Mélange
Melange appears as a fine orange-brown powder that smells heavily of cinnamon. At low doses, melange becomes mildly addictive; at high doses, it becomes fatally so. Consumed over a lifetime, melange adds years to your life and may even grant insight into the future.
A complex bio-polymer originating only on from a Pre-spice mass "a pre-spice mass is "the stage of fungusoid wild growth achieved when water is flooded into the excretions of Little Makers," the "half-plant–half-animal deep-sand vector of the Arrakis sandworm." Gases are produced which result in "a characteristic 'blow,' exchanging the material from deep underground for the matter on the surface above it." This blow is explosive in nature, erupting with enough force to kill anyone in the vicinity of it.", its several biological activities include interaction with various centers of the central nervous system (CNS), interaction with the immune system, and deposition within the sclera of the eyes. To date, the biologically active portion of spice has not been isolated, although it is known that other portions of the molecule contain clycoprotein, a cupric heme and cinnamic acid.
If quantities in excess of 2 grams per 70 kilograms of body weight are ingested, addiction is encountered. Withdrawal of the spice from an addict results in insanity and eventual death due to the action of the breakdown products of K-K cells on other cells of the CNS. The anti-agathic properties of melange are considerable. The addict’s predicted lifespan is increased two to four times that of normal, depending upon the age at which the spice was first ingested as well as the dose. When the spice is digested, certain as yet unidentified breakdown products are absorbed into the bloodstream. These products interact with T-cells of the immune system, rendering the addict immune to most bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral agents of disease. Spice also imparts an immunity to many common poisons.
A crucial use of melange is to aid Navigators with the intricacies of space travel. The effects of spice upon the K-K cells allows them to `see' into the future and guide their starships around disaster. Some force users are reported to have a similar foreknowledge in conjunction with spice usage, but such talents are very rare and require extensive training to use effectively.
One of the most striking results of a diet high in melange is what the native Fremen call the "Eyes of Ibad," the characteristic "blue on blue" eye color: the whites and irises of the eyes turn a deep blue. Visual acuity is not reduced by the deposition of the blue pigment. In fact, in desert conditions, the pigment acts as a blue filter,increasing contrast and enhancing vision.
Due to its rarity, melange is very expensive. However, because of the preponderance of spice on the planet Arrakis and in one or two other places Arrakis Sandworms live, addiction to melange will occur naturally within one or two years of living there. It can be postponed a year or two by including many Imported foods into the diet, but is inevitable.
Melange acts much like a disease, and in some ways like a drug. Some actively seek exposure to melange for its beneficial qualities, oblivious to the dangers. Others, especially those who live near areas high in melange (such as inhabitants of Arrakis), cannot help but become exposed to it, for good or ill. As long as you ingest a steady amount of melange in your diet, you suffer no ill effects. The following table outlines the effects of melange.
Frequency:
This lists how often you must either consume a dose of melange or else make a Fortitude save. You set this frequency by the length of time between your previous two doses of melange, although you can never move higher on the chart (you cannot wean yourself off melange over time).
Once you've established a frequency of use, you can only maintain that frequency, increase the frequency of use, or quit
melange altogether. If your frequency of consumption falls between two of the levels on the chart, use the more frequent level. For
example, if you consume two doses of melange 6 months apart, your frequency becomes 1 month, and you must thereafter consume a dose of melange or make a Fortitude save every month.
*Permanent drain, not temporary damage.
Special Quality (SQ): This indicates which special quality you gain from the spice you consume, as well as the level of that ability. The special qualities are cumulative, so you gain all of the special qualities higher on the list. You may use a particular special quality once per dose you consume, and you may not use any special abilities if you don’t consume spice (whether or not you make your Fortitude save).
Fort DC: This is the DC of the Fortitude save you must make if you miss consuming a dose at the appropriate frequency interval.
Number of Saves: This is how many consecutive Fortitude saves you must make in order to break your reliance on melange. If you later take a dose of spice after making the appropriate number of saves in a row, you frequency reverts back to its previous level and you must succeed at this number of consecutive Fortitude saves to quit again.
Lifespan Increase: The spice grants a longer life if you’re exposed to it over long periods of time.
The GM adds the indicated number of years onto your maximum age
when he makes your maximum age roll.
A dose of melange costs 500 Energy Credits and has no appreciable weight. A typical addict requires two grams of spice per day. In places It naturally occurs the melange is common enough in nature to meet an addicts requirements through normal food and drink.