Now we get into the interesting meat and bones of the NS. This is going to get a bit complicated, warning you now. Your units can be divided the following categories:

• Light
• Medium
• Heavy
• Large

These should be fair self explanatory to anyone whose played strategy games before. Light, Medium, and Heavy all refer to the armor and weaponry of the unit, a group of archers with bows and daggers might be light infantry while full plate armored soldiers with great weapons would be Heavy. That said, relying solely on a single type of unit has obvious tactical drawbacks. Large refer to things larger than the average soldier, things such as Minotaurs, Giants, and Chaos Spawn would all count. Large units also tend to be Monsters units aka anything that's not a normal human/zombie/dwarf/elf/etc; all Monstrous units count as Large but not all Large units have to be Monsters.

Tiers
Basic separation of units by their quality, also should be familiar to many people who play strategy games. I will not be putting any hard limits and will hope that everyone can make good decisions on this and make stuff somewhat balanced out. That said, if there is something truly ridiculous, I will be stepping in.

• Tier 1 - Units of this tier should be something like the weakest of your army or otherwise the least impressive. Things such as militia, conscripts, peasants, and slaves should be in this level.
• Tier 2 - This is where your professional army starts to come in and its also the lowest a cavalry unit and artillery can go.
• Tier 3 - Special/Elite units should occupy this slot. Something like knights or an elite version of one of your Tier 2 (or even 1) units should go here.
• Tier 4 - The cream of the crop, this slot boasts the finest soldiers and warriors your nation/race can produce. Wether they be the most brutal, the most technological, the most experienced, these troops should understandably be few in number but legendary fighters.

Heroes and Lords
Lords are people who rule you race or nation and are asskickers in of themselves. Try to only have 1 or 2 at max. If you've already explained one in your government section and don't want to do another, you can skip over the lord section. Lords cannot be killed, only wounded unless you really want to kill them off. Heroes on the other hand are like Lord in beta-testing. They can be great warriors, powerful officers/leaders or mystical spell casters. They act similar to Lord albeit less powerful. Like Lords, they too can be wounded but they do tend to have slightly higher death rates.

Pros and Cons
Just a simple little thing to let everyone else get an overall feel for your army in a more direct way. I do expect some semblance of balance here, probably more so. I don't want to see anyone be extremely good at everything and then only have one downside. Pros and Cons should be something visible or RPable that you will do. If you say you lack archers or ranged then I shouldn't see much range in your unit roster. If you say that troops have poor moral, then I should see them be much more panicky and rout more often in-game compared to other soldiers.

Overview

Your nation in brief, what are you all about? Where do you take inspiration from?

Geography

Draw your borders on the map to lay your claim. Describe the environment and geography as you wish within reasonable limits. Some important notes is that we're all somewhat in the northern hemisphere of the planet barring the southern regions so take that as you will. The west is largely cut off from us due to the World's End Mountains.

If you play a nation with multiple smaller administrative zones (ie Fiefs, Baronies, Chiefdoms, Kingdoms, etc), you might want to list them here as well as any other important zones like major cities, fortifications and of course, your capital, if you have one.

History

Self explanatory, what are some major events/figures in your history? Any historical rivalries or encounters between you and other nations/races? What about alliances and stuff?

Government

Simple run down of how you're nation runs, does it have cities and settlements or is it a horde? Reminder that your "king"-like character will be one of your Lord characters (aka one of the badasses who can lead armies and kick ass in their own right).

Race Description

Explain a bit about your race and any natural leanings they may have. If they're just humans than feel free to skip this part.

Culture

How does your people act most of the time/stereotypically? We're most focused on military culture and things like it but feel free to expand on it as much as you'd wish with holidays, customs, habits, etc if you want.

Economy/Industry

How does your nation make money and the stuff they need? Anything unique tech wise that you've come up with? Do they just raid for everything and use slaves and such? Again, try to make it simple but if you really feel the need, go ahead and fill it out to you're heart's desire.

