumatic pain.

Side-effects[]

Aside from providing pain relief, Peacebloom may also result in intense bouts of euphoria, a boost in confidence, hallucinations, respiratory depression, hypertension, cardiac arrest, sudden moodswings, an itchy sensastion across the entire body, numbness in the limbs, cold sweats, nightmares, and decreased or increased libido. Sudden withdrawal from raw Peacebloom or Peacebloom preparations may result in aches and pains, flu-like symptoms, atrophy of the muscles, acute sensitivity, and vomiting.

Abuse[]

Flower Pipe — A etching of a Peacebloom pipe from Lordaeron. The nobility possessed ornate pipes inspired by various designs, including the claws of dragons and Peacebloom flowers.

Peacebloom's active ingredient, Solanate, is used recreationally by many people worldwide. Stormwind City law enforcement surveys conducted over a period of six years have determined that Peacebloom is one of the most commonly abused illicit substances in the Kingdom of Stormwind. Once thought to be a relatively harmless habit, recent medical discoveries have shed light on the addictive potential of regular recreational Peacebloom consumption.

Nobles and the well-to-do of various Human kingdoms often smoked Peacebloom to relieve stress and provide powerful pain relief for common ailments. At one time, wealthy mothers would allow their children to chew a leaf of Peacebloom to relieve a cough or sore throat. The seemingly-harmless preoccupation with the miraculous flowering plant in society continued for centuries. Occasionally, noblemen and women who fell out of wealth would experience night sweats and acute withdrawal symptoms from Peacebloom when their supply was suddenly cut off, but these symptoms were blamed on other circumstances and were ignored by society at-large.

The common perception of Peacebloom was shattered during the opening days Third War when crops in Lordaeron were wiped out by the Scourge, which caused widespread fatal withdrawal symptoms across various human nations that depended on Lordaeron for the high-value export of the plant. With focus on the war with the Undead, no lasting action was taken in regards to the regulation of Peacebloom.

Following the Third War, Stormwind City became the world's largest producer and exporter of Peacebloom. The initial legislation passed by the Old Royal Party was ratified by King Varian Wrynn of the House of Wrynn, and put into action the same year. Peacebloom joined the Alliance's growing list of international controlled exports, and was initially banned outright in all circumstances. Existing Peacebloom stores and crops were requisitioned by the Stormwind Army, with their owners compensated monetarily. Further studies led to an amendment of the original trade treaty and local law, and Peacebloom was removed from a list of banned produce. To the present day, Peacebloom is a highly-controlled substance. To grow or utilize Peacebloom, one must possess a charter or license to handle, export, or process Peacebloom. Certified Alchemists and Apothecaries may distribute Peacebloom solutions to patients with a prescription, but only if more minor analgesics prove ineffecitve to treat the patient.

Peacebloom is more heavily abused in Horde-controlled territories, due to the major difference in legal environment when compared to Alliance nations. Orgrimmar is also a leading world exporter and producer of Peacebloom, and brought the plant to Kalimdor during the Third War. Peacebloom was commonly used recreationally by Orcs in Durnholde Keep and other internment sites following the Horde's defeat in the Second War. Until the Sin'dorei and Forsaken brought advanced alchemy to the Horde, the Orcs simply consumed the raw flowering plant, chewing the leaves and stalks, or smoked Peacebloom leaves with Hookah or pipes. Peacebloom was used extensively in many Shamanic ceremonies to invoke visions of ancestors and powerful spirits.

Legality[]

Peacebloom is treated in varying legal capacities by countries around the world. International trade agreements generally ban the export of Peacebloom across continents, unless it is explicitly transported with the intent to be distributed to military forces.

Stormwind City[]

Peacebloom is a heavily-controlled cultivar in the Kingdom of Stormwind. Licenses or charters are required to grow, produce, handle, or process the plant into alchemical solutions. Alchemists and Apothecaries are often the victims of armed robbery or thievery by various organized criminal organizations and individual criminals, who steal both processed and unprocessed Peacebloom for sale, personal use, or other purposes. The intent to traffick Peacebloom, the trafficking of Peacebloom, the sale of Peacebloom without a license, and the processing of Peacebloom are all considered capital offenses under local law, and a death penalty is often sought by the courts in any of these cases.

