Race Description Ratfolk, (work on this later) Notable Ratfolk Clans, Empires, and Kingdoms Clan Skritch, Ranged Warfare, Sacrifice, Brutality Founded: 10 AK Status: Unkown Skritch is a Ratfolk kingdom situated in South America in the Argentine mountain range, with their capital “Death Place” in English, situated in the former area of Patagonia. General asthetic does not vary much from normal Ratfolk but due to isolation they have separated somewhat into an Inca style cult and aesthetic with sacrifices and all. Their leader Valskrok, is a hulking 7 foot muscled nightmare, who probably snorts way too much pixie dust. Clan Skritch like most other Ratfolk uses basic muzzleloading firearms, however they have almost exclusively equipped their army with these firearms and utilize a ranged doctrine of “if i shoot-shoot from far away, the enemy no kill-kill me” Clan Skritch is not as heavily militarized as most other clans. Usually a Ratfolk clan is almost entirely composed of military personnel. Clan Skritch however has different castes within the society. At the top are the Seers, the ones who partake in religious and astronomical rites. Next are the Lords or Landowners, who own land and slaves. On the same level of the Lords are the Warriors, these clanrats devote their entire lives to studying, and honing their skills be it with muskets, glaive, or sword. Below them are the Peasants who are free to decide their own fate so long it is in their caste, and below them are slaves who are simply living farm tools. An interesting note about Clan Skritch is they not only worship The Rat but they also worship a pantheon of Ratfolk Gods. these are the major gods, Ketchekota, Muurchat, Nargee, and of course the chief god The Rat (Rattar). Across the 8 cities of their kingdom they have built large ziggurat style pyramids to each of their gods, with 4 of the cities being host to the largest ziggurats which reach up to 200 meters in height towering above the treetops with vast underground crypts, prayerhouses and atop each one is a sacrificial temple. Clan Skritch is also one of only two Ratfolk kingdoms that actively take part in the art of astronomy. Astronomy and religion go hand in hand for Clan Skritch as the stars and seasons accompanied with magic are reportedly ways of determining the will of their gods. Clan Skritch is also very apt at farming, with landowners having large tiered corn farms under their control. Entire hills converted to large tiered farms. Ratfolk usually don't have much patience to wait for things to grow. The diet of the average freeborn clanrat is consisted of Corn, Corn products, Hunted Meat, scavenged remains and the leftovers of whatever meals their lords had been eating. The normal Ratfolk live in houses made of a wood frame with a grass thatched roof. Clan Skreek, Nomads, Cavalry, Infighting Founded: 10 AK Fractured by: 34 AK Skreek was a nomadic Ratfolk kingdom located in what was once mainland china. Skreek is also one of the clans being founded after the Konvergance. Clan Skreek was led by Ratthus Khaan who had a reputation for being a tricky bastard who would outmaneuver much of what you throw at him whether he won or lost was of no consequence. Most Ratfolk from this clan tend to be dark grey or black. Clan skreek was a mobile clan, and use large mutated rats as mounts. Mainland china by this point is a land of deserts and grassland, with some mountains and forests. The clan is actually a warlord coalition under the Great Rat Khaan. when Ratthus Khaan died the entire region imploded, but as long as he was alive the area was relatively stable. Clan Skreek and decendents fight in a highly mobile warfare utilizing various formations and tactics with their rat mounts much like the Mongol Empire did with horses. They live in massive tent cities, with tents being sewn together out of whatever they can make or find/steal. Clan Skreek fights primarily with lances, crossbows, and longbows, but special units (those closest to Ratthus or other lords in general) fight with short barreled Flintlock musketoons and flintlock pistols. Every single member of Skreek is expected to fight and to ride a rat-mount from their 6th month of life, they are also expected to be fully self sustaining, because really who gives a rats ass about them? The main source of income for Clan Skreek and any of its individual Ratfolk is achieved through thievery, looting of other races, and great raiding parties which quickly devolve into “no this is mine go find one for yourself” the clan has low birthrates and as such do not engage in massive battles but, instead send out numerous skirmishing parties to harass the enemy until the enemy is weak enough to be pillaged by a “unified” raiding warband. The most common raiding targets are the various remains of the old chinese nation, which are naught but insignificant tribes and fishing kingdoms along the yellow