* Restricted: Rat Cultists only

The Rat Cult

Giant Rat

The Rat Cult is widespread across the Underworld and the Overworld, wherever Rats are to be found.  Unlike its rivals the Scorpion and Snake Cults, which are fragmented into different Cults, the E/L Rat Cult is one Cult, but organised like a Temple with many different local Chapters (which can sometimes feud over territory).

RATTUS, E/L Demigod of Rats, is the Patron of the Rat Cult, appearing as an enormous Black Rat.  RATTUS is one of the leading False Gods, with many worshippers, and it is said the only reason He has not already achieved Godhead is that nobody else likes Rats.  RATTUS Clerics have their Spells granted by WAGREN (formerly LOFIR), as RATTUS is part of His (formerly Her) Host of Evil Law, and Cast Cause Disease as a Level 4 Spell.  Occasionally a heretical Lycanthropic Chapter or splinter Cult worships MIRIMI, but the Orthodox Cult stamps these out when discovered.  The Cult is more tolerant of TERRIK-worshippers, as TERRIK is Allied with WAGREN and is associated with Dumps where the Rats like to feed.  SITH, E/C Harbinger of Pestilence, also has an association with Rats.

Most Chapters of the Rat Cult are Thievish and the City Chapters are usually Thieves’ Guilds in their own right, with HALKI as Patron God of Rats and Thieves being heavily involved with the Cult.  Such Chapters are common around the docks in ports, with the Dock Rats being a major Chapter with branches in all the major Port Cities.  Rat Cultist Thieves have access to certain Restricted Thievish Activities, and (unlike most City Thieves) are well aware of the uses of Scent.

SOROK is involved with Chapters based in Necropoli, which use Rats to strip corpses for the creation of Skeletons (or to give Zombies or Ghouls a suitably gnawed look), and keep a few Undead Giant Rats or Wererats.

JAPAL supports the Cult’s Beastmaster Druids through Her Rat Spirits.  Rat Beastmasters have a specific Druidic Spell List, with Belladonna (Deadly Nightshade) as the unique medium for their Rodent Cycle of Spells.  Some Chapters in remote wilderness areas are more Mystical and their Shamen can enter the Endless Catacombs, Dream Kingdom of Rats, using their Enter Power or via the Sacred Circles and Totems of the Cult.

Cultist Binders Summon NORVEGICUS, Demon of Rats, E/L Demon Lord and Servant of RATTUS, Who appears as a huge Brown Rat, provides Rat Familiars and grants Powers to Giant Rats and their riders.  Lycanthropy, Regeneration, Earthwalking and Enter the Endless Catacombs are favourite Powers of Cultists.

Lycanthropy is endemic in the Rat Cult, with many followers actively seeking to become Wererats.  Most Chapters outside the Cities (and a few inside) breed Giant Rats, some of which are Lycanthropes.  A few Chapters (especially Koboldish and Gnomish ones) tame Giant Rats as mounts.

Rat Cultists have affinities with Earth and Water, but an aversion to Fire (though they do not count as Fire Vulnerable).  Their Elementalists favour Earth and Water Spells.


Go to Druidic Spell List of the Rat Cult

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