Harriet Rat
| Harriet Rat | |
|---|---|
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| Fauna | |
| Official Name | Harriet Rat |
| Common Nicknames | Twitching Rat, Hiding skeever |
| Classification | Mammal |
| Habitat | Regalian Sewers |
| Domesticated | No |
| Current Status | Rare |
The Harriet Rat is a fairly rare rodent which can only be found in the third layer of the Regalian Sewers, the layer infested with the horribly mutated vilitatei and other monsters that have lost all senses and conscience. The Harriet Rat is best known for its extremely quirky behavior, it’s faux-sentient habits, and the fact that it frequently roams into the upper levels of the Regalian Sewers to scavenge for food or trinkets.
History
The Harriet Rat is an animal that has been rarely sighted on account of the deeper levels of the Regalian sewers being entirely inaccessible without serious military equipment to off balance the rabid and feral creatures that live within. How the Harrier Rat stays alive down there, and avoids all the murderous beasts is unknown. The Harrier Rat was discovered when a Unionist nun named Harriet was brutally murdered by one, while handing out bread to the beggars in the sewers. After this sighting, more and more sightings were made, including which a pair and some younglings, definitively proving that the creature is not a singular cryptid, but an actual species that has likely been warped by the magical energies which Regalia sits on. Still, the Harriet Rat is not known to be a particularly prolific species, and the assumption is made that the creature has a short lifespan or a low reproduction rate because of its odd behavior.
Physical Appearance
The most gruesome aspect of the Harriet Rat is that it appears like a beaver sized skinned rat. Whenever it moves about, it has no fur or skin, it appears merely like a heap of minced meat with a webbing of mucous membrane and veins spanning over it. Its eyes lack lids, always in a permanent half-blind stare, and its feet appear more like chicken bones, it’s tail a gruesome darkened sausage in a near constant state of infection. Many would be mistaken that Harriet’s Rat is in fact a dead animal, until it moves. There is no known diversity, as only a handful of encounters have ever been made. Harriet Rats always look identical, this is likely because whatever diversity might have existed with fur, is nullified by the fact they have no skin. Little to nothing is known about the lifespan and development of the creature either, because research has been impossible due to the dangers of its natural habitat.
Mental Overview
The Harriet Rat is by far and large a cowardly animal, that nonetheless seems capable of great violence and murderous intent. There seems to be a relation to how often the animal gets fed, and how quickly it can murder someone, with Harriet Rats that have eaten a lot being capable of lunging at someone’s throat to sever it with its large boney teeth. Inversely however, Harriet Rats that do not succeed on the food chain end up running away often, or sometimes even running towards threats on purpose. The creatures seem capable of having mood swings, and if not becoming fed, desiring to feed others to end their misery.
One of the most curious habits of the Harriet Rat is that it collects smaller critters in the Sewers and carries them on its back. Any Harriet Rat will attempt to find four smaller critters like bloat flies (of which they remove the wings to avoid them flying away) smaller rats, other rodent creatures, and even insects. The Harriet Rat will carry these creatures around on its back, and even attempt to feed them after it has had its fill. If somehow all the smaller critters on the Harriet Rat are removed, it will lower its nostrils on the ground and wheeze out a series of vocalized noises that sound like a repeating “eff-eff” in rapid succession, as if it is mad or in grief.
For the more cowardly Harriet Rat, escape and hiding are commonplace. A curious vocalization of the Harriet Rat is that it does not squeak or produce shrill sounds like one would expect of a rodent, but in fact vocalize a single word that sounds almost human. When chased, the creature will repeatedly exclaim a string of sounds that can best be described as a young adult saying “nah” in a very indignant or incredulous tone. It will continue to produce these sounds until it has found a safe place to hide, or until it is convinced that whatever chased it, is in fact no longer chasing it.
Trivia
- None have yet succeeded in taming or domesticating a Harriet Rat. Not quite sure why anyone would want to either since they constantly excrete unpleasant odors and bodily fluids on account of having no skin.
- Harriet Rats are known to be easily distracted. Many times has a Harriet Rat been witnessed getting ready to feed, only for it to be distracted by a passer-by or trinket, until it eventually returns half an hour later only to find its little critter friends had been waiting all this time.
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