The City Rat ("Sewer Rat", "Under Rat")

The City Rat (also called the "Sewer Rat" or "Under Rat" and not to be confused with the vilerat) is one of the larger and more dangerous types of rats native to Caelereth. The city rat is so named because of its native habitat, the sewers of various cities of Caelereth, and because it is often used as a steed for various Rat Brownie tribes who also dwell in city sewers and underworks.

Appearance. The typical City Rat's adult size is a little over a fore, not including tail. They have narrow heads, small ears and long whiskers that are in constant motion. City Rats do not vary much in colour. They range mostly from blacks to browns with an occasional dark gray. White or other lighter types of colouration is extremely rare. City Rat fur is course and oily growing over a thick hide. They have black beady eyes, and dark coloured feet with long claws that give them exceptional grip when climbing. Their tails are thick and black or brown coloured and are typically up to 10 nailsbreadths long. City Rats are scavengers and never have a steady food supply from day to day. They typically appear malnourished having a thin, bony appearance.

Special Abilities. City rats are well adapted to life in a dark, dank sewer. They have well developed eyesight as light is not a commodity in the sewers. Their claws are long, growing upon thick padded feet and long toes enablê them to rapidly climb mounds of debris and even scurry up rough walls. The jaws of a City Rat are powerful containing large teeth with which to chew through tough debris to get at their food. Due to the various kinds of scraps and garbage that they live and feed upon, a City Rat finds little trouble chewing and eating through tough scraps.

Territory. City Rats can be found in sewers, underworks or any place where garbage and refuse is located. They can be found living in (or under) any city in Caelereth. They are equally at home in dry, dusty environments as they are in dank, wet ones. They live in almost complete darkness, rarely emerging in daylight.

City Rats also typically live in residences, barns, taverns and other habited environments. Dark holes, broken walls, abandoned and derelict locations often become home to City Rats.

Habitat/Behaviour. City rats can be an aggressive and prolific class of rat. Their only real competitor for food would be the vilerat, a putrid animal that is viewed as even more disgusting than the Sewer Rat. Without any real predators that hunt them, the City Rat has developed little fear of other creatures - including the common races. Most of the time, a City Rat will avoid contact with anything larger than itself, especially if alone or in small groups. However, when in larger groups of a hundred or more, the City Rat will attack in a swarm, biting and clawing until the enemy dies or flees.

City Rats live in large groups, numbering in the hundreds. Where you would find one City Rat, there are sure to be many more nearby. They typically scavenge in groups, finding food and either eating it right away or carrying it back to their nest. When food is scarce, fighting will erupt and it is usually the largest and more dominant rats getting the spoils.

Because of the unsanitary environment that they live in, City Rats are not recommended as pets nor should they be handled. They commonly carry fleas, ticks and sometimes diseases that can be carried to other people and animals. They are considered a pest by many but attempts to control their population have met with little success.

Diet. City Rats are omnivorous and live off of whatever they can find that is edible. A typical City Rat diet would consist of scraps thrown down from the surface inhabitants. Such things as meat, vegetable and fruit matter, seeds, insects, waste, and even carrion.

Mating. Like all rats, City Rats reproduce at an alarming rate, breeding 1 to 16 times a year and producing 6 to 12 young in a litter. Typical young are born in nests made of scavenged materials, usually scraps of paper, straw, plant matter and fur or hair. A newborn City Rat is born with light pink skin and no hair. The mother stays with them until they can move on their own and scavenge. A young rat rarely has to be taught how to hunt as their hunger leads them to find anything edible. City Rats have no mating season or any kind of ritual display. Once a rat reaches maturity, they are ready to mate.

Usages. It is thought by most of the common races that a Sewer Rat would have little practical use and as such these rats are viewed as pests to be killed. However, unknown to most surface dwellers, the City Rat is used as a steed for another kind of sewer dwelling race - the Rat Brownie. The so called "lost" race of diminutive creatures has managed to tame and use the rats as steeds, companions and food, hence the rat's nickname.

The Faded Rat Brownie type finds the rat especially useful. Being blind, the Faded Rat Brownie tames and uses the larger rats for quick transportation and for hunting. The Twisted Rat Brownie often uses the rats for much the same reason, and is one of the few creatures able to tolerate the unbalanced behavior often exhibited by the Twisted kind.

Typically, the rat is taken from the moment that they can walk on their own and are taught to obey simple commands by their Brownie handlers. The rat can then be mounted and ridden for long distances and Brownies have developed this method of travel over the many miles of sewer tunnels.

Since the rat and the Brownie both live very much the same way - living off scraps and garbage, they compliment one another and are able to get along fairly well. However, they often have to compete with one another for food as both the rats and Brownies battle constant starvation. They each have been known to hunt and eat the other whenever possible.

Myth/Lore. City Rats are not to be confused with their other sewer dwelling cousins, the vilerats. The Cty Rat and vilerat do share the same territory, and most people confuse the two but there are several differences between the species, most notably their appearance. City Rats share similar appearances with the common or field rat in black, brown or grey colors. The vilerat is greenish-yellow in colour and much more aggressive.

The City Rat could be considered a "cleaner" version of the vilerat if one supposes. They both feed upon similar food and live in sewers, but rarely will they embark upon each other's territory. The City Rat has developed a keen awareness of the vilerat's potent defense - its vilique - and avoids any confrontation with a vilerat if at all possible.

Researchers. Erron Ratdweller, a noted researcher of the vilerat, also did extensive studies of the City Rat while he spent time living in the many sewers of Caelereth. A short quote from his notes as follows:

"The City Rat, also called a City Rat, is very much different from the fascinating vilerats, but also very much the same. The City Rat is cleaner and not as prone to disease as the vilerat, but I have observed that the two kinds cannot get along. The vilerat lives deeper in the underworks of the cities whereas the City Rat exists much closer to the surface. I would surmise that the vilerat is nothing more than a mutated version of the city rat in that when a City Rat descends too deep within a sewer and encounters much more foul diseases from carrion or by eating heavily tainted scraps, their hardy bodies become carriers and adapt to the wretched environment. Thus, they can be classified as vilerats."