Skaven

From LSWiki

Skaven:

Skaven are perhaps best described in the words of Aildrek of Losthaven: "little hyperactive rat-things with sharp teeth who'll fill every nook and cranny of a city if you give 'em half a chance."

Skaven do indeed resemble rats, though they stand erect at least half the time and are of more or less anthropoid body-shape. They seem to be related to goblins and kobolds, though the link must lie far back in the recesses of time. They are as quick as they are small; a threatened skaven can move with surprising speed, and they generally display outstanding agility and dexterity. Their senses are quite acute, though their sensitive are better suited to dark alleys and sewers than to open spaces at midday.

Like the rats they are often compared to, skaven are superbly adapted to urban life; they are utterly at home in any sort of settlement created by intelligent creatures. Often it seems that a skaven knows every back alley of a city before even having visited it. They inhabit the dark, unseen cracks in a multitude of places; it often seems that wherever humans in particular build a new settlement, skaven follow. Dwarven tunnels seem nearly as plagued by them; many intelligent races go so far as to train "pest exterminators" whose primary task is the elimination of skaven.

In general, skaven are vicious, foul, dirty creatures who object not at all to living in filth and eating rotting carrion -- indeed, their diet is entirely adapted to scavenging for dead flesh. This seems to have caused them to develop a degree of resistance to disease. Few of them overcome their apparently-innate cowardice long enough to adventure, but some do; a handful of these even develop a modicum of learning, usually bringing them positions of great influence among their people when they return to settle down.

The apparent native language of skaven is Takargu, though their long association with humans (much to the humans' chagrin) has resulted in most skaven being fluent in Anglic. They seem to display something of a talent for languages, in fact; some of the few skaven to seek employment rather than the life of an urban scavenger function as interpreters. They have very short lifespans, rarely surviving more than thirty years, possibly as a result of their extreme quickness, which could come from an exceptionally high metabolism.

 /----------------------------- The Skaven Race ------------------------------\
 | Attributes                Strength                  15 to  50              |
 |                           Intelligence              15 to  80              |
 |                           Constitution              30 to  65              |
 |                           Dexterity                 75 to 125              |
 |                           Willpower                 20 to  80              |
 |                           Charisma                  10 to  80              |
 |                           Perception               100 to 130              |
 |                           Size                      23 to  31              |
 | Typical Sexes                                      Male                    |
 |                                                    Female                  |
 | Languages                 Native                   Takargu                 |
 | Innate Skills             Robustness               20                      |
 |                           Streetwise               20                      |
 | Specialty Access          Robustness               available: degree IV,   |
 |                                                    required: degree I      |
 |                           Recuperation and         available: degree II,   |
 |                           Regeneration             required: degree I      |
 |                           Streetwise               available: degree III   |
 |                           Linguistics              available: degree II    |
 | Resistances               Sonic                    moderate vulnerability  |
 |                           Temporal                 great vulnerability     |
 | Traits                    Ambidexterity            Yes                     |
 |                           Diet                     Scavenger               |
 |                           Luck                     -1                      |
 |                           Night Vision             2                       |
 |                           Sentience                Anthropic               |
 |                           Speech Pattern           Whiny                   |
 | Cultures and Homelands    Almerian Wildling        Almeria                 |
 |                           Arrakan Wildling         Arrakis                 |
 |                           Filialtri                Borgo                   |
 |                                                    Camelot                 |
 |                                                    Camille                 |
 |                                                    Corna                   |
 |                                                    Devonshire              |
 |                                                    Stillwater              |
 |                                                    Thessalae               |
 |                           Freeholder               Freehold                |
 |                           Losthavener              Losthaven               |
 |                           Lowlander                Halfmoon Bay            |
 |                                                    Sanctuary               |
 |                           Mordori Wildling         Mordor                  |
 |                           Northlander Wildling     the Northlands          |
 |                           Tenochlani Wildling      Tenochlan               |
 |                           Zadnothruan Wildling     Zadnothruin             |
 | Physical Characteristics  Anatomy                  Clawed Tailed           |
 |                                                    Anthropoid              |
 |                           Natural Weaponry         Excellent               |
 |                           Innate Speed             +15                     |
 |                           Other                    Bestial                 |
 |                                                    Chimeric                |
 \----------------------------------------------------------------------------/