Magic

What kind of magics does your race use if at all? If they don't use magic, do they have some other method of using something close? You can just copy the "lores" of magic from any generic fantasy universe (ie Lore of Flames, Lore of Night, etc); if you an other player both use the same lores or one of the same lores, then please do talk to them about this. I'd prefer that everyone using Lore of Flames knows exactly what a fireball does rather than having to deal with 4 different types of them.

Military

Tell us about your army, namely the units. Feel free to add as much other fluff as you wish so long so first do your roster.

The running focus of this Roleplay is to engage in full scale Warfare. The idea is not to win, or to lose, but to write out the stories that happen during the course of a battle. If you can write an epic battle that takes a month for the two of you to move forward a single day, we love it! That is what we are here for. The agony, the drama, the glory, the heroes, the savagery. We want everyone else in this Roleplay, and anyone who reads it, to be imagining themselves in the shoes of your soldiers, your people, your citizens, we want them lying awake staring at the ceiling as they try to sleep saying to themselves: "What the f**k did I just read and when is the next segment coming out!?"

In order to facilitate this, @Clocktowerechos and myself have decided to go with a very simple Battle Mechanic. It is as follows:


This is preferable way of doing things. You intend to attack your neighbour and take their lands! Rawr! Well, first, because we don't actually have real life armies, you must PM the person you are attacking. The two of you can then decide how things are going to work out. Once you have decided on an outcome, let the battle commence, amaze us with your epic storyline and ultimate outcome.

You can fight skirmishes, battles, or even the whole war this way. If you are both happy with the plan, we will not prevent you from making it happen. (Unless its complete bullshit, then we'll have words)


In the unlikely (Hopefully) situation where two players cannot agree on an outcome, or they would rather just "roll the dice" and see what happens we will do exactly that, and roll the dice. Using this Random Dice Generator we will decide the outcome of the skirmish, battle, or war, based on the following formula;

1-3 Blue wins
4-6 Red Wins

Difficult to grasp at first, but if I can wrap my head around it, anyone can. The dice roll will be the final say and not a negotiation. This is important for all players to realize. If you can't Roleplay your losses as well as you can your wins, you probably shouldn't be doing life in general, let alone Roleplaying.

If you don't like the mechanic please feel free to look elsewhere for a Roleplay to join. We want to keep it simple, and preferably have players sort it out amongst themselves as I do believe we are all adults, or near enough to.

Once you've got the roll back from a Games Master, please feel free to work it out amongst yourselves how the fight is going to go. If one person refuses to cooperate, they lose. Simple.

We're in this together so I hope we will see plenty of player generated awesomeness, or some excellent "Well screw you dice" moments and their outcome.

Overview

The Red Fang Orruk "empire" is truly on massive Orruk clan that has conquered most of its surrounding competition and has enslaved a large population of lizardmen known as the Kashar. They mainly live in a harsh desert climate though the populated centers are along the river that strikes the nation in half.

Geography

The Red Fang Orruks inhabit a very large portion of desert that has a large river cutting through the center of it that leads to a rather large delta at the end. The river sports wetlands that branch off of it, the wetlands have some trees and many reeds growing. The wetlands are often converted into farmlands for the Orruks. The south bears mountains, often which the Orruks set small mining outpost in though there is one fortress there known as Vaxibra where most of the metal is forced into the weapons that are used.

There are many small settlements dotting the deserts that the Orruks so happen to inhabit. The settlements within the delta and along the river so happen to be the largest and most fortified. The capital, Orizagoth, is the largest settlement ever created and it became so because the Red Fangs are the leading force of the Orruks.

History

Over two hundred years ago, the Orruks were united against one particular Empire in which they would forever hold a grudge against. The Empire of Rhune, an empire of man which seemingly did the impossible and pushed the Orruk horde back. The final battle had been lost and the Orruk horde only sight to move back south in order to come up with a cunning plan. However, no plan would come to rise as infighting separated this sprawling Empire and fragmented it. Leading to the created of the Red Fang Clan.

