Remtar

Description

In appearances, the Remtar greatly resemble their wild counterparts of rats, mice, and mole-rats: some have hunched postures, others elongated snouts, wiry fur, naked tails, and oily skin. Beyond some superficial similarities, the race is highly diverse: some Remtar have dark-adapted eyes, while some have floating collarbones that let them squeeze through spaces only slightly larger than their heads. Others still possess extra fingers—up to seven per hand—alongside multi-jointed knuckles, making these individuals naturally gifted lockpicks and nimble-handed thieves. No single Remtar may possess more than one of these traits, but all Remtar have an acute sense of hearing, allowing them to hear the higher-pitched chittering sounds that make up their language.

Unsurprisingly, the Remtar are also naturally resistant to most diseases, enabling them to survive in the crowded, filthy environments in which they are forced to reside. Popular belief holds that this innate ability comes not from their animalistic parentage, but because of an ancient history living alongside filth and corpse-pits in slums and deep beneath the Earth. It is commonly attested that their emergence into Azura coincided with the Unearthing of the Dwarves, though evidence for this is scant at best.

Personality 

Living brutal lives at the edge of civilised society, little brotherhood can be found amongst this fragmented race. Trust is rare amongst the Remtar—instead replaced by a greedy, hedonistic philosophy that holds the world as a place of limited resources and existential threat: for them, selfishness, opportunism, and pragmatism are virtues. However, at the core of this bleak worldview is a paradoxical loyalty: the clan.

A Remtar’s clan may be bound by blood, a shared history, or simply by convenience—but it is sacred regardless. The clan is how the Remtar measure their worth, secure protection, and share the spoils of crime. In seeming contradiction to their beliefs, generosity is common within these quasi-familial units, but it serves no altruistic purpose. The sharing of their plunder is opportunistic, intended to prevent betrayal and reduce the envy with which they are looked upon. Yet even amidst the greed and backbiting, this bond forms the foundation of Remtar's identity.

Spirituality amongst the Remtar is less than uniform, but most worship spirits of death, flesh, and decay—embodiments of the natural forces ever-present in their lives. Among the most fervent clans, ritual sacrifice is attested as the highest form of worship, although this practice is exceedingly rare among urban groups. The arcane studies are similarly exalted, with clan leaders often being formidable magic users, commanding their lessers with wealth, strength, and fear.