The Violet Veil

[tomorrow's sunshine]

---

There's been a little change in the conversations held in Midpoint lately.

The talks of the Atrellyan Genocide are every so often broken by incessant rumors of a medication, an alchemical composition of sorts that has supposedly saved and improved lives over the past couple of months. Once-burnt-out businessmen claim economic success amidst the terrors of the Genocide, and prominent scholars find breakthroughs in their respective fields. Almost all pointed such success to the usage of a "medicine" that caused a great deal of focus and concentration to take over them; though none of them ever claimed the name of this miraculous concoction, or where they got it.

Little by little, the richest class of Midpoint was infected by this "medicine" (or at least according to the rumors), and it started seeping through into the common population. Then, suddenly, a certain entity, seemingly an official industry in Midpoint, started to plaster announcements around the city, and even outside of it:

Have you been feeling unproductive lately? Are you, crafter of Meranthe, the class most affected by the Genocide, extremely overworked? Do you need to spend nights awakened relying only on harmful coffee to meet your production quota? Aratel Pharmaceutics has the solution for all of your problems!

Developed through many trials and tribulations over seven long years, the Violet Veil is a tried and true method of performance enhancement that has already helped countless crafters and warriors in these difficult times! Its focus-enhancing capabilities serve both to the foot soldier and to the crafter who smiths his blade, for patience is required in both crafts: use it in battle and you'll be far more attentive to what your opponent is doing; use it in crafting endeavors, and you'll be twice as efficient!

Sounds too good to be true? Test it out for yourself! The first dosage is completely free and if you don't like what might happen to you, we'll take care of it! We're a small corporation founded in Midpoint, trying to go up against the Big Pharmaceutics controlled by the tyrannical Archmage Association and we need your help to succeed!*

*Consumption of the medicine may have side effects such as compulsiveness and erratic behavior.
**Underconsumption of the medicine will result in a vegetative state called "withdrawal".
***Overcomsuption may cause seizures or death.
****Aratel Pharmaceutics will not be held accountable if any of those things happen to you.

Regardless of potential side effects listed in suspiciously small letters that seem to blend in with the paper, contact information leads to Catherine Aratel and the interim chairman of Midpoint himself, Kinsley Kingsley; they both seem to be behind whatever this is.

Through it all, one thing is clear:

A new drug has entered the market.