The Red Fang Orruks originally started out as a small clan that acted like the rest of the sounding clans that inhabited the delta. They fought and killed each other like the savages that they were, they were merciless and bloodthirsty just as all other races saw the Orruks. However, the Red Fangs were a special breed of Orruk, not physically, as they cannibalized on other Orruk clans constantly believing that more power would be gotten from this. Eventually there came a time where the Red Fangs had began raiding others without break, miraculously they were winning.

With the birth of Zing-Zing Blood Fang, the Red Fangs began to conquer more land by practicing their savage ways through his cunning and merciless combat tactics. Instead of charging blindly into combat like most other Orruks, he would bait other clans into traps where he would slaughter them with an army of untrained militia. It was through his training that the Red Fangs conceived the concept of taking other clans to bolster their forces.

Zing-Zing became chieftain by popular vote of the entire clan at the age of 25, resulting in the death of the previous chieftain and the the ritual cannibalization of the body by Zing-Zing. A day of remembrance was declared for the new chieftain, a day of celebration that resulted in the death and conception of many Orruks. It was a day that two other clans were brought under control of the Red Fangs purely due to how bloody the celebration was. Needless to say, Zing-Zing showed amazing promise as a cheiftan for the Orruks.

Zing-Zing reign began with an advantage because the Orruks were finally becoming unified under one banner which was nearly impossible for others to do. It forever changed the local culture and way of war, two other empires formed as a result and seemed to reap bloody vengeance against each other. Zing-Zing would have none of this and began the large warpath that any Orruck had ever seen. This warpath number in almost ten-thousand that overtook the entire delta in less than a month. New tactics were developed, new technologies had come into play such as the ballista which destroyed any fortification that had been put up against the warpath and it destroyed infantry lines. It took years, decades for the warpath to conquer the final holding of the known Orruks. This brought a time of unneeded peace to the Orruks who did not desire such things.

Naturally, they began expanding into the surrounding deserts and made settlements on the frontier where the Orruks would constantly hunt the wildlife to satisfy the bloodlust. That was before they met a more docile race that only wished peace for the entire world to know. The first meeting went a little like this... Blood and carnage upon the peaceful race. This began the first of many wars which was merged under one war called "The Century War" which gradually ceded land to the Red Fangs. Zing-Zing led battles against the unknown enemy himself, finding his tactics to be a bit outdated as the lizardmen held their own through their quick Calvary strikes and hidden camouflage.

This was the first time that Zing-Zing's leadership had been questioned, bringing the Orruks to began squabbling amongst one another. However, they were rallied by Zing-Zing's son, Zippy Blood Fang, through the words of "Da enemy foight, den we bring da foight ta' dem!" It was not the best speech, but for the Orruks it was something to celebrate about and that celebration began the downfall to the lizardmen known as the Kashar. The ballistas had been repurposed to be defensive tools of war to fire nets which would tie up the Kashar Calvary, literally.

Zing-Zing began another warpath against the Kashar, fighting them himself and destroying their armies before they would eventually surrender everything they owned to the Orruks. The Kashar would get one final action before the end, they killed Zing-Zing. The one who did so was only known as Giresh the Bloodthirsty who killed Zing-Zing with an arrow to the back and a spear thrust through the skull of the Orruk. Afterwards, Zippy would become chieftain due to how rallying he was to the people. He enslaved the Kashar, making a food source out of them and having them annually hunted and slaughtered. Zippy is the current leader of the Red Fangs.

Government

The Red Fangs are led by a singular cheiftan who essentially makes all the executive decisions for the entire kingdom as well as have the honor of leading a warpath. The cheiftan rules for as long as lives, when the cheiftan dies a new one is elected through popular vote. This vote tends to include whoever draws in the largest shouting crowd. Whoever has the noisiest crowd becomes the cheiftan, man or woman. The current cheiftan would be Zippy Blood Fang, son of Zing-Zing Blood Fang.

