Krak Queekblood
Greatest RAT!
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Create a new, verminous species for both new characters and good antagonists for other writers.
- Image Credit: Mortian
- Inspired By: The Skaven of Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar
- Canon: Rats
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: M/A
- Name: Krerid, Rat-Men
- Designation: Sentient, sithspawn
- Origins: Unknown Regions
- Average Lifespan:
- Average: 25 years
- Maximum extension with Rat Ichor: 250 years
- Estimated Population: Interplanetary
- Description:
- Rat-like humanoids of various fur colors and castes, most species would view them as unkempt and verminous. Krerid are unnatural products of sith alchemy, and have inherited the morality of their long gone creator.
- Breathes: Type I, Type II
- Average Height of Adults: 1.6 meters
- Average Length of Adults:
- Tail length: 1.4 meters
- Skin color:
- Usually pink under fur, through tails can appear black
- Hair color:
- White, grey, brown, and black
- Mixes and patterns somewhat uncommon
- Fur is generally well insulated and waterproof
- Distinctions:
- Krerid mature in only a handful of years, and reproduce quickly and in large numbers.
- Krerid exist in a caste system they are born into, each caste being somewhat specialized in their role. Caste does not necessarily align with the traits of the parents, and seems to be a fixed ratio throughout the entire population.
- The low lifespans of this species can be extended greatly with a valuable alchemical substance known as “Rat Ichor”, created by Krerid sith alchemists. It is tightly controlled and only available to those who have proven themselves within Krerid society.
- Races:
- Clans: Krerid clan structures generally share cultural ties, variations in creation myths, architecture, and minor differences in Queekish dialect.
- Castes:
- Rats: Most Kreroid exist in the average, with no real defining traits that set them apart. This can prove an advantage, being seen as a threat by your betters in Krerid society is risky at best, and a death sentence at worst. While other castes may rise to positions of power faster, the common rat tends to remain there longer without unfortunate accidents or outright murder.
- Blackrats: A small section of the Krerid population are born with jet black fur and tails, and have both greater height and physical strength than their kin. However their abilities come at the cost of nearly unending hunger, a blackrat deprived of food for even a day may become incapacitated by hunger.
- Warlocks: A very small portion of Krerid are born as Warlocks, with nearly white fur and at least a small portion of useful force sensitivity. These Krerid are jealousy guarded by their clans, and are protected from the masses. Still, the murder of Warlocks in childhood by other immature members of their kind due to uncontrolled abilities or competition is common.
- Force Sensitivity: Low
- Only Warlock caste members
- General:
- Reproduction: Kreroid reproduce quickly and in large numbers. Attritional total war is second nature to them
- Extended lifespans: Krerid lifespans can be extended decades by Rat Ichor.
- Hardy: Krerid are resistant to most common diseases, and can better resist toxins and radiation. Though the most deadly diseases such as Project Blackwing or the Gulag Virus are still highly lethal.
- Malleable: Krerid forms are easily moulded by both sith alchemy and cybernetics, accepting changes without too many consequences. Many live with tools, weapons, and armor crudely but effectively bolted into their flesh.
- Castes:
- Blackrat: Blackrats are stronger and larger than their kin, giving them an edge in combat. Their reaction times are also exceptional, making them excellent close combat fighters or pilots.
- Warlock: Warlocks always force sensitive in a somewhat useful capacity, and their strength tends to grow with time.
- General:
- Verminous: Krerid are disgusting to most other species with eyes to see and olfactory organs to smell. Inter-species negotiations of any kind will be difficult. For force sensitives, even of a dark side nature, the Krerid seem to have a repulsive aura that goes beyond that of normal sithspawn. Many Jedi and Sith who have come into contact with Krerid liken it to being crawled on by insects, or the smell of sick.
- Backstabbing: Loyalty is a very temporary concept to a Krerid outside of the closest bonds.
- Normal lifespans: Without Rat Ichor, Krerid die after only twenty years. If they manage to obtain enough Ichor to extend their lives, addiction is both permanent and guaranteed. Withdrawal begins with permeant balding and increased paranoia before progressing towards organ failure and death.
- Sithspawn: As a sithspawn-adjacent species, Krerid are more vulnerable to light side abilities
- Light: Krerid eyes are very sensitive to bright lights, and flash-bang grenades or other sudden sources easily blind them for long periods of time.
- Castes:
- Blackrat: Blackrat metabolisms put them at risk of incapacitation and death if they go hungry for very long. They may even be overcome by hunger in the midst of battle, and have to disengage to either consume rations or the dead.
- Warlock: Warlocks may find their force abilities are uncontrollable, and use of said powers exhausts them much more rapidly than species such as humans. As well, they are incredibly vulnerable to light-side aligned force abilities, even more than their kin.
