Aether Rat

"As the eight mages clashed for what would be the final battle, the control of all magic within their grasp, unleashed one final spell to finish this war and claim control over magic itself. Once the spells collided, it didn't take long before a white light erupted from the center point expanding and engulfing the entire battlefield. 

For what seemed like hours, the light had finally dissipated only to leave bright blue glints of light filling the area and...beyond! Once I composed myself from the aftermath,  my head jolted toward the area where the eight clashed and saw...nothing. The Eight Mages, masters of the eight different schools, had vanished without any trace.

My attention was then caught by a high pitched whine. I turned to look and see one of the hounds twisting and writhing on the ground appearing to be in pain. All of the sudden, it jolts up on its feet and begins to growl. A viscous substance begins forming and dripping from its maw while its body begins to pulsate.

With each pulse, the body of the hound grows bigger and its skin tearing alongside it. This teared skin begins to glow a radiant green becoming brighter with each pulse. As I sit there, witnessing this....mutation, my attention is caught once again. The beings that still lay on the field began to writhe and moan, pulse and glow as the hound did.

Before my voice let out, a sharp pain ran through my left arm. I stare and see the blue glints land on my arm and somehow seep into it. Each glint that seeped into me only increased the pain...until it suddenly dissipated. Steadily I lift my arm and wave it around slowly as to not invoke any leftover pain.

In a flash, my arm glows a bright red and ignites in flames. Shocked at first, it doesn't seem to burn or hurt but it also feels...powerful?  I turn my attention to the others and similar things seem to be happening to them. Most of the ones I currently see have leapt up to their feet and some are currently "testing" their own weird  power. 

At this point in time, I can only imagine what new things have come about during the aftermath of this war."

                                                                                                              Maxwell Heartglow, Bard of the Brightsmile Guild in Guild-A-Mesh

Due to a high concentration of magic in certain parts of the world , the creatures known as "Aether Rats" came into existence. The areas in which Aether Rats originated from radiated magic that would be to dangerous for any being to live in. However, due to the rat's unique ability to adapt to harsher environments faster than other living creatures, it was able to develop a way to survive this condition.

By absorbing the magic, storing it within itself, and expelling it constantly, it was able to thrive. As it did this, an unforeseen side effect had occurred within the Aether Rat. Thanks to its ability, it had begun to change. Soon it no longer needed to expel the magic as it became a part of itself. Once this happened, some rats began to leave  and moved onto other territories.

These creatures can be found almost anywhere(just like real rats)and are typically seen as pests to areas that specialize in/utilize magic on a constant basis. This is because magic has become a main part of its diet and they'll eat up to half their body weight in it. Aether Rats can eat by utilizing the same process it did for when it lived in its original habitat. If its a magic item or weapon, they'll just eat it straight up. Though, due to its original living situation, its need for magic might've become more of a habit or an obsession depending on the amount of time its gone without eating the stuff.

These creatures will constantly seek out places with large amounts of magic to nest in  and have something to munch on as a bonus. When scouting for such places, these creatures will usually be in groups of 5-6. But in order for them to do this, they've developed an interesting feature that came about from their newly found abilities.

The senses of the Aether Rat have become heightened to where they can smell things and places that have magic within them. While this ability is quite handy, it also has a major drawback. Because of their magic obsession, Aether Rats tend to get a bit stir crazy when something like a spellcaster or another magical creature casts spells in front of them.

If this happens, every Aether Rat that's around will surround and attack whatever used said magic. This of course makes it easier to target them with AOE spells, but you might become the next target or it might not be helpful in the long run. Also, thanks to those heightened senses, illusion spells won't be very effective against Aether Rats since they can smell the origin of the casted spell.

If you're curious about their appearance, they have poofy, golden fur that makes them appear somewhat chunky almost giving them the appearance of a hamster(think of the hamster from courage the cowardly dog and mix it with a rat plus a chinchilla). The eyes of this rat are a shining sky blue color that're big and round giving it an innocent look that tends to make adventurers think twice about killing it.

An aether rat's size is among one of the more unique things that surrounds these beasts. You'll find that there are three different sizes this rat comes in which're small, medium, or large depending on unknown circumstances. Oddly enough, no mage or researcher has been able to figure out what causes these broad differences in size, but some speculation from well-known figures assume it has to do with the concentration of magic in an area or how much magic it has consumed. This however, has been proven to not be true in recent developments.

Other things to note are that the medium sized ones(which is the one being used for this homebrew)tend to be the most commonly sighted. These rats can reach sizes ranging from 3ft. all the way to 5ft. in height will standing on its hind legs. Another thing to point out is the preference in magic of these beasts. While they "eat" magic, they seem to have a preference for elemental magic(or what can be considered elemental).