Race Description

The Orruks are a large and muscular race, even the females of this race are large and muscular. They are naturally colored to be green or black, they're eyes often being red, brown, green, or blue. The Orruks sport an underbite with two rather large incisors poking out from the bottom. This race is rather strong, having the strength of five men and having the endurance of the same amount. Of course, they take this for granted and do not rely on the intelligence as much even though they are as smart as humans. The Orruks are savage and often prey upon the dead who get in their path, even their own kind if they did in battle.

Orruks are incredibly fast breeders, able to sustain an army off pure man power alone if they truly wanted to. It takes only ten years before an Orruk has reached maturity and the cycle can repeat once more.

Culture

Orruks are constantly seen as savage beasts who want nothing more than to fight the good fight, which is not far from the truth. Orruk life is built around the mentality that fighting is the only thing that will make you grow stronger and get you any popularity if the cheiftan dies. Granted, they are exceptionally prideful of the fact that they are Orruks and regard themselves as "da best fightas in da worl'". Whether this hold any truth or not has yet to be seen as Orruks find training without death to be useless. The only good teacher for fighting is the battlefield.

The Red Fangs have several holidays, all of which put a warpath on race that so happens to be nearby though those are the smaller holidays. "Zing-Zing's crowning" is a rather popular holiday that gets the Orruks to begin fighting one another or doing less than appropriate things with one another. The is so much alcohol involved that even the Dwarves would be jealous.

Economy/Industry

The Red Fangs are known to trade away their brutish weapons in exchange for food or the likes as the desert does not support much land for farming, though this does not mean the populous is starving by any means. They are known to hold extensive amounts of slaves from any race that gets raided by them though the largest in number would be the Kashar. A majority of their wealth comes from loot that they procure through raids that they hold annually on anyone who gets to close to their lands or whenever they feel like it. They raid with a specially made ballista that can fire just about anything and make it deadly with the exception of pillows... though that is still being tested.

Magic

Military

-Heavy Range Damage
-Heavy Charge Damage
-High Defense
-Low Mobility
-Lacking Arial Units
-Lacking Magical units

Overview

The Fallen Elves were once High elves. But cast out due to their standing on magical research and their position in the world. They believed that no path of magic should be hidden away out of fear or danger. Even Dark Magic exists for a reason, and the Fallen Elves believe that it has its place in this world. Fallen Elves also believe that they should rule the world. Even nature herself should bend for their awesome powers. When they were cast out they travelled from west to east until they found the wild lands of Elysweir. The people here were far away from modern cities or civilization the Elves were used to. While the Elves had but a small force, it was powerful, dangerous and substantial. The chieftain of the many human tribes one by one laid down arms in the face of their armored foes.

Now the elves rule supreme in the strange land that is Elysweir. Delving deeper in all kinds of magic. They are power hungry and beyond redemption. If you want the trust of the Fallen Elves, grant them power beyond belief.

Geography

In the far east, you'll find the Sunrise coast and the infinite ocean. From here, inland you'll find the Great Flats. Plains stretching far and wide. Upon which humans farm and wild horses run for days on end. Recently, along the coast the Elves have set up a few cities. But generally, the coastline is dominated by long, beautiful beaches with the occasional fisher's community. In the north is the cold sea. Still favorable for fishing, but the coast here are generally cliffs with some rough beaches here and there. The cold sea is abundant of fish thus human fishers still live here. But the elves avoid this area. To the south is the Sunsoaked coast and the Midsea. Leading deeper inland. The Sunsoaked coast is also filled with beaches, but you'll find far less fishermen here. As there are far less fishes in the Midsea. Never the less the Sunsoaked coast is a favorite location of solitary Fallen Elf Lords. Whom build their mansion near the warm sands. In the middle of the land you'll find thick forests with the occassional small clearing. Some clearings are filled with hunter communities that have lived here for generations. Elves like to walk through the forest, so every now and then you'll find a cabin. Further west you find the natural barrier between the people of Elysweir and those beyond. The Dragonspine Mountains. There are a few passages. The most notable one now is Asreyan's Pass. Through which the elves past. Here Asreyans Ascension lays, a city in the mountains at the end of the pass. The main hold of the elves. Humans now flock around the cities and start mining the ores from the Dragonspine. Though sometimes this invokes the wrath of the dragons.

