Durable enough to stand up to even the most aggressive gnawers, PetSafe's nylon and natural rubber Bristle Bone aims to "redirect potentially destructive chewing behavior into positive playtime" — and as an extra bonus, it cleans your dog's teeth and gums as they chew on it.
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They sneak out of Regalia and find that the gnawers have driven the Mice out of the jungle and the Fount, their last refuge. They follow a tunnel under the river to the Firelands, a subterranean volcanic wasteland, where the mice have been driven. The air of the Firelands is toxic and ashy, and wipes out entire generations of the peaceful Mice. The Gnawers begin to move towards Regalia, to kill what remains of the Mice species and their human protectors.
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This, along with their naturally predatory nature, has led them to factionalize and engage in many conflicts with other species. The gnawers listed below are organized according to Gregor's somewhat simplistic black-and-white categorizations in The Underland Chronicles.
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The Bane takes control of the gnawers, and genocide is taking place in all corners of the Underland. The Rats drive the Mice out of their homes, killing any left behind. Gregor and his friends must fight to stop him. Gregor, now older and hardened from war, falls in love with Luxa.
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Following up on a promise to Ripred, Luxa sends doses of the cure to the gnawers while the Regalian hospital treats as many human and bat victims as possible. Though she is healing, Gregor's mother is too weak to go home, and so the book ends with Gregor confiding his problems to his neighbor Mrs. Cormaci.
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Once the quest groups "translate" the lines, they are taken to describe the war with the gnawers that Luxa has recently initiated. The Regalians are fully prepared to resume hostilities "as [they] have before". Luxa explains to Gregor that, in times of war, the Regalians attack their enemies with swords and burning oil poured from high places.
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Beware, Underlanders, time hangs by a thread The hunters are hunted, white water runs red. The gnawers will strike to extinguish the rest. The hope of the hopeless resides in a quest. Meaning: The usually uneasy balance of power in the Underland is in flux, with the rats' king planning to launch an attack against the other species in the Underland.
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This ruse leads to several others coming along as well. The group finds the colony mysteriously deserted, though they do discover a "mark of secret" which Hazard says warns of death and sorrow. The traveling party tracks the mice into the Swag, but are forced into Hades Hall by an earthquake. During their journey back to Regalia, they learn the Bane has been systematically executing nibblers, which leads Luxa to declare war against all gnawers.
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Gregor and his two-year-old sister Boots fall through a vent in their apartment basement and find themselves in a strange place called the Underland, inhabited by giant animals and pale humans. The Underlanders name Gregor "the warrior" and Boots the "princess" of a prophecy written hundreds of years ago by their founder, Bartholomew of Sandwich. Gregor must go on a quest mentioned in the prophecy to save his lost father, a PoW in a war between the humans and the "gnawers".
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The uneasy peace between the humans and gnawers has finally been broken, and everyone expects Gregor to accept his role as "the warrior" and act on his decision to support the humans. He soon finds his entire family drawn into Sandwich's deadly Prophecy of Time, and events around him begin to climax towards a final confrontation with The Bane. Gregor must fight to eliminate this threat to the Underland, and make hard choices about what he is willing to give up in the process.
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Rats are known as gnawers because of their tendency to gnaw on hard objects to wear down their constantly-growing teeth. Their names seem to relate to how the rats operate in war or to their physical characteristics. Although it is implied that all Underland species can communicate with their relatives in the Overland, the rats are one of only two races to do so often. The rats' traditional territory in the Underland includes the Dead Land and Firelands, both low on food and safety.
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Gregor is caught up in one of Bartholomew of Sandwich's prophecies once again when Underlanders kidnap his baby sister for her protection, and he reluctantly returns to their subterranean world. The Regalians convince him to embark on a quest to kill a dangerous rat called the Bane whom both the rats and humans believe will lead the gnawers to conquer the Underland. Along the way, Gregor struggles to come to terms with the death of several friends; a newly discovered and very terrifying talent; and the morality of what the Underlanders have asked him to do.
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When the quest members assign it a different meaning, they decide this verse talks about a large volcano, and the light it gives off in the dark tunnels. Father, mother, sister, brother, Off they go I do not know If we will see another Meaning: This section is repeated at the end of every verse, and refers to the fact that entire families of nibblers are being executed by the gnawers. As the rats hope to exterminate the mice once and for all, it is truly unlikely that anyone will ever "see another" Catch the nibblers in a trap. Watch the nibblers spin and snap.
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