The Kin

The Kin are natural night-time scavengers. Kin are extremely adaptable. They generally live in live in small troupes, and may be found in any and every possible environment, some in hidden enclaves in an around major cities. They are naturally stealthy and sneaky, with a fair amount of skill in magic.

Description
The Kin are short, wiry, and furry, with large slightly pointy ears and large sharp teeth. They stand about 5 feet tall, with dark colored fur that ranges from gray to black to dark red or brown in varying patterns that are usually extremely subtle and faint, difficult to see unless one is very close.

Kin form close and intense relationships with groups of other Kin,  and they form what amounts to a simple telepathic or empathic connection with each other. This connection persists even when one Kin is corrupted by the Blood, and the changes experienced by the corrupted Kin will actually pass through his bond to the others of his troupe. Thus, undead Kin almost always come in groups. The bond itself does not appear to be magical in nature.

While it is generally assumed by most that the Kin have their own language, It has never been heard and is apparently a secret carefully kept from other races. Hence the fact that the race is named in the human tongue.

The rat folk tend towards learning broad approaches to wide ranges of skills, rather than be masters of one. Evolutionarily speaking, they are designed to act almost as a fractal racial mind, which each rat almost holding an image of the whole in its head, holographically.

Most Kin remain tightly bound to their own clutch, and form inseparable gp family groups that operate as a serene and machine like whole. Not all rats remain this hidebound. Some seem to instinctively form an intensive and wide ranging racial curiosity. If the view world view of these curious seek could be summed up in three words, it would be "Always Learn More."

Adventuring rats, who live apart from the nests, tend to reflect this racial tendency by following the "jack of all trades, master of none" philosophy. These Kin can spend years traveling the world, learning bits and pieces of different skills, surviving in every possible environment, before finding a place to settle down and build a nest for itself and a family. When they settle down, they share their knowledge of the world with their families - those by birth or those chosen - to strengthen all.

Each rat spends it's clutching years steeped in the constant chatter of its elders, it's brothers and sisters, and returning adventurers. They grow up nesting in scraps of journals, surrounded by pages of ancient tomes, bits of old carvings and artifacts from the days of the gods. They grow a deep curiosity about all things new and old and strange.

Some Kin will bond themselves into small troupes or "families" of 3 or more, that move and think together almost as one. Kin that are in Clutch can become the quiet leaders and defenders of their nests. Rarely, a single Kin will bond him or herself in Clutch with a single member of another race. Note that although there is nothing necessarily sexual to the Clutching bond, most Kin view this practice perverse.

Kin mature quickly, and are not especially long lived.

Corruption
Kin that fall to the Blood of the Gods without being destroyed almost always transform into a Blessed called a  Shadekin. Shadekin are almost indistinguishable from their living brethren, save for being stronger both physically and magically, and with an uncanny ability to disappear into shadows and reappear elsewhere. Many Kin will in fact actively seek to fall to the blood purposely, and convert their troupe with them. The only physical difference between  a Kin and a Shadekin is that the patterns in their fur - which are subtle differences in fur color/shade and difficult to see under the best circumstance - will change so that they form mystical patterns and writing, which move and shift constantly. (See Shadekin)

Game Play

 * Power -1


 * Health 0


 * Grace +1


 * Finesse+2


 * Acumen +1


 * Discipline -1*


 * Charm +1*

Kin are fast, dexterous, clever and make friends easily. But they are physically small in stature, not especially strong, and easily distracted.


 * Kin that are in Clutch are not as outgoing as their brothers (Charm 0), but their unity gives them strength (Discipline +1) as long as they are within line of sight of at least one Clutchmate.

Kin age ranges:
 * 0-5 Childhood
 * 6-10 Adolescence


 * 11-15 young adult
 * 16-30 adult
 * 31-45 middle aged
 * 46-60 venerable
 * 61 and up Ancient

In character generation, a Kin gets one extra Specialization Point every term that she moves into a new environment (4 instead of 3). If staying in a particular environment for more than one term, the Kin gets the normal number of Specialization Points (3).