History

The Fallen Elves were named so when they were cast out from the High Elves homeland. But instead of taking shame in the name, they began to bear it proudly. For many years they trekked through the world, under the guidance of the all powerful Asreyan. Eventually they found the wild, untamed lands of Elysweir. Upon getting through the pass, the elves made a settlement and began to conquer the neighboring tribes. Some tried to fight, but the combination of the already conquered tribes and the pure might of the elves destroyed any army that dared oppose them. Once Elysweir was united, an age of peace began. Several generations of humans passed, and eventually they came to accept their Elven Lords. Who firmly established their dominion. Now they turned their gaze back west from which they came. Bent on conquering more as insult towards the High Elves.

Government

The Kingdom is ruled by a king, obviously. But still the first one. King Asuryan I. Ruler of the Fallen Elves and Humans of Elysweir.

Race Description

Years of power hunger have consumed the Fallen ones. Their eyes burn with every burning power but they are addicted to it. Fallen Ones keep their hair long in fashion of the High Elves. Their skin is paler than most other elves, and their hair tends to become black. Some, who practice the Dark Arts, look ever paler than they should be.

A major part of the Fallen Ones' culture is the act of ancestral worship. They believe that no god looked over them after they were cast out. But their dead ones keep vigil over them. Each Fallen Elf has a shrine to his or her ancestors and pray at it every night. Though at day they march with the dignity of a power hungry war mogul. For this is where they believe their powers are truely put to the test. In war.

Culture

The beasts have always served the Fallen Elves once they learned how to break their minds. Now these creatures of nature are loyal to their dead. Elves keep entire flocks and packs as pets, but have no quarrel with sending them out to ambush the enemy. These beasts of war are there for one of the most dangerous foes an Fallen Elf Lord may send upon rebels. As nothing will fend off these rows of hungry animals. Instilled with a bloodlust only rivaled by blood crazed predators.

Humans don't generally suffer under their rule as long as they do what they are told without too much complaining. Upon coming of age, each man is conscripted into the army. While often ill-trained, the elves allow the practice of bards within the army and Elysweir as a whole. So many younglings want to prove their ability in battle so one day a bard may sing a song about them. Of course, more veteran conscripts just want to come back alive. A special group of humans exist named the Elvensworn. They are elite among the humans and receive training from their Elven masters. Elvensworn are generally feared and a little bith loathed. But never the less their blind loyalty towards the Elves make them dangerously fanatic.

Elves will seldom march into battle themselves. But once they do, they are a vicious wind of power. Be it they wield bow, lance or sword, a Fallen Elf on the battlefield is dangerous beyond measure. As they have lived their early lives under the scruteny of their brethern. Only to be cast out and forced to survive an agonising trek across the world. Even in their peaceful times Fallen Elves often come together to duel and fight. Keeping their already formidable skills on edge. Much like humans, Fallen Elves belief there is glory in war.

Economy/Industry

Humans continue to lumber on with their day to day lives. The only difference now is that their taxes go to the Fallen Elf overlords. Whom in return abuse the taxes raised for their unending war. The main force driving their war and also their own power at Bloodwells. Corrupted Moonwells that drain the world of arcane energy and allow Fallen Elves to feed from it.

Magic

Military

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A Republic of mutated, evolved, and escaped Rodents that dwells underground beneath the World's End Mountains and its surrounding territory. They share a hatred for most species above the world, as their ancestors and kin were and continue to be oppressed and reviled by many of them, and they possess a cunning and ingenius mind to match their impressive numbers.



The Under-Republic is found beneath the World's End Mountains and surrounding environs. Numerous caves and tunnel entrances exist all throughout the range that act as gateways into the labyrinth of carved out tunnels to the Underworld of the rodents, and while the biggest entrances are well known by other races (and heavily barricaded off by the Under-Republic and its regular Vermin army), dozens if not potentially hundreds of entrances have never been located by other races, or have simply been dug out in the intervening time.

