The Rat King
Hundreds of eyes blink from the darkness. A cacophony of vermin slither and skitter and shriek to the background of trickling sewer water. Pale beams of silver moonlight flood the chamber, painting the creature in silver haloes.
The Rat King is a large, writhing and undulating mass of rodents, tied together by the tails. The beast constantly rebels against itself, hosts of the legion flighting hopelessly or aggregating its own bodies in feral rage, some eating their tangled brethren in starvation. They sit upon a horrid nest of bones, fur, hair, and rotting cadavers. They stink of sweat, and blood, and rage overpowering even the stench of sewer, that now seems tame in comparison.
Summary
The Rat King was a mutated creature that lived beneath the sewers of Mirandus. They were a collection of wererats whose tails and minds were intertwined and bound together to become a feral legion. Any wererats within the city were enslaved by the Rat King and made to do their bidding.
Historical Basis
The story began because of Mirandus' rampant plagues and the rats which carried the disease. Plague was spread first by ordinary rats and later by the moon rats which mutated from the Beltz River's magic-polluted waters. Rats were seen as a bad omen.
Originally a superstition, the Rat King was a story told by the minstrels of Mirandus during the First Great Plague. It was told to create a villain to the faceless plague, a perpetrator that could be slain by a brave hero.
A purported rat king, consisting of 32 rats, is kept in the Kalafrax Wizards' College as a sample—though it is made up of moon rats and not the giant rats of the legend. There are claims that it is, in fact, a fake.
Variations & Mutation
Sometimes, the Rat King is defeated by a crafty wizard named Morgan and sier feline familiar. In other telling, the Rat King is washed away down the sewers and drowns. The temples of the Raven Queen claim that she and her conspiracy of ravens ate the Rat King alive and purged it of its malady.
Cultural Reception
The myth of the Rat King is exclusive to Mirandus, as most other cities lack the rampant plague or sewers necessary for the telling.
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