At first glance, this world seems like any other "normal" version of Earth: its main sentient species is the "average" human and civilization is as it is on a "normal", "modern day" Earth. Beneath the facade of normalcy, however, lurks a wide variety of supernatural creatures, including vampires, werewolves, and mages. This world additionally is home to (unbeknownst to its human population) a type of being that calls themselves "the Inspired".
Though these beings are normal humans physically, what makes "the Inspired" special is that they possess what they call "Inspiration". While they don't exactly know what Inspiration is, it grants those possessing it "a transcendental intelligence" and it allows the Inspired to generate and channel "Mania", a force largely unique to this world. The exact nature of Mania is similarly unknown, but it's thought to be something like "raw creative energy". Mana to a Mage is what Mania is to the Inspired, and they use this Mania to bend reality to their will. Instead of casting spells, the Inspired use Mania to build Wonders; fantastic technologies capable of performing the impossible. No matter how a Wonder looks, however, Wonders are NOT devices that whose function depends on any actual science. Sure, the Inspired are brilliant scientists and it IS true that they base Wonders on complex scientific theories, but when it comes right down to it the thing powering it is Mania. If it weren't for the Mania in it, the Wonder would not work; the Wonder probably couldn't even exist.
Despite the seeming "benefit" of Inspiration, its affects leave none of those touched by it even remotely sane. While it grants the Inspired access to the limitless creative power that is Mania, it also brings with edges out parts of who they once were. First, the act of becoming an Inspired (called a "Breakthrough") burns into the newly Inspired the core emotion (regret, anger, paranoia, curiosity or vision) that drove their Breakthrough permanently into their psyche. This emotion (called their "Catalyst") forms the basis of an Inspired's personality and motivations. Secondly, the brilliance granted by Inspiration also introduces a sort of "alien" element into their mind.
Though their ideas for Wonders come from this element, if left unchecked can burn out any remnants of left of the Inspired's original, human mind. Such individuals act on nothing but the desire to construct Wonders, their sense of right and wrong, or (more saliently) what (or who) constitutes parts and what doesn't completely burned away.
Overall, this world is a convoluted mess. Though most of the Inspired act like the mad scientists of other worlds some fill other niches, like that of the super hero (or villain). And beyond this, the Inspired divide themselves into hundreds of groups, subgroups, and sub subgroups. Additionally, Mania isn't just bound to the Inspired in this world; it ebbs and flows from the collective ideas of normal humans. In events called "Maniac Storms", these fluxes can actually create beings known as Manes and places known as Bardos out of raw Mania. This is a world where the impossible regularly happen, causing the line between the real and the unreal are blurred constantly.
