Weixian Shu

Weixian Shu, named after the inscription above the doors of many of the buildings, is a relatively young town built in the remains of an elven settlement near the southwestern coast of Paral populated primarily by humans and wood elves. Unknown to the inhabitants, the town was the first and only target of an experimental biological weapon designed by a rogue squadron of gnomish military enchanters. This weapon, a vicious breed of enchanted rats still exists in the town, somewhat dormant.

The rats of Weixian Shu are, at first, near indistinguishable from common black rats, only notable for being somewhat more aggressive and slightly larger than usual. The rats become more dangerous when given access to excess food. If allowed to consume large quantities, a rat will rapidly grow over the course of a few hours, becoming the size of a small dog. Once grown, Weixian rats become aggressive to any non-rat creatures, attempting to kill them leave the corpse behind to feed it's smaller kin. Weixian rats are blindingly fast, but must eat frequently to maintain their stamina. When no living sources of food are available, a Weixian rat will starve itself over the course of a day and regain the appearance and mannerisms of a normal rat.

Fortunately, the inhabitants of Weixian Shu have yet to allow the rats enough excess food to attain a critical mass of larger rats, and so far the larger rats have been a rare anomaly and have been defeated quickly. Recently, however, sloppy handling of food supplies have put the number of large rats near the critical number, and a small slipup could easily push it over.