Vertus

The Vertus are a Rat species native to the planet of Mus, a medium sized planet relatively the size of earth with a surface of steppes with cyan grass that produce most of the Nitrogen-Helium mix atmosphere and vast ocean that makes up 45% of the planet. It has two rings that overlap each other to form a X like shape made up of various ice dust and radioactive materials.

## Anatomy & Physiology

They are a small species usually 1-2 feet tall, the Vertus can change from bipedal to quadruped at will and have 2 horns coming out of top of their heads with a spiral pattern along them. They usually have red to orange hues to their fur, yellow or brown paws and brown feet and their eyes can be a red, blue, yellow or green color, in some extremely rare instances there can be albino Vertus that have white fur with pink hands and toe tips with always blue eyes. The Vertus are excellent in their eyesight, being very perceptive and able to find the smallest details. They appear to have the uncanny ability to move, act or attack on small surfaces, even surfaces that may be too small for them.

## Society & Culture

They are friendly but somewhat paranoid as they are a kleptomaniac species that constantly steals and collects various objects. Before they reach adulthood they must choose what item they will stash, each Vertus has their own personal taste of things they collect with going so extreme that some Vertus make their homes out of their stash; If a Vertus shares their stash with you, it is the greatest sign of friendship and/or love. On reaching adulthood and establishing a stash, they gain markings anywhere on their body and they are completely unique to their family, or clan they belong to, signifying maturity and great potential. Their social hierarchy is dependent on only how big ones stash is, the biggest Vertus stash makes all of the rules and clans with bigger stashes have more say on what the rules are. If a Vertus want to challenge another for dominance they participate in a contest called a The Scowring, to see who can collect the most out of a specific item; violence in Scowring are off limits in these contests but the use of underhanded and cunning tactics are not (including but not limited to taunting, mind games, non-lethal traps, seduction, and blackmail) as long as they do not touch their opponent's stash. Bigger conflicts against Vertus (either between families or clans) are settled with a planet wide Scowring between all participants with the same rules. They are a space faring species and have large ships made of various junk and knick nacks

### The Vertus Clans

While there can be hundreds of thousands of different clans made up of millions of members of Vertus, the major clans determine the laws and rules of the land:

#### The Tahl

The Tahl like to collect metal objects and shiny things, they usually make ships and their homes out of their findings and are generally more resilient that your average Vertus. Their markings are black with a wiggle to them. They are in a constant feud with The Rour over their collections.

#### The Rour

The Rour like to collect crystals and gems, and usually make jewellery and various types of glass, their markings are blue parallel lines. They have a constant feud with The Thal over their collections.

#### The Scou

The Scou like to collect cleaning products and substances and are generally the most clean and well groomed, but are zealous germphobes, constantly cleaning and wearing masks to protect them from the elements. Their markings are yellow circles.

#### The A'jum

The A'jum like to collect history, scrolls, and books, the oldest clan and they are very snobbish about their collections, they are even more paranoid then a normal Vertus about their collections and lock them away in big vaults that only the most knowledgeable and high ranking in the clan can access. Their markings are cyan letters of various languages.

#### The Kota

The Kota like to collect food and various different kinds of drinks, they are the youngest major clan and they are the friendliest of the Vertus and are the least paranoid about their collections, even producing farms and ranches to provide for their species;They have been known to share their food with starving creatures. their markings are solid lime colored designs without any intersecting shapes or lines.

#### The Johi

The Johi like to collect clothing and various garments, they are the most fashionable of the Vertus and constantly set trends in their society. Their markings are solid polygon lines in a ridged pattern and are purple.

#### The Ping

The Ping like to collect weapons, vehicles and various tools used for warfare, despite stockpiling many weapons they arnt a very violent clan as they are paranoid that if they use their ordinance that they will lose favor amongst the other clans. Their markings are a gray silhouette of various weapons.

other lesser clans or clan-less vertus can be any amount of markings, style, color or none at all

## History

The Vertus have dominated the planet of Mus as far back as the vermin lords of ancient ratistory, not even they can remember exactly of their origins as most records have been either stolen by a single vertus for their collection, locked away by the A'jum or lost to time.

## Naming Conventions

With virtually any possible combination of letters the names must have four letters.

## Etymology & Inspiration

Name come from the combination of Vermin and Rattus the latin name for Rat. Inspiration came from the Skaven and The Great Horned Rat from Warhammer Fantasy