The Rat Brigade

"Used to be a dozen of us – the best sappers around, now look at us."

The Rat Brigade is a group of three battle-hardened Rattus Faber that work together as an engineer.

Rats in the Locomotive

"Our Sarge kicked the bucket in the Blockade. But the night before, he told each of us he'd left us something in a vault. Old sod must've been loaded. Thing is, we need his account number to get it. He gave part of it to each of us, so there'd be no thieving. Hence our predicament: that last mission, our Lt sold us out. Half the squad died, the rest scattered."

The Brigade didn't always consist of three members. Before, they were known as the Rat Regiment, a mercenary company formed at the start of the Winchester War that offered their services to the Tacketies and Stovepipes alike. Because of this, they were not respected by either side.

Eventually, they were hired by the Tacketies to sabotage the Governor engine, Her Majesty's Displeasure, during the Blockade of New Winchester. However, they were betrayed by one of their own. Now half of them are dead, while the other half is scattered across the High Wilderness.

Before the Blockade, Sarge, their leader, gave each member of the Regiment parts of his Hallidge's account number, claiming that he left something in his vault. Now the Rat Brigade is seeking its former members to collect the pieces of the account number.

Members

• Cinders is the smallest rat and the current leader of the Brigade.
• Albrecht is the agent provocateur of the Brigade. He secretly wants to join Winter's Reside.
• Petronella is the mechanic of the Brigade. She loves miniature trains.
• Wilma was the strategist of the Regiment and the former lover of Cinders. Now, she's the pet of one of Perdurance's Debutantes.
• Angel was the demo-man (demo-rat?) of the Regiment. He dislikes Vianne. He now works as a fire-breather in Polmear & Plenty's Inconceivable Circus.
• Vianne was the medic of the Regiment. She dislikes Angel. She is stationed in Magdalene's Chamber of Solace.
• Lt Humphrey is actually not a rat; rather he is a half-hamster. Sarge selected him as the leader of the Regiment because he needed the rats to be "respectable". However he betrayed the Regiment at the Blockade of New Winchester to the Stovepipes and now holds a comfortable position in the Windward Company.
• Christobel was the misanthropic long-range gunner of the Regiment. She died in the Blockade.
• Sebastian was the quartermaster of the Regiment and Albrecht's mate. He died in the Blockade.
• Seamus was the navigator of the Regiment. His lifelong desire was to return to the Neath through the Avid Horizon. However, he died rescuing the Regiment in the Blockade.
• Sarge was the one who gathered the rats and formed the Regiment. He died in the Blockade.

Betrayal?

"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously." Beyond this point lie spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include midgame or minor Fate-locked content. Proceed with caution. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

Cinders' derringer is aimed squarely at the elderly rat's face. The Parsimonious Chairman moves to add a half lump of sugar to his tea, but thinks better of it. The Lt cowers before her.

"It wasn't me!" he squeaks.

Cinders blinks. "You wot?"

It turns out the Brigade and the Windward Company had a misunderstanding. It wasn't the Lt that betrayed the Brigade; rather, it was Sarge himself who made the deal with the Company. The engine that the rats were sabotaging was a decoy, and the Governor escaped.

The misunderstanding began when the Windward's engine fired too early and killed half of the Regiment, including Sarge himself. Somehow, they assumed that the Lt was in on the plan, so they hired him. The Lt claims that he withheld the truth to honor Sarge's name.