Relationship with People

Rats were among the closest creatures to mankind.  Though the warlords of the city were rarely viewed favorably, the working rats of the world were held in such high regard as to speak with men on occasion.  Especially those who worked important jobs on ships or in the city.  Mankind respected the rat, allowing the species as a whole to get away with more than most would.

Relationship with Other Species

Notable Factions: War Hordes, Ship Rats, Roamers, Service Rats

War Hordes

Rats of the past were more numerous than is imaginable, and factions sprung up weekly to compete for resources. A collective of rats was referred to as a war horde, and they would use any means possible to claim new territory - their hoard. War hordes fought a constant war path against each other. In front of them, the weaker group they were driving out. Behind them, an army just as strong, if not stronger, chasing them in the same direction. Many rats who chased the war hoards died young, but that was expected for prey creatures like them. They never stopped the pursuit of resources, power, and territory.

The War Hordes were known to be easy pickings for predators, as their battles took too much attention to worry about the one or two stragglers being picked off at the tail. The Pipero cats could eat well any night the war hordes clashed, even if they ate nothing but carrion.

These rats were not particularly well liked by mankind, as their rampant looting made a disastrous mess of any area they tore through.  Hordes could be cleared out overnight by extermination operations, should they wander into the wrong patch of the city. Hordes unaffected by the slaughter often viewed this as a good thing. Not only did their competition die, but they likely left behind all of their loot as well.  Those who stuck to landfills and abandoned buildings found next to no resistance from mankind, and could live freely there, though the loot was never much good.

Ship Rats

Ship rats had an understanding with mankind. Nobody rides for free after all. In exchange for traveling the sea alongside man, ship rats would assist the sailors they lived with. They were never pets, that would be an insult to their station. They were assistants. A rat could easily run cables through a wall or retrieve screws lost under a cabinet. They could squeak to alert their crewmates of leaks, eat away at the insects that infested their stores, and generally provide a great deal of help to the sailors.  So, as long as they cleaned up after themselves, they were often welcomed as a sailor's best friend.

The smartest ship rats could be awarded medals, titles, and translation collars by the ship captain in recognition of their contribution to the ship. Ship rats had a strong sense of duty towards their ship and its crew, and the most loyal among them would continue work a sinking ship until the captain abandoned the vessel.

By spending most of their lives at sea, ship rats become isolated from the troubles of the land. They rarely concerned themselves with the lives of predators or the war hordes when they came to shore. They mind their own business, following their sailors along the docks until it's time to board the next ship. Predators who challenged a group of ship rats would have their work cut out for them, as they were one of the few prey items in the city that had the bravery to fight back. Each ship rat protected its crew, and if you attacked one you may as well have attacked them all.

With the help of mankind, ship rats became one of the few outsider factions to learn about the Blazacy's inner workings.  When their ships took them to the island of the Blazals, some bolder and younger rats would risk shore leave, eager to learn more about the insular faction.  It was dangerous business, and they were always advised to stay with a sailor if they decided to go visit the island cats.  Those foolish enough to go alone were likely to get themselves eaten.

Roamers

Very rarely, a rat could use its omnivorous language talents to talk its way into joining a group of a different species. These rats would learn the ways of the faction they joined, taking advantage of the opportunities it provided and accepting the risks it brought. The risk of predators turning on them was ever present, making this a stressful life for those who chose it.

Most factions of the world have at least one story of a rat who successfully lived alongside them.  Even Coyote nomads know the story of the Fanged Tail, who hunted the biggest prey alongside their close friend, Thorny Brow.  The Linerunners and all kinds of boars had living rat allies at the time of the Fracture, being favorites of the roaming rats.

The Blazacy was notably opposed to any outsiders joining it, preferring to take any roaming recruits as an easy meal.  

The Commune was likewise opposed to roamers joining, though it was significantly more subtle about it.  Elder rabbits of The Commune would take advantage of the friendliness of roaming rats, getting them into all sorts of trouble for the benefit of the warren.  Then, once it seemed the rat's usefulness was used up, the rat would be banished from the Commune, never to haunt its walls again unless it could prove its worth.

