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Ultraspice
Melange (), often referred to as "the spice", is the fictional psychedelic drug central to the ''Dune'' series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert and derivative works. In the series, the most essential and valuable commodity in the universe is melange, a drug that gives the user a longer life span, greater vitality, and heightened awareness. In some humans, the spice can also unlock prescience, a form of precognition based in genetics but made possible by use of the drug in larger dosages. Among other functions, prescience makes safe and accurate interstellar travel possible. However, melange is also highly addictive, and withdrawal is fatal. Harvesting melange is also hazardous in the extreme, as its only known source is the harsh desert planet Arrakis, and melange deposits are guarded by giant sandworms. Description Properties Melange is a drug that prolongs life and bestows heightened vitality and awareness, and in some humans unlocks prescience, a form of precognitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction ''Dune'' universe which possesses a monopoly on interstellar travel and banking. Guild Navigators (alternately Guildsmen or Steersmen) use the drug melange (also called "the spice") to achieve limited prescience, allowing them to successfully navigate "folded space" and safely guide enormous starships called heighliners across interstellar space instantaneously. The power of the Guild is balanced against that of the Padishah Emperor as well as of the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad. Essentially apolitical, the Guild is primarily concerned with the flow of commerce and preservation of the economy that supports them. Although their ability to dictate the terms of and fees for all transport gives them influence in the political arena, they do not pursue political goals beyond their economic ones. John C. Smith analyzes the concept of the Guild in the essay "Navigators and the Spacing Guild" in ''The Sci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |