Ratfolk

Ratfolk are small, rodentlike humanoids originally native to subterranean regions of dry deserts and plains, but now found wherever trade, salvage, or exchange can function sustainably. Though often associated with nomadic caravans, Ratfolk families are just as likely to establish permanent roots in cities, ports, frontier towns, or illicit markets if conditions allow long-term business to thrive.

Much like the pack rats they resemble, Ratfolk possess a deep instinct to acquire, repair, repurpose, and preserve useful or interesting objects. As a people, they are widely regarded as masters of commerce, particularly in the circulation and maintenance of mechanical or magical devices. While some Ratfolk are shrewd merchants navigating formal markets and black bazaars alike, many value the things they acquire as much as abstract wealth, preferring trade for rare, clever, or beautiful items over coin alone.

Successful Ratfolk families are often recognized by the size and variety of what they carry away rather than what they sell.

Physical Description

Typical Ratfolk stand around 4 feet tall and weigh approximately 80 pounds. They often wear layered or concealing garments suited to their environment—light robes in desert climates, heavier coverings in cities—both to regulate temperature and to avoid unwanted attention from other humanoids who find their rodent features unsettling.

Ratfolk are strongly attracted to shiny metals such as copper, bronze, and gold, and frequently decorate their ears, tails, or clothing with small rings or trinkets made from such materials.

Rather than relying on a single beast of burden, Ratfolk families select draft animals based on terrain, distance, and accessibility. Common draft animals include Giant Rats for tunnels and dense urban environments, Draft Hounds for sustained overland hauling, Riding Lizards in arid regions, and heavy quadrupeds such as Aurochs in mountainous or broken terrain.

Names

Ratfolk personal names are short and sharp, favoring strong consonants and compact syllables well suited to crowded markets and shouted negotiations.

Male names often feature harsher consonants and hard endings, while female names tend to flow slightly more smoothly but remain clipped and decisive.

Family names are older, longer, and treated with respect. Outsiders who shorten or misuse a family name are quickly corrected.

Examples include:

Male Names: Agiz, Brihz, Djir, Ninnec, Rerdahl, Rikkan, Skivven, Tamoq Female Names: Bessel, Fhar, Jix, Kitch, Kubi, Nehm, Rissi, Thikka

Society

Ratfolk society is fundamentally familial and communal, organized around extended family units rather than rigid hierarchies or professional castes. A Ratfolk family is a complete social organism, capable of sustaining itself independently whether permanently settled or constantly on the move.

Ratfolk families may be fully nomadic, permanently urban, seasonally migratory, or divided across multiple locations at once. It is common for a single family to maintain caravan branches, urban holdings, and discreet side ventures simultaneously. Ratfolk see no inherent contradiction between legal and illegal enterprise—only between viable and unsustainable ones.

Internal Family Roles

Ratfolk family roles are internal functions rather than professions or castes. A single Ratfolk may move between roles over their lifetime, and all families maintain each role in some form. What distinguishes families from one another is which voices dominate decision-making when resources are strained.

Ledger Holders (Record Keepers)

Ledger Holders maintain family memory, tracking debts, favors, obligations, and exceptions. Trust in a Ledger Holder is essential; a family without one is considered unstable.

Negotiators (Diplomats)

Negotiators handle trade, contracts, alliances, and dispute resolution. Precision of speech is prized, and careless words are considered dangerous.

Badgers (Speculators)

Badgers pursue aggressive opportunity and expansion. They circle new markets, sense weakness, and apply pressure when profit appears possible. Elders caution restraint, while Ledger Holders closely monitor their impact.

Closers (Enforcers)

Closers are responsible for recovery, protection, and final resolution when other methods fail. Violence is considered costly and inelegant, but all families maintain Closers as a last resort.

Tinkerers (Systems Workers)

Tinkerers dismantle, rebuild, and optimize mechanical, magical, and social systems. Their work rarely produces immediate profit, but long-term family survival often depends on their insight.

Elders (Memory)

Elders serve as living memory and judgment. They arbitrate internal disputes, temper reckless expansion, and preserve continuity across generations. Families that ignore their Elders are considered loud, not brave.

Dependents (Kin)

Dependents include children, injured members, and those between roles. They are protected without exception; a family that sacrifices its Dependents for profit is regarded as structurally broken.

Cultural Speech

Across Ratfolk society, compressed metaphorical speech is used to express judgment, warning, and consequence. In major trade hubs such as Ra’azum, this practice has developed into a refined system of proverb and parable usage, allowing complex negotiations to occur quickly and publicly.

For a full discussion, see Proverbs and Parables of Profit.

For notable urban family structures and internal dynamics, see Ratfolk Families of Ra’azum.

Relations

Ratfolk tend to get along well with humans and frequently establish communities in sewers, alleys, docks, and commercial shadows of human cities. They often find dwarves overly rigid and territorial, and may mistake even mild criticism as personal attack. Ratfolk have no strong feelings toward gnomes or halflings, though competition for resources can harden into long-standing clan rivalries.

Ratfolk generally enjoy the company of elves and half-elves, whom they view as calm, thoughtful, and aesthetically inclined. Elven music and art are particularly prized, and many Ratfolk holdings display elven works acquired through generations of trade.

Alignment and Religion

Ratfolk are driven by curiosity, acquisition, and the urge to tinker with complex systems—mechanical, magical, or social. Their strong communal bonds foster an appreciation for orderly systems and continuity, though they are willing to bend or reinterpret rules when doing so benefits their family.

Religious practice among Ratfolk is pragmatic and varied, often shaped by protection, stability, and continuity rather than strict dogma.

Adventurers

Ratfolk adventurers commonly seek new opportunities for trade, exploration, or salvage. Some scout future markets or resources for their families, while others wander to escape overcrowding, internal politics, or reputational entanglements.

Ratfolk combat tactics favor preparation, ambush, traps, and sabotage. Accordingly, Ratfolk adventurers often take up classes such as alchemist, gunslinger, and rogue.