Editing Slitherin (section)

==Titanic Tribes==
Slitherin, also known as "Ratmen", first appeared in the first of the three [[Monster Manual|Creature Collection]] splatbooks, with lore and statistics for Common Slitherin, and the Brown Gorger, Diseased, Foamer and Red Witch tribes. The 2nd Creature Collection would add three more tribes; Daywalker, Stalker, and White Wraith. Only the Diseased, Daywalker (renamed ''Dunewalker''), Foamer and Red Witch tribes have appeared in Scarred Lands 2nd edition so far.

The average slitherin is a medium-sized, furry humanoid with rodent-like heads and tails, whose long torso and equal-length arms and legs gives them a strange appearance. They come in many colors, but share the trait of red eyes. They are filthy creatures, who know nothing of cleanliness, and their habit of scavenging clothes, arms and armor without cleaning or maintaining it adds to their noisome reek and vile appearance. Different tribes have slightly different appearances; the Foamers are enormous 7ft tall creatures who resemble water rats, the Red Witches are characterized by their dimunituve size and ruddy coats, and the Daywalkers have the elongated feet, bent legs and tufted-tipped tails of hopping desert rats. To say nothing of the White Wraiths, whose translucent flesh makes them look like animate ratfolk skeletons!

The Slitheren are a superstitious race, filled with a burning fear of starvation and of their own dark titans, a fear that is kept at a fever pitch by the priesthood. Prayers are made twice daily to the priest-king for his intercession with the titans, and the Slitheren year is filled with holy days and rituals. In fact, each tribe has its own calendar of tribute events, and any co-mingling of ratmen from different nests demands observation of the holy days of all participants. Gnawed and carved into ratmen tunnels are shrines and prayer icons. The priesthood — composed strictly of albinos — watches over all these rituals in stern judgement, knowing that it is only by their efforts that the titans are appeased.

===Brown Gorger Tribe===
As their name implies, these medium-sized, brown-furred ratmen fed from the flesh of [[Gaurak]] the Glutton. They were the first of the nests to leave the underealm as they had ravenously devoured the rather large piece of Gaurak that created and sustained them and needed other sources of food. Their priesthood is composed of grossly obese ratmen who must be carried in order to preside over a regular schedule of holy feast days, yet their priest-king is skeletally thin and eternally hungry, unable to ever eat enough and in constant, gnawing pain. These ratmen are raiders and pillagers, sending war parties and caravans farther and farther from their settlements in search of food. Entire villages of humanoids have been enslaved and dragged beneath the earth to serve as cattle for the Gorgers. Such is their all-consuming hunger that only metal and such inedible things as gems are worn by these Slitheren — all clothing, wood and leather is inevitably devoured. Unlike the other nests, the Gorgers keep no common or giant rats, seeing them as rivals for food and as food in themselves. After defeating foes on the battlefield, Brown Gorgers cannibalize the fallen from both sides; anything edible that isn't eaten in the first frenzied feast is dragged back to the warren for future consumption.

===The Diseased Tribe===
Those rats that partook of the flesh of [[Chern]] the Unclean have formed the most civilized of the nests, relatively speaking, with cities hidden beneath those of other races. The Diseased even have several partially above-ground communities in the Mourning Marshes, where legend claims Chern was interred. The Diseased are dull gray in color and wear more clothing, in particular cloaks and cowls, than do other Slitheren. Perhaps this trend is due to these rats' closer association with other humanoids (beyond eating them, that is). This association is also evident in Diseased cities, which, while still dark and labyrinthine to humans, have passages that enable the ratmen to walk erect at all times.

The Diseased priesthood is divided into orders, each of which is responsible for nurturing a clutch of slaves bred as hosts for different plagues and ailments. The Order of the Scarlet Shaking Pox maintains almost 100 humanoids in various stages of the disease, for example, and introduces captives when necessary to insure that the pox is available to be unleashed when needed. While rivalries exist among the orders, there is a limit to how far such conflicts can go; allowing a disease to die out would be considered an offense to the titans. Given their capacity for cooperation, the Diseased are the most likely ratmen to seek joint ventures with other nests, particularly when they require brute strength for conquests. Usually, however, the diseases they inflict for weeks upon villages and other targets make for easy victories. And while the Diseased prefer to attack from a distance, they have bred a race of depraved humanoids called the dead eaters to serve as their shock troops.

All of these strategies for domination and terror are concocted by the Diseased priest-king, a robed and cowled figure whose concealed body twitches and pulses as he slumps on his throne. His whispered plans for conquest are for the ears of his priesthood alone.

===Foamer Tribe===
These are the largest of the Slitheren — seven feet tall at their shoulders, with black oily fur and short, slightly flattened prehensile tails. They are the most barbaric of the ratmen, if that's possible, and are the bane of the seas, having been weaned on the hate-maddened blood of [[Kadum]] the Mountainshaker. These ratmen now live only for war and slaughter. Semi-aquatic by nature, they churn out of the water, surrounded by packs of giant rats to rend and tear the life from the unprepared. Instead of dwelling in tunnels, the Foamers reside on bloodstained and half-sunken boats and ships they have captured, sometimes lashing them together as floating bases. Not possessing sailing skills, they rely on captured slaves to propel these makeshift craft, either by sail or oar. In addition to propelling their ships, Foamers' slaves are used to perform any task that is not combat-related, as the ratmen consider such chores beneath true warriors.

The Foamer priesthood is comprised of warbands' generals and admirals, with their massive 10-foot-tall priest-king being the most bloodthirsty berserker of them all. His white fur is crusted black by the oceans of blood through which he has waded, and his mad eyes always search for new victims. As might be expected, Foamer priests' rituals are based on blood and slaughter, often pitting captured humanoids against each other in battles to the death.

===Red Witch Tribe===
From the flesh of [[Mormo]] comes the most terrifying and mysterious of the ratmen, and also the smallest in number. The Red Witches have been more heavily imprinted by the will and ways of their titan than has any other breed of Slitheren. These vermin are the shortest ratmen, as well, typically standing five feet tall, with reddish fur, and with little interest in armor or weapons. Their power derives from a necromantic or illusionary ability developed by rigorous and deadly training rituals designed to insure that only the wiliest and deadliest spell-casters survive. The Red Witches' priesthood is actually a matriarchy consisting of arch-magi who take groups of lesser male mages, up to two dozen, as covens.

These small bands of ratmen seek out areas of magical power and establish underground bases nearby. Their havens are filled with traps, illusions and the witches' undead servitors. As they absorb and extract the local magical energy, the witches ingest various potions and powders designed to inspire hallucinatory visions to guide their paths into the future. The resulting prophecies are called the Gifts of Mormo. The most powerful and telling prophetess is the Witch-Queen, who reclines in a chamber that wafts with hallucinatory mists. She is one of the extremely rare shapeshifters among the Red Witches, capable of assuming the form of a giant rat or a member of any of the humanoid races (although she prefers that of a hauntingly beautiful, half-naked human woman). In this form, she amuses herself decadently with her humanoid slaves.

There is one other way that the Witches are unlike the other nests: Some lone ratmen go off on their own to pursue research they don't care to share with the others. These individuals sometimes find their way into civilization, if that's where their visions take them.

===Daywalker Tribe===
Of all Slitheren, Daywalkers' existence has perhaps changed most from their days as nocturnal vermin. They once spent their days sheltering from the desert heat, emerging only at night to ferret out drying and decaying carcasses to eat. Now, as ratmen, Daywalkers stride under the burning wasteland sun in tribute to the titan [[Thulkas]], whom they venerate. These ratmen tribes gather around the smoldering embers that were scattered when [[Corean]] forged the Father of Fire into an arrow before [[Tanil]] then fired the titan into the sun. Indeed, the Daywalkers believe that all deserts of the Scarred Lands were created where such sparks landed, which may be true, for these Slitheren are found in most arid lands.

The transformation that created Daywalkers resulted more from magic than from feasting upon titan remains. They gained supernatural capabilities from the burning embers around which their tribes emerged. To this day, each tribe feeds Thulkas' fire by gathering all wood and combustible materials they can find in the wastes, in tribute to their master. Seasoned desert travelers who see light on the night horizon know to avoid it, for fear that the ratmen may try to use ''them'' to fuel Thulkas' rage.

These sun-bleached Slitheren gain their name for foregoing their nightly existence and honoring their new lord by traveling under the sun by day, so that he may see them, know they worship him and take solace in his imprisonment. Daywalking is not pleasant to these vermin, however, and they often wrap themselves in strips of cloth and gauze, even if for psychological rather than physical comfort from the burning heat.

===Stalker Tribe===
Unlike most Slitheren, Stalkers are loners who travel the Scarred Lands tracking and slaying prey. Sometimes they hunt for money, sometimes simply for the thrill of the chase. In this, they are true to their supposed heritage as the scions of [[Hrinruuk]]. These ratmen claim to have been created when titans feasted upon the titan's headless body as it occasionally rested during its search for its skull. This heritage would certainly explain the Stalkers' uncanny tracking abilities and innate ability to tame and control wild beasts, as the Hunter could.

Stalkers are the Slitheren that city dwellers are most likely to have encountered, if such people have ever laid eyes on a ratman. These vermin occasional visit establishments of ill repute in the worst sections of towns. They are almost common in the cities ruled by Virduk, as the king's bounty on Vigil medallions and his need for trackers keeps the rats profitably employed.

Cloaked in the dark hoods and capes they prefer when dealing with civilization, Stalkers may be on the hunt or in search of new targets when encountered. Most humanoids prefer to avoid the man-sized, gray-furred killers, no matter what their agenda is. This is not solely due to the rats' reputation as bounty hunters, but to Stalkers' response to anyone who defeats one of their number. Soon after the kill, other Stalkers hunt the individual responsible. They are not interested in revenge - they seek to prove themselves against one capable of defeating one of their own.

===White Wraith Tribe===
Truly the most bizarre of the ratmen, White Wraiths appear to be animated Slitheren skeletons. All their fleshy parts are translucent to the point of invisibility. They often wear tatters of cloth as protection from the elements, and totemic bits of bone and unworked gems as jewelry, but avoid armor. They prefer to rely on the defenses created by their mutated forms.

No book of lore records from whence these twisted creatures came, but White Wraiths' legends speak of the day when their greatest warband will be judged worthy to return to their Great Shaman and fight in a battle to free their titan creator [[Gulaben]], Lady of the Winds, from her imprisonment by the gods. Their barbaric packs range across the Scarred Lands, ambushing caravans in the wilderness and howling out of the hills to ravage settlements, hoping to be found worthy to join the Great Shaman.

The White Wraith priesthood consists of many shamans who grimly drive their bands to greater and greater heights of pillaging, each priest trying to prove his band and himself to the legendary Great Shaman.

The Great Shaman is a mythical figure described as a giant half-rat/half-whirlwind that watches and judges all White Wraiths from his place at the feet of the bound Gulaben. The Wraiths believe it is he who grants the riesthood the ability to summon the two types of creatures traditionally called for battle: skeletons for combat and air spirits for use as spies and messences. White Wraith shamans also officiate over rituals in which living prisoners are boiled or burned alive and their naked skeletons are raised to become servants of the warband, while their ghosts are bound as scouts.