Sewer Rat Colony
I had an idea today; a bit of synchronicity occurred as I re-read one of my favourite novels: The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents.
I came to think; Sewer Rats. What if there were a few Rats of NIMH who did not flee to the farm? What if some stayed behind in the city itself, taking to the sewers and forging a colony there? Unlike the moral rats of the Lost Valley Colony, these rats would would merrily steal electricity and technology, happily loot and pillage. They would be advanced, have the trappings of civilization, yet have that somewhat savage mentality that being a sewer rat causes.
There are raids to mount for food, tech to steal, and the countless dangers of city life; countless stray cats and dogs, traps, traffic, people galore and... feral sewer rats.
Ferals in the Lost Valley can be mostly good; there is a sort of cooperative sympathy that goes amongst everyone out there - but within the city, it's Rat-eat-Rat. Literally at times.
- - - - - - -
The idea behind this one is, well, to have somewhere else to play. I like the Lost valley, but I also like action - and I think daring raids within the heart of the city, the challenge of disarming traps, of outwitting predatory animals and humans and such while living in a sort of pre-apocalyptic sewer colony is just. well, just pretty cool.
I don;t know if I'm really making much sense but ah, well... I think it'd be fun... Give me a call when I'm online, or maybe I'll hunt some of you down and try it out on you, maybe?
- - - - - - - -
I'm Ember, and I hope I have not melted your brain today!
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
Well..There are some things I like about this idea and some I don't..
First off, the only thing that I think we should wait on this plot for; More roleplayers..Unfortunately, we don't have many people and can't really count on having so many more in the future..We hardly have enough roleplayers for the NIMH Rat colony in Lost Valley.
The second thing I would like to say is; Oh..My...Gorshness! I would absolutely LOVE to play a savage, but educated rat..The sort of...Bad-side-of-the-tracks attitude for a NIMH rat..I'd think that they'd escape after the original NIMH rats..Maybe from a different kind of cage, because I don't think the scientists would make that mistake twice..On purpose anyway. XD
But how would we introduce a new colony if we did? It's something to think about, but I'm not sure we could do this right away..
Well I suppose that's my two cents...I <3 the little blind rat! XD
~Talena/Mandy/Edgar
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
Maybe a new experiment would make sense, actually... perhaps the formula they were given wasn't quite the same even. Or they were treated somehow differently, and didn't develop the same way, and somehow retained their original rat-like instincts.
I'd also agree about needing more RPers. If anyone's interested in this, please add your two cents.
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
Well, something I was toying with fer ah, starting out... wouldn't to introduce a new colony wholesale. Not right away. I was thinking maybe a tiny-plot kinda thing, five or six players, or whatever more we can get, acting as a sort of tribal band... say, off exploring a strange end of the city, hunting for anything that may be interesting or of use to them.
Mapping the place, maybe.
I do like the idea of it being a different experiments and a wholly different manifest for things occurring. Perhaps a few were released as an experiment, tagged and implanted to be tracked down - but they had become so intelligent that they performed some minor surgery and got away...
Then came back and freed the rest...?
Just a thought!
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
The NMC offers much of that, though maybe not in the same way at the moment. For those not familiar with it, the NMC is the result of the lost Mice who were sucked down the air shafts surviving, and finding that their Rat brothers had left them behind. Perhaps a little tension would have existed because of that.
Anyway, as the story goes, the Mice set up shop in the city, steal electricity, technology, and other such things, and regularly encounter issues involving feral rats trying to eat them. If anyone is still interested in that, drop me a line, or something.
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
While "traditionally" the NMC was imagined as a pretty sterile setting, I wouldn't mind seeing either a re-imagining of that or maybe some sort of splinter group off of them that lived more like their feral counterparts. Dunno, though.
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to reimagine that setting, since it's not even used anymore. Maybe some crisis event happens that causes the NMC's social and political structure to break down?
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
I was aiming for a Ratty game, though - Mice are generally mice no matter where they are - I couldn't really see even NIMH mice achieving a sort of post-apocalyptic colony under the city, as mice do work well together.
Rats on the other hand can be territorial, vicious and deviously cunning. Slightly less social in that they focus on hierarchy and gaining power even as they work to expand their empire.
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
You want a dystopian RAT empire? Feel free to work ICly towards that end. But we can't shape the MUCK to suit just you. There are those of us (myself included) who aren't so underestimating about the capabilities of mice, and would rather work with what exists already than introduce a new area to an already unstable RP environment.
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
To clarify Tzol's statement somewhat, we'll help you in what capacities we can, but we obviously can't force RP in a certain direction. And I'd tend to agree with Tzol with the fact that it'd be nicer to get the NMC more active--we have some plans involving NIMH discovering their colony that I'd love to see move forward.
That said, if you can get enough people with interest in the idea to sustain the RP, I'm for it. I want to RP what people are interested in RPing, not force my vision on the muck (as the wizstaff has done in the past to the muck's detriment).
Re: Sewer Rat Colony
I've been thinking, and I see two possible ways such a thing could come to be. (if I understand it right) Though you'd still need a bunch of players willing to go along with you to make it work.
1) When the Rats moved to Thorn Valley, perhaps a few who were still loyal to Jenner split from the group to avoid Justin's leadership, and established their own colony, where they might have crossbred with cannibalistic sewer rats to result in the post-apocalyptic colony you mentioned. Jenner's followers, after all, were already okay with stealing.
2) Some kind of massive political difference in the existing Thorn Valley colony causes the colony's members to fission into two or more opposing groups, some of which might pack up and leave for either the rosebush or another location. This particular concept has been reiterated several times in planning, but has never actually been executed.
As for the NIMH Mouse Colony, I'm also hoping that in some small way I can bring its existence into full light again, with all the social complexities and overly sterile mentality which came with it. (Mice in jumpsuits, heh)
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.
--
I'm still waiting for my fur to grow in.