Few surface folk would suspect it, but in the deepest, most convoluted ysoki burrows, a hierarchy often emerges. Some ratfolk are born into a life of struggle, scavenging in order to survive while labouring to keep the burrow safe. Others are born into a life of luxury and prosperity, born within sight of the ratfolk throne. Zech is one of the lucky ratfolk who has struggled little, and known only safety.
An inquisitive soul, Zech has used the time afforded to her by her status to sharpen their mind, reading extensively about the great variety of both subterranean and surface creatures of the Old World. She applied her knowledge as a biologist, studying and categorising the many creatures she encountered underground during her peaceful, leisurely life.
However, when the old ysoki king died, and the new queen Bilgla took the throne, things changed. The burrow began to expand, deeper into the ground and further across the world’s surface. Bilgla’s ambition set the burrow on a path toward endless expansion and dominion. Subterranean cultures that refused to serve under The Burrow Queen’s banner were crushed beneath it.
Zech was a scientist, not a warrior. There was no place for her kind in The Burrow Queen’s empire, and she knew it was only a matter of time before Bilgla realised. So she hatched a plot. Word of the New World was beginning to reach the fledgling empire, and Zech knew that Bilgla wouldn’t be able to resist the chance to make their mark upon it. So Zech entreated Bilgla to send her to the New World, so that she may document it and find a place for The Burrow Queen’s most distant colony. Bilgla agreed, and Zech left for the New World, promising to send back as much information as possible.