Editing Nezumi (section)

====War====
Unlike the war-glorifying, Honor-bond Rokugani, nezumi prize survival above all other things. This is not cowardice, they will fight when they must, but fighting is not seen as inherently glorious; to fight when you have a better alternative is foolishness in the eyes of the ratfolk. But when they must fight, then they fight with savage ferocity; a cornered nezumi will battle with berserk savagery, accepting that if it must die, then it is better to die killing those who might harm the tribe.

The lone exception to this attitude is when it comes to children. The nezumi have incredibly strong protective parental instincts; harming pups is seen as the vilest act one can engage in, and threatening them will immediately rouse any watching nezumi to bloody violence. Being granted permission to interact with the pups of a nezumi tribe is the purest gesture of friendship and trust that exists in nezumi culture, and saving a pup from danger? The grateful parents will often adopt the stranger who performs such a great deed into their tribe - even humans have won respect in this fashion.

Because of their belief in surviving being more glorious than battle, nezumi have a... complicated... relationship with fear. This race has no word for "coward" and in fact regards fear as a symbol of strength; bravery is good, but fear is also good, because it ensures that you know your limitations. Bravery is made more valuable because it means you have the strength to overcome your fear and act contrary to what it tells you.

There are a minority of nezumi who are born with no fear instincts; these individuals are carefully shepherded and used as nursery guards and as disposable berserkers.