Ratfolk

"You drop a broken clock? We find a new heart for a toy. You throw away a stale loaf? We make a feast. You call this place a sewer? We call it the Gift River. Why would we want to live up there, where the wind bites and people hoard empty rooms? Down here, we are never cold, and we are never alone."

— Pip, Matriarch of the Copper-Pipe Warren

Origins: The Parable of the Great Mother

• The Genesis of Warmth: The Ratfolk believe they are all descendants of The Great Mother Rat, a primordial deity who existed before the cities of stone were built.
  

 
• The First Lesson: Legend says that when the First Litter was born, the world was freezing. The pups cried out, "Mother, we are cold!" The Great Mother did not bring them fire (which burns) or blankets (which rot). instead, She took their tails and tied them together with ribbon. She said, "Alone, you are ice. Together, you are the hearth." This is why they sleep in piles; it is the First Commandment.
  

 
• The Promise of the Flow: The Great Mother prophesied a place where "The giants would drop gold, and the water would never freeze." When the Ratfolk found the sewers of Cruinlagh, they did not see a sanitation system; they saw the Promised Land. The waste that falls from above is viewed as manna, gifts provided by the Great Mother through the clumsy hands of the surface giants.

Cultural Values: The Warmth & The Knot

• "It Takes a Village" (The Crèche): Biological paternity is irrelevant. Pups are raised in the Grand Crèche by Whisker-Keepers (Elders). A mother nurses the generation, not just her own. This destroys inheritance wars and ensures every child is loved by the whole warren.
  

 
• Polyamory (The Knot): Monogamy is seen as "chilly." Ratfolk form Knots (romantic groups of 3-6) who sleep in a "Sleeping Pile." Love is defined as "Keeping the Cold Out."
  

 
• Radical Resourcefulness: To waste a scrap is to insult the Mother's providing hand.