Mushwomb

The Xenopox Virus was created at MedUSA, a laboratory, in Oregon, though as a company, its facilities are spread across the globe. The base of the chemical concoction was the actual poison of the snake god, Ophion. In ancient times, anyone that Ophion bit would become snake people, reptilians. They would bite others, and the further away from Ophion’s original victim, the less human traits the victims would keep and the more of a reptile they would appear.

The original poison used had come from an ancient unearthed relic. Using the poison as a starting point, MedUSA began testing and tweaking the properties. The original idea of the board of directors and several of the scientists was to find a way to resurrect the snake god himself, perhaps by cloning. However, all attempts using the poison, failed. They then tested the poison on animals and people. By studying the effects on a microscopic level, they grew to understand the properties of the substance better. It caused mutations of varying types and degrees based on mixing with the DNA of different organisms. After the lab was destroyed by Siri Solen, the mutants that managed to escape sought refuge in the nearby sewer system.

One strain of these fleeing mutants was the fungalians. Among those were some humanoids typically referred to as mushwombs or mushroom women. The xenopoxian fungus has just one goal: self-propagation and dispersal. Once a mushdoom finds an animal, it will throw itself at the prey. As it fights, it will shake its massive, plumed head sending down a shower of spores onto its enemy. Once it does this, it will break away and retreat. As the infection advances, the enthralled animal is compelled to remain in the sewers, a humid microclimate that’s favorable to the fungus’s growth. If the animal is female, it will often cause a shift in the mutation of the infection. The flesh of the animal becomes fungal rather than flesh and the center of it becomes nothing more than a giant womb. A mushwomb can birth globs of mold that will eventually grow into colonies of infected mushrooms. These will send out spore clouds when touched that will, in turn, cause the infection to spread. Absinthe Van Gothen fought these mutants in the Portland Sewer System, specifically the Big Pipe Project section.