Kava scene in my book

[Michael1011]

I’m not going to go over the plot now but one scene, three men on another earth like planet find forests of kava shrubs surrounding various sized bodies of water. Later they discover that these large bodies of water are natural brews of kava. Due to the heavy rain and ever expanding sizes they overtake the shrubs and over time the roots erode, leaving a natural reservoir of kava. There are even creatures living in these reservoirs who have adapted to being drenched in lactones. These fish and octopuses have no sight and rely on touch senses alone because nothing could see through kava. Anyway the rest of the plot involves them exploring a super earth, it’s not actually about kava, just this scene. Any ideas? How could I make this scene more interesting?

 

[Groggy]

I’m not going to go over the plot now but one scene, three men on another earth like planet find forests of kava shrubs surrounding various sized bodies of water. Later they discover that these large bodies of water are natural brews of kava. Due to the heavy rain and ever expanding sizes they overtake the shrubs and over time the roots erode, leaving a natural reservoir of kava. There are even creatures living in these reservoirs who have adapted to being drenched in lactones. These fish and octopuses have no sight and rely on touch senses alone because nothing could see through kava. Anyway the rest of the plot involves them exploring a super earth, it’s not actually about kava, just this scene. Any ideas? How could I make this scene more interesting?

I dunno but would love to read it when it's done.

 

[Michael1011]

Right on!

 

[Señor Chuggs]

This idea is really cool! Even if you made the naturally occurring kava lakes more dilute than you or I would mix, I could still imagine the unique taste, texture, and tranquilizing effects of a food made from the ecosystem within the lakes. Would fish still taste and feel like kava effects even after it was cooked? What about a plant or an algae based meal?

Could you scoop up some soil in the bed of the lake (basically just kava mud) and sqeeze SUUPER strong kava out of it?

If you are doing a space opera, I'd imagine a planet like that would be like Riza on Star trek. The ultimate all inclusive vacation planet!

 

[yiki]

What can I say? I love it! The idea alone...to come up with this ..brilliant :=)

 

[Jacob Bula]

I’m not going to go over the plot now but one scene, three men on another earth like planet find forests of kava shrubs surrounding various sized bodies of water. Later they discover that these large bodies of water are natural brews of kava. Due to the heavy rain and ever expanding sizes they overtake the shrubs and over time the roots erode, leaving a natural reservoir of kava. There are even creatures living in these reservoirs who have adapted to being drenched in lactones. These fish and octopuses have no sight and rely on touch senses alone because nothing could see through kava. Anyway the rest of the plot involves them exploring a super earth, it’s not actually about kava, just this scene. Any ideas? How could I make this scene more interesting?

Below is a NatGeo article about the pen-tailed treeshrew (Ptilocercus lowii) which primarily feeds on "alcoholic nectar with a maximum alcohol concentration of 3.8% ". It does not get drunk and functions quite well. "For the moment, we have no idea how they do this, but the high levels of EtG in their hair suggests that they may break down alcohol in this way to a far greater extent than humans do. By converting the alcohol they drink into EtG, they keep the levels in their blood and their brain low. "

It is very possible that these aquatic-lactone critters would not feel the kavalactones very much and would be very well adapted to living in the lakes. It would be interesting if the explorers were ignorant of kava, ate one of these fish and started experiencing mild kava-like effects, which spawned returned trips to the lakes and/or a kava cultivation culture on the planet.

Nat geo link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...s-chug-alcoholic-nectar-without-getting-drunk

Picture from Live Science:

 

[jonaspmd]

Use this scene as a seed for a surprise twist later in the story line, eg during the ultimate fight scene kava clouds cover the sky and the kava rain makes everybody calm and serene, which is a known effect of kava. That's why the indigenous population has never seen a war until the invaders came.

 

[Edward]

I’m not going to go over the plot now but one scene, three men on another earth like planet find forests of kava shrubs surrounding various sized bodies of water. Later they discover that these large bodies of water are natural brews of kava. Due to the heavy rain and ever expanding sizes they overtake the shrubs and over time the roots erode, leaving a natural reservoir of kava. There are even creatures living in these reservoirs who have adapted to being drenched in lactones. These fish and octopuses have no sight and rely on touch senses alone because nothing could see through kava. Anyway the rest of the plot involves them exploring a super earth, it’s not actually about kava, just this scene. Any ideas? How could I make this scene more interesting?

Sounds like my kitchen on a Saturday night!