Ichor

Elixir that allows a human to summon a pactbeast and increases one's physical capabilities, senses, and aggressiveness while placing them under Dovrak's control

Elixir

Shimmering navy blue liquid with a metallic and intensely bitter taste that lingers on the tongue when ingested, like drinking a mixture of bile and blood

The Ichor was created by Uriah as a direct antithesis to the Ambrosia, as the manticore was jealous of the Dawnwing Organization’s power and thought that he could use it to the Duskwing Syndicate’s advantage. Thus Uriah stole some of the Ambrosia and drank it, tainting it with his venom to create the Ichor.

The Ichor allows the user to summon a pactbeast, much like the Ambrosia does. If they already have a pactbeast or Guardian, it drastically enhances the pair's physical capabilities and senses and allows them to have psychic links with each other – acting as two halves of one body. However, it comes at the steep price of markedly increased aggressiveness as well as being placed under Dovrak's control. The Ichor can also be used on animals, in which case it drastically enhances said animal's physical capabilities, senses, and aggressiveness, while also placing them under Dovrak's control.

A dose of Ichor is most often ingested orally, but it can also be injected through the back of the neck or any other vein such as the arm – a practice common for prisoners, test subjects, and animals. The user would first feel intense agony as if their body were awash in magma, before being filled with an overwhelming, nearly intoxicating strength, followed by their eyes gaining a vivid scarlet glow. The rush of strength is often described as giddy and freeing and can lead to the Ichor becoming addictive over time as the body becomes used to smaller doses and requires more to function. As such, the more of the Ichor a person or creature takes, the more they gradually destabilize until they snap and go insane, especially if they overload themselves with too much of it at once. At times, the intense pain will continue even after the rush of strength arrives, placing the victim in a permanent fight-or-flight mode until the Ichor wears off.

Duskwing Syndicate cadets ingest a tempered version of it during the Duskwing Initiation Ceremony in order to summon a pactbeast – or if they already have one – to swear loyalty to the Duskwing Syndicate. It does not cause pain when ingested but instead fills them with intense warmth, almost as if a fire has been lit inside them. In addition, the Ichor also be modified for use as a torture device, in which it both causes agonizing pain and, if the victim survives, gradually turns them Aberrant.

Uriah can synthesize and carry the Ichor in his stingers as well as spit it out as venom, sniping opponents from afar and placing them under Dovrak’s control, He can also exhale it as a miasma for a wider range of effect. The Copper Manticore can also create the Ichor (series 1 only).