Massina (world)/secret

Massina plant life has a common set of genetic code than causes their pollens to act as a human anagathic and an anabolic steriod.

These have the general effects of:

• an extended "natural" lifespan, averaging 110 years
• more skeletal muscle (travellers will gain +1 Str and +1 End per month, to a maximum of +3)
• psychological aggressiveness and propensity for physical action, including violence.

Most life-long citizens experience a "phase" of physicality (18 - 25), and the government has numerous programs (mostly sports and adventure camps) that youth attend until they "graduate", which indicates that they are able to function normally in society. These camps are not generally spoken of in conversation, as everyone knows about them and why they exist.

Occasionally, a "camper" or group of campers will go "off reservation" and go to a local town to blow off steam in a bar or see sights. Inevitably, some of them will get into an altercation of varying seriousness. These incidents are suppressed in the news media.

Travellers visiting Massina are usually welcomed, as long as they do not intend to stay for an extended time. Say, more than a month. If they do, they are assigned a police surveillance team and added to a police intervention list.

The effects on travellers will be to increase the physical response associated with any situation.

• a calm conversation will now be a one with a lot of gesturing.
• a witty comment becomes a witty comment with a slap on the butt, or similar.
• a verbal argument over a technical problem now involves pushing, yelling, and perhaps throwing things.
• a bar brawl now becomes mortal combat
• actual combat now turns the character into a berzerker.

Each escalation can be avoided by a SS contest roll of 10+.

Any physical violence at that point will result in expulsion to the high port in an air-filtered cell, until the pollen effects no longer cause uncontrollable aggression (usu. 1d6 days). They are then invited to leave or voluntarily attend an "activity camp" for up to a year (in reality, 2d6-3 months); the physical benefits will remain, but the individual will no longer have the physical compulsions.

After leaving Massina, the physical traits are lost at a rate of -1 STR/-1 END per month. If a person gains the full +3 bonus possible, they will retain a +2 to each characteristic permanently.