Ratfolk

Biodata

Background / History

Ratfolk are divided into clans whose populations, appearances and specialties vary considerably. A clan driven from the Southlands spread into the Northern Frontier, taking Kennydin County and threatening the area around Breeze City 71. Later Rat Tides devastated northern settlements, while the Stuen Clan developed a separate, uneasy relationship with Annan Reeves and Free City 268 318 1198.

Their numbers make them difficult to defeat through attrition. A female Ratfolk can bear ten pups a week, and pups can reach adulthood in a month; given food and a summer, a group of one hundred can grow into tens of thousands 315. Rat Nests and Rat Mothers are consequently crucial to a clan's survival. Without a Rat Mother, its losses cannot readily be replaced, even if its Rat King survives 1597 1689.

Appearance

Ratfolk range from small Slave Rats to towering Brute Rats and Rat Kings. Their features also vary by clan and bloodline 132 667.

• Common traits — Rat ears, tails and incisors; some have scarlet eyes 132 1229.
• Humanlike varieties — Some Stuen Ratfolk resemble humans or Elves closely enough to serve as spies. Elf Ratfolk can have pointed ears and an otherwise Elf-like figure, with a bare rat tail giving them away 132 667.
• Specialized builds — Stuen artisans raised for excavation have enormous, heavily muscled arms 1199.

Society and Hierarchy

A Ratfolk Clan is centered on its Rat Mother, which enables it to replace its population. Rat Kings, elders and priests hold leadership positions; Rat Kings once shared authority with elders and priests, though the loss of the Great Horned Rat's favor left at least one surviving king with severely diminished judgment 1684 1689.

Status also differs among fur groups: Brownfur Rats occupy a low position, while Greyfur Rats are associated with greater influence and the ability to use Fel Energy 1165 1689. Ratfolk society prizes bloodlines, and Stuen breeders have selected traits from other species over generations to produce specialists such as spies and artisans 1199.

Abilities & Skills

Reproduction and adaptation

• Ratfolk reproduce rapidly without entirely following the usual pattern in which more powerful creatures become harder to breed 71 315.
• Breeding across species can produce specialized descendants, including Elf Ratfolk, Orc Ratfolk and Demon Rats 132.
• They can survive on little food and consume a wide range of material, including their own dead 329 1564 1885.

Swarms and infiltration

• Ratfolk can control ordinary rats, allowing them to gather information inside towns 71.
• They attack through tunnels, small openings and disguises as well as mass assaults 268.
• A Rat Tide can scale a wall by piling up its dead, but its coordination may collapse when its commander is eliminated 315 799.

Fel Energy

• The Great Horned Rat's power is linked to Ratfolk Fel Energy; a Stuen high priest calls it their true strength 1764.
• Fel Energy has been used to conceal the scale of an invasion, corrupt others and power battlefield attacks 268 1576.
• A Fel Eye can watch territory from a Ratfolk altar, though its use depends on an operator and worshippers supplying energy 558.

Major Conflicts and Cooperation

• Northern Frontier invasion — Ratfolk occupied villages and cities, spread plague and mounted Rat Tides large enough to overwhelm conventional defenses 119 268.
• Star-Moon Bay — Annan admitted an initial group of Ratfolk under the settlement's laws, even as he prepared its walls, musketeers and stake barriers against another Rat Tide 318 329.
• Free City artisans — A Stuen delegation caused trouble by raiding shops, then accepted paid tunnel work under Free City law. One hundred artisans could excavate as quickly as roughly eight hundred human workers 1198 1199.
• Far North alliances — Stuen Ratfolk worked with Free City to transport a clan north, then reached an unexpected accommodation with the demons. Other Ratfolk and demon factions remained mutually suspicious 1672 1675.
• Imperial extermination order — The Tartun Empire authorized the destruction of Ratfolk nests, rewards for ears and punishment for people who aided Ratfolk 1550.

Individual Ratfolk do not always follow their clans' conduct. Broken Fang joined Annan's allies and rescued a human child from a Rat Tide; Miller, a Slave Rat who spoke the Common Tongue, had never eaten human flesh and was taken in by Broken Fang 796 838.

Notable Quotes

“Ratfolk are bad. I'm just not. Ratfolk are weak, but when they stand together, they aren't.” — Broken Fang 838

“I see their individual strengths, their gift for raising families, and their tireless drive to improve.” — Annan Reeves 1198