The Groodder
Summary
The Groodder is a malicious spirit that haunts the mines and causes a variety of problems from the inconvenient to the deadly. When a hammer goes missing or a support beam breaks it is the Groodders fault. A creature of shadows and darkness it is never seen directly, only as a brief flash of movement out of the corner of the eye, or sometimes it will be seen in the way a shadow moves unnaturally.
According to legend the Groodder torments those who are lazy or sloppy in their work so while The Groodder can be a convinient scapegoat, blaming it can be a double-bladed axe. The Groodder frequently makes it's presence known in new shafts and abandoned tunnels so dwarves exploring such areas will attempt to placate it with gifts of food and drink. Such gifts take the form of sweets to make it happy and alcohol to dull it's senses. If the gifts fail to placate it then clerics may be called in to chase out the Groodder.
Chasing out the Groodder is a time honoured ritual combining magic and song. While a single cleric can conduct the ritual (assuming they can sing) it is generally agreed to be more effective with a mass chorus. As the Groodder hates light and order the clerics create magical lights (or send in volunteers with torches) while a group sing a hymn honouring Moradin and asking for his blessing. The structure of the song, especially when using massed voices is said to cause the Groodder physical pain and the additional lights in the tunnel leave it no place to hide, forcing it to flee. This ritual usually works and accidents or cases of lost tools drop dramatically after it has been completed.
If no clerics are available or if the chasing out fails then the area may be marked with the eyes of the Groodder to warn to warn away visitors. Many dwarves will refuse to enter an area claimed by the Groodder for fear of what it may do to trespassers.
Eyes of teh Groodder by Tanai Cuinsear
Historical Basis
Originally the Groodder was just a name given to a fear of what might be lurking around the next corner or a new tunnel. Mining can be dangerous work and it can be easier to have something to blame for an accident, so it became common for miners to blame the thing that could be lurking beyond he next corner for any mishap. This became tradition and while most were aware that there wasn't such a thing as the Groodder, there was always a little bit of nagging doubt causing them to ask "but what if it does exist?" The tradition of blaming the Groodder spread from the mines through the wider population, many of whom did not know that the Groodder wasn't real. The Church of Moradin was called into several new mines to get rid of the Groodder, which caused the priests a bit of concern as they had no idea how to exorcise a non-existant spirit.
The clerics of the Church of Moradin developed the ritual to chase out the Groodder as way to set people's minds at ease while still doing something useful. Just having the ritual helps to calm poeple's nerves which by itself usually leads to less accidents. There are no shortage of real dangers lurking underground, both physical and mystical, so the elements of the ritual are designed to help drive out real threats. Most underground creatures don't like light and those that can tolerate it are easier to spot. The ritual also gives time for the clerics to inspect any supports and the like to ensure that any accidents aren't down to a simple lack of care. The hymn was written to echo down through the tunnels, and while it does also help to call down Moradin's blessing, it's main aim is to warn off any creatures that may be lurking out of reach of the lights.
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