» Sat May 28, 2011 8:05 am
Just so y'all know, Skyrim already has a drug of choice: Rotgut.
It's a whiskey that can only be made in Skyrim and the northern reaches of High Rock and Morrowind (incidentily what the Rumor tab would tell you the Nords had recently conquered - "The Nords of Skyrim and Orcish mercenaries are making war on the Redoran of Morrowind.") And we all know they've moved into High Rock and Hammerfel. Anyone else amazed by that they seem to conquer more land than anyone despite being in an almost constant state of some type of civil war?
At any rate, Rotgut is made in Skyrim due to the concentration of ingredients, and the fact that it needs to be frozen and refrozen in the distilling process. It gets you drunk as a skunk and puts an icey feel in your belly (though whether that's because of its frosty nature or the debilitating effects on your organs is anyone's guess). However, for the damage it does to a person's insides (rotting their guts, get it?) it's been declared illegal by the Empire. So Rotgut is an illegal drug, and it's an illegal drug that many nobles smuggle into Cyrodiil anyone.
I imagine Rotgut being treated like moonshining in Skyrim, with Imperial forces moving into the mountains and hilly forests that have the proper cold and ingredients to distill the stuff and raiding the Moon- Rotgutting cabins to arrest the brewers. Skooma is much too far away to be very popular in Skyrim, and if it is, I call shenanigans. What I want to see is Rotgut, and possibly a warming drug, some sort of smoked herb that makes you feel heated, perhaps increases adrenaline to sustain you in the freezing winter, but also has an addictive effect.