Bliss

**Bliss** is a powerful stimulant that is widely used as a recreational drug on Xyon. It is the most widely used recreational drug on the planet, and the primary target of the government's anti-drug campaigns. Bliss can be taken in a wide variety of ways, though it is most commonly snorted, injected into the veins, or held under the tongue with blotter paper, and offers the user a long and intense feeling of happiness and a series of powerful orgasms which remain consistent regardless of the length of drug usage. Physical symptoms include muscle spasms, intense sweating, and for some, bleeding from the eyes and foaming at the mouth. The effects are almost immediate, beginning within a few minutes to mere seconds of entry into the body, and last for about ninety minutes to three hours. Bliss has no medical uses and is produced artificially using a cocktail of chemicals and stimulants within a laboratory environment.

Bliss is extremely addictive due to its reward pathway in the brain, and is potent enough to cause immediate addiction with a single use. It does not have the same debilitating effect on users as crack cocaine and heroin do, with users appearing perfectly functional in public settings and events, making treatment for addicts incredibly difficult. However, dependence on the drug can result in agitation, outbursts of angry, sensitivity to light and noises, and constant drooling, which are typical signs of a bliss addict. Hypersexuality is another symptom of the drug, induced by the effect bliss has on the sexual response cycle as evidence by the artificially-induced orgasms bliss causes on a user. Withdrawal effects include psychosis, seizures, and vomiting, and many former users recall suffering from sensitivity to touch, which often resulted in intense pain.

Bliss is the most widely used illegal drug on Xyon, with more than 85 million users across the planet. Use is highest in the heavily industrialized regions of Xyon, where access to the drug and the money to buy it is widespread. The market for bliss is an estimated ∇1.56 trillion (US$3.108 trillion) as of 3985 YM, and is believed by authorities to be the primary source of financing for the largest criminal organizations on the planet. Overdosing on the drug is generally very easy to do, as an addict may seek to maintain their high, which rewards the brain and induces euphoria and sexual orgasms which do not decrease with repeated drug use. Thus, because of the adverse effect it has on user, bliss is banned across the planet, and a global campaign by the federal government has been underway to stop production of bliss and punish its producers. However, little headway has been made by federal authorities, as production of bliss is generally easy to maintain, and take place in Xyon's many vast mountains and forests, where law enforcement is sparse and corrupt, accepting bribes from the gangs producing bliss.

## Uses

### Spiritual

The consumption of bliss during religious ceremonies is a major aspect of several Mikaean religions, such as Havism and Neo-Asranism, both of which view the usage of bliss as a means of attaining spiritual enlightenment. It has long been surmised that Havite chemists were responsible for the synthesizing of the first pure strains of bliss during the 3400s, leading to the rapid production of bliss across Xyon, and the major drug epidemics which swept across the poorer regions of the planet during the height of the Tribulation era. Indeed, the majority of drug dealers selling bliss in the developed districts of Xyon, have typically been found to be adherents of Havite doctrines, and have been pushing the consumption of bliss in the regions where they have a substantial presence within the population. Because of the sexual component of bliss in its use as an aphrodisiac, physical enhancer, and powerful nervous system stimulant, bliss has long been utilized by various sex cults on Xyon as a means of increasing the length and strength of orgasms, which have been regarded as the "touch of the Father" during religious ceremonies. Indeed, bliss usage can enhance the strength of an orgasm by about five to ten times, and lengthen an orgasm from the norm of about twenty seconds, to more than half an hour.