King’s Ratcatchers
Synopsis
Official vermin catchers by royal writ, tolerated everywhere, trusted nowhere—and always where they shouldn’t be.
What People Know
The King’s Ratcatchers are a city-sanctioned group tasked with controlling vermin in Valinport’s streets, sewers, warehouses, and cellars. To most citizens, they are filthy, unpleasant, and necessary. To guards and merchants, they are an inconvenience that somehow keeps showing up at the wrong time.
Ratcatchers carry licenses bearing the royal seal, granting them legal access to places most people never see—and would rather forget exist.
Goals
Public
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Eliminate vermin threatening public health and food stores
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Inspect cellars, docks, and sewers for infestations
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Prevent disease outbreaks within the city
Headquarters
- A cramped, foul-smelling Ratcatchers’ Yard near the lower docks in Valinport
Values
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Practicality
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Persistence
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Results over appearances
Anathema
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Obstructing an inspection
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Hoarding spoiled food
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“Clean hands and soft work”
Reputation
Widely disliked, quietly relied upon.
Ratcatchers are assumed to know far more than they admit—simply by virtue of where they work.
Player Notes
Ratcatchers go places no one else does.
They hear things through walls, floors, and drains.
No one notices them until it’s too late.
If a Ratcatcher is asking questions, something is already wrong.