Vanta Rat

Name: Murky or Murks
Alias: Vanta-Rat, Patch-Rat
Species: Patchwork Rat Mutant
Nationality: Etoile Isles
Gender: Male
Age: ???


Description: Murky looks to be an odd mix of humanoid and rat-like, sporting the ears and tail of a rat, and various physical characteristics as well. Apparel wise, he sports a dark grey sleeveless jacket vest and urban camo pants, alongside decent but home-made boots of a darker material. Under his jacket covering his torso and the upper half of his arms are a series of bandages, this bandaging extending up around his head, stopping short of his hair. He tends to wear a gas mask over this, usually fully concealing his face, but under the mask and bandages is a rat-like visage that seems patchwork in nature, just as with the torso and along most of the legs, making him look to be stitched together underneath the bandaging.


Size: 4’0”
Weight: 59 lbs
Skin Color: Rat/Mouse Pink
Fur Color: Darkish Grey
Hair Color: Darkish Grey
Eye Color: Black/Purple

Background: Murky, or Murks, is the product of an off-shoot of Vahzilok fanatics that took to researching the darker arts, which for them seemed to be just another science to further along the next step of sentient life. Created by the siphoning of a dark energy from the destruction of an artifact thought to be associated with an entity of shadows and secrets, Murky was made by piecing together various ‘parts’ fine-tuned and recrafted to act as a conduit for such energies. The creation was successful, but the intended outcome was alarmingly sentient. In a way, this was a success, compared at least to the Cadavers of their former colleagues. They’d run various trials to see just how successful their attempt was… keeping the results for future projects with the mind to replicate the energy that made their first project successful. With increasingly strenuous trials however, came risks. One such trial went awry, the researcher having pushed the limits outside the pace at which their experiment could keep up. With the thought that their project had been ‘extinguished’, they disposed of such rather simply and forwardly so as to continue on with the next attempt, leaving Murky seemingly deceased amongst the sewer tunnels. Little did they know, their project survived, kept alive by the shadowy energy that lies within them. Left to the sewers and the rogue isles alone, Murky, earning a small local nickname as ‘Vanta Rat’, got by where they could, desperately avoidant of those who ‘tested’ them so. They’d survive by thievery and pilfering to keep the occasional roof over their head, and food to keep them going. One such theft had gone wrong. Unknowingly being sent to steal from the Longbow, he ended up in a scuffle that landed him in the Zigg.

Personality: Having gone from an almost literal lab rat to a street rat was a rough transition, leading to some jumpier tendencies in the rat, making a skittish sort. While prone to thievery, he’s aware enough to generally not take from those who come across as friends, rare as that may be in the Rogue Isles. In the Zigg, especially without his shadowy talents available to him, he dealt in the trade of appeasement or actual trade where needed, as well as using his more thiefy talents to earn some semblance of safety from other prisoners.

Power [Shadow Soul]
Murky is a font of shadowy magics granted from a destroyed artifact, the energies from such used to effectively make his soul and sentience a reality. In this way, Murky has the means to use related magics naturally. This usage of such magic is similar in methods to a sorcerer or similar naturally-intuited casters.

Abilities
Street Rat: Murky has picked up a decent talent for thievery, pick pocketing, and sneaking around for the sake of surviving on the streets of the Rogue Isles. This time in the Rogue Isles has also given him a small knack for identifying safe foods and knowing where to usually safely pilfer for necessities.

Adaptable: Murky is a fast learner, and while he lacks formal education, he has many tricks he’s adapted for the sake of surviving in the Rogue Isles and the Zigg, making him a fairly adaptable rodent for the situation.

Weaknesses
Partial Illiteracy: While Murky has a running knowledge on how to use electronics and can read to some extent, he’s never received a proper or formal education. Most of what he knows is self-taught, and while he’s a quick learner, he’s still learning the ins and outs of how to type and write properly.

Impressionable: Murky has a tendency for following the lead of those who treat him with some matter of decency, which has more than a few times led to the rat being a tool for someone with less than good intentions.


Weapons
Good Pocket Knife: Murky keeps a pocket knife on him that seems to have some manner of sentiment. It’s simple, and a bit on the older side, with nothing exactly special about it except that he keeps it remarkably well maintained and sharpened. In spite of this, it’s still better suited to a utility use than a combat one, but if all else fails… knife.

Equipment
Pilfered Goods: Murky keeps a small horde of anything he can find from thieving or scavenging, which can include any number of small things. Some valuable… some not.


Title: Vanta-Rat, Sneak Thief, Twitchy
Born: Somewhere in the sewers under Cap Au Diable
Familiar: Alley-ways, sewer tunnels, dumpsters, and most shadowy spots.
Picture: (WIP)
Quote: “One isn’t the loneliest number. One friend’s better than no friend…”
Name means: Dark and gloomy, especially due to thick mist. [Literal definition of Murky]

Strength: Murky is strong for his size, which isn’t to say much admittedly. He has the strength of about an average boy around 12 to 13 years old, which is significant for his size, but isn’t much against most of anyone in the Rogue Isles.
Intelligence: While Murky lacks any formal education, he’s a very quick study and natural learner, which combined with his knack for curiosity, does grant him a decent capacity to pick up skills quickly when the opportunity is available.
Endurance: Despite his size and stature, Murky is quite durable and seems capable of pushing himself even when in an exhausted state. While he isn’t bulletproof, cut proof, or so on, his ability to take a hit and continue to function is surprising. However, if things are settled and calm, he can be quite distressed by the notion of harm.
Agility: Murky has a rat’s agility, and has trained it for a quick escape, to avoid harm, and to think fast. While he’s not exactly a professional tightrope walker, he does know free-running, and how to get around cities and urban landscapes quicker than most do on foot.
Awareness: Murky’s awareness on the auditory scale is very rat-like, and while not outright super-hearing, it is well above what most humans have the capacity for. His eyesight however is lacking, being a fair bit below the average human’s visual acuity. [20/70]
Charisma: Murky has an okay ability to make a decent trade or deal, but beyond the practiced ability to trade, he tends to be more of a nervous fly on the wall when it comes to crowds. While he tries to be at least polite… his social ability is best described as awkward.
Willpower: His will over his magic is fairly strong, all things considered, and when it comes to staying alive, he’s got a strong will to survive. He may be a bit of a social push over, but never underestimate what a cornered or scared rat can do to get out of a situation alive.