Please Stop Feeding the Giant Rats

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a rat problem.

Not the regular sort of rats, mind you. The Dragon's Claw Inn does an exceptional job keeping its confines free of conventional vermin of all types. I speak of the giant rats known to inhabit the proper, the ones about the size of a small person or rather large dog.

I've repeatedly sighted packs of these creatures scurrying around and inside the Inn, beady eyes pleading and paws outstretched, evincing no fear of of humanoids whatsoever. I have also spotted more than a few persons providing the creatures with table scraps from their morning breakfast or morsels of their personal rations. This usually occurs on Sunday mornings after feast.

This ought to be terribly obvious but I'm going to say it anyway: they keep coming because you keep feeding them. Not all of us obviously, but enough that they feel it's worth the risk and effort to come back month after month.

I know that to very many of us such creatures pose a trivial danger. And that they're sort of cute in their own way. However, this is a health and public safety issue. Rats of any size present where food is prepared or consumed is unsanitary and can lead to the spread of disease. And while giant rats are usually easily dispatched by seasoned Travancians, when hostile they can pose a very real danger to newer towns-members and civilian travelers.

So, stop feeding the beasts your scraps and eventually they'll stop coming.* If you are moved to do so out of pity, remember that teaching wild animals to depend on human contact for survival isn't any good for them in the long run.

This may seem like a small problem in the grand scheme of things, but it's one we can easily solve by making smart choices.



*Exceptions for cases where doing so may be necessary to prevent loss of life or property.

I thought it timely to find this old public service posting from one of our guards.

Heed his words and do not feed the giant rats; it only causes them to keep coming back.

To our understanding, this happened in magnitude at one point last feast... Karden pulled bread out many of his pockets and fed them all.
It wasn't just him, we're just remembering selectively it would seem.

Lovely day.

Considering they've already grown accustomed to coming to the inn and walking up to people. Why not see if they can be tamed and put to a form of work? I can think of a few jobs giant rats might be good for.

In times of war rationing. We may find a use.

On my honor,

But...easy travel snacks!

Annora,
My thoughts exactly.

Jericho, was it?

The proposal you and Annora describe seems quite intriguing. How would one prepare a rat? I am a far cry from an expert chef but I would greatly enjoy adding another recipe to my compilation! Not only does it seem convienient (and potentially quite tasty), I imagine the prospect is of great detriment to enemy morale as well. "Those mad Travancians" one footsoldier may say to another, "I've heard they eat rats!" only for the latter infantry private to reply "By the twelve Gods, if they're eating the rats, just imagine what they'll do to us!"

And yet, I do wonder how exactly the Nezumi will react....

Prof. Terzak,
As with most small game. Stews are the best preparations. Makes use of the bones for stock. The broth will break down the tough connective tissue, and you can bulk it out with what ever you have on hand

On my honor,

Depending on the larger kind, I imagine a roast would be a right fit.

--Chet

You'll have to listen to Jericho on fine meal preparation.
I usually just hunt them down and rip off the tasty flesh.

I've found prepping and cooking them, the same way you would roast squirrel over a campfire, to be quite tasty.

-Father Ridigan

You know, this wasn't what I originally had in mind when it came to the taming and putting the giant rats to work, but if this is what people want to do, then why not grab some bottles, and pair this with some alcohol?

An excellent point, Dominic! Good to hear from you again,

Now what sort of drink would one pair with a rat? I'd wager an ale would be good for stews, perhaps wine with a roast, and if we're going to eat them 'Annora-style' (which I'll admit, sounds quite delectable), I imagine booze is unnecessary on account of freshly hunted meat being far less dry.

There must be some sort of sauce that compliments a rat-roast as well, maybe a cheesy peppercorn recipe.

-Terzak

I believe that we should not harm the rats.
Please do not harm the rats.

How much are people willing to pay for giant rat meat? Unless this zanthios guy is a law maker then I'll just stick to murdering what ever the town wants dead that month.

R.e.d.

---

I hope the rats are not killed.
Maybe it's not illegal but instead immoral.

Something I’ve learned - morality is subjective.

WIL SLAY RAT FOR GOLD. POST WIT LAST PLACE YE SEEN EM

TOM BELL
RATCATCHER

---

I believe there are absolute truths that aren’t subjective. Perhaps morality is not subjective.

Maybe you should trust your Uncle Zanthios on this one, Cara.



With Kindness

I suggest you change your tone very quickly, Zanthios.

If you want to stand by a belief where morality is an absolute truth, none one, including you, in this world are not guilty of disobeying that morality. The design of the Anastazi was that moral code and the mortal existence had turned against it. Light, Dark, Good, Evil; they all are malfunctions of their design, so if you align to any, you are immoral by your claim.

