Overview

Rattarians are humanoid rat-folk who were reborn into Postremo Limine after their original worlds collapsed. They are not native to this plane, but remnants of a race that once thrived in soot-covered cities, steam tunnels, and endless industrial sprawls. When their souls re-manifested within Postremo Limine, they instinctively gathered in the Node known as 1888 London, a place that mirrors the grim beauty of the worlds they lost.

To outsiders, they appear as scavengers and engineers, but to themselves, they are rebuilders. Determined to recreate fragments of their old society from the refuse of new worlds. Their cities hum beneath the smog, powered by salvaged machines and half-remembered designs. In the layered darkness of Postremo Limine, they have found both familiarity and purpose.

Physical Traits

• Height varies from 4 ft to 6 ft; a hunched posture is common
• Fur colors range from ash-gray to soot-black; some exhibit patchy or burned skin
• Elongated snouts, whiskers, and sharp, yellowed teeth
• Large, light-sensitive eyes adapted to dark and foggy environments
• Clawed hands and prehensile tails capable of gripping tools or wires
• Some develop mechanical augmentations — self-fitted limbs, brass respirators, or grafted lenses

Abilities

Scavenger Instinct – Can locate usable scrap, fuel, or technology in nearly any environment.
Tunnel Sense – Exceptional spatial awareness underground; can detect vibration and airflow changes.
Jury-Rigging – Able to construct functional machinery from debris and broken tech.
Disease Resilience – Naturally resistant to airborne toxins and bloodborne infection.
Pack Coordination – Communicate via clicks and pheromones, allowing silent group tactics in narrow spaces.

Society and Role

Rattarians live in hierarchical clans known as Warrens, ruled by an Elder Engineer or Pipe-Lord. Each warren controls a district of tunnels and steam lines, maintaining fragile truces with neighboring clans and surface factions.

Common Sub-Factions:

• Smog Guilds – Traders and mechanics dealing in filtered air, fuel, and black-market steam tech.
• Pipe-Born Syndicates – Criminal groups controlling access to surface shafts and scavenging routes.
• Rust Priests – Religious engineers who treat machines as living deities and conduct “repair rites.”

Rattarians are driven by pragmatism, not ideology. Loyalty belongs to clan and trade; everything else is negotiable.

Culture

Though crude on the surface, Rattarian culture is deeply ritualized:

• They record history in rat-glyphs, etched into pipe walls and rusted plates.
• Steam music — rhythmic hissing made from vent valves — marks celebrations or funerals.
• Their language, Rattish, blends gnawed clicks with industrial terms borrowed from Diver speech.
• Elders carry relics called Core Bones — machine parts fused with ancestral remains, symbolizing the union of flesh and industry.

While humans see them as vermin, Rattarians see themselves as the city’s memory, preserving what others abandon.

Threat Notes

• Moderate threat when provoked; prefers trade or ambush over direct confrontation.
• Avoid flooding tunnels — Rattarians know every drain and escape route.
• Do not flash lights or draw weapons near Rattarian markets; Steam Police patrols often provoke full-scale riots.
• Allied Diver groups have reported limited cooperation, though betrayal is frequent when resources grow scarce.

“They aren’t monsters. They’re what happens when monsters leave the lights on too long.”