The recreatonal use of Peacebloom carries a much less dire punishment. Many first-time offenders merely spend a week or two in the Stockades, and are also prohibited from consuming any other intoxicants for varying degrees of time. Civillians who have been charged and convicted with several subsequent crimes involving the abuse of Peacebloom may spend years or decades in prison, depending on the severity of their crime.

Murders, rapes, assaults, and other violent crimes where Peacebloom is considered to be a major contributing factor carry a much heavier sentence, up to and including death.

Ironforge[]

Peacebloom is rarely abused in Ironforge, but local law merely prohibits recreational use of Peacebloom and Peacebloom preparations. The law specifically states, "...A pipe leaf known as Peacebloom shall not be consumed for the purpose of leisure by the people, or consumed as a drink for recreation, or ingested in any manner or circumstance which is not prescribed explicitly by an authorized body or person."

The drug is mostly consumed in secretive Warlock covens or by foreigners living in the city. Occasionally, Peacebloom is used by Wildhammer Dwarves in Shamanic rituals within the city.

Gnomeregan[]

Gnomeregan does not explicitly prohibit the recreational use of Peacebloom in codified law, but substance abuse is rare among the Gnomish race. Peacebloom is used often in clinical trials, and synthetic versions of the drug have been produced in controlled experiments in labs.

Darnassus[]

The city of Darnassus does not have a specific law dealing with the abuse of Peacebloom; however, if any person, "...shows themselves to be visibly intoxicated in public, they will be punished justly based on the severity of their offense." Alliance trade treaties still affect Darnassus, so Peacebloom is banned from being imported or exported into the city. Peacebloom has not yet been introduced into the wilderness of Teldrassil, but man-made Peacebloom farms are routinely burned or destroyed by local law enforcement authorities. Technically, the private use of Peacebloom is unregulated, but various local laws may be interpreted in a way that could make the use of such an addictive substance legally dangerous.

The Exodar[]

Peacebloom is commonly found in the wilderness areas of the Azuremyst Isle, but the production of Peacebloom preparations and the recreational use of Peacebloom is strictly prohibited under local law. The Exodar has taken a firm stance against the use of virtually all intoxicants and recreational drugs. The law states that, "Any person who is found to be involved in the production, export, import, or sale of Peacebloom shall be punished with imprisonment for no less than five years." There is no law protecting legitimate medical use by Alliance civillians who have been prescribed Peacebloom by an Apothecary or Alchemist. It is uncommon if not unheard of for a local professional to prescribe Peacebloom, due to the the fact that they could easily be implicated in the illegal distribution of narcotics by the government of the Exodar. Other alternatives for analgesic medicine are commonly used, but their effectiveness is considered by many medical professionals to be negligible at best when compared to the potency of Peacebloom for serious pain.

Orgrimmar[]

The nation of Orgrimmar is Azeroth's second leading producer and exporer of Peacebloom. Orcs have been using Peacebloom as a recreational drug since being introduced to the flowering plant during the Second War and First War. Before the time of the New Horde, Peacebloom was smoked or chewed to release the powerful alkaloids, but Forsaken and Sin'dorei Alchemists have introduced the faction to the syrup and free base versions of the drug.

Local law prohibits the abuse of Peacebloom, but the law is rarely enforced. The use of Peacebloom is even encouraged by many local community leaders as a useful implement in Shamanic rituals. Peacebloom is commonly smoked with Hookah and pipes in the various bars and taverns around the city. Many less fortunate users of the drug gamble their life savings away to be able to afford more of it, and most of them end up as beggars or whores in the Drag. Addicts sometimes pool together their personal funds and rent dingy homes in the poorest districts of the city, using these huts and flats as Peacebloom dens, where groups of users communally smoke and consume the drug.

Peacebloom addiction is a serious problem in Orgrimmar, leading to major economic losses. Unfortunately, the pervasiveness of Peacebloom in Orcish culture makes serious regulation impossible.

Scientific Developments[]

Peacebloom has been the subject of extensive research in the modern age. Synthetic and semi-synthetic variants of Solanate have been developed in several lab experiments, including a stable semi-synthetic alkaloid known as Dexosolanate, synthesized by a Gnomeregan chemical company. Initial studies suggest that Dexosolanate may be twice as effective in the treatment of breakthrough pain when compared to natural Solanate, and it may also pose a much higher risk of psychological and physiological dependence.

So far, Dexosolanate has not been approved as a medical treatment in any nation of the Alliance, but it has been administered to Stormwind Army veterans in supervised clinical trials.