Wherever they came from, Urchins may have had their own communities, but in Taluma, they are not known to settle on their own, instead residing among other people, especially humans. Their small size allows the Urchins to find shelter in places that humans and dwarves ignore. In the cities of men, Urchins can stand under the ceiling of an attic a man would have to crawl in, they can walk within tunnels of sewers or air ducts. Many are more than happy to pay rent to anyone who can claim ownership of the space they live in. But, prejudice often rises against them, for when they do pay people immediately wonder how they made their money to pay the rent. There are also known to be some wild, near feral, Urchins that live in the wilderness. They embrace their connection to small animals and live in trees or burrows in open land. They are even more in tune with small animals than their urban cousins and are as shy, reclusive and stealthy as the small creatures they live among.

While it is easy to call the Urchins freeloaders, there are many examples in the wild of animals who utilize old shelters or move in on the current abodes of another race. Birds often move into another’s nest, rodents chase each other out of their dens to use them as their own, even the clever foxes use other animals’ dens as their own. Besides, it is obvious that Urchins lack the strength in both physique and numbers to build a society as humans and dwarves have. Even proportionally, the Urchins are much more frail and delicate than other races, especially the dwarves. So instead of exhausting their energy to build shelters, they utilize those of other races

Urchins eat food that reflects their size and is one of the features that only helps evoke other peoples’ image of them as bird- and rodent-like. Their size and lifestyle keeps them from having large livestock, hunting large animals, and keeping farms, though if they can afford it they will buy the meat of larger animals and farmed vegetables from other people. They eat seeds and fruit, especially berries, and will grow plants they can plant in containers like window boxes such as lettuce and sprouts. They will forage for edible plants and they eat insects such as crickets. They hunt and keep rabbits for their meat.

Though few take on gainful employment, some will try to settle down and may take a job, usually one that takes advantage of their short stature, their innate ability to climb and scale most surfaces, or their communication with small animals. Pigeon keepers and ratters are two common professions as well as gutter cleaners, window washers, and chimney sweeps. . If your day has been brightened by the street performance of a humorous Urchin or watching young Urchins playing in the park, you probably find them at the least amusing if not adorable. If you were nearly run over by a pack of Urchins chasing, or being chased by, something out of an alley, scammed out of your last coin by a cardsharp, or gave your loaf of bread to what appeared to be a human child but turned out to be an adult Urchin you see selling the loaf later on, well - you probably have a great dislike for them.

Urchins keep dogs as pets, but also as draft animals and mounts. Larger dogs are ridden but also pull carts. Rabbits are the only known animal kept as livestock for food but also for their fur and skins. They are beekeepers and make exceptional pigeon keepers: fanciers and pigeoneers.

If any of their dealings come down to a fight, with either man or beast, the Urchins’ size forces them to attack from a distance. Their keen sight and clever dexterity makes them nearly unmatched in skill with missile weapons. They favor weapons that take up little space so they usually use simply knives, darts, or slings as a bow might not fit in a passage they walk through. However, those that do learn the bow can fire it extremely accurately, if not with the same power as humans and dwarves. Urchin children learn to use slings from early on, first in play and then more targeted practice for hunting and defense.