Editing Black Heath (section)

=== The Cost ===
Tapping is not without consequence [1].

'''Short-term''' — Disorientation, headaches, a lingering sense that one's own thoughts are being observed [1]. Most first-time Tappers describe the experience as "being inside something that is also inside you" [1].

'''Long-term''' — Tappers who use Shaladh frequently over years undergo gradual cognitive drift [1]. They become slower in conversation, more contemplative, prone to long silences [1]. They begin to think in longer timescales — less concerned with immediate problems, more attuned to seasonal rhythms and generational patterns [1]. They sometimes speak in metaphors drawn from growth, soil, weather, and roots without realizing they are doing so [1].

'''The Deep-Tapped''' — Those who have spent decades in regular communion with the forest are something between human and extension of the root network [1]. They can stand motionless for hours, even days, in a state that resembles meditation but is actually active communication with the forest over vast distances [1]. They may lose interest in human conversation, human politics, human time [1]. Some stop speaking entirely [1]. They are revered and feared in equal measure [1].