Fangor and Shed are not the pinnacle of what a gnawer may be. Oh, they certainly have the potential — but there is having a potential, and then there is acting on said potential.
Both are excellent warriors who would eagerly serve King Gorger, whirling and slicing on the battlefield with both skill and grace—
But strange mushrooms are all the more amusing, and so their grace turns to careening and their skill to banter.
Both possess charm and wit that would easily earn them a mate and a family—
But gallivanting in the caves, singing merry songs (as well as any rat can sing) and fooling around like pups, is all the more amusing.
Both are skilled hunters, tracking any prey with ease and pouncing easier yet—
But making conversation with the sniveling would-be meal, complimenting him with vigor in inebriation, is all the more amusing.
And so, Fangor and Shed die on a crystal beach, intoxicated and futile, the first gnawers to see the face of the warrior, and the first to fail to kill him.