Rage-Badgers

Rage Badgers (Taxon iratus), called *Tobendachse in* The Königratzfell Reich, are a species of predatory mammal found worldwide. They are widely known for their incredible level of aggressiveness and their magical ability to teleport short distances. Irati grow up to 1 metre long and 50cm tall at the shoulder, though females, who are the larger sex, can grow slightly bigger. They feed mostly on small mammals, birds and reptiles.

### Biology

The badgers come in a variety of sub-species, each adapted to a different environment or continent. They live on average 16 years and have many children in this time. Lord Durent of the Free Shires famously said "These badgers breed like the bloody Reichen who love them so much, and the Reichen breed like fucking Babbits." Lord Durent failed to make comment about accusations of his statement being racist and was assassinated a week later. Rage-Badgers feed on almost everything smaller than themselves and a fair few things larger including deer and occasionally Unicorns. They are extremely agressive and quite resourceful. They will fight anything and everything that gets in their way, Wolves, Tilions, Velines and even, rumour has it, large dragons. Due to this, their natural lifespan is often cut short, hence the need for fast breeding.

Their most famous quality though is their ability to teleport. This is an evolutionary trait for hunting. Irati have evolved to have the special organelle; Senjule, that all magic users have, in every cell of their body. These organelles allow their cells to utilise natural magic. The badger can stare at a point in the distance, such as next to prey and imagine themselves there. This sparks nerve relays to fire to every cell in the body. A huge energy burst shoots through every cell simultaneously and causes a quantum explosion that rips a hole in the fabric of time-space. A wormhole forms to the chosen destination that the badger is then sucked through.

### Relationship with Sentients

The badgers are feared and disliked throughout most of the world. They are often seen as pests, but pests too dangerous to confront openly. Even when poisoned, the Irati, using its keen sense of smell will attempt to find and kill the person who poisoned it, for revenge, before it dies. There are a few examples of otherwise. The Ura see Irati as an important part of the natural world and so respect them as any animal. The Königratzfell Reich often respects them as a higher animal due to their determination and power. Here the badgers are kept in special reserves and occasionally as pets...to varying levels of success.

There is on the most part, a worldwide ban on Rage-badger racing after a series of unfortunate accidents. A series of baits are put down in walled tracks and the badgers allowed to teleport from one to the next. At one such race in the Dwarven Clans Capital though, the losing badgers were allowed to see the winner being rewarded with squirrel meat for its success. The Irati turned on the referee and killed him, before turning on the spectators. Badger races still take place in some of the seedier locations of the world but often against the knowledge of the authorities.