The Sewer Rats
To the upstanding citizens of the world, the Sewer Rats are thieves, rabble, and wastrels. Those who are nothing, have nothing, and blight society. They live in corners, abandoned buildings, cellars and slums. They do no honest work and survive through begging and stealing. The offend the eyes, and the ears and the noses, slovenly, loud and whiney, and very unwashed. They suck up resources in stolen food, stolen clothing, cleanup, and policing. This is the image the Rats wish to express.
Each city where the Rats exist have a core group of leaders dedicated to advancing the well-being of their members. They cannot feed every empty belly or provide a bed for every weary body, but no one starves, and no one lacks for some sort of shelter. They make use of charitable donations where available, but many communities like to pretend they do not exist and some even actively seek to drive them out.
They maintain training facilities where those who are able can receive skills needed to move out of the Rats. Depending on the time and place this might be a soldier, a blacksmith, a shopkeeper, or a maid, for the Sewer Rats have existed for centuries. Because of the nearly universal prejudice against them, it takes some clever machinations at times to insert these trained individuals into their 'respectable' societies, but there are always a few sympathetic individuals that help, first by accepting the newly trained individuals and then by recommending them to others so they move into the wider society.
These newly middle-class former Rats have improved their status, and that of their current or future families. They are then able to assist in the advancement of others - most maintain a level of gratitude that translates into helping where they can. Some, of course, want no reminders of their former meager existence.
This organization also serves as an irregular means of information gathering. Since they are often ignored or treated with distain, most people don't even think about what they might reveal within sight or sound of a Rat. This has proved very valuable and the Rats use what they learn to advance sympathetic businesses or leaders who are sympathetic to their goals.
One partnership of note is with Friends of the Library It is very much an on and off relationship, sometimes the members of the Friends are aware of the value of the Rats and at other times they are not. The People of the Eight have no such philosophy, much of what the Library receives comes from the Rats, both in actual material and in information.
Culture
These are the forgotten, the unwanted, and the rebellious. Survival is the primary focus for the majority of the members which may just mean food for the day and a corner to sleep in for one more night. The leaders have more in mind and a much longer-term set of goals known only to a few.
Public Agenda
So far as the greater public is aware, the Rats have no real organization and their only agenda is to make a nuisance of themselves and offend decent people everywhere.
Comments