Mark of Porescoro

The Mark of Porescoro is a boon the goddess of sickness and healing Porescoro grants to those she deems worthy. Transmitted via a sting from her tail, those who receive this gift are permanently changed, for better or worse.

The Trial of Porescoro

The Trial of Porescoro begins the moment Porescoro stings a challenger with her tail. The one stung will fall into a deep, feverish sleep as the poison overtakes their body.

Inside, the challenger awakens to a vivid, colorful fever dream. To complete the challenge, they must make their way through their own subconscious, battling inner demons and eventually coming to some grand realization about themselves. But they must take care; if they die in this dream, they die out in the real world, too.

When the challenge has been successfully completed, the one completing the trial will awaken. Upon awakening, the challenger will feel extremely sick and be unable to get out of bed for a few days. However, at this point, there is no risk of death. Over the next week or two, the champion will make a full recovery.

The Mark of Porescoro

Porescoro's stinger leaves a permanent mark on the body. How severe the damage is depends on the case. Sometimes, the mark is little more than a small puncture scar, but other times there is a bigger crater around the wound from the surrounding tissue dissolving. In the worst-case scenario, the stinger leaves behind a cluster of open sores which create permanent shallow holes in the skin when they heal. Ugly as this is, it is never life-threatening, nor does it raise the risk of infection, for reasons explained below.

Granted Powers

Those who survive the Trial of Porescoro receive a number of gifts. First of all, they enjoy near-complete immunity to any form of organic disease. Not only does this mean they can navigate the land of Misery Mire with no issue, they heal more quickly from both magical and non-magical afflictions, including Null Magic Poisoning.

Those bearing the Mark of Porescoro also have command over diseases and microbes, as well as enhanced healing abilities. The mark imbues its bearer with a great amount of Earth magic, so Earth-based spells like Regrowth receive the greatest boost in effectiveness.

As viromancy is an incredibly powerful and unwieldy ability that can cause mass devastation if mishandled, Porescoro does not grant the mark to many. Usually, only the top members of The Cult of Advanced Viromancy receive it, and only if they have shown that they can be trusted not to use it for personal gain.