LOL! Indeed it is. Only the wealthy smoke.

First, you’d need some ‘aki’, a type of smokable leaf that is believed to have spiritual powers; not very expensive, but also somewhat difficult to find due to the rarity of smokers. So most dedicated smokers grow it themselves.

Second, you’d need an ignis twig to smolder the aki leaves—twigs that are exhorbitantly expensive because they’re one of the only natural ways to apply energy directly to an object, and once you harvest a branch from an ignis tree, no matter what the size, the rest of the tree becomes useless.

Third, you’d need a special pipe with a custom rigging that can affix the twig to the aki. Hard to find because the only interested parties in them are wealthy, so price is adjusted accordingly.

Fourth, you’d need patience, because it takes a good hour of application before the aki even smolders. (hint: A good time for meditation.)

I couldn’t agree more. People will swallow a lot if the characters come across as real people.

One of my old writing mentors once told me that when she writes something unbelievable, she writes it as matter-of-factly as she can. The more fantastic the element, the more blunt and unadorned her prose.

Never worked for me though. I still laugh at my attempts, which makes me change them into something that’s supposed to be funny.