- Diet: Omnivorous
- Communication: Spoken language
- Queekish. Described as a mix of teeth clicking, hissing, and more common vowel and consonant forms found in Galactic Basic. Sentences are fragmented and often represent the frenzied thoughts of a Krerid, and simple words are repeated for emphasis. More complex vocabulary is used most often in the form of elaborate titles used to sate the egos of high status Kreroid.
- For example, a very hungry Krerid asking for bread would say “Need-need grain-brick”.
- Queekoid Basic: Galactic Basic bastardized as a result of Queekish grammatical structures. Spoken often by leaders and learned individuals within Krerid society.
- Queekish. Described as a mix of teeth clicking, hissing, and more common vowel and consonant forms found in Galactic Basic. Sentences are fragmented and often represent the frenzied thoughts of a Krerid, and simple words are repeated for emphasis. More complex vocabulary is used most often in the form of elaborate titles used to sate the egos of high status Kreroid.
- Technology level:
- Below Galactic Standard, “Early Hyperspace” level
- Many technologies such as deflector shields are unreliable reverse-engineered versions of already subpar models.
- Weaponry is dominated by chemical explosive, toxin and fission weapons which are comparatively crude but still effective en mass.
- Religion/Beliefs:
- Generally described as a “dark side force cult” in veneration of a god-like figure known as the “Flesh Shaper” who the Krerid claim created their species.
- General behavior:
- Krerid are generally selfish, scheming, and backstabbing, Their culture is only held in stability by the violence and fear inflicted by those at the top of the social ladder, and by the reliance of the older Krerid on the alchemical substance known as “Rat Ichor”.
The origins of the Krerid lie in the distant past, a sithspawn creation of some long forgotten dark side force user known as the "Flesh Shaper". The name seems apt as the Krerid are, biologically speaking, not too far removed from common rats. The application of sith alchemy stretched their forms more than it grew them, with the basics of a vocal box constructed in a way that seems entirely removed from any normal evolution. The intelligence of Krerids is likewise more of an enhancement than iteration, thought patterns are often scattered and single minded, and Krerid brains also show they've simply been scaled up by their creator rather than grown.
The purpose behind these alchemical abominations seems to have been for some lost ambition of conquest. Krerid breed quickly and survive in toxic, cramped environments. They posses a specialized caste system that provides little utility outside of warfare, and lifespans that are normally short but which can be extended through the reward of Rat Ichor so long as they are useful. They are backstabbing and verminous, kept in line through threats and promises, but ask a Krerid if they would ever betray their creator and they will reject any reward no matter how great and accept any punishment no matter how painful.
Another factor pointing towards the Krerids being sithspawn organisms is their malleability. Krerids can be easily warped for good or ill by both proper sith alchemy and cybernetic modification. Their robust immune systems rarely reject new mechanical components or even entire biological components, and any normally temporary changes persist. The species also shows an inclination towards the practice of alchemy in other forms, with the weapons and armor of important Krerid leaders being enhanced through its use.
Sometime around the beginning of the Gulag Virus, the Flesh Shaper vanishes from Krerid record with their grand designs unrealized. With their now expanded knowledge, some more blasphemous Krerid suggest it was just such a disease which laid them low away from their creations. Having been left to grow in number and strength on their homeworld, the Krerid were unable to leave its gravity well. For a length of time which would be unbearable to any other civilization, the Krerid waited obediently for their master to take them on their grand path of destruction. Over time, this would begin to waver. Krerid clans began to argue over everything from whether their creator wanted them to seek them out or if they were to remain.
Without a single figure to unite them the Krerid festered like a wound, engaged in intra-species wars which developed into a bitter deadlock. The lack of blaster gasses or rare metals with an abundance of hydrocarbons and fission fuels created a charred husk of a world ravaged by brutal trench and atomic warfare on a scale rarely seen. Battles raged in poisoned tunnels for years on end, only stopping when the rotted carcasses of Krerid infantry and their rusted wargear clogged the paths. On the surface, airships traded salvoes of crude nuclear shells as the air burned with the invisible and creeping death of stirred fallout.
Over time the clans consolidated, and the first Krerid craft escaped their homeworld's gravity well. While war was still rampant, they Krerid had broken their second to last barrier. The final one would come in the form of a lost trading convoy from out of system, and the Krerid would slaughter the crews before replicating many of the technologies found within.
Slowly crawling out into nearby areas or hopping through host species as stowaways and pirates, the Krerid now exist in their pit-like fortress cities, or as vermin infesting the underbellies of other civilizations. Whether they will be united again in common purpose is yet to be seen.
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