158 - The Hookah of Eternal Repose

Artifact: The Hookah of Eternal Repose

Power: Major.

Description: A short, stout water-based smoking device with a single hose stem (theoretically you could attach multiple hoses and mess several people up at once), weighing in at about 20 pounds. The brass housing of the hookah is decorated with embossed scenes that appear to be religious in nature but are in fact parodies featuring prominent famous figures like Kylie Minogue and former US President William Taft. In some cases the hookah is older than they are.

Effect: You can smoke whatever you want from the hookah: tobacco, cannabis, opium, none of it matters as they all have the same effects. First it spaces you out for a solid hour or so, no one can get any sense out of you and prodding or taking the hookah away prompts an emotional outburst (whatever you roll on the second effect is considered an automatic failure). That’s because, in additional to a magickal narcotic effect that keeps the experience from breaking you, you’re mainlining a connection to the Statosphere.

Which brings us to the secondary effect, when the dreamlike haze of being connected to the sacred symbolism of all things wears off it leaves residue behind. This provokes an Unnatural stress check (don’t worry about the rank, everyone rolls for it). Fail it and it’ll ding your shock gauge as normal, but you’ll also suffer the effects of the blackout disorder (found on page 27 of Book 1: Play) on a one-off basis. Succeed and it’ll harden you, again as normal, but also grant you the effects of a successful roll on the Statosight identity (found on page 47 of Book 4: Expose). It’s not enough to get the whole picture that you’re suddenly exposed to but the fragments that are relevant to your situation can still be valuable.

There is an added danger. If you max out your failed gauge or roll a fumble then you never entirely find your way back. Instead you spend the rest of what will likely be a very short life without someone willing to feed, bathe and clean you, locked out of your body by the overwhelming awe at the majesty of having your consciousness smeared thinly across the cosmos. No one has found their way back from this on their own.