Nuclear Beasts

Forest Folk

I like the idea of having some mouse sub-societies. Let's brainstorm some:

• Forest Folk: the mice and rats who colonized the nearby woods. Once, it's said, they were just more members of the Empire, but as its borders contracted they were the first folks cut off. Since then, their society has changed in major ways... they have little towns high up in trees and down under their roots. Many live solitary lives as hunter-gatherers and some clans worship Hoorooru instead of just hiding from him.
• The Deep Folk: it's said that some mice live in caverns far beneath the surface of the Fallows. It's not clear what they eat, and there aren't very many of them. Once in a great while a nearly-blind mouse will make his way up out of one of the old Tzarchul ruins onto the surface.
• Deep Folk II: some mice have acquired such a strong fear of open places that they now live like moles... digging underground burrows, mostly feeding on plant roots, and never coming up to the surface if they can help it. Ancient texts indicate that one of the White Lords may have been so obsessed with his safety that he built a huge underground community and cut off all contact with the rest of the Empire.
• Gypsy rats: The Rururi are a clan of vagabond rat minstrels. They travel from town to town pulling little carts and play music for the locals. It's rumored that they can actually work a kind of subtle magic through their music.

Saved from RPG.net:

So, it occured to me that I should have at least a few sub-cultures in the setting... groups of mice/rats that aren't considered normal, but aren't necessarily enemies, either. Some thoughts...

[list][*]Forest Folk: the furthest colony of the Empire was the one that colonized the great woods on the edge of the Fallows. When the Empire's borders started to contract, they were the first group cut off. Now they maintain little hidden villages up in the tree tops or down between the roots. They do a little trading with the Fallows, but mostly live their own lives and have practically their own language. Some tribes have actually begun to worship Hoorooru the Owl instead of simply hiding from him. Truffle-hunters from the Fallows try to avoid contact with the Forest Folk, simply because it's hard to tell ahead of time whether a given clan will welcome you, ignore you or attack you for trespassing.
[*]Deep Folk: every now and then a practically blind white mouse will stumble out of one of the Tzarchul ruins, apparently an exile from a mysterious underground kingdom. Rumor has it that the realm was established by a security-obsessed White Lord from the time of the First Ones and that his descendants still rule the lightless depths. Some of the learned mice of the Empire are particularly interested in stories that the priests of the deep folk have learned how to make plants grow without light, using some currently unknown magical technique.
[*]Gypsy Rats: the Rululi are a band of travelling entertainers, something like a cross between a circus and a clan of gypsies. There are only three such bands in the Fallows currently. The rats greatly prize their independence and freedom and are very distrustful of outsiders, especially mice. They have a secret language that they use amongst themselves. Some folk believe that the Rululi have learned to channel magical spells through their music, although most scholars of magic scoff at the idea. [/list]

Any comments or additional suggestions?

Posted by Kiz at October 15, 2005 11:39 PM