"Few have seen them and recognised them for what they are. Perhaps they are the key to the destruction of the Skaven, for without females, how would they propagate? Nevertheless, Skaven females do exist, cloistered away and used as necessary by those males who have earned the right to breed. Broods of ratlings are born within the Skaven nurseries, and their mothers are rarely without child for more than a month."
- —Steffan Paulus Adelhof, scholar of Wolfenburg[1a]
A bloated, pregnant Rat Mother, the females of the Skaven species.
A Rat Mother, sometimes called a Breeder, Broodmother, Skaven Breeder Queen, or colloquially as a "rat-wife," is the only known type of Skaven female, a creature birthed only to serve her species as a bloated, baby-making factory. Each Rat Mother weighs at least 700 pounds and measures 10 feet long from snout to tail. Their flabby, soft bodies bristle with dozens of protrusions, all of which leak the foul-smelling milk on which their litters are weaned.[1b][3][4a]
Partly crippled and made entirely immobile by their role of constant pregnancy and the steady diet of warpstone narcotics they are fed to keep them quiescent, Rat Mothers cannot care for themselves and must rely on castrated Skaven eunuch slaves known as "Ratwives" to meet the needs of daily survival. Rat Mothers spend most of their time in a euphoric haze brought on by an application of warpstone-based hallucinogens and other drugs.[1b]
When adequately fed and attended, the Rat Mother births a litter of 1-10 squalling Skaven ratlings each week, who reach maturity in 2-3 weeks.[1b]
Quick Answers
What is the role of the Rat Mother in Skaven society?
How often does a Rat Mother typically give birth?
What privileges do male Skaven earn to breed with the Rat Mother?
How are Rat Mothers different from other female Skaven?
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Role[]
"There are no Skaven females, just Skaven broodmothers."
"Rarely, if ever, seen above ground, Skaven females are larger than the males. What scant information is available makes it clear they are, at best, only marginally intelligent creatures who live their lives in an indolent stupor, alternating between breeding and birthing without respite. During my stay in the Dwarf Hold of Karak Kadrin, I saw the severed head of one of these creatures. It was shown to me in some excitement by a young Dwarf warrior, who claimed it was the head of a Rat Ogre, taken as a war trophy in a raid on a Skaven nest. Finding his claim met with derision by the other Dwarfs present, when his mistake was explained to him the young warrior stalked out of the tavern, stony faced. When I saw him again the next day he had styled his hair into a ragged crest and dyed it orange. Overcome by shame at having been embarrassed in the presence of his peers, he had taken the Slayer's Oath."
It is a common misconception that all Skaven are male. The specifics of where they come from are widely debated amongst scholars who show an interest in the species, and include many ludicrous theories as to the origin of the ratmen. One such postulation is that the Skaven are born directly from Chaos, while another claims they are merely ordinary rats that are mutated by constant exposure to warpstone. The truth of the matter is that there are, indeed, female Skaven, locked away in the depths of the Under-Empire.[1a]
Female Skaven serve no other purpose than to propagate their vile species, and they are only slightly conscious or self-aware. Constant application of warpstone narcotics from a young age keeps them blissfully ignorant of events that transpire in the Under-Empire. So cloistered away from the rest of their species are they that some do not learn the Skaven's chittering speech of Queekish, or are proficient in social skills...or so the male Skaven believe.[1a]
Canon Conflict[]
In the short story, Plague Priest by C.L. Werner, the author refers to the Rat Mothers as "rat-wives"; this can be particularly confusing as the term "Ratwives" is also used in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Children of the Horned Rat to identify the Skaven eunuchs who attend the Rat Mothers and their pups.[1c][3]