ink, then digital.

Work for an upcoming Ironclaw project.

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All bats can trace roots back to more slavic, eastern territory and a time of prominence and power. Indeed the word itself arguably comes from several origins that mean "fame", "glory", "speaking" and "listening". This is in keeping with a people that value oral traditions. In song, epic poetry, legends and humour, bats choose to keep their culture alive in living testimony rather than on paper or carved in stone.

Away from their homelands, they are typically found as gypsies, with all the associations that come from that rambling lifestyle, positive and negative. They have a zest for life; a hunger that verges on the hedonistic. Indeed, all their passions are extreme: they befriend as bloodbrothers, marry for love, and nurse grudges with fierce, endless hate.

Usually outsiders, they are often misunderstood for being so different. They are the only mammal to fly, which is a source of envy on the one hand, yet their wings can seem grotesque to others (even to birds). They are nocturnal, most active at a time when the rest of the world seeks rest, and so even the best of their intentions can seem suspect or needing the cover of darkness. Their physical attributes fit their way of life, but are often at odds with more common standards of beauty. And as a "buffer" culture against the mysterious eastern orient, they are often viewed with superstition as a tainted people. There are bats rumored to feed off the blood of the living, and this stems from a small point of truth. Actual vampire bats are considered a distinct off-shoot and not to be confused with these wandering folk. But it is also true that all bats claim to be vampires until the real vampires come around; it is a useful reputation to cultivate when otherwise forced to live as pariahs.

Gypsy bats tend to use this misunderstanding to their advantage, claiming powers and foreknowledge based on the ignorance of locals. It is not that bats can sense your mind, or see through walls; they simply have extraordinary ears that can pick up on changes in a liar's heartbeat, or the shuffling of feet several rooms away. And they aren't nearly as frail nor blind as they might claim to be, nor unable to use common handtools (a bat in a knife fight is extremely dangerous). Bats have learned to use underestimation and misdirection in their favour. They make excellent thieves, spies, illusionists, stage magicians, charlatans, paramours. They also are good at reading people, making them useful interpreters, negotiators, salesmen, performers, carnival folk and other general hagglers.