Ratskins are normally a shy, peaceful people who are inclined to avoid the noisy, raucous downhivers and their settlements. They need nothing from the settlers and stay hidden in small communities far from the hivers and their guns. If hivers start working near the Ratskins' settlements they will pack their gear and quietly slip away deeper into the wastes. Ratskins find the hivers strange and bewildering and would rather not have anything to do with them.