Light source? we don't need no stinkin light source!

You turn your back on the light and start crunching your way up the beach.

Things actually start to get first a litle worrying, then progress to rather disturbing, then finally crank all the way up to damnably creepy as the light fades behind you, and all you can here is the crunch, crunch, of your footsteps on the shale and the dim slap slap of water to one side.

Your beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea when suddenly, you here a really nasty, highly unpleasant groul from somewhere off to your right, ---- which pretty much confirms that this was deffinately not! a good idea. Then it comes to you, ---- what lives in darkness, what do you find when you have neither torch nor a match in your in ven tor ree?

You have walked into the jaws of a lirking Grue! you twit.

Fortunately for you, a second after you find yourself slamming into a large unsceen pare of jaws, you here a polite, very cultured voice saying.

"Oh do excuse me, I'm terribly sorry. ---- you humans, always walking into our jaws, ---- it really is most careless of you"

"mmm," you say, feeling a litle confused as you remember all the times you've found yourself reading messages about restarting or quitting in interactive fiction adventure games.

"don't you usually eat humans?"

From out of the darkness comes a very shocked and somewhat aggrieved response.

"oh goodness me no! --- -but if you will walk into our jaws so wrecklessly, well accidents have been known to happen I will admit"

You really want to get this point sorted out.

"so, you don't actually eat people for food then"

this time the reply sounds slightly irritated.

"Oh dear me Certainly not! --- for one thing, they taste terrible! only a 7 headed monstrosity with a totally untrained pallet would even considder such a thing!"

"now"

The voice takes on a more brisk tone.

"I assume that you would wish to find egress from this dungeon"

After remembering what egress means you hastily assure this mysteriously helpful Grue that yes indeed you would.

"well, perchance I have some information that may be of help to you. At the end of this beach is a long corridor which will take you to a crossing. If you carry on streight forward, you will find the two gates that lead you to the laire of the fowl witch Sugarina, and the way out of the dungeon. You must defeat her in order to pass, ---- though I confess I have no idea how"

"to pass the two gates however you will need two mystical objects, the prawn of destiny and the adjective of nown. The prawn is currently in the hands of it's guardian Davy Jones, while I have heard the adjective was recently stolen by a gang of miner goblins"

"miner goblins?"

You ask, wondering what is the difference betwene a miner goblin and a major goblin, but the grue just continues without seeming to have heard you.

"also, it is whispered in the underground passages that the Lord Dark who created this dungeon is a huge fan of Lord of the rings, and anyone wishing to escape with their lives would find that knolidge useful"

suddenly there is a splash from out of the darkness and you hear the grue turn away from you.

"now, please do excuse me, ---- I believe that is a large and tasty fish and I will confess I find myself somewhat hungered, ---- really! eat humans indeed! pah!"

And the sound of the grumbling grue fades away into the distance.

Well done, you've found a clue room, ---- indeed a grue room! and now hopefully have some sort of idea about what is going on in this random dungeon of pointlessness (and sinse by all accounts this Lord dark doesn't have much idea himself, that's saying something).

However, sinse you can here water ahead as well as to one side, you decide that you've likely gone as far as you can in this direction and should probably turn around and

head back up the beach.

copywrite2011 by Dark.