The underworld itself is lit by a mix of fires, natural lava flows in some places, mirrored beams of sunlight from holes carved out far above, and luminous crystals depending on where exactly one is located, as the more Under-Republic proper regions, the core of whose foundations were laid centuries ago, is outfitted with "modern" conveniences, whereas the more fringe and frontier corners of the Rodents' underworld have to make do with natural light sources or fire. The caverns and tunnels are a mix of naturally occurring that the rodents simply appropriated for themselves, and of hand-dug tunnels and caverns for strategic purposes. The great Rat-Way dominates maps of the Under-Republic as a massive high way linking up all of the various corners of the thirteen regions of the Under-Republic, and is the main underground road from the Under-Republic's capital, Verminia (Commonly mythologized by outsiders as The City of Rats), to the biggest gateway out of the Under-Republic, Petrus' Maw.




In terms of the geography of the underground, though it is very dull in terms of scenery, there are some choice locales and sights that break up the endless tunnels. With underground rivers, hollowed out Cinotes and other types of caverns carved out by water flow, magma rivers and chambers, mega-crystal-filled halls, chasms that not even the rodents know how far down they go, and underground grottos add some flavour to the otherwise rocky depths. They are also filled with all manner of creatures and monsters besides the rodents that also hide from the world above, and the rodents routinely have to go on rounds of tunnel-checking to ensure that some paths remain safe, though its a constant task.

Nobody is really sure exactly how the first Rattus Faber came into being, not even the Rodents themselves are entirely clear on their origins with several different myths floating around both above and below the world as to how and why they became as they are. Some say they're the practical joke or curse of a twisted God upon the world, others say they're the result of escaped magical experiments by rogue Mages, while others say that they're spawned from the Underworld itself and that the Dwarves freed them from their stone prisons. All that is known for certain is that the Rattus Faber are not natural to the world, they were not born from it necessarily, they were made into being.

Their organization into the Under-Republic of Rodents however can be traced back with a fairly high degree of certainty by the Rodents themselves, as it was from the legendary Rattus Faber Petrus Verminius called "The Liberator" by future Rattus Faber, who first organized his kin both intelligent and bestial among himself into an organized capacity resembling the civilized nations of old. Though his first experiments at government were crude and unorganized, and hostile neighbours above ground were a constant issue, he eventually settled on a situation that worked, was adaptable to various situations, and seemed fair, that of the Republic, and with the great exodus underground into the plethora of caves and tunnels left abandoned beneath the World's End mountains with plenty of room to expand, Petrus turned the Republic into an Under-Republic of Rodents.

For several centuries the Rodents of their various Familia and Clans grew and multiplied in the darkness which they conquered through lights of crystal and fire and with increasingly sophisticated tools mimicking those of the world above to carve out the underground for themselves. They carved out massive cities out of winding tunnels and alcoves, filled with all the refuse they gathered from the elder races into massive ramshackle constructions that had method to their madness. Huge rat-ways were cut through the mountains to link the growing regions together with the help of their larger but dumber kin and by the massive number of slaves from other races. For the Under-Republic became known for their almost annual raids on the surface, where dozens of swarms would set out in search of loot, slaves, fellow rodents, and stories of the world above to bring back to their underworld.

For several centuries this has been the case, with only a few times in history that the entire Vermintide has been called forth to all-out war, a sea of evolved and intelligent rodents ready to sweep away all who lay in their path as they carry out their vengeful scourge upon the world. Few living have gazed upon such a terrifying sight, its been so long. Though now the Vermintide is being called once again, and this time it'll be the greatest one the world has yet seen, and led by the best and brightest rodents of their brood to spread plague, fear, and terror upon the surface for having oppressed them and their kind for so long.