Service Rats

Before the Fracture, languages were simpler. The creatures of the world couldn't make as many sounds as they can now. As a result, Pre-Fracture names tend to be made of common words and titles. Some chose to change to adapt these names to match their Post-Fracture abilities and personalities. Names containing words and titles come with a nostalgic, traditional connotation. Names containing unique sounds come across as more modern and exotic. More information about general naming conventions is available here.

Despite being mostly localized to Fort Pipero, rats and factions were so numerous, that the types of names used could vary significantly. The one common conventions that rat names did follow, however, was the use of a House name. Traditionally, a house name represented the family you were born into, but with the case of rising factions and service rats, a new House name would be coined and taken by the joining members.

War Hordes and House Names

The War Hordes represented more traditional wild rat colonies across Fort Pipero. They were family groups, competing for resources and looking out for their own. The largest of which are what lead to the War Horde term, but the most powerful groups would often thin from their great battles, leading to splintered survivors forming new family groups.

The most common House name was representative to the territory the horde laid claim to. Still, these House names could vary from something the founding family accomplished, to something as simple as a word the founders liked. Rats could be referred to as "Flicker of House Cobble", or simply "Flicker Cobble", depending on how formal one felt.

House Cobble
A War Horde that lay claim to the cobbled streets in one of the oldest areas near the city center. The family itself was one of the oldest in the area, though after extreme aggression and a push to expansion nearly got them wiped out, the tempers of the survivors mellowed and they focused on mostly defending their own turf. 

Flicker of House Cobble
Cascade Cobble
Rustle Cobble

House Lumen
A large War Horde which inhabited low alleys. Despite much natural light being blocked out by the tall buildings above, the alleys where adorned with a wide array of light fixtures by mankind. House Lumen would sometimes steal or reroute this magitech when unsecured, using it to illuminate their nests.

Ivy of House Skylight
Summit Skylight
Tawny Skylight

House Citadel
House Citadel was a newer family formed from the scattered remnants of a few warring houses. The rats worked together with former enemy to found a family which moved into unclaimed areas of new construction. They nested together in a crawlspace of a looming, sturdy building, and stuck to rooftops when scouting their territory.

Moss of House Citadel
Ember Citadel
Surge Citadel

Roamers and Wild Names

Naturally, roamers were the culturally least consistent of rats. Either by choice or by circumstance, roamers were often quite disconnected from any sort of colony or familial group. Thus, they rarely kept any sort of House name, instead going by their given name unless they chose to adopt the culture of another species or faction.

Root
Once a city rat, Root followed his wanderlust into the surrounding wilds, exploring and learning about the wider world. As a sole rat in a world full of things that would gladly make a meal out of things, Root needed to be crafty and careful. He spent some time traveling in various rabbit warren territory, finding them the only species trustworthy enough to socialize with, though never welcoming enough to join.

Curl Riftbreaker the Fifth
Right place at the right time, or wrong place at the wrong time, Curl was a War Horde rat who witnessed to the wicked effects of mankind's technology firsthand. Feeling compelled to step in, Curl found herself in the middle of a Shatter Runner raid. The mixed group of Shatter Runners were happy to welcome more to their cause, and feeling a greater purpose, Curl embraced the new faction. The raiders she first met gave her the nickname "Riftbreaker", which stuck. Curl embraced the counting name convention of the Shatter Runners, but didn't feel compelled to keep taking on new names as was originally Line Runner tradition, sticking with her given and her nickname.

Marsh Yellowtail
A member of a wild colony, Yellowtail lived in the wet lowlands far south of the city borders. Yellowtail's family used a regional variant of a family name, instead taking "Marsh" as the first part of their full name. Two other wild colonies in the area, "Pine" and "Thicket" shared this convention. As opposed to the city, the wilds were less crowded and more abundant in resources, so rather than fighting each other, Yellowtail and her family shared positive relationships with the other family groups, and would exchange information such as predator sightings.

Ship Rat and Service Names

Rats who worked alongside mankind were either born into it, or forsook their wild families to pursue elevated status for their own gain. Regardless of their origin, rats almost never retained familial names from their past, instead taking up the 'House name' of their profession or company. Though not the majority, a common minority of rats took up a third name, that is, a man name. Pre-fracture, many man-names could only be pronounced correctly with the use of a translation device.