The Grue, a mythical creature, is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of Quendor. Its favourite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered only by its horrible fear of light. Few grues have ever been observed in their underground lairs. Of those who have seen grues, few have ever survived their fearsome jaws to tell the tale. Completely exposing a grue to light can only result in a condition known as "Spontaneous Grueish Combustion" leaving only a greasy slick on the floor.

Grues are ravenous creatures, having sharp claws, sickly glowing fur, fish-mouthed faces, razor-like fingers, multiple fangs, and an uncontrollable tendency to slaver and gurgle. They are certainly the most evil-tempered of all Quendorian creatures; to say they are touchy is a dangerous understatement. "Sour as a grue" or "that's gruesome!" is a common expression, even among themselves.

In former days it was believed that all grues were eradicated from the face of the world during the time of Entharion, many by his own hand, and his legendary blade Grueslayer. It is now known that uncountable hordes of grues escaped the blade of Entharion and lurked in the bottomless pits of the underground, until they were accidentally released in 883 GUE by a peasant who would eventually become the first Dungeon Master. At this time the grues quickly spread to every part of the Great Underground Empire, including passages underneath Festeron, Antharia. It is there that a Festeron postal worker stumbled into the nesting place of a family of grues. A close call on the part of this postal worker demonstrated that only the mother-instincts of a female grue are strong enough to overcome a grue's fear of light.

Grues have achieved some level of intelligence, because they have been known to hold annual conventions. The last known Annual Grue Convention was in 1066 GUE, with a topic of "Surviving in the Lean Years; is Lurking Enough?"

A rare type of grue is one with a long arm, and an eye in the palm of its hand. This type is capable of speaking the human language, and is generally fairly sociable to adventurers if it isn't too hungry. The most feared type of grue is the Ur-Grue. The Ur-Grue is a common grue that was possessed by the shade of a fallen Implementor, and is not afraid of any type of light except sunlight. There are many other types, but the only other worth mentioning is the elusive water grue.

Advice for Hitchhikers in Quendor: Never go underground, or anywhere dark without a light source, such as a magic candle that stays lit forever, a FROTZ spell, or a battery-powered brass lantern, which are most peoples primary choices for underground light sources.

See also: Club Zork

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