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Name: Feathered RatLife span: 5 to 7 Arcs
Habitat: wherever common rats can be found
Physical description:
Feathered rats are a rare version of the common rat found in the dank corners of the world. Their unique features are the golden yellow scales that go along their backs, and the puffs of plumage that cover the base and ends of their tails. They usually have subtle highlights of pastel colours that glimmer through in patches on their scales and feathers.
Abilities:
Unlike the common rat, feathered rats are immune to disease and typically live much longer. Their natural vitality also allows them to be more agile and quick on their feet giving them to the speed they need to evade predators with greater ease. Their speed can make it nearly impossible to catch them without the use of traps and careful planning.
Feathered rats' docile nature might be considered a disadvantage within the rats' social hierarchy, but they are believed to have a strange calming affect on other rats. Even the most aggressive rat will become placid once it enters within a foot radius of a feathered rat. The affect dissipates when the creature steps out of the feathered rat's area of influence and it will go back to its usual self. This ability can work at a much weaker level on other rodents, but people have also been known to feel a calming affect from prolonged exposure to the creature.
Behaviour:
Their temperament is serene when they are free of danger, and they never seem to show any aggression. They are much more likely to experience flight than fight when it comes to dangerous situations. If caught and domesticated, a feathered rat would make a great pet. Its docile nature and ability to master simple tricks, make it an exotic pet that many nobles and well-off individuals like to wear on their shoulders.
Life cycle:
About one out of every twenty rats born to a nest is a feathered rat. They live within the nest for the rest of their lives, often outliving their parents and siblings. But they remain dependent on the company of other rats until the day they die.
Feathered rats are usually sterile and the rare few that can breed will have just as likely a chance of birthing normal rats as any other. There are breeders who feel that the secret to making feathered rats more likely is by ensuring the utmost health of the intended breeding pair. This common belief has never been proven, but many still swear by it.
History:
Rats were not always the disease carrying vermin they are considered in Idalos today. Before Lisirra got her tainted hands on them, they were considered benevolent creatures that could calm the most violent of souls and cure nearly any disease with their feathers. Not content with a tiny creature undoing her hard work, Lisirra cursed the innocent creature harshly and even made some of them into her own personal servants. Moseke did her best to lift the curse but it was too strong to fully relieve; instead only a few were born strong enough to resist and they were never what they were before.
Practical Uses:
Feathered rats no longer have the ability to cure any disease but their feathers can be beneficial in helping relieve anxiety, anger management and other social disorders. The feathers are also used as effective pain killers and as a cure for the common cold. Their healing properties are unlocked by infusing them into tea or by grinding them into powder and applying them to the area of pain.
- Credit to Lapis -
