Were-rats
Type: Monstrous creatures Habitat: Forests of southern Rislandia, including the Greenhorne–Loveridge road Appears in: The Neverending War
Description
Were-rats are beasts "larger than a man, both tall and wide", with a tail, ears, "giant buck teeth in front", claws and sharp teeth. They look like rats. They leap from cover and run "as quickly as the wind", and their shriek is described as "the most awful sound". The narrator compares them to "something out of tales that mothers told children to frighten them".
Behavior
They hunt in packs from the shadows of the forest at dusk and feed on the men they kill. They can be killed with rifle fire: a head shot is lethal, and a neck wound is not. After several were killed, the rest were scared off by the gunfire and fled into the forest.
History
According to Lieutenant Avery, "in theory, they'd been eradicated since Malaky XIV's reign". Avery believed they had returned because Rislandia had "focused on the Wyranth". After the ambush, he called their return "bad".
The ambush
On the road from Greenhorne to Loveridge, a pack overran the first two lines of Avery's scouting platoon. They tore several men apart before the narrator and the rear ranks killed at least four. Private du Skillet had heard them in the bushes moments before.
Notes
No other were-creatures are named in the stories reviewed so far. The "Malaky XIV" reference places the earlier eradication campaign at least two reigns before King Malaky XVI.
In A History of Rislandia
A History of Rislandia treats were-rats as a distinct historical phenomenon, providing origin lore, early settlement context, and details of their suppression that go beyond what the novels record.
Nature and Origin
According to A History of Rislandia, were-rats are "humans cursed or afflicted with the ability to transform into giant, vicious rodents." This framing — emphasising a human origin and a curse or affliction — does not appear in the novels, where Lieutenant Avery describes them only as beasts thought eradicated, with no mention of a human component.
Habitat and Organisation
The sourcebook places the early were-rat population in the Old Forest to the west of the founding settlement, where they maintained a den within a network of caves. They operated in packs, attacking at night, spreading disease, and terrorising isolated farms. The pack was led by an alpha standing seven feet tall even in rat form.
The Were-Rat Purge (Year 3)
According to A History of Rislandia, the were-rat threat was broken during the Were-Rat Purge in Year 3 of the Rislandian calendar. Survivors fled deeper into the forest following the purge. The sourcebook does not mention any subsequent eradication campaign under King Malaky XIV.
Related Were-Creatures
The sourcebook also documents were-gophers, described as "small, fast, and vicious" creatures that burrow through the ground and attack from below. They were encountered by James Gentry during a mission in the countryside, where they were found digging under the walls of Annabel's parents' home, and were driven off by the flamethrower of Gentry's mech suit. Were-gophers are noted to be vulnerable to fire. Their existence confirms that were-rats are one of several were-creature types in the world of Areth; see Were-Creatures of Areth.