Hazmat's Ratkin Primer
"The stories you are
about to read are not about the Garou -- the victors of the War of Rage --
but of one of their many victims. We will not concern ourselves with
the greatest of the Earth Mother's children, but with one of the most reviled.
The Goddess entrusted them witht he power of plague, the sacred duties
of disease, and the finer arts of destruction -- tasks seen as evil to some,
but essential to others. For thousands of years, their offspring lived
in the shadows of the world, hiding from the unchecked rage of the Garou,
the corrupting evils of the Wyrm, and the madness of humanity. This
book is about the last and lowlist of Gaia's servants: the Children of Rat.
This is the story of the Ratkin."
--
Brian Campbell,
Ratkin
C'mere,
siddown, and have a cookie. So, you're interested in playing a Ratkin,
huh, but don't have the book and don't know Thing One about 'em? S'cool,
this page'll give you some idea on what the Rats are all about. Basic
philosphies, general views about this and that and the other, a quick rundown
on the four main aspects. This page is primarily for players of GarouMUSH,
so I won't include some of the stranger things mentioned in the Ratkin book,
like the freak aspects.
This page is not meant to be a substitute for either Brian Campbell's book
(which is pretty damned excellent, by the way, and I recommend it highly)
nor for any other White Wolf source material. No copyright infringement
is intended. Also, note that I am not a wizard on GarouMUSH, nor intend
to be in future. Tskilegwa is in charge
of non-Garou shapeshifters; applications should be sent to him and final
say on what will or won't be allowed lies with him.
So, that being said, let's talk about Rats. What they are, and what
they're not. What they're not are a bunch of Garou who happen to turn
into rats instead of wolves. The Ratkin are, in many ways, more hard-core
than the Garou. They're twitchier and more feral -- while the Garou
have seen their animal kin decline in number and more and more of their kind
born as humans, the Ratkin's animal cousins breed like... well, like rats.
Rodens-born Ratkin far outnumber the Homid, and least-numbered of all
are their Metis. Even a Homid Ratkin probably has a lot of rat-blood
in him, and they tend not to play nice with normal people.
The other big difference between Ratkin and Garou is how they're made. Ratkin
aren't born; they're Infected. The Rite of the Birthing Plague can
be administered to a human or rat at any time during the victim's life. Non-kinfolk
may recover or die. Kinfolk, though, if they don't die, turn into full-blooded
Ratkin. The Plague is usually administered via biting or clawing and
quite deliberate, and the illness itself may last for months or even years,
the severity waxing and waning until the human or rat -- after ages of suffering
a delirium of fever and visions -- finally goes through their first transformation.
Most of them end up a little mad after that.
Metis Ratkin, by the way, are given the Birthing Plague very soon after birth,
and the great majority of them do not survive. Those that do are accepted
more fully than Garou Metis -- Ratkin have a strong sense of family and solidarity
-- but are expected to be open about their breed and deformities when in
a Ratkin Nest. Usually, a Metis born to a Nest will get stuck with
babysitting duties, too.
The Birthing Plague is what gives Ratkin their ability to transform, and
even after the First Change, the Rat remains infected with it. If the
Rat is somehow cured of it, they'll either revert to breed form and become
a normal human or rat kinfolk again or, in the case of Metis, will die. Harsh,
yes. The Plague also makes the Ratkin immune to the effects of all
other diseases... though they can, of course, still carry sicknesses and
spread 'em around. That's what Gaia made them for.
"To this day, the men
in the great city do not listen. And O My Many Beloved Children, at
the dawn of the Sixth Age, a hundred million men will live where the sacred
hill once was. 'This land is ours!' they will say. 'It will be
ours forever!' Then Gaia will send Rat to them.
"Rat will look upon
them and say, 'Once this was a sacred hill. Wolf came, but you did
not listen. Tiger and Raven and Fox came, but you did not listen. I
am the smallest of Gaia's children, but now, you will hear me.' And
Rat will run through the city of ten million men, spreading a terrible disease
that will kill them all in the night.
"And a plague and a
pestilence will sweep across the land, O My Many Beloved. The men will
learn that they should have listened, for Rat will do what none of the others
could do. You, My Many Beloved Childrem will swarm over the millions
of bodies dying on the hill. And the hill will be ours forever. And
the hill will be sacred again."
-- Brian Campbell, "A
Nezumi's Tale"
The Ratkin were created to keep humanity in check through disease and famine.
