Among the most wretched denizens of the Abyss, uridezus, commonly known as rat demons, are rodentlike fiends that serve as toadies to more powerful demons.
Standing over six feet tall (though their skulking posture makes them seem shorter), uridezus resemble hairless humanoid rats. Their grotesque forms are riddled with leprosy. Rat demons can be mistaken for naked wererats on sight, but their palpable aura of wrongness belies their fiendish nature.
Uridezus are ill-tempered scavengers who scrape a living off of other demons’ leavings. They gladly become flunkies to stronger fiends, performing grunt work in exchange for a steady supply of food and, if possible, weaker victims to torment. Rat demons are valuable servants because of their ability to travel between the Abyss and the Material Plane, where they may serve their masters as messengers or assassins. On the Material Plane, uridezus often set up their own lairs, caves or sewers filled with the bones of their victims. Uridezus enjoy the company of the undead, especially ghouls and ghasts, who share their morbid tastes.
Like mundane rats, rat demons are harbingers of disease. Victims of their vicious bites often recover from their paralysis only to discover weeks later that they have been infected with an especially virulent strain of leprosy. This malady can spread quickly; uridezus enjoy letting infected victims go and patiently watching as their communities wallow in disease.
Rat demons are usually associated with ver tribes, where they are treated as favored minions of Seshket. The demons themselves appreciate servitude but treat their minions as expendable. Half-fiend or fiendish ver almost always arise from uridezu ancestry.
Shores of Swords 