Ichor
Ichor is very literally the rotting body of a dead God. It isn't pretty but it is powerful. So powerful that it has become the most sought after resource on the planet. Every commander in Greywood wants a platoon of empowered soldiers, every noble wants to extend their lifespan with tasteful micro doses, and every Fey wants to bring some back from war to curry favor with the Court of Daggers. Ichor has quickly become the lifeblood of under-the-table deals in The Cradle. Why? Because to man, even a fraction of Gods power tastes sickeningly sweet.
Properties
Material Characteristics
It's quiet strange interacting with Ichor, most people describe it as still being alive. Like they can hear a heartbeat in the blood or feel a twitch in the flesh. The validity of these claims are yet to be examined.
Ichor is old flesh, broken bones, and stagnant blood. Before its existence was common knowledge there would be hundreds of farmers reporting dead grizzly bears around their land. Not knowing that what they're dealing with is far more important. After God died its body quickly started to rot and spread throughout the landscape and this is the result. In the wild it looks foul. It looks like death - like masses of corpses piled up to form a meaty mound. However, since most people would rather not lay their eyes on such things it is generally refined until it is unrecognizable. Soldiers would know it as a thick paste in a syringe and nobles would know it as neatly kept blood in an ornate vial.
Physical & Chemical Properties
Not a lot is known about Ichor. Research is limited and dangerous.
What is known is that it spreads. It feeds on other living matter to grow and expand. Ichor farms are a new addition to the Kingdom of Greywood and a helpful one at that. Blood with take over any body of water it is placed in within days. Flesh will consume other meat to grow stronger, and the bone tends to grow and expand like a crystalline structure on its own. Although very slowly.
In terms of alchemical properties? Scholars are at a loss. Ichor, in a vacuum, has shown such a staggering range of properties that nobody really understands how it works. For every account of it being flammable like blubber there's another describing how it survived the blast-furnace. Sometimes it burns right trough steel yet every Greywood noble keeps some in a vial around their neck. There is an overarching theme of survivability and adaptability. Perhaps it really is still alive.
Geology & Geography
Ichor is most commonly found in chunks, or bodies. Pockets of it laying around the earth, tucked away in the landscape. One of the largest of these pockets is the Womb, deep within Fey territories. All that is known is that it is a massive source of Ichor that all Fey are returned to. Otherwise you might find it deep underground in the Ironian mountains or Sunken in a meadow in the Golden Fields. Water sources are a particularly potent combination with Ichor. Lakes such as the Sea of Dreams is completely polluted by it - and scholars in Greywood are looking into replicating this effect as another way to farm it.
History & Usage
Discovery
The discovery of Ichor was a long process. After Godfall humans spent most of their time hiding away from maddened Shepherds of the Moon or the other monsters that roamed the land in the new age. For most of the Sunless Age, Ichor was probably completely unknown to humans. However, once civilization began to spring up again there was more of an opportunity to examine the various oddities of the new world and quickly it was found that Ichor was the source of most of it. Track a monster back to its lair and a body of Ichor is sure to be nearby.
Everyday use
For a material which is difficult to find, impossible to understand, and highly volatile in so many ways - it is shockingly simple to use. Ichor augments your body. You use it to make yourself better, stronger, closer to divinity. For this to pass Ichor has to enter your body. Methods vary.
- Foot soldiers in Greywood tend to use syringes plunged straight into their veins.
- Fey from the Court of Daggers are crafted from the stuff and thereby have a latent connection.
- In noble circles blood is drank as the most common form on ingestion.
- Oracles, mages, and fanatics tend to administer it closer to the cranium - eyedrops, syringes to the ear, etc.
Non of these practices are particularly pleasant and what follows is even worse. There is a period of time after application when your body has to acclimatize itself to the Ichor - or the Ichor to your body. Common side-effects include fever, nausea, vomiting, boils, blisters, warts, bruising. Some people die from taking too much and, unfortunately, too much seems quite dependent on what kind of person you are.
The way Ichor then manifests in your body varies from person to person. Scholars have theorized it has to do with your psyche. Others say it has to do with which parts of your body you work the most. Most soldiers in Greywood experience massive increases in strength and stamina, reaching superhuman levels. There are also accounts of very few physical changes happening but ones lifespan being extended varying amounts. On the other hand there are examples of very drastic physical changes - although the mechanisms might be different Fey generally manifest vast physical changes in size, appendage count, orifice count, etc. Some rebellious outlaws within Greywood or Geld have gained similar traits from exposure - 4 arms, 3 eyes, monstrous claws or a spined tail.
With such an unstable material it really is impossible to say what effect Ichor will have on you.
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