river and the coastline, whatever they have will soon belong to Clan Skreek. As of the current year of publishing (150 AK) skreek as a unified clan is no more, instead it is many many different nomadic fiefdoms at constant war with each other, the breakup occured as predicted in the year 34 AK when Ratthus died of natural causes (wow good job m8). There is no largest clan anymore, whatever sense of unity clan Skreek had was finally shattered in 88 AK by a coalition of Dwarves and Humans from the Ural Mountains who had made contact with Ratfolk from a branch of the old clan. The dwarves and humans were surprisingly beaten back with heavy casualties, but it was certainly a pyrrhic victory as the Ratfolk of Clan Skreek almost immediately fell into infighting, unsurprisingly. As of 150 AK there are over 5,000 different tribes all descended from the original clan skreek. Of course there may be the usual coalition between a dozen tribes or so to fight each other or some small external threat, but the once mighty boundaries of clan Skreek now belong to other races. Slowly but surely the outer remnants of the old clan are being diminished while the inner parts are fueled by pure tribal nomad warfare. Clan Kaun, Inner Peace, Magic, Racism Founded: 900 BK Status: Alive Clan Kaun is located in the Iberian peninsula, they are by far the most magically potent of the Ratfolk. While a normal Ratfolk barely reaches an age of 18 at most, Ratfolk from clan Kaun can live up to 50. For a Ratfolk this is ancient and almost unheard of. Clan Kaun being so magically endowed, uses very little in terms of melee weapons. Even their lowliest of clanrats can understand how to use basic magic to kill an opponent, albeit limited magic compared to their rulers. Their way of warfare is to either cause the enemy to go mad via brain scrambling, or to overwhelm an enemy with magic attacks causing them to flee. There is no leader of this clan as they sit in a council of 6 members. Clan Kaun is one of the oldest and some would say most peaceful Ratfolk clans. The majority of their population adhere to a strict mind over matter mentality with plenty of meditation, this only works for Clan Kaun however due to their magical potential, literally any other Ratfolk would burst out laughing at this idea. They believe themselves to be so enlightened that they reffer to themselves as “The Rodentian” However this hasn't prevented the usual shenanigans of backstabbing each other albeit in more subtle ways, like, playing loud ass music over a hive intercom to annoy those trying to find inner “peace”. For all their talk of mind over matter and use of meditation to keep themselves more level headed than other rat men. Clan Kaun is still racist as hell, seeing literally anyone else who doesn't do things their way as ignorant savages who deserve nothing less than to be. Eaten, conquered, burned, maimed and whatever else, until they realize the fact that they are oh so ignorant and need to do things Kauns way. This has gone terribly in the past and has nearly caused the clan to go extinct on numerous occasions. Clan Akgall (Akgall Empire), Industry, Structure, Stagnation Founded: 22 BK approx Status: Alive and still fighting after 80 years of attritional warfare Clan Akgall was the great clan that spouted forth in the old days under a city known once as “New York” those of faith say that the city’s sin brought them upon the population, others say it was a random chance that their hive was transported into its sewers. The clan started as a loose coalition of Fiefdoms and Cults that eventually united against an invading elven army who sought to do the terrible deed of “Making the environment there not toxic” how disgusting. After this union a warlord of sorts had arisen, and taken control he set up a council of 200 Ratfolk representatives who were sent by the most powerful 200 Ratfolk lords and religious figures. This was accomplished by the fact that this one warlord was so brutal and so batshit insane that everyone simply followed his rule. After his inevitable assasination the council surprisingly stuck together and thus Clan Akgall was formed. This is by far the largest and relatively most functional and stable of the Ratfolk kingdoms in the world. The pure black magic that exists there has made the entire environment surrounding the city state toxic to other races, as such slaves there die more often from the environment than by their masters' hand. This toxic environment is what has prevented clan akgall from being wiped off the face of the map.this along with some of the largest population of Ratfolk that have kept Akgall a sealed megafortress dedicated to nothing but sending more ratmen into the meat grinder, the same cannot be said for the clans holdings outside of their toxic zone as they are generally shifting as the stagnant front lines change and develop. With a population in their