Some also say they were made to fix the Garou's errors; if the wolves
couldn't keep the human population down in a certain location, the rats would
come in, spread sickness, eat the excess grain, and etc. The Garou
didn't like this, naturally, and didn't trust the rats at all. When
the War of Rage came, the Ratkin were hit the hardest -- all of their Bards,
their Galliard-types, were slaughtered, for it was the Bards who did the
most dealing with the Garou and the other shifters. To this day, there
remain no Ratkin Bards, and much lore has been lost. And if you don't
think they're not bitter about that, you're gravely mistaken.
For many years, the Ratkin were in hiding -- in the cracks of society, in
the nooks and crannies of the Umbra. As the End Times approach, they're
coming out of hiding, more and more, in secret. The Garou have no idea
that, far from being nearly extinct, the Ratkin population is thriving, biding
its time for the Apocalypse. When it comes, they will survive. Humanity
may not, human civilization almost certainly will not, but Mama Rat's favored
children, the Chosen of the Rat God, will survive.
In regards to concepts, Ratkin are often terrorists, anarchists, punks and
thugs, bums and scouts and thieves. They see themselves as the servants
of the Wyld, of freedom and chaos. They hate the Weaver, they hate
what they see as order and repression. They hate the Wyrm, too, of
course. Some have turned their backs on Gaia, angry that She continues
to favor those who have killed their own people and so many other Changing
Breeds and then allowed humanity to grossly overpopulate. Many are
bitter; most are cynical. Not all, mind you; there are Ratkin like
Jenny Cornpop on GarouMUSH who, while they general despise the meaninglessness
of the treadmill 9-to-5, have compassion for the downtrodden members of humanity
and have a relatively idealistic outlook. At the other end of the spectrum,
though, are chittering, frothy little terrorists who would think nothing
of setting off a few bombs in a high-rent, highly-populated business center.
(Even the frothiest Warrior, though, isn't into self-sacrifice; one
of the Ratkin tenants is to survive... and leave the needless martyrdom to
the twice-damned Garou.)
General Ratkin Traits:
- Tunnel Sense -- a Ratkin cannot get lost underground.
- Like normal rats, a Ratkin can use its whiskers to navigate by
touch in dark places, and in rat form have a highly developed sense of smell
and hearing.
- Immunity to disease -- They can carry diseases and transmit them,
but the Birthing Plague prevents the Ratkin from suffering the effects of
those diseases. All Ratkin remain infected by the Birthing Plague throughout
their lives.
- Ratkin Crinos forms cause the Delirium, but to a lesser degree
than Garou.
- Ratkin heal like Garou do and suffer the effects of silver like
Garou. They can enter the Umbra the way Garou do.
- Ratkin bites do aggravated damage. Their claw attacks are weak,
however.
- Blood Memory -- Through medication and quiet contemplation, Ratkin
can access racial memories, for example to learn another Ratkin's name.
The Four Main Ratkin Aspects:
- Tunnel Runner: The
Ragabashes of the Ratkin, they are messengers, scouts, and spies. In
the absense of the Bards, they're the closest thing to Ratkin lorekeepers.
- Shadow Seer: The
Theurges of the Ratkin, mystics, spirit-speakers, and healers. Jenny
Cornpop is one of these.
- Knife-Skulkers: Something
like Philodox, but... nastier. The Skulker's gain rage when they see
injustice done, and often act as assassins. Enforcers.
- Warriors: Called "blade
slaves" because of the ritual knives that they all must learn to make (Pain
Daggers) before being considered an adult member of their aspect, these are
the Ahrouns of the Ratkin race.
So, how does a Ratkin get his or her aspect? The visions the young
Ratkin receives while infected by the Birthing Plague, before the first transformation,
will pont the new Rat to an aspect. Then, afterwards, the new Rat'll
receive training from older members of the aspect. There is no formal
Rite of Passage.
There you go. Interested? Good! Either e-mail me or, better, grab me online
on GarouMUSH as Salem or J.C., and
I'll be glad to answer questions or give more detailed information. Contact
Tskilegwa for wizardly approval, and tell 'im Jenny Cornpop sent you. *grin*
Cheers!
Memory is in my blood
the purity of the Wyld surges through me
I remember the names of my brethren
kept to the rhythm of my beating heart
I hear the screams of my ancestors
distant echoes of the War of Rage
I smell the exotic scents of the spirit world
memories of paradise... and exile
My skin shivers at the thought of our betrayal
the lies and falsehoods of the Age of Man
My nerves twitch, sensing the fury of the swarm
we breed an army to seek our revenge
What my ancestors have sensed, I can recall
from ancient gods, I hear the call to battle
For memory is in my blood.
-- Brian Campbell,
Ratkin
Last updated: 15 December 2002