A grass-like vegetable easily grown in the temperate climates of the northern triate in a multitude of varieties. Lorrel appears as a long, thin stalk resembling an oversized individual blade of grass. Inside the stalk are small, emerald beans called lorreps and utilized as a common ingredient in northern cuisine from Sylva to Tzo. The husk and accompanying stalk are a softer shade of green and can be dried or pressed into oil both of which when smoked or ingested produce a moderate euphoric and mildly hallucinogenic affect.
Lorrel, referring to the stem and husk, is one of the most common and socially acceptable recreational drugs in the Castian Empire. Though fully legal and used by all demographics, smoked lorrel, in the form of thin cigarettes, carries an association with the lower or laboring classes. As such, wealthier demographics often ingest lorrel in the form of food products or support the biological engineering of new, distinct, unique, and exclusive strains of lorrel which can be smoked while maintaining social distinction.
In Iska, while lorrel is legal, its recreational usage carries an intense stigma across all social strata, as do all mind-altering substances, and as such, lorrel has a much smaller public presence and then only among the lowest ranking classes of the Iskan social hierachy. However, based on import, export, and sales rates, it is suspected that Iskans consume as much, if not more lorrel than Castians despite their surface-level aversion to the drug.
Similarly, after the unification of the Castian Empire, and the implementation of King Maathen's strategic plan for the transnationalization of culture, lorrel has become increasingly stigmatized in Castian society at all levels of the social hierarchy, particularly in urban centers.