capital megacity possibly in the tens of millions, and having the most surviving and active forges, these Ratfolk are excellent at Mechanized warfare, and biological sciences, or… whatever the half-assed Ratfolk equivalent of those are. Due to their large population, industrial capacity, and the usual Ratfolk way of not really giving a rats ass about living conditions, clan Akgall is able to fight in an attritional warfare with almost any other faction. This being said, Clan Akgall even with their stupidly crowded home is not able to put enough rats on the front line, as such the mad engineers and biomancers of Akgall have developed a Magi-Tech birthing womb of sorts. The process of making one includes many magical incantations, the removal of the womb from a living being and the subsequent transfixion of said womb into the device, then through a process of artificial insemination, there can be up to 60 litter born to one before the womb is unable to function. This is by far the most grotesquely genius invention by the Ratfolk. But due to the toxic environment and the general unreliability of Ratfolk technology and magic, the output is usually 44%-59% corrupted. And as such these litter are euthanized and subsequently turned into protein blocks for the troops and the less fortunate of clan Akgall. Clan Akgall is governed by a conglomerate of wealthy lords and religious figures. All of them send delegates to a sort of congress where fights are more common than not. This congress is usually slow and ineffective but it has kept clan Akgall in a stagnant and stable situation, due to this and the Clans love of money, they have managed to industrialize. Albeit this industrialization has come at the cost of living conditions for the lower ranks of Ratfolk society. Imagine if you will, Industrial Britain, except everyone is a bipedal giant rat man. Everyone is living in tenants mande of old skyscrapers, Crime rate is non existant because to a Ratfolk crime is literally necessary, and about half the working population is off their rockers on toxic ale due to the hellish working conditions in factories, there are rotting bodies in the streets, and also there is magic fucking everywhere. That should get you something of an idea of what the average street of Clan Akgall looks like. Tactics and units of Clan Akgall Clan Akgall specializes in semi-Attritional and Stagnant warfare. As such they are willing and capable of expanding vast amounts of bodies to achieve a goal. The basic Infantry rat of Akgall is clad in their normal “Civilian” Clothing, given a single shot trapdoor rifle with a shiv welded to the barrel as a bayonet, 9 rounds, an official cap, and a belt to hold those 9 rounds. They are not given protection against the toxic wasteland and as such most of these Slave troops utelize a piss rag which as you can guess provides basically no protection. This consists of about half of the military population. A tier up are the true soldiers of Clan Akgall. They are armed with relatively reliable bolt action rifles with an 8 round magazine and a crude removable bayonet. They are clothed in proper uniforms of varying quality. The standard is a light grey greatcoat, brown pants, a steel helmet with a symbolic crest, a canvas pack with a sleeping mat, a belt that holds 32 rounds in 4 pockets, leg wraps, and a gas mask that may or may not be made of actual sealed leather and may or may not have asbestos in it’s filter. There are also the Gatling Gunners, rats who are armed with crude revolvers with one reload. Ratling Gunners are distinguished by a different shape upwards facing Crecent Crest on their helmet In a Gatling team there are 5 individuals, the Gunner, the Ammo Bearer, and the three other rats responsible for defending the immediate position and actually carrying the thing. For vehicles there are simply either slave rats or infantry rats drafted into the purpose of driving vehicles. Combat engineers are non-existant and Ratfolk are simply given the order to dig a trench and let the commanders deal with the rest. Commanding Ratfolk are given better quality uniforms and equipment (obviously) such as a revolver with a stock attachment and 4 reloads. They are also given a helmet similar to a pickelhaube in contrast to the Infantry Rats steel helmet with a crest. The actual tactics are as follows: Attack the enemy with a constant barrage of mortar and howitzer fire, and hope the cannons don't blow up. Then Send out hordes of Slave Troops (with commissars to ensure they go in the proper direction) to swarm the enemy and wear down their defenses. Once the enemy is worn down enough, send in proper Infantry Rats and Armor to take the enemy position, then secure it with a garrison. Repeat until victory is achieved. Armor The Armor of Clan Akgall consists of crude slow but potent tanks. The most common being Skuutnarch. These are armed with 4 breech loading