The Rodere: Keep On Rockin' In The Free (Under)World
Whereas the cats and wolves both tend to feel constrained by the rules of social expectations, the Rodere like to boast about how they are unconstrained by those same rules. By rejecting the legal world of the Strip and embracing the demimondaine, the Rodere have created for themselves a world in which they are kings. Yet, being a king is in some ways not so different from being a slave…
Despite All My Rage, I'm Still Just A Rat In A Cage
Rats are not pack animals. They are communitarians, and their omnivorous nature tends to make them less aggressive against each other. The Rodere of Vegas call themselves the Glass Knives, referencing both skyscrapers and broken windows and their role in both. They are organized around a loosely Hindu caste-like structure (see the glossary below), and are thoroughly and unrepentantly in bed with organized crime.
Contrary to popular belief, the casinos are not in league with organized crime. Casino owners want to make as much money as possible, and organized crime wants to extort a cut out of that. The Rodere serves as the eyes and ears of the Mob and the Yakuza, soldiers for rent to whoever has the most money. Assassins, thieves, lawyers, accountants, legbreakers … the Rodere provides a comprehensive array of services to anyone who can pay the fee. Not every Rodere is hip-deep in crime, but probably around half their members are in it to their eyebrows.
Unfortunately, their deep involvement in the criminal world also puts them in the crosshairs of the casinos and law-enforcement both. The Rodere lives very well, but all that can be taken away in a heartbeat if their identities get exposed. Just being publicly known as a wererat is enough to draw a lot of attention from dangerous people.
The Underworld
For rats who have been made, the choices are simple: leave town or else vanish into the Underworld. Beneath Las Vegas a large network of tunnels exists, mostly populated by the homeless, the crazy, and the Rodere. Nobody enters the Underworld unless they're either a rat or else so desperate that meeting a rat is better than the alternatives waiting them aboveground.
The Underworld is not a nice place. There's no heat, no light, and the lack of ventilation makes it really dangerous to bring in generators. The other preternaturals joke that the easiest way to spot a rat is to sit at the hardware store and check for whoever's buying batteries by the trunkload, and there's a lot of truth to this. However, the Underworld is not the barren, dark concrete wasteland that many people seem to think, either: in the Rodere Court the accommodations are surprisingly nice, a juxtaposition of immense luxury in very meager surroundings.
Glossary
Many of the 'proper terms' as listed below aren't very well known to those outside to the general rat population, and even preternatural scholars may not know of them; young and newly-infected rats may be unaware of the details and terms as well.
Rajah
The Rat King, the Leader of the Rodere. The Rajah is recognizable by a tattoo that symbolizes rule: for the Vegas Rodere, this is a tattoo of a dagger made of a jagged piece of glass.
Thakur/Thakurani
The second-in-command of the Rodere.
Shudra
A generic term encompassing the "working stiffs" of the Rodere. Typically shudra are not directly involved in criminal operations, but their presence throughout the lower social classes of Las Vegas provides the Rodere with invaluable eyes and ears everywhere.
Vaishya
A generic term encompassing the "artists" of the Rodere. Art can be anything from business to law to accounting to science. These rats are not normally deeply involved in organized crime, but they support the work of those who are.
Kshatriya
A generic term encompassing the thugs, warriors, assassins and mobsters of the Rodere.
