Hrud

The Hrud are an inteligent alien race of the Milky Way Galaxy. Their first appearance was in the Warhammer 40,000 3rd Edition Rulebook, where a "Nocturnal Warrior of Hrud" is depicted.

Physiology and Biology
The Hrud was first depicted as a crouched, diminutive creature swathed in rags, its face obscured by a hood, and possessing a rat-like tail. Later images show a bizarre long-limbed creature with black eyes and a mouth featuring both teeth and mandibles.

It seems that the Hrud prefer darkness and are basically scavengers and tunnel-dwellers. They are found all over the galaxy, though never in large numbers. They are considered to be parasites, and when they are referred to it is usually as "infesting" a place.

Observing a Hrud is often difficult even within a well lit room due to a distortion field of unknown origin emanating from the Hrud that prevents the eye from focusing on it. In addition the limbs of a Hrud have a bone structure similar to the human spine allowing the limbs to bend in any direction (hence the nickname "bendies"). They also exude various poisons from their skin. Their bodies liquefy rapidly upon death - conveniently making detailing the creature impossible.

History
Apparently, their homeworld was in a region of space the Eldar warned the Imperial Exploratroy corps. away from, but, the Imperium being what it is, They made a beeline for the system. They were supposedly all but cleansed by the Iron Warriors during the Great Crusade. Obviously they still exist and widely infest the parts of the galaxy. In the Ciaphas Cain series, there is reference to the Inquisition having to deal with a Hrud migration.

Society
The Hrud are meticulous record keepers and have compiled large libraries of data. The Hrud believe in a pantheon of gods called the Slah-Haii. Based on the title of their original depiction ("Nocturnal Warrior of Hrud"), it might be assumed they were intended to be from "Hrud".

Technology
Hrud technology is often scavenged from other races. A weapon of their own development is the Hrud fusil, a weapon based on warp-plasma technology.

Inspiration and Etymology
The Hrud first appeared as a simple illustration of "other dangerous aliens", along with early versions of a Kroot warrior, Necron, Tarellian dog soldier, etc in the 3rd Edition Rulebook. The Skaven are humanoid rat creatures from Games Workshop's fantasy counterpart game to 40k, Warhammer. Both races have a similar unkempt, crouched appearance, scavenger culture, and both are depicted as having rat-like tails; both utilize warp-plasma based technology, which appears archaic but is technologically superior to other, contemporary engineering - the Hrud rifle is a "fusil" while the Skaven rifle is a jezail (a long-barrellled musket) - and finally both seem to have similar social habits being described as living in warrens or similar underground tunnel systems. However, unlike Skaven, Hrud are neutral, instead of Chaotic Evil, and one of the few races the Eldar don't regard as semi-evolved cave-people. Hrud were presumably meant to be a Skaven styled alien race - however, Games Workshop have never stated that the Hrud and the Skaven are parallel races, and given their current distaste for further crossovers it is unlikely they ever will. It should be pointed out at this stage, that the reader should be cautious when regarding information given to them about the Hrud unless referenced to official material that forms part of the official 40K universe. Because of the similarities between the Hrud and the very popular Skaven, fans have generated much of their own material.

Images
Obviously this contradicts the above image, but at this time it is unknown which image is the true Hrud. The large insect image in the upper right hand corner is from the book Xenology.

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