The Dead Rats

Virtually all of the North understands, at least on some level, the direct control the Brethren Court holds over Luskan and the indirect control that the Arcane Brotherhood holds over the Brethren Court. In a sense, though, the trivia surrounding the human population of Luskan only comprises half the tale. Beneath the city streets is another world, one infested and ruled by the rats.

To the people of Luskan, the wererats, or "the uninvited" in the local lore, are vague bogeymen, fell creatures that dwell somewhere below, in the ruins of old Illusk, licking their teeth at the thought of human flesh. The wererats are blamed for nearly every unexplained misfortune and disaster, and folk live in fear of a squealing pack of the beasts coming for them one night. The people have a good reason to remain wary: anyone left alone during the night, the young in particular, are prone to vanish without a trace. Those fortunate Luskanite families that can, spend a significant sum of wealth and time securing their homes against intrusion. Of course, the Luskanites rarely agree on what the ratkin do with those they abduct - eat them, torture them, sacrifice them to foul gods - it is always an unpleasant fate.

In truth, the city of Luskan is home to a vast, single warren of wererats estimated by Brotherhood mages to number in the hundreds if not thousands. These creatures have taken over the depths of Luskan's sewers and the fallen halls of Illusk beneath the earth with the profligacy of their rat cousins. Their territories are studded with nests, typically a cavernous chamber (a former temple or great hall of Illusk) where the entire warren can gather to feed, breed, or hold court. The waste pits are underground reservoirs of filth, sacred places used in unspeakable rites.

The true history and origin of this infestation is perhaps known to the lore keepers of their kind, if they have such, but if so they have long lost touch with any humanity they once had to communicate it. What is apparent is that their society is divided into rough castes, such as scouts, soldiers, breeders, etc. The history of the Dead Rats, however begins with the caste called the "Skin Twisters".

The skin twisters are the infiltrators of this warren of ratkin. One part nobility, one part outcast, they are hated and feared by the other castes but obeyed without question. They alone have mastered the nuances of the human society above and, compared to their kin, they are regal and composed in their bearing. Always seeking advantage, it was, under the leadership of one particular skin twister called Toytere that the rats rose to stalk the streets in the open.

A visionary, blessed with "holy" insight by the gift of the Mistress of Plagues, the halfling seeming Toytere was and is a collector of secrets, with the ambition and bravery uncommon among his kind to take advantage of opportunities. One such opportunity came in 1346 DR when the current ruling criminal kingpin of the city, the so-called Gray King, unsuccessfully made a bid to overthrow the Brethren Court and rule the city directly. Running headlong into the aligned forces of the Arcane Brotherhood and the High Captains, the Gray King met his end, which initiated a war to dominate the fallen crime lord's fractured kingdom. Rising to the top of this heap was the unknown halfling criminal Toytere, who engineered a coordinated series of attacks by his subterranean allies and utilized the secrets gathered in the dark for years before making his move.

Now "King" Toy sits atop a remarkably cohesive criminal enterprise ruled from the upper catacombs of the ruins of Illusk, secure in his position by maintaining scrupulously good relations with the High Captains of Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood both.

From its inception, King Toytere and his inner council have modeled the guild's structure on a sort of twisted version of a royal court. The hierarchy begins with King Toytere himself at the apex of the structure. Four senior members of the Court of Whispers, the so-called "Dukes", report directly to him. The Dukes roughly divide the city into four pieces (the Duke of the North Bank, the Duke of the Reach, the Duke of the Darkwalk, and the Duke of the Wilds). Next are the "counts", each of whom reports to one of the Dukes and serve as block captains, running their own gangs of ruffians, pickpockets, thieves, and enforcers. By far the majority of the guild are not, in fact, wererats, however to a man (or beast) all of the guild officers of rank count and above are, having been initiated into the inner circle by the process of a ritual known as the "Mistress' Kiss". The truth of the nature of the higher echelons of the guild is a secret kept even from their mundane members.

King Toy enforces loyalty within his organization, requiring frequent audiences with his Dukes and Counts and, further, requiring that his Counts bring before him their most promising recruits for his personal inspection. At these audiences, the young thieves are feasted and questioned and, in general charmed by the affable King Toy, who plays the part of a chuckling, doting uncle. Those who have crossed the halfling, however, have seen an entirely different kind of audience. One that sees the offender lowered slowly into a pit of starving rats. If they are very lucky, it will be head first.