Gruntan Kurdly
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Gruntan Kurdly was the fierce but overweight warlord leader of the Brownrats. For his size, he was quick. He had a great taste for hard boiled eggs.
It was also known that Gruntan had many daughters, three of whom were skinning eggs for him. Whenever he said he'd give someone a "bad case/attack/dose of the Kurdly's", it meant he planned on killing them.
Kurdly planned on laying a trap to capture the logboats of Luglug's Guosim tribe. However, as his scouts Noggo and Biklo had already been seen by the shrews, the ambush was a disaster. Kurdly himself nearly died by falling off a huge rock, and saved himself by grabbing onto a gorse bush. Only the (somewhat) professional help of Laggle, the healer, allowed all of the ensuing thorns to be removed from Kurdly's impressive bulk.
Enraged, Kurdly pursued the Guosim hotly and quite unsuccessfully, being tricked easily by the shrews' manoevres. Kurdly himself was badly hurt when Rangval the Rogue led the Brownrats towards Owch Mansions; he was stung on the tongue seven times by the Mansions' many wasp inhabitants.
The Guosim fled into Redwall Abbey. Gruntan resolved to take the Abbey, and set up a siege camp. When his scouts reported the presence of Vizka Longtooth's Sea Raiders, Kurdly ordered his second-in-command Stringle to wipe them out, feeling cheated of "his" Abbey.
While Stringle is chasing the Sea Raiders, Kurdly's scouts report the existence of a water meadow nearby. Kurdly is tempted especially by the presence of a swan's nest; swan was the only egg Kurdly had never tasted. The Brownrats break camp and move out towards the meadows. While passing Redwall, Gruntan spots the Tabura on the walls and, thinking him to be Gorath the Flame, resolves not to attack Redwall after all.
Upon arrival at the meadows, a Brownrat messenger, sent by Stringle, informs Gruntan that Stringle has surrounded Gorath and the Guosim shrews on a plateau. Kurdly refuses to come to Stringle's aid, believing Gorath still to be at Redwall, and decides that Stringle is lying. While waiting for the rat's return, Gruntan and a young rat called Duggerlo set out in search of the swan's nest. Upon finding it, Gruntan tries to climb into the nest to gain the eggs within. However, he tips the nest's entire contents, including a fully grown female swan, onto himself. The swan, protecting its nest, viciously kills Gruntan Kurdly. The remaining Brownrats, including Duggerlo, remain in the watermeadows, living a peaceful life without a chieftain.
