These next five models will be depicting the Beastfolk of the north. I really wish heroforge had mustelid models, because otter and weasel folk all make up a big part of Faian. Lol.
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The Great Horde
"We reject the gods forced upon us by the nefarious and despised foe. We reject their dominance over us, for we are masters of our own destiny and others. We reject the peaceful existence as thralls in naught but name, for we are warriors. We spit on the oaths of the ancestors who bent knee to the foe. We mock the fools who continue to bend knee to the foe. In our lands, we shall never be in thrall again." -Ratik Rebuke, Oath for New Great Warlords

Like all Beastfolk, the rat folk were born in the north and were subject to the Shadow, an all powerful god for whom the Wilder worship as their primary deity. In the north, the rat men were warriors and sea folk who chafed under the yoke of the tribes of their larger overlords, who enforced upon them their own customs and faith. In those days, a single beast arose to challenge the Wilder, gathering his tribe and uniting all rat folk into the Ratik, and forged the Great Horde to challenge the Wilder for dominance. Through guile and aggression, the Ratik conquered and subjugated many other races, but were ultimately defeated by the Shadow's favored children. The Ratik, their minions, and their slaves fled across the sea to Kevica where they escaped the extermination by their former overlords and would conquer anew.

The Great Horde was led by the first Great Warlord, a legendary and terrible figure who led his armies across the whole of the continent of Kevica, conquering the north by defeating elves and orcs alike. Their campaign was brutal and vicious, and was only stopped by lucky battles of the Curdans, Halflings, Roach Men, and eventually their own slaves. The Great Horde consolidated its power, but once the Great Warlord died, his realm split apart into twain. The Ratik fell upon themselves as their own endless hosts of servants arose to forge their own nations and beat back their former masters to their core lands. Many Ratik led nations still retain themselves as successors to the Great Horde, but none is as big or as hostile as the Verndak Confederation.

Ratik society is paradoxical at best, and confusing at worst. Many Ratik value the freedom they had fought for, and are open about their disdain for the authority they used to live under. Yet, many Ratik are barely considered 'free' by any sense, bound to a system of castes and tribal rules which honor warriors and tyrants. The Ratik are a clan based society steeped in war, where the family of a clan comes first and foremost above obligations to lord or liege. Ratik fight each other as often as they pursue their enemies, with a warlord meant to be a unifying leader who calls their people to war to unite the clans. The Royal Clans are the most powerful, richest, and highly valued of the Ratik who rule the lands which the Great Horde has conquered, having been the relatives and kin of the first Great Warlord.