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The creators were fool-fools... We know ALL!
Cutlak Clan
If one was to peer in some of the ground floor shops, they would find the most curious of sights. Fortifications- piled rocks,
broken tools and more make up small forts, tunnel entrances into the wall of the mall themselves faintly visible. Atop these madcap fortification scurry rats. These however, are no ordinary rats. Some wear armour, hammered and shaped rather than strapped on. Others direct mice teams carrying boom-powder, chunks of metal, or artifacts to and fro.
This is Clan Cutlak. Quite why they ended up dwelling where they are remains a mystery even to this day, but since the creators left they have been known to dwell where they do. Cutlaks have been fighting the many-eyes since the dawn of the clan, and do so brutally and efficiently. These battles have resulted in them tunneling into the very walls and foundations of the mall itself, where their true expertise is revealed.
The Cutlaks were the first of the great clans to discover the secrets of boom powder. They were the ones to carefully dissasemble the creator's capsules that held them, and this perhaps their greatest achievment. With boom powder on their side, they have fended away even skulkers! To hear a Cutlak speak of boom powder is to have your ear talked off by a fanratic!
Cutlak is, instead of a single rat, lead by the Grand High Council of Arch-Magos Engineer-Seers. (Or just the Council for short.)
These are five rats who have risen to prominence within the clan, be it due to martial prowess, a particularly staggering discovery,
or good old-fashioned skullrattery. How one actually joins the council once they have been recognised has been a matter of some confusion, but most rats agree that following them seems to lead to good things.
There are two main stores that the Cutlaks are based out of. Neither of them are named, but the rats know them as 'The Place of Ratifacts,' and 'Boom Powder Place.' Unsurprisingly, one of them was previously a large hardware store, and the the other was a fireworks store. Besides these two stores are the Tunnels. These are a labyrinthine network inside the walls and foundations of the mall, dug out over generations. Quite where all the tunnels end up in has often been forgotten, and many are now home to creatures that require the constant fending off of by the military. Occasionally, boom powder is set off in one of these tunnels as well, causing it (and any creature within,) to be forever sealed in the stone.
Cutlak clan rats are fiercly protective of home. There are few who wouldn't take up their weapons and join the militia to repel their enemies, and even fewer who would abandon their dugout hideaways. Fighting in the cellar is also an essential part of Cutlak society, as many-eyes are a prized delicacy. Arch-Magos' are also known to sprinkle a little venom on their foods, both as flavour and to ensure that a sneaky rat doesn't attempt to poison them.
Cutlak mostly trades for food however. They themselves have very few farms, only a few made to ensure that there's at least a small amount for everyone. Skulkers, when felled, provide food for a long time- the meat being completely buried in a special substance left behind by the creators for many days in order to make sure it will last for a long-long time.
Finally, the Cutlak clan regard smalls simply: Either they work, or they stay out of the way. a small that hasn't been shanghaied into carrying something, holding it down as nails are rammed through it, or isn't digging walls out with the miners is a small that the Cutlak clan is not concerned about. Due to this, the Cutlak clan has never really had issues with small rebellions.
The Cutlak clan does not believe. It learns. There are no rats hiding behind flimsy walls. There is only boom powder and progress- unending marching progress towards victory! This has obviously angered anyone who believes themselves to be faithful, however it does leave more time for working and figuring out how things work. There is a slowly growing religious group called the 'machine cult' however, which believes that rat technology is actually blessed works, and that engineers are prophets of an unknown deity... But nobody believes in that, right?Defensive Forces:
Really, the Cutlaks are defensive masters. Their weapons of war are mostly so large that it's almost impossible to move them around, but this doesn't mean they aren't effective.
Weapon Teams:
Burn Tower
Using 'the sweet-smell' relic, a member of a burn tower crew must carefully place a lit flame in front of the weapon nozzle, whilst a second rat presses down on the firing pad. This causes great gouts of flame to lash out from the front of the tower, although it has numerous downsides. One is that the towers are rarely good for any more than two or three uses, and the other is that the towers have a very high likelyhood of blowing up. Especially when pierced.
Boom-Boom Mortar
The premiere weapon the Cutlaks use. Boom powder is carefully taken and placed into a tube with great reverence, before ammunition is placed. This ammunition ranges from metal balls made by the creators, to packed rocks, brickwork, and really anything that fits. Then a burn-string is inserted so it touches the powder. Once the weapon is aimed (done by slowly rotating its base,) the burn string is lit, and the crew runs. These are less prone to
exploding, but they still have a tendency to misfire, wasting the precious ammo likely messing the barrel up.
Point-And-Boom
Similar to the mortar, these are wheeled tubes that can be dragged into location, and aiming them are significantly easier. Loading them is not however, although they are the safest of all the experimental technology the Cutlaks use.
Infantry:
Hunter Squads:
Against the many eyes, there is but one solution. The Hunters. Armed with flaming torches, the heaviest armour that can be provided, and long spears, the hunters are in a constant war with the denizens of the cellar. Webs are torched, spiders are pig-stuck, and many a time the would-be predator is made into the prey. Hunters are the most dangerous job possible to do in the Cutlak clan, and the mortality rate for them is even higher than that of Burn Tower teams. They provide an essential service however.
Knight Squads:
Taken from pictures left by the creators themselves, knight squads are kitted out in the heaviest armour that can be provided to them. Carrying hefty spears, axes and swords, they wade into battle mostly fearless. They're no good at anything sneaky though, they leave that to the...
Ranger Teams:
Shortbows and long hooked knives mark the ranger teams. They also tend to wear long overcoats made from the fabric that the creators left behind, and have red headbands. They serve no practical purpose other than making the rats wearing them look cool.
Militia:
The various rats of Clan Cutlak who aren't in the first three groups, or weapons teams. Unusually, Cutlak Clan rats tend to wear fairly decent armour and have weapons that are, at the very least
somewhat effective at actually killing things. They wear this fact like a badge of honour.
