The Ratbeyir

Placeholder Giblin by Katy Smith

Goblins are well known for their viciousness and lack of empathy for one another. With such a short lifespan, they don’t have time to consider others’ wellbeing. It’s kill or be killed in the savage lives of the majority of the goblin tribes. This trait causes them to create some of the most horrendous and self-sabotaging abominations all to aid in raiding. Instead of breeding animals to exaggerate traits that would benefit their camps to make them self-sustaining, instead they breed those that show strength and viciousness.
It is primarily a ratkeeper's duty to provide the camp with food but as a secondary form of income, the herders also look to separate out the largest and most violent of rodents in order to selectively breed them. With the aid of nutritious fungal stalks in the feed, the rats grow incredibly quickly over the course of only a few weeks to close to their maximum size. In turn, this means that iterations of selective breeding can happen rapidly.
The name of Ratbeyir is a homage to the mythical Beyir of legend and is given to those that reach a size of three times that of the goblin. A hulking brute of an animal. The snout of the Ratbeyir is shortened and the teeth in the mouth of the rodent jut out in places. In some cases, the teeth are sharpened, especially prior to raiding parties being unleashed upon nearby settlements. As a result of having a shortened snout, the Ratbeyir unfortunately suffers from laboured breathing, however, this manifests as an ebbing and deep growling sound. The size of the beast has transformed the tail into a thick trunk which is capable of flailing around like a club. The fingers of the beast are thick and padded and the claws are blunt but still very able to puncture through flesh. They also carry over a great capacity for digging through tough ground.
Goblins further torment the animals by spraying them in the blood of freshly killed rodents, goblins or slaves to whip them up into a frenzy. When one is released in the general direction of a target, all manner of chaos ensues. Usually resulting in as many casualties for the goblins as their enemies, but when attrition is your attack strategy and you have overwhelming numbers, this becomes a very effective tactic. Making the ground slick with blood is also a great way to disadvantage your enemies that aren’t used to wallowing in goblin and rat filth.
It is unknown how many of these beasts are left to roam the depths, murdering small outposts or destroying small tribes in the darkness. If they manage to mate in the wild then their offspring have a high chance of retaining the deadly traits. Creating more deadly Ratbeyirs to hunt down unlucky dwarves that take a wrong turn in the deep tunnels.

This is a submission for my first ever Summer Camp in 2024 - I hope you enjoy my writings and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!