Ichor

Ichor is divine flesh. Holy blood. It is what remains of God in this world. After Godfall its body was scattered throughout the realm. The sanctified corpse forming pockets of viscera all throughout the realm. A chunk of muscle in a field, a pond of blood in a silent forest, great bones jutting out from mountains. It was quickly discovered that there existed power in this flesh. Power which was accessible through consumption.

Humanity, all mortal life in fact, could cannibalize its creator and within that act of desecration inherit some divine power. Thus began the hunt for Ichor which shapes the world even today. Lumps of flesh became precious minerals. Creatures who had already indulged, inherited that power, became animals to be poached.

However, centuries after Godfall, the continuous raping and pillaging of divinity has twisted Ichor into something grotesque. That which was once a blessing has become a curse. A rotting cadaver which infects every corner of the world with its plague.

Basic Properties

Mapping the properties of Ichor has been a long standing project of scholars all throughout the realm. It begins with understanding its effects on the body when consumed.

Consumption

Ichor, although tainted, promises power all the same. Although many of the original sources have been depleted, no more do chunks of flesh litter the earth, those who seek visceral strength can always turn to other methods. Ichor does not simply disappear, any creature, plant, or organism who has at some point consumed Ichor will have Ichor flowing through their blood. Their blood can be eaten to inherit their power. Thus the cycle of consumption continues.

At first, such blood grants you strength. A fraction of God's immortal power. It could be improved athletic or dexterous abilities. Perhaps an indominable constitution. However, the more Ichor one consumes the more twisted one becomes. The body, after consumption, begins to mutate to reflect the sins of the individual and its ancestors. Not ancestors in the parental sense but those who's blood was stolen in pursuit of power. With time, the bodies of those who consume Ichor will become unrecognizable and unlovable, little more than fuel for the next fool.

Generalization of the Effects of Consuming Ichor.

Illustration depicting stages 1 to 3 of Ichor-based mutations.

The subject was made to cannibalize various Ichor-infused wildlife.

Sin and Mutation

There is a poetic nature to Ichor. It is the nature of divinity to be beautiful in some capacity. Even a cruel one.

Thus, it is often the case that the malformities one adopts upon the consumption oof Ichor are not only reflections of who or what you had to kill, but also a reflect your own fears, insecurities, vices, etc. Hematologists have long attempt to discover trends, methodologies, or some form of science to predict and measure what mutations will occur to no avail. The deformities always seem fitting but there is an aspect of randomness to them. They reflect the price of ones greed. In the end, the mutations are generally what kill you, if the insanity does not get to you first. Some say there is a beauty in that - the power which one seeks twists one's body beyond the limits of what it can do, until it dies.

Viscerality

Beyond the obvious physical drawbacks of the consumption of Ichor - the grotesque and unpredictable bodily mutations. There is a mental toll. This is the last part of understanding the fundamental properties of Ichor.

Viscerality is the word which has been decided to best describe the emotion elicited in those who look at Ichor mutations. Essentially, someone in the late stages of Ichor mutation is very visceral to look at it. It is a combination of disgust, fear, and instinctual opposition which seems to be ingrained in every being as much as a will to live. There is something disgusting about the butchery of God's corpse. Even in the least grotesque cases Ichor has an air of horror to it which is unshakable. That is viscerality.

Everyone feels this emotion when looking at Ichor, it is part of the reason why the mutated are shunned. However, the minds reaction to viscerality is never as potent as when viewing it in oneself. Those who consume Ichor have a nearly impossible time reconciling the grotesque, immeasurable, power within them with their human nature. This inability to cope is the greatest drawback to consuming Ichor, it always leads to insanity. In most cases, it is this madness which drives one of the edge far before one can succumb to the malformities.

Modern Hematology

In reality, little of what was just detailed is accurate. It leaves out much of the nuances of reality. As life is always changing so too is Ichor. Evolving, growing more and more tainted. The pure blood which once fell from the sky is mixed with feces, rot, and dirt becoming much different from what it once was. Ichor, does not really exist the same in the modern age, the pure, divine blood of the past has become a rarity. Instead there are several offshoots, iterations of Ichor which exist throughout the world.

In the modern age, Ichor generally manifests as either microscopic quantities which have been integrated, relatively safely, into various creatures genetics, leading to the existence of fully new species. In this case the amount of Ichor is nearly negligible and has just led to some strange new species such as the Clair Hounds of Greywood. Or it manifests as a highly volatile mutagenic which gives rise to creatures such as Wretch.

Volatile Mutagenic