The ruling bodies of the Under-Republic are in consecutive series of Committees and and Councils each going up in rank as follows from lowest to highest:

Pack Committees (All Vermin and Rodent-kin are eligible and obligated to attend, as all are members. They called to assembly to decide on local grievances or punishments that the magistrates do not possess the power to do alone (such as exile), and mostly when mass votes are called to serve as easy means to organize Rodents. These bodies also vote who represents their packs on Clan Councils. These committees vary widely in size and can be as many as several hundred to several tens of thousands of members)

Clan Councils (Smaller Councils unique to each Clan, with each of its packs having a representative. They meet for deciding on coordinated approaches for their clan, and what proposals to bring forth to the Conclave, either on their own problems or updates. This is largely an intermediary body that compiles data and tries to make sense of it all, as well as resolving major internal clan conflicts. They also vote to select a member among them to represent their clan at a Conclave of Clans. Usually the membership of these councils is several hundred, but it varies from clan to clan, as some may only have 50 or less.)

Regional Councils or Conclaves of Clans (A gathering of the representatives of all clans in a region of the Under-Republic. Normally they're a couple dozen in members, though a couple of the larger provinces can boast nearly 100 members. These Conclaves convene to deal with matters of regional importance: major internal strife, large-scale stagnation in economics or supplies, decisions on mustering swarms for raids, and the general overseeing of a region's well-being. These Conclaves vote for a member among themselves to become a member of The Ring of Rodents)

The Pack of 13, or The Ring of Rodents (The highest Council of all of the Under-Republic, with a member from each of the 13 provinces. These 13 rodents decide on matters of Underworld-wide importance: total war against a rival nation, diplomacy, and Under-Republican wide laws. They are usually the leaders of The Vermintide, the assembled host of the entire army of Rodents, each leading a different legion from a different region. These 13 Rodents have executive power over all of the other Councils and Conclaves in the Under-Republic, and their word is final in all things, though they often call mass votes in order to gauge their kin's feelings on a particular subject, they are never obligated to follow through with what the masses want, not that the Pack Committees on the lowest levels necessarily know that anyway. From among their number, the Rattus Regius is chosen for life. They are distinguished by their rings of bright green jade on each claw and ceremonial robes denoting the colour of their province with elaborate bone headpieces)

Rattus Regius (The leader of The Ring of Rodents, and effectively the face of the Under-Republic. Despite the regal title, the Rattus Regius does not hold much effective power in times of peace, as they represent the spiritual health of the Republic and often are merely the figure who deals with foreign emissaries or goes on diplomatic missions (to those who'll even accept the Rodent-kin). In times of war, the Rattus Regius becomes the Commander-in-Chief of all of the Under-Republic, with the Ring of Rodents as their council of generals and advisors, basically. They do not become full autocrats, but they essentially then lead the Ring of Rodents in war whereas before they directed the Rattus Regius in peace. It is a highly prestigious office, and much is expected of the Rattus Regius in terms of their behaviour that they do not strictly act selfish, but often can be extremely boring when a conflict is not ongoing, leaving past Rattuses often to amuse themselves with other things.)

Complex voting and lot systems as well as strict voting rules meticulously recorded in scrolls abound in the earlier three conclaves and councils to try and avoid corruption of the system or favouritism, so as to ensure that the same clans do not constantly dominate the Ring of Rodents, or that the Rattus Regius is never constantly of a particular clan, but also so that it is basically impossible for one clan to rig an election or decision.

The Rodents of the Under-Republic come in all shapes and sizes, though its most iconic and second most numerous individuals are the Rattus Faber, the evolved humanoid-Rodents that can be perpetually bipedal, stand roughly as high as Dwarves, possess the ability to speak, and have fully developed brains capable of extremely complex thought. They are also the ones among their kind to commonly dress and adorn themselves, and possess green-flecked irises with pupils. Most Rattus Faber are short-lived compared to most races, but they develop quickly into adulthood and bred huge broods, with single mothers being able to produce usually up to 12 offspring at least in a single birthing. The downside to this is that Rattus Faber over 30 are a rarity, and venerable is the rodent indeed who manages to reach or surpass the fabled, if decrepit age of 40.

