They flee. They work. They carry it to their families, and to the roads. A cough begun in Perendale ends in Cumberland's blood.

Red lyrium is a slow poison — much as the untouched ore. Templars may resist it enough to encourage growth, where it only poisons another man. The reaction of mages is sudden and violent; all this suggests that for its differences, a base sensitivity holds.

If this is true, red lyrium might be refined, made more potent. We might attempt to make it kill.