The Sump Rat

{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "id": "sump-rat",
  "name": "The Sump Rat",
  "aliases": [],
  "summary": "One unusually large drift rat occupying the mine's stopped pump intake: the wake-the-mine climax.",
  "details": [
    "Regional-boss tier in the three-tier encounter hierarchy, with one placement and no summoned pack. Its size tests the familiar rat rhythm around the pump pier and shallow intake; it is not a new species or an enemy behind the deep-hearth door.",
    "The intake traps washed-down scraps, and the dry maintenance crescent provides a nest above the summer waterline. Its home explains both food and shelter."
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "supersededByRefs": [
    "ref:old-siltclaw"
  ],
  "history": [
    {
      "id": "sump-rat-mine-design-created",
      "at": "2026-09-13T23:55:00.000Z",
      "summary": "Placed one substantial rat at the lowest working.",
      "reason": "An individual of the mine variant provides a climax using known close-pressure behavior and a working sump's spatial reversal.",
      "confidence": "Encounter intent and habitat are designed; health, attacks and timing require combat prototyping.",
      "mentions": [
        "ref:drift-rat",
        "ref:wake-the-mine"
      ],
      "source": {
        "kind": "conversation",
        "label": "Codex run: mine level and Lamp Road cutting, 2026-09-13"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "sump-rat-superseded-by-old-siltclaw",
      "at": "2026-09-14T16:35:58.000Z",
      "summary": "Superseded the sump-rat climax with Old Siltclaw, an individual crawfish.",
      "reason": "The fourth-iteration review found the larger rat too close to the ordinary mine roster. The crawfish uses the existing shallow water, pier and dry crescent as its habitat, while its obstruction of the pump intake explains the sump's trouble and recalls Lamp Road's last-lamp creature. The original rat concept and its history remain available; it is no longer the planned mine boss.",
      "confidence": "This is the planning session's recommendation on the owner's instruction; the owner has not confirmed it.",
      "mentions": [
        "ref:old-siltclaw",
        "ref:crawfish",
        "ref:wake-the-mine",
        "ref:motherlode-mine"
      ],
      "source": {
        "kind": "conversation",
        "label": "Codex brief: the mine, fourth iteration, 2026-09-14"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "sump-rat-catalog-art-2026-09-14",
      "at": "2026-09-14T19:40:00Z",
      "summary": "Added a generated illustration for the Atlas catalog and actor page.",
      "reason": "The owner requested artwork for entries without images. The illustration interprets the recorded identity and habitat; it does not establish additional anatomy, story facts, or engine-ready art.",
      "confidence": "Generated catalog concept. Surface detail is richer than the simplified gameplay target. Existing supersession and design history remain unchanged.",
      "mentions": [],
      "source": {
        "kind": "conversation",
        "label": "Homepage simplification and missing artwork, 2026-09-14"
      }
    }
  ],
  "kind": "actor",
  "scope": "individual",
  "prominence": "minor",
  "forms": [
    "animal"
  ],
  "roles": [
    "enemy"
  ],
  "locationRefs": [
    "ref:motherlode-mine"
  ],
  "image": "assets/actors/wrought-naturalism/sump-rat.webp",
  "lifeEvents": [],
  "archetypeRefs": [
    "ref:drift-rat"
  ],
  "groupRefs": []
}