What is ethical, what is moral, what is "right" are all subjective matters based on the circumstances of the situation. To force everyone into the same scope of what is moral is in itself an oppressive and tyrannical mindset -- making it an immoral belief.

When you provide no evidence to your claim, you cannot ask someone to trust your opinion.

And to diminutize Cara like that is very unbecoming. This is not an argument you want to get into with anyone.

That's all I'll say on this matter. These papers speak for themselves.


Warlord Tartaros




_______________

Aleister,

Maybe you should change your tone as
nothing I said was wrong and I meant nothing wrong.

Maybe you’ve met people in the past who believed in the wrong version of what’s right.

For example, the followers of the Blazing Sun maybe believed they’re right but they may have killed hundreds.

I believe Killing, Stealing, and Adultry are absolutely wrong.

Referring to myself as uncle is perhaps a gesture of family, love, and kindness. To assume my tone may have led you to believe that I was being diminutizing.

I wasn’t.

Also, I believe we all have the right to share our opinions and believe what we’d like to.

I assure you, I’m no threat to anyone and could be perceived as a loving and caring indevidual.

I hope we can proceed respectfully & kindly.

Warlord Tartaros,

I earnestly have a question in this regard. Is the statement you are making regarding morals in itself subject to moral subjectivity? If it were so, then it would then seem to be self-refuting.
The existence of the Anastazi present a conundrum in itself that the creators of a moral law would then be subject to a different moral law not of their making. Perhaps there is a higher objective moral law that even the Anastazi were in fact acting against by setting up their "grand experiment." This seems an interesting speculation, but does seem plausible in that the Anastazi were not perfect beings and were capable of error (and defeat, thank the gods - or maybe not the gods - or.... forget that last interjection, as throwing in an idiomatic saying like that might cause problems).

I would welcome more philosophical discussions on this matter. Perhaps the boards are not the place for such discussion and a more personal meeting of the minds would serve the interests of seeking truth and knowledge.

Sincerely,
Father Ephrem,
Primus of the Church of Light in Travance

I am a predator. A giant reptile, if you will.
Rats, other rodents, and mammals are what my children eat. They are what I eat.
In what way is Arawyn's natural order, the wild ways, "immoral"?

Also, do you eat meat?
I'm quite sure you do.
So stop being a hypocrite.
Just because someone else slaughters and prepares the flesh you consume, doesn't make you any more righteous.

Annora

To whom it may concern,
As your chef and brother in arms, I not only butcher and clean the meat you all so willingly consume, but I am also on the front lines fighting for your sake to do so in peace. Make no mistake. All life is precious. When I do have to take one, whether it be for food, or in defending my own life. I do so honorably and as painlessly as possible. I take no joy in extinguishing the light of another. These are the times we live in. Thus is the circle of life.
At some point I will perish, and feed the earth with my flesh and bone. And from the earth another life will feed on the grass my body became.

On my honor,

Maybe a there is a truth to everything.
We may not know or have access to those absolute truths.

For example, maybe there’s an answer to every mystery, and an answer for every problem.

Maybe as people the best we can do is try our best to understand what’s not known and to be good!

Ephrem, if ever you wish to have such a discussion ifnperjaos be pleased to join it.

Annora & fellow brother,

I’ll perhaps always believe that is killing is wrong. I appreciate your kindness and honesty, my fellow brother.

Maybe the Mages guild can work on creating meat from the weave that never came from a living source!

Maybe one day the cycle can be broken.
I wish death didn’t exist and hopefully one day it won’t.

Tom,
Check the dark damp places of any of the estate building. What you catch bring to the kitchen folk of the dragon's claw. You will be rewarded well.

On my honor,

I would like to state for the record that Zanthios has attempted to argue morality with not one, but two White Sorcerers, as well as a Paladin.

Kind regards to all,
Professor Winstonshire

Well said, Jericho. Except now thinking of your cooking is making me hungry!
Life is precious. But there is no inherent cruelty in the natural cycle.
When you kill to eat, do so respectfully, and don't waste what you kill.
Again, unless you abstain from any and all meat products, you're being a giant hypocrite right now.
Just because you don't see the process by which a cow becomes your steak, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
I make sure my prey doesn't suffer unnecessarily. Can you guarantee the same of your burger?

Annora

I don’t eat meat, not for any moral reasons but for the fact that I was forced to eat horrible unknown things by a black sorcerer and necromancer for near a year and I lost the taste for meat of any kind. I can assure you as someone who spent two years living as part of the Weave after my desth, Arawyn and nature are directly tied to the Weave and the Weave is part of them. Annora eats meat because it is the natural order- she is an obligate carnivore, as are most drakes. Food made of magic is doable (priests can produce food directly from their gods) but an army of priests would need to work every day non-stop in order to create enough food for a town, and kingdoms cannot be sustained solely on magic.