"Sevari andris spice -- preferred 10 times out of 12 in blind sample tests by the Imperial Board of Foodstuffs and Consumables ..."

-COMPNOR Advertisement

Although its harshest critics tend to refer to all spice as some form of addictive drug, others regard it as a harmless seasoning and food preservative used since the earliest days of the Old Republic.  Spice is so commonplace it can be found in nearly every settled region that conducts interstellar trade, and sometimes serves as currency where other monetary systems, like credits, don't exist.

Andris, the white spice, is the most common.  When mined, andris first appears as a light tan, crumbling substance.  In its raw form, andris spice was used in many of the slower starships of the Old Republic to help preserve food.  Later, a refinement step was added using powerful electrical charges that turn the raw spice into a white, crystalline powder.  This refinement process is said to double andris spice's effects against food spoilage and enhances andris' flavoring of food.

Commercially refined andris, reduced to 25 percent in purity, is used across the galaxy in the preservation of foodstuffs and is easily available.  The use of andris has even received the approval of COMPNOR and other Imperial regulatory agencies, and has found its way into military garrisons and the Imperial Navy.

A bitter debate has been steadily growing that refined andris spice is the leash that the Empire uses to stifle the galaxy into subordination.  Medical research has long since proven that andris of 100 percent purity is quite toxic.  Just living on the planet of Sevarcos itself can prematurely end a life.  But those who use large quantities of spice have made many ludicrous claims about the physical and psychological benefits of high-purity andris.

The other Sevari spice, carsunum or black spice, has an even more mythical past.   Carsunum is very rare and difficult to mine on Sevarcos.  It is sometimes found under solid layers of hard rock deep in the mines.

The stories surrounding carsunum and the Old Republic have little to do with food preservation.  One tale concerns the Healer's Guild, a somewhat secretive and mysterious ancient alliance of beings from many different worlds dedicated to preserving life.  The guild used carsunum in their formulas to help control and prevent the spread of deadly hive viruses, including a variant of the one that maddened the crews of the Old Republic's Katana Fleet before they slaved their ships together and jumped into hyperspace for parts unknown.  When the Empire emerged, the Healer's Guild mysteriously vanished along with the remains of the Old Republic.

The prestigious and powerful can be seen wearing tiny golden vials of carsunum as symbols of their wealth.  Despite the Imperial prohibition on its distribution, many species seek out carsunum for medicinal, religious, and other requirements.  While obtaining pure andris might be difficult for the independent spacer, security a store of carsunum is almost as easy as navigating Sevarcos' asteroid belt* at full speed.

* An immense, difficult to pilot asteroid belt patrolled by the Fate's Judges, an Imperial TIE squadron trained exclusively for asteroid navigation.

Glitterstim is very, very illegal outside certain narrowly proscribed, government-controlled situations (espionage, medical research, and such).  It is also in very high demand.  As a result, glitterstim is extremely difficult to obtain, dangerous to possess, and outrageously expensive.

Gamemasters are encouraged to make even inquiring about glitterstim exceedingly dangerous.  The following option is provided to gamemasters who do not want their player characters to acquire glitterstim, or are looking for a new, and dangerous, complication to add to an existing adventure.

If a character questioning his underworld contacts for a glitterstim connection rolls a one on the wild dice when making his streetwise roll, someone else has gotten wind of the questioning, and resolves to do something about it.  This might be law enforcement agents, or other underworld figures who want the spice for themselves.

Either group will shadow the characters and apprehend them when and if they manage to obtain some glitterstim spice.  Either situation is dangerous.  The criminals, of course, will probably attempt to kill the characters for their spice.  The police will arrest the characters, and attempt to use them to follow the spice pipeline back towards its source.  If the characters are perceived by the gangsters distributing the spice as cooperating with the investigation, they may wind up with a bounty on their heads.  It is hard to fend off talented assassins when you are locked in jail.

The spice costs a great deal of money.  A single dose can cost up to 10,000 credits in some markets, and almost never drops below 6,000 per dose. 

Glitterstim is sealed into slim black cylinders.  To activate the spice, one pulls back the opaque outer wrapper, exposing the inert glassy fibers of the spice to the light.   As the spice reacts to the light, scintillating and glowing from within, it ripens.   When the transparent fibers glow a pearlescent blue, they are ready to consume.   The consumer takes the spice orally, which dissolves in his or her mouth with a crackling and faint show of tiny sparks.

Most Twi'lek cities on Ryloth spend most of their resources and industry trying to remain self-sufficient, with varying degrees of success.  They have little to export but the blue powder mineral spice known as ryll.

In its natural form, ryll looks much like the andris or white spice found on Sevarcos -- it appears as a tan, crumbly substance.  When refined in a process known only to certain Twi'leks, it turns into a fine, light blue powder.

Although useless in its raw form, processed ryll is used in carefully measured doses for local Twi'lek medicinal purposes.  However, when used to excess, it can be a dangerous and addictive drug which stimulates (and sometimes burns out) the pleasure centers of most species brains.  Smugglers can get high prices for pure ryll on worlds throughout the galaxy.  It is used as a narcotic on countless worlds by the wealthy.  A certain fashionable practice with addicts is to ingest a small amount of ryll, then down a shot of Gruvian Tovash.  The ryll and alcohol react, producing a blue gas which the addicts puff out when they burp.

The mining and refining of ryll is kept a secret among the Twi'leks, so slavers and smugglers often pay a high price for the blue powder.  A crate of ryll (100 kilograms) can be purchased from a Starport Master's vaults for anything from 5,000 to 10,000 credits.  Depending on what world and to what market the ryll is sold, enterprising smugglers could get 10,000 to 25,000 credits.  Of course, ryll is considered an illegal substance in the Empire.  Transport of ryll is considered a class two infraction and carries a penalty of at least a 10,000 credit fine and from five to 30 years on an Imperial prison world.

Since visitors are restricted to the main levels of the starport caverns, ryll to trade is brought from other city caves and stored in the Starport Master's vaults behind a securely locked blast door.  Usually five to 10 crates of ryll are stored here at any time (in one starport city).  The master oversees sales of ryll to smugglers and bargains the highest prices he can for every crate of the valuable narcotic.  If more than one trader in the city is interested in purchasing the few crates of ryll in his vaults, the Starport Master auctions off the crates, allowing competition between bidders to drive up the price and increase his profits.

Certain Twi'lek clans within the cities of Ryloth mine and refine ryll.  Knowledge of these processes is traditionally restricted to these clans, and is never shared with outsiders.  The locations of ryll veins and mines are kept the strictest of secrets.