The Grue

In the Crossroad...

As night falls the darkness below that waterlogged canopy grows steadily toward absolute. In fact, everywhere that light does not touch the darkness waxes thick and murky, as if it were a physical thing rather than a simple lack of illumination.

It presses in, unnaturally cold and suffocating.

A low, breathy hiss sounds out of the night.

The two lost travelers need to get a bright light-source immediately.

Why, you ask?

Because it is pitch black.

They are likely to be eaten by the Grue.

As dusk falls the swamp grows deathly silent. Where as before it had been full of the sounds of strange and sometimes monstrous creatures now there is a silence that feels murky and oppressive.

The injured shape-shifter will likely get the distinct impression that something is watching her. Something waiting for the cloak of darkness before it makes its move. A terror lurking just on the other side of dusk's threshold.

Finding a source of light to ward away the darkness may be wise.

A Brief Note
The Grue doesn't attack monsters or sleeping people; only unprepared PCs who are in the darkness, such as in caves or at night. When The Grue approaches, the stars and ambient light go out and the PCs have some time to quickly make a fire or a light to ward away their death.

Darkvision does not help. However, even the faintest glimmer of light wards it away. When the flames flash into being there's a guttural hiss as the gloom retreats away from them. The area beyond the reach of the light is utterly pitch black. In fact, it seems to writhe with darkness in a fashion that suggests something both living and malevolent. Even various forms of magical sight that can peer through darkness will be unable to pierce the gloom.