Mindless, non-magical mice are referred to as mindless or feral. Mice who are on the verge of becoming feral are referred to as the forsaken, indicating that the White Lords have turned their backs on them. In the old days, it was generally believed that forsaken mice were born to parents who had done something wrong... now, however, as their numbers swell on the edges of the empire, some people are beginning to doubt that explanation.
Forsaken mice generally have very low Knowledge, Charm and Magic ratings, but often have higher Size and Perception.
The term barbarian is generally used to refer to those clans of forsaken mice and rats who live outside of the boundaries of the empire. They have been known to launch raids on small towns on the edges of the empire, burning, looting and pillaging, then fleeing before the Imperial army can be summoned. So far, while they have laid waste to a few of the smaller villages, they haven't been brave enough to attack any major cities.
Talking mice are physically different from normal mice in a few ways. Firstly, they instinctively know how to speak. While practice and training helps them communicate more eloquently, the basics of the language are inborn and require no training. Literacy is harder, but there is still an instinctive element to it... a really smart mouse may be able to make sense of simple writing even without any formal training.
They also have thumbs... normal mice only have four toes on their "hands", but talking mice are born with a thumb on each forepaw.
They feel more comfortable standing upright, although baby mice learn to run on all fours long before they can walk on their hind legs. Because of this, running on all fours is associated with feral mice and babies... it's regarded as undignified when done by adult mice. That doesn't mean that it isn't done... it's much faster, so it's often used to flee from monsters or to deliver an urgent message, but it's not something that anyone is proud of and they'll often be teased about it.
To further distinguish themselves from their bestial relatives, talking mice wear clothes and generally feel uncomfortable naked. Unlike humans, however, they aren't trying to cover up any particular parts of their bodies... instead, the clothing marks them as intelligent people, rather than mindless animals. Thus a given mouse might wear just a jacket or a hat in hot weather and feel perfectly well clothed, but would be embarrassed if seen with nothing at all. The higher class the mouse, the more garments they generally wear and the nobility are often garbed ornately from head to toe.
Posted by Kiz at May 28, 2005 08:50 PMCommentsPost a comment