The Plague Rats

Working beneath the city are the plague rats not actual rats mind you but a group of people that help to maintain the sewers that run throughout the city. They are part what keeps the waste in the city moving through and not backing up into people's gardens. They move about in the secret highway underneath the city and only they truly know how to navigate the tunnels that exist underneath the city. The plague rats are also responsible for a drug known as Haunt, the main effect of which is the piercing of the ethereal plane allowing one to see into the land of the dead. The chance at seeing a lost loved one can be incredibly tempting even if the horrific side effects.

They are underneath the city all over the place, sometimes I swear I can hear them and I don't want to know what they are doing 10 feet below me... -Unknown

Public Agenda:

The Plague Rats do the very minimum to maintain the air that they are keeping the sewers running and at some level they do some of the efforts to keep things going however for the most part they have engaged a huge number of oozes to keep the sewers clean and empty of any of the various vicesra that find their way below the city. It should also be noted that the Plague Rats guard their territory with a fanaticism that is unrivaled by any other faction. If you need something from them you speak down into the sewers you do not go below.

Public Perception

Lower Class

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For some the Plague Rats are a possibility of a way out, being that close to the bottom already slinking below the city streets for a warm place and a meal is so tempting. The plague rats are more than willing to take members who are desperate for what they promise.

Middle Class

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There are two reasons someone from the middle class might seek out the Plague Rats, the first is to get a hit of Haunt. The other reason though is to hire them to hide a body when a business deal goes badly, the Rats are more than wiling to drag a body beneath the streets never to be seen again as long as the coin is good.

Upper Class

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The upper class would rather pretend these people do not exist rather some of them even believe that when they flush their waste wizard's magic it away and while this might be true in some cases the reality is in this it is a great equalizer.

History:

Like most cities there has always been a need to remove the waste from Arbor to keep it both clean and healthy. While in the early days much of it was bucketed up and thrown into the streets or simply poured down a big hole eventually the ruling bodies realized that may cause some issues further down the line. Around the same time the second wall went up creating the Second Ring work had already begun on digging out a series of tunnels to move the waste out of the city and into the hills where it could be left and not cause the city any further trouble. Off course with tunnels comes a place for people to hide and at first it was a free for all, companies used them the underground passages to smuggle all sorts of things all around the city underneath the noses of The Green Cloaks easily avoiding detection. Of course when rival gangs met underground the fighting would invariably spill upwards resulting in bloody battles sometimes in people's living rooms.

A New Order

This had to stop but before anyone could actually do anything about it, a huge assortment of slimes made their home underneath the city consuming all of the cities waste and converting into nothing more than water and their own bulk. Some saw an opportunity though and a waste processing plant was created utilizing the existing slimes and keeping them contained underground they stopped the fighting, no one wanted to go down there anymore lest running into an invisible killer ooze.

Roommates

At some point after the establishment of the waste processing company people began appearing in the tunnels again though they appeared to operate as a single group instead of the hodge podge of companies attempting to use the tunnels before. Eventually they began offering Haunt to people on the surface and thus the plague rats were born.

Rumors and Mysteries

There have always been two questions regarding the plague rats that have eluded people, the first is who is their leader? No one is even sure they have a leader their esoteric and frightening levels of xenophobia mean little contact is had with them. The second question is one more of logistics, how do they avoid the giant ooze's that move through the sewer tunnels. Some suggest that they mentally control them that because they have been down there so long exposed to the fumes and toxicity that they have become part ooze allowing them wrest some kind of control over them. The state of their arms for those that have seen the long tentacle leads some credence to this rumor.

Attire / Common Garb / Quirks:

Torn rags and burlap sacks are the common clothes of the Plague Rat though no two are exactly alike they do not dress to survive the harsh environment they live in. Two things mark them apart from your average street beggar though, the first is more subtle and you'd miss it if you blinked. Their eyes lack any discernible pupil, perhaps wiped away by the fumes or some other tosic malady, the second though is something difficult to miss from their shoulder to finger tip their arm appears to have been replaced by a long slimy tentacle. When asked about the latter they simply replay "It is the payment"

Structure and Hierarchy:

No discernable structure or hierarchy not even a leader the plague rats are perhaps just a collective of anarchists before anyone could find out though they would likely be dead or changed into one of them.

Recruitment

How does an ultra xenophobic cult like company recruit new members... well that is somewhat of a mystery though the most plausible rumor is that when a person addicted to Haunt reaches the worst of the side effects the PLague Rats come and claim them. The other prevailing theory is that those most desperate can surrender their bodies to the sewers and if the Rats are feeling generous and the oozes don't get to them first they will welcome them into the fold. Either way it is a terrifying prospect to see what these people have become.

Notable People:

None there is both anonymity in being a Rat and conformity every one looks like everyone else so it is impossible to tell any apart.

Territory:

The sewers beneath the city woe be it to the person who tries to move in their spaces

Notable Structures:

None known

Related Items

• Haunt