Water Mice

Perception

Purpose

Water mice are, almost exclusively, small children sold to the state and tasked with inspecting, cleaning and reporting the happenings-on of the interior of the canals, channels, ducts and sewers of mixed lake.

Social Status

The humble mouse (quimichin) carries a negative association to the superstitious Sang.

It is long suspected by the most paranoid populous, of mice moving through the walls and under their floors; listening for traitorous talk for those deemed suspicious, idial gossip of the markeplaces and altercations near cacao bars. Given that everyone knows the water mice move unseen just under their feet, instills a sense of an ominous presence that follows a guilty party.

Demographics

It is generally non-sang children, chosen for their small stature who are conscripted into maintaining the cramped spaces in the canals and the lake reservoirs.

History

Spider Rebellion

Originally, it were slave children tasked with cleaning and clearing out the city's sewers. However, in the aftermath of the spider rebellion, Speaker Yolotli reasonably feared that the slaves who worked in the Sacred Precinct would join into the revolt if the rebellion had reached that far. Though it never reached that point; as a consequence, slaves are now forbidden from being employed in the precinct.

Operations

Workplace

A water mouse's primary duties involve working in cramp and damp condition under the lake surface.
Quimichtlan is a rest room isolated somewhere among the corpse columns, where most water mice are allowed to take breaks and sleep.
Quimichtépec is special place outside the city limits, where retired water mice who have grown too tall to fit through the small tunnels and canals, are given special training to spy as pochteca naualoztomeca internationally.

Provided Services

Cleaning

Children are sent inside aqueducts, sewers, reservoirs and spill ways to clear away obstructions and offer simple maintenance.

Espionage

While doing their cleaning work, or being sent to spy on a specific person, their small bodies can swim and squeeze through tight spaces in the reeds and anchor themselves close to home and listen in.

Dangers & Hazards

Drowning is the most obvious risk for those children sent into sewers and canals.
There have been a few instances where water mice have been sucked in by the changing currents through the ducts connecting to various wells. The most powerful is the well that the great temple was built over. The wardens do often find the bodies of the drowned child slaves in random passages and rooms within the Moon Stone. Rarer, a mouse might find an air-pocket and not be carried away until the water levels lower.

Alternative Names

Nahualoztomeca

Quimichtin

Type

Sanitation

Demand

High

Other Associated professions

• Tlazolteotl Priest

Related Locations

• Atzacualco
• Cuepopan
• Mixed Lake
• Sacred Precinct
• Sangsalgu Proper

Used By

• Triple Alignment

Ranks & Titles

• Water Warden

Related Technologies

• Chinampas

Tools

• Scrub Brush
• Scrapper
• Prodder

Materials

• Ankle-Length Pants
• Hand Glove
• Pitch or Oil based Paint
• Hair Ties
• Wax
• Clay Tiles and Bricks