XXXV. Vermin!

Rats

 

I figured the Gardens needed some plague-carrying rats to skitter around, so I  painted up these:

It felt they would look weird on 30mm lipped bases, so I put them on plain 25mm ones. It works. I have more of them waiting to be painted. In the end I'll have about 20; all various GW plastic rats. They could be useful for different scenarios.

Rat King

Rat king is a rare phenomenon: a number of rats somehow become interwined at their tails, which also get stuck together with stuff such as dirt, ice, excrement or blood. Rat kings were often considered a bad omen, especially of plague.

Mummified rat king, kept in the scientific museum Mauritianum in Altenburg, Germany. It was discovered in 1828 in a miller's fireplace.

I think rat kings are pretty cool, so I wanted a miniature rat king. I can see the Plague Doctor or the Countess attempting to kill it for its magical properties and/or because of its association with plague, while it continuouisly spawns swarms of rats to defend itself. I kind of imagine it not as a group of rats, but as a single multi-bodied entity.
Anyway, here it is. I put it on a 40mm base. It consists of 8 little rats from the Skaven Abomination kit, and some thin wire for the tail knot in the centre.