The Mouse's World

In Casus Mus, only a few species are sentient. Mice, rats, squirrels, other small rodents, large birds (corvids, most birds of prey), large snakes, some lizards, and cats are intelligent.

Raccoons, possums, and some other medium sized rodents are sentient but very primitive. For example, they have limited speech and they do not build or organize with the same level of sophistication that mice do.

Small birds, skunks, some lizards, and other animals are essentially beasts. Some are tamed as beasts of burden or mounts.

Many creatures view mice as fair game - in other words, food. This includes fully sentient creatures such as rats, large birds, and cats. Many of these same creatures are happy to have alliances or trading relationships with mice, but if they're hungry and there's no better option, mice start to look like a good snack. The world is a dangerous place indeed.

This is not to say that mice are timid victims. On the contrary - mice are fierce and can be brutal. Nature does not reward the cowardly with survival. Mice do not shrink from conflict. A common mouse adage is "the bigger the fur, the harder the fall."

Mouse culture has long allowed differences to be settled with force. In more refined mouse societies, this might be called duelling. In others it might be called trial by combat. It's often known as "the trial of teeth and tail", which is the mouse tradition of unarmed, unarmored hand-to-hand fights as a way to settle conflicts. These contests are not always to the death. Not always.