An industrialized world of humanoids with slight animal features. A world scarred by both interspecies wars and the toxic yet powerful substance known as originium, which can even grant powers akin to magic.
Type: Blossom
Rhodes Island Pharmecuticals is an organization specifically targeting the treatement - and hopefully, eventual cure - of the Oripathy disease. To this end they are involved in quite a few explorations and investigations, to the point that they are effectively a paramilitary organization. Think the Knights Hospitaller of normal history. They work closely with the elite courier organization of Penguin Logistics and the private military contractors BlackSteel Worldwide to fight for the rights of those infected, and seek out any information for a cure.
Rhodes Island has been particularly active in seeking out Vines and making contact with other worlds, both in an attempt to keep oripathy from spreading, and to find offworld medicines and technologies to attempt treatment.
The mineral known as originium appears to be a translucent black substance, with a hardness resembling stone despite its translucent look. It can be processed for many uses, and is a part of energy production as well as creating explosive mixtures for firearms and other weaponry. Carefully-refined, it can be used to make devices with quasi-magical properties... or those with it in their blood can use such "magic" natively, without a device. It is unstable and toxic, causing those who come into contact with it to contract the fatal disease of oripathy.
A fatal disease that can be contracted from extended contact with the mineral originium, it has resemblances to radiation sickness, cancer, and leprosy. Oripathy is always fatal eventually, though it can be treated and progression slowed, and some symptoms even partially reversed with treatment. The disease causes lumps of originium to form inside the body, obstructing the function of organs and nerves, and in advanced cases may even cause lesions or patches to appear externally.
Victims of Oripathy, known as Infected, eventually die from the disease... and afterward the body is rapidly overrun with originium crystals which explode outward to spread more, usually infecting others. Because of this risk of further infection, the Infected, as they are known, are feared and often discriminated against.
While humans exist on Terra, they are in the minority compared to the beings called Ancients. Ancients possess various animal traits depending on their specific subspecies, usually a 'tail and ears' combo but sometimes other effects like scales or bits of fur. Each subspecies is named after the creatures they bear a similarity to. These include various mammals, lizards, and even birds and fish, though those are rare. Some don't include creatures found in nature in the modern day, like dragons, dinosaurs, angels, and demons. While they are normally not discriminated against, they do have a much greater chance of being infected with oripathy than baseline humans.