The Ichor Forest is considered one of the most dangerous forests known to explorers. This forest, which lines the upper half of a town called Perch Creek, has some of the most oddly-formed natural waterways ever discovered.
The Ichor Effect, which is divided into two parts, is the definition of what happens to those who enter the Ichor Forest OR the definition of a natural structure that has a similar appearance and growth to the Ichor Waterway.
Part 1: The Ichor Effect that defines what happens to explorers. The exact incident, which is detailed in the town's history, was the disappearance of several explorers in the forest who had inexplicably aged or seemed to have aged. This effect is the explanation of unexplainable aging and intense paranoia/dementia.
The extreme aging is not aging at all, but the appearance of aging due to extreme stress. The body is forced to produce massive amounts of new blood cells and hair grows because of hormones and effectively ages the body.
This is the only explanation science has come up with, but is still only a theory. No effective tests could be done when the original scientists were alive and, in 1957, all tests were halted. Needless to say, there is no proof either way that the Ichor Effect can actually happen, or if it is something else.
Part 2 The second part of the Ichor Effect can only be explained by explaining the natural formation of the Ichor Waterway. Ichor Forest is surrounding a central spring that seems to be a huge, monumental steel tower with no windows or doors that rests in the middle of a natural moat. The moat then wraps in a spiral shape around the forest and through it - in equal-sized rings - all the way to the forest border.
The trees are all pointed toward the tower, as well, unless it is summer, in which the trees seem to be completely pointed upwards. Every summer, the water appears to also dry up. It is unknown why this happens, but the tree theory says it is simply an optical illusion done by years of lore.
The effect states that the repetitive nature of the waterway and forest leads to massive paranoia of impossible situations, increased hostility and anger, extreme stress, and hallucinations.
This can lead most to suicide. However, those that live appear to have age inexplicably. This is not always the case; sometimes they view the real world as simply a fake image created by the forest.
This effect has been noted on all explorers of the forest while the trees were present. When they were burnt down the first time, the tower was found and people initially thought a creature called the Piche had lived in there.
Upon examination and seeing no doors or windows, they assumed it was a meaningless structure or some solid block created by Native Americans for worship and left it alone. However, a diary was found next to the building on the next burning down of the forest. The last entry was scribbled in with a dying pen and very frantically written.
"____I've found this building it's ______meters tall and at least two horses in length. It's cold to the touch minus the fact it is ____ degrees outside. (There is a bunch of missing text or text impossible to read due to the dying pen) During the night the tower seems warmer to the touch, like a body is pressed against it. Not only that but, I can hear ______ scratch__________ from the inside."
The diary had no more pages in it. It appeared to be used for years worth of data and movement through the forest with active time checks. The tower was forgotten years later, when the town settled to what it is today. In addition, the Ichor Forest is now off limits.
About ten years ago, the Ichor Forest was put off limits when two teenage boys entered it and never came back. After a year of active searching, most of the search parties disappeared and all further searching was called off.
The town assumed some wild animal or group of people living in there were killing all who enter, for food (because bodies could not be found).
Explanation of the town:
The town of Perch Creek is located on the outskirts of the Ichor Forest. It is 135,000 acres of rich land susceptible to all kind of farming opportunities. It is also one of the few places in America that has all four seasons to the most extreme, ranging from snow to boiling heat.
It is a pleasant vill if there ever was one. There are four houses repeated in four segments - quadrants named by their founder: Geerhall Quadrant, West Hulldran, The Gueniveer Quadrant, and the Idealistic Quadrant. Geerhall and Idealistic are the top left and right, respectively, and line the forest.
The bottom left and right are Hulldran and Gueniveer, respectively. In the center of the four quadrants is a massive man-made lake, used in summer as a swimming hole and winter as an ice skating rink. This is the main point of economy for the town from the population.
A population of 13,465 put this town to the very brink of exploding.
Perch Creek was founded in 1815 by Jorge Hulldran, who came over in a boat from Germany and wanted to start a new life. He founded the town in the midwest by buying it off the Native Americans and ran the town as a place for his family and friends he brought over. This was the first quadrant.
Soon, Jacylin Geerhall bought some land and started the second quadrant. This was the first expansion of many that would later make Perch Creek what it is today.
After a series of deaths in 1895, the US Government took major interest in the town. Ichor Forest seemed to have wolves in it, or possibly Native Americans that wanted to kill the German-borne town. The government inhabited it for the next ten years and didn't find a single thing. It was deemed there was no danger of living in close proximity to the forest, and it was left at that.
The following year, 115 deaths occurred during the winter. It was obvious that the Native Americans could not be involved, due to the degree of cold when it happened. Interest in what was inside the forest took up in the early summer.
Nothing was found in the entire forest, but something was killing people again in the following year. The forest was burned down in 1907 to kill whatever could have done it. At this point, Gueniveer and Idealist bought the two final quadrants.
In 1910, the forest entirely regrew. That winter, 333 deaths occurred in the town, as if something was angry. People began killing pigs every winter and leaving their blood in a bowl on their doorstep. Those who did this were left alive and those who didn't were found dead at the end of every winter. A pattern began to emerge.
Each winter, a blizzard would occur and people would disappear. After the winter was over, a terrible smell would occur in the forest, After following it, one could find every body that had gone missing that winter.
The bodies were laid in some sort of marriage service every year. It was always a newlywed couple, but not always their families. Marriages began to occur outside Perch Creek in fear of being murdered.
A name was given to the creature: the Piche. Pronounced "Pike," it was a mix between Ichor Forest and Perch Creek.
In 1915, pigs' blood stopped working. Now, ashes of the burnt bodies from the previous year were dropped into the pig's blood. The blood was hardened to build the doors of most houses.
Now, the houses seemed to be permanently safe. The same was done to the window frames and some was built into the walls and surrounding dirt to create a sort of forcefield.
In 1920, the blood stopped working again and the killing resumed in ferocity. A personal militia was created to enter the forest and kill the Piche. They were gone for three days. When only two of the fifteen emerged, they had aged a massive ten years and had eaten every ounce of food they had taken.
After this, a rule of thumb began: houses were built without windows and with steel doors that only opened from the inside. This way, the Piche could not see anyone to kill.
In 1923, a man named Oliver Brehl released a book of information on the Piche. Only a few of these books still remain. From what hasn't been smudged over time there are three basic things that can be read:
- The Piche does not kill unless you witness it.
- The Piche has red eyes.
- The Piche only comes out in the cold, becoming more adventurous and ferocious as more snow appears.
In 1945, the town was abanoned when every house burned to the ground. Remains were found of books and records. All information on the town ever existing was kept. However, no information on the Piche was kept.
In modern days, the town has boomed. A massive, four story mall was built in the Gueniveer quadrant and the lake had been built, along with hunting shops and classes for Ichor Forest.
The town also has a massive formation of crystals in a mine in the Idealistic quadrant. Because of that, it has become a popular tourist attraction. The mine goes down at least ten miles. However, because of air and heat, no more attempts to see the end of the tunnel have been conceived.
(This story is credited to a person called Guiv.)