Pipe-weed

...a well-lit bowl of pipe-weed...

Pipe-weed, also known as pipe-herb, kinja, poppletysnuff, etc., is a cultivar grown primarily for the consumption of its psychotropic flowers and leaves typically through smoking.

History
Elves claim to be the first people to have domesticated the plant, and have a long, extensive set of traditions surrounding its consumption dating back thousands of years. Over their many centuries of smoking, the elves have developed multiple strains of pipe-weed, varying in color, flavor, aroma, etc, and an extensive trade in pipes of all size and description. Elves often begin smoking pipe-weed at a very early age, and the bestowal of a pipe on a young elf is considered a key right of passage.

The consumption of pipe-weed is technically illegal in the Land of Elothnin, but it is easily acquired in almost any town or city in the empire. Outside of the Queen's domain, there are no laws against its production or traffic. Pipe-weed is smoked by almost every type of creature imaginable, though none are so fond of it as the elf: centaurs represent an exception to this general rule, abstaining from most any spiritous substance due to their especially sensitive circulation systems.

Geography
Pipe-weed is grown in most of the remote areas of the empire, particularly in the elvish communities in the Fethil and by small communities in the Klevarcht mountains. Shipments of pipe-weed are then spread throughout the empire by merchants dealing in the black market, and often by traveling elvish minstrels.


Effects
The subjective experience of pipe-weed users varies greatly across individuals. Many find it to be a mild, relaxing enhancement of everyday activities, while others observe powerful visual and auditory hallucinations. Many elves believe that pipe-weed enables smokers to achieve a deeper sense of self-realization and actualization.