The Rat's Point of View

By: Zarz Posted on: November 24, 2004

The shadows are the only safe place. But sadly, we are not allowed to stay in the shadows. We must venture out, for it is the command of the Gods. And we would never dream of disobeying the Gods, we would never want to feel Their wrath.

So we obey Their command without question. We do exactly as we are told. What are we told to do? Well that is simple. To control the newbie population. That is our duty, the duty of the Rats. You see us as nothing more than some spare gold when you are down on your luck, when you are hungry and in need of a mutton. But to us, You are our entire lives. For without You, the Gods would not need us.

It seems cruel, does it not? To be made for the sole purpose of being killed by adventurers such as Yourself? Yet You do not care, money is money after all. You slay us, and give us to the Demons in order to get Your precious gold. We then pray, just like you do when you die. Did you really think that You were that special? Did you think the Logos only cared for You? We die, we pray, we are given new life. That is how it works for You, isn't it? All this time You thought You were special, but You are just another being on this great land of Sapience.

Gold, it is despicable how You People love it so much. That is all out lives mean to you. How much? Seven? Fourteen? Does it really matter to You? As long as it's gold, You don't care how much of it we are worth. All other creatures seem to get along fine enough without this gold, why can't You? What is it that makes You so different, that You need worthless coins to distinguish who is better than whom?

That is all Your gold does; it separates You. Have You ever wondered why the one with the most gold is always the most popular? Why everyone likes Them more than everyone else. It is simple. Because They have the gold, and everyone else wants it. Your gold turns you against one another. People stealing from People, it's sad. You would never see us rats do that; we know how to look out for one another. We know what true friendship is.

But that is only how You see us. That is not our true purpose. We not here just to be killed by You. We are here to kill Your young, Your newbies. Those young adventurers, thinking they are ready for anything with Their trusty steel shortsword and canvas backpack. They cannot tell the difference between us rats. They do not know the weakness of the baby rats or the supreme power of the black rats.

It is distinguishing between the newbie and non-newbie that is the difficultly of our duty. One may say that the newbie will be essentially naked, wearing only a backpack and wielding a shiny new shortsword. But I know better. Some of You are crazy. No matter how much gold You have, You still insist on wearing only a backpack. So obviously this method is not always effective.

There is another way, however. The Flash of Light. The use of the God's Portals. This is the way we tell if one is a newbie. When we see the Flash of Light, we prepare for an attack, waiting for you to strike so that we may slay you. We would slay you before You could attack, but the Gods will not allow it. We may not strike first, or else we may very well over run entire cities and send the inhabitants scattering into the forests. It would only be a matter of time before all of Sapience was ours. Then we would be the kings, hunting You and selling You to earn worthless coins so that we may feel superior. Then You would know what it is like to be one of us, to be at the very bottom.

I hope You have learned something from this. Perhaps now You will see how much we give for You, and how much we despise You for it. Perhaps now You will refrain from slaying us mercilessly, or perhaps Your desire to kill us has increased. It matters not, because no matter how many times You kill us, we will come back. We will always be here to kill Your precious newbie. They cannot hide from us. None of You can. We will rule eventually.

Just You watch. And when we do finally rise up, expect no mercy. For none shall be given to You heartless beasts.