Editing Crundle

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The '''crundle''' is a small, imp-like, reptilian [[creature]] that roams the [[caverns]] in great packs under the earth. They tend to arrive at a fort in large groups (15 to 20 of them at once) and are very common, probably more common than any other type of underground wildlife, except possibly [[elk bird]]s. All crundles are born adults and possess Legendary [[skill]] in [[Climber|climbing]].

They tend to be rather weak and cowardly, even in packs, and are not especially aggressive. They '''can''', however, maim or even kill an unarmed [[dwarf]] on a lucky hit, but are generally the least dangerous of all underground creatures. They are still annoying, because they will often interrupt your dwarves who perform useful jobs down in the caverns. Thanks to their numbers, wild crundles can be useful for [[Live training|training]] your [[military]].

Crundles seem to have a chance to spawn inside procedural [[fortress]]es in [[adventure mode]]. If you are [[No Exert|immune to exhaustion]], have [[copper]] [[armor]] and can somehow [[wrestling|grab]] several of them, you can very quickly increase your various combat [[attribute]]s, more importantly dodging and shield skill, by letting them attack you if you cannot access the surface due to the [[site]] isolating itself from it. Basically, they are like the flightless birds of the [[cavern]]s.

If you rely on traps to defend your fortress, it should be noted that [[trap design|pit traps]] are fairly ineffective against crundles. They require a long fall to be killed on impact, unless, of course, the ground is flooded with [[syndrome|poison]], [[Trap#Upright_Spear.2FSpike|spikes]], or best of all, [[magma]]. They can be caught in [[cage trap]]s, and [[weapon trap]]s with basic weapons are generally enough to severely injure or kill them.

Crundles can be trained, and are rather prolific [[egg]]-layers, making them viable for [[egg production]]. They can also be bred for [[meat]], although there are better animals around since crundles do not provide [[leather]]. As they are born as adults, they can never be domesticated. Trained crundles can be used in fortress defense designs, but they should only be used as meatshields and/or distractions because they are very poor fighters. Overall, crundles are poor choices for training (but provide good experience for your [[animal trainer]]s since they need frequent retraining) when there are [[giant cave spider|many]] [[cave crocodile|more]] [[jabberer|interesting]] [[rutherer|creatures]] in the caverns.

Some dwarves [[Preferences|like]] crundles for their ''nervous energy''.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" position="center">
Crundles.png|Crundles should present no problems to an experienced adventurer.
crundle_preview.jpg|Many obnoxious crundles.<br><small>''Art by kruggsmash''</small>
crundle_preview2.png|A mildly less, almost photogenic crundle.<br><small>''Art by Arne''</small>
crundle_preview3.png|A bigger, nastier looking crundle.<br><small>''Art by Quinmael''</small></gallery>
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{{Category|Animals}}