guns, and 3 gatling guns, it has a crew of around 23 and goes at the absolute fuckfast velocity of 2-4 mph on average. A lighter anti-infantry tank called Skuutmat are small tracked vehicles armed with a single gatling gun, these are meant to act as a mobile machine gun nest and are lightly armored to up the speed to a staggering 8-10 mph. There are also many variants of armored cars that patrol the toxic wastes near their city and beyond the front lines, no two of them are the same, with most being armed with gatling guns or linked rifles welded to the structure. Due to the clan having an industrial capacity but not the best of materials, no two tanks are the same. Most are powered by crude gasoline or diesel engines, with others made in the poorer districts of Akgall being powered by steam or wood gas. There are also the comical experimental types of vehicles powered by large wheels which slaves run upon to make it go forward, or the electric variants which have to lug around a trailer full of batteries (these have piss poor range obviously and acid rain eventually eats away at the rubber coated wires and short circuits the whole thing causing the entire crew to die from electrocution) these last two were simply novices that were eventually converted to Gasoline, Diesel, Wood gas or steam or they were thrown into combat as serious vehicles in a desperate attempt to slow a particularly strong enemy push (with hilarious results) (supply Lines) Moving thousands of tons of Ratfolk and material to the front is no easy task. As such the many lords of Clan Akgall employ a large network of Barges and railways to get the job done. By land there are large steam engines (which also might blow up) which can move entire cattle cars of troops to the front line (auschwitz style) then there is the once clean hudson river which has since been contaminated by magical, industrial, chemical, and radioactive waste turning it into a giant snaking river of toxic sludge. On this river of death there are always barges moving material to the front. These barges are even more unsafe than the trains as you never know when the toxicity of the river will gradually eat away at the wood over the course of months, of course there are metal barges but a Ratfolk lord is not going to invest in one metal barge when he can just invest in 100 wooden barges and get twice the profit. Clan Rikken, Ships, “democracy”, relics Founded: 15 AK Status: Alive Clan Rikken is a post-konvergeance Ratfolk Clan based in pockets in former Ireland and Scotland, (yes they have irish accents) they are notable for their strong brews, farming and also being the only Ratfolk democracy in the entirety of existence ever. Albeit this democracy is based upon a system of religious leaders. They are also one of the very few minor Ratfolk clans that provide trans-continental shipping services… for a fee. Clan rikken is a clan that has mastered the arts of Farming, they grow mainly Potatos and Wheat, and make bread to die for… no seriously it might actually kill you if you’re non-Ratfolk. Clan Rikken is also a sucker for any weapons pre-konvergeance, in fact the only reason they are alive is due to the fact that the utilize pre-konvergeance weapons such as the AR platform and the AK series as a way of multiplying their small force, as such all clan Rikken warfare is consisted of Harrasment, Defence, and Surgical strikes against key enemy points Clan Rikken Political Structure The main ruling body of clan Rikken is the Parliment which consists of 14 members from the 14 vassals of Clan Rikken.There are many Ratfolk clans who hate Clan Rikken for having such a.. Filthy… system. Notably the neighboring clan, Fekkin. Riktus and Fekkin were once one clan but split 15 years after the konvergeance with Rikken having imprinted apon various human cultures. Clan Rikken is a one party state being ruled by Ratfolk Seers and The Rat God being akin to a President or Commander in Chief. Warfare Clan rikken frequently employ tactics similar in function to the IRA of pre-konvergeance earth. Hiding Dirty bombs in caskets of beer, use of snipers in enemy territory, and use of mortars and rockets to target key strategic positions, generally just making life hell for the enemy untill the enemy sends out troops which are subsequently killed with booby traps and hidden Clanrats with pre-konvergeance weapons. Most if not all of Clan Rikken is associated with their military being either supply runners, actual soldiers, drivers, or simply suppliers. In short Clan Rikken is similar to the John Wick universe where literally every person is “in on it”. Foreign Relations Suprisingly Clan rikken has foreign relations mostly with the Russian Mafia States (22-89 AK) in old east europe, and with other sly and underhanded entities in the world, these are mostly alliances for ammunition and weapons as Clan Rikken is unable to produce its own.