The Ratel (And other info)

Ratel
A rumored badger-like race, they live deep underground in a grand city spanning an underground ravine. It has been thousands of years since they have last seen the surface.

History
The history of the Ratel race is one clouded in mystery - even to the race itself. The only knowledge they truly know is how they came to live in the underground city they called home.

It is said that thousands of years ago, they lived on the surface in peace with three other races; the Pigmen, Humans, and Villagers. Each of the races seemed to have a skill which they prided themselves with - the Ratels being known as grand builders and served all of the races in building kingdoms and castles.

However, creatures lurked in the night. Zombies, skeletons, spiders, creepers...They seemed to come almost from thin air to attack the races once the sun would set but they - the four races -  stood against the tide together and managed to survive each foreboding night. But soon the amount of monsters seemed to grow and grow, starting to overwhelm the races even as they stood together.

Then, friction started to spark between the races. The Ratels and Pigmen, who were immuned to becoming skeletons and zombies upon death blamed the Humans and Villagers for the increase of numbers of the undeads. With the four races then split into two sides, the creatures of the night started to become almost unbearable. Finally, the Ratel and Pigmen had enough.

Seeing the surface unlivable, both settled on leaving the Humans and Villagers to their fate. The Ratels decided to live deep underground where they could protect themselves easily from the monsters as they could stop them from appearing as they could easily light every bit of what would be their new home. The Pigmen however, decided that they would leave the Overworld all together, deciding to leave for the Nether.

The Ratels left the surface and soon found a ravine deep underground and closed themselves off, building a grand city so that they could live in peace. Which they did, the only fear of harm coming to them was when they went mining for more resources. Soon, the idea of ever returning to the surface became null.

They had figured that the remaining races would soon be overwhelmed by the monsters and would become nothing more than a barren wasteland. Even the idea of a sun and moon, of day and night became nothing more than a legend to them as years passed.


Community Structure
The Ratel race lives under a council's rule. The council - formed of ten elders and a voted leader, sets the laws and give out punishments if any crimes are broken.

The voted leader is voted in every ten years - anybody can run for the office given they are over a set age and have completed schooling. Ratels that have already gotten the seat may run again if they so wish until they are younger than sixty. While this voted leader serves as the figurehead of the community, the Elder Council also serve to keep them in check and deal with any issues that arise about the leader.

The members of the Elder Council are not voted in, instead being given the position when one open up. The Elder Council are formed of the ten older members of the community who are deemed to still be fit to serve. To have or even have had a seat on this council is a great honor, and so they are treated with the utmost respect.

They have no form of police or guards as the community tends to behave rather well. However, because of this any crime is seen as severe and all tends to lead to the same punishment - to be banished onto the believed barren surface. The community is instead supposed to support one another in any way to keep crimes from taking place.

Those who do not serve the Council in any way tend to take different jobs, such as blacksmithing, farming, teaching, or simply taking care of the race’s records. It is common for members of the community to learn many different skills as there may not always be a need for a certain job. There are also a few members of the Ratel community to elect to learn an ancient language which is said to be the tongue all four races shared on the surface - but to do simply that is frowned upon as it is seen to hold no real purpose other than for keeping a fragment of their history alive.


The Pigmen
Once living in the Overworld with the Ratel, Humans and Villagers, they decided to leave the surface when the monsters started to become to much as they were immune to turning into zombies and skeletons unlike the Humans and Villagers. However, they decided upon a more drastic means of finding peace then the Ratels and chose to leave the Overworld all together and settle into the nether. Their skills were in potion making and as they had little supplies in the nether, they started to experiment...

What became of the race is unknown.

The appearance of zombie pigmen show that somehow they fell victim to the undead spell. Perhaps an experiment went wrong and the whole race was turned, perhaps only a few and the rest moved deeper into the nether to escaped their turned breathers. No one is sure as little evidence of the pigmen once existing at all is left, other then the nether fortress and the loot that remains within...


Humans and Villagers
Sibling races, it is almost impossible to tell the two apart other then the villager's big noses and tends to speak in grunts. While Villagers tend to spread out among many jobs, Humans were known for being adventures and guards - excelling in fighting and exploring. They were both able to succumb into turning into an undead - skeleton or zombie - upon death. The increase of creatures of the night - including creepers and spiders - caused friction between the two sisters races and the animal-like ones. While the Ratel and Pigmen elected to leave, the Humans and Villagers decided to stay on the surface...Which almost led to their destruction.

Few Villager towns remain, while the humans tend to live on their own unless a group of them decide to band together in hopes of surviving. Most records of theirs have been destroyed in the thousands years since the Pigmen and Ratels left, causing them to forget about the other two races ever once living with them and the days of peace that once existed.