All of them also possess the ability to speak in "Rodent-tongue", enabling them to actually communicate with even their fellow Rodents who are not capable of normal speech, as well as an immunity to almost all disease.

Other variants of their kind can be even larger or far smaller, and be quadrupeds or bipeds, but none of them possess the same intellectual capacities as the Rattus Faber, with those of their other kin either possessing child-like intellectual capacities, or merely bestial ones.

Rattus Gigantus are their larger and stronger cousins, with them standing as tall as humans if not even taller, but their mental capacities are child-like and their breeding patterns far slower than their Faber cousins making them fewer. Their eyes are nearly completely bright green with extremely small pupils, if any. They are accompanied by Rattus Faber handlers who guide and direct them in most cases.

While their smaller cousins, Rattus Commenus, are basically identical to common rats above ground, and although are many, possess no real intelligence at all besides that of beasts. They are often shepherded and guided by Rattus Faber who train in commanding large swarms of these cousins of theirs.

Slaves of all races can also be found within the Under-Republic, though they are often malnourished and beaten. Most that manage to survive the conditions are remarkably hardy for physical labour and resilient to disease, though thousands usually die before that happens.

The culture of the Under-Republic is chaotic, often confusing, and at some times contradictory, but the effort is made to make a most egalitarian culture with meritocratic and technocratic strains. The loyalty of a Rattus Faber is to their fellow Rodents and their pack and clan especially, and are encouraged to work together to solve problems. Those that strive to prove their worth via skill, wit, and ambition are those that rise through the ranks of the Under-Republic, and there are no restrictions on who among the Rattus Faber can cast their name to claim a position within or for their clan or region in terms of material status (though there are restrictions on getting the same Committee and Council positions consecutively). Rivalries are common, and inter-clan or clan-to-clan blood feuds can effectively cause civil wars within the Republic if the parties involved have a wide support base, and if the situation is not resolved amicably. Though if faced with an external enemy, most grudges are put aside for the betterment of all Rodents in the Under-Republic (even though there have been cases of internal conflicts spilling over into such situation).

The Under-Republic Economy is very much a barter economy for the most part, though they do have standardized systems of weights and measures for coinage, they do not actually use any coins of their own, they merely recycle and use the coins and currencies of other races and use weighs and purity tests to keep consistent values, and they are therefore the most highly valued form of good to trade with next to pure ore or gems because are actual can be easily applied to them, though other goods can be traded as well. Therefore it is mostly an exchange in material goods that takes place for a transaction. Such as giving 2 pounds of silver for a freshly forged iron cleaver.

As for industries, the Under-Republic has a booming industry in mining and they go through tons of ore and stone and minerals every year. Though their skills do not match those of the Dwarves or other races, they make up for in sheer mass production of war material and reappropriation. Tens of thousands of weapons and pieces of armour can be made in two weeks out of either fresh ore or repurposed material taken from raids if they're operating at full capacity, and many weapons stolen or looted are repurposed here.

Underground farming takes place in the form of mushroom harvesting, from which alcohol is distilled, though the Rodents will often steal tons of food and alcohol in the raids as well, even the scraps, as they can consume far more spoiled food than other races. Bats and other cave beasts are hunted as the Rodents periodically clear out tunnels.

Every rodent is entitled to what they take from the surface above to use to barter or craft down below.

Not strictly magic, the Under-Republic does have a cadre of Rodents that practice Alchemy, Chemistry, Natural Sciences, and the especially study of Plagues which they have assembled into a Lore in mockery of spell-casters, their own handcrafted Lore of Plagues. Its practitioners are known as The Bubonic Philosophers, and their primary purpose is developing new and intriguing ways to spread death among the ranks of the enemies of the Under-Republic, whether it is in trying to harness black powder, crafting stimulants for the Packs, or a new plague to have their kin spread upon the world above, they're always up to something new.