Gray render A gray render is a magical beast born from various terrain substances present in swamps and marshes . History . Although many scholars have come to believe that roots of gray renders can be traced back to the Elemental Chaos , the truth of the matter is that gray renders were created thousands of years ago by a small conclave of silver dragon wizards who spent most of their time in elven form and developed gray renders primarily as bodyguards for their loyal minions . The method for creating new gray renders was passed from the silver dragons to several elven communities , and from them to numerous like - aligned wizards of various races over the following centuries . Today , the knowledge of how to create a gray render is not uncommon among wizardly scholars , although the origins of the race are largely forgotten . Physical description . A gray render stands about 9 feet tall in spite of its hunched posture and is about 4 feet wide . It weighs about 4 , 000 pounds . It has very thick skin which protects it from the bites and stings of insects . Its six eyes have insect - like structure , each being composed of hundreds of tiny ocelli . The gray render lacks external ears and has two thin horizontal slits for nostrils which are easily overlooked . Ecology . Gray renders are never found in groups . They reproduce asexually in a manner most unusual for such an advanced species . Once in each gray render ' s lifetime ( shortly after attaining adulthood ) it produces a single offspring , which grows from a bud and develops in the adult render ' s pocket . Its first six months are spent nursing in the marsupial pouch , after which time it has grown to the size of a small chimpanzee and is ready to go off on its own . A unique quality of the gray render is its tendency to bond with , protect , and provide for another creature ( or group of creatures ) native to its surroundings . Whether accepted or not , the render always attempts to remain fairly close , watching over its adopted charge ( s ) and daily bringing an offering of meat . It never willingly harms adopted creatures and retreats if they attack it . Gray renders have both low - light vision and 60 - foot darkvision . They enjoys a sense of hearing comparable to that of a human and has an excellent sense of smell . A gray render ' s teeth continue to grow throughout its lifetime , with new teeth replacing older ones that have come loose . The teeth grow in several different layers , one behind another . It ' s not uncommon for a tooth to dislodge from the render ' s mouth and remain embedded in the flesh of a bite victim . Gray renders have excellent manual dexterity , on par with that of a human . Despite their ability they seldom use tools or weapons , preferring to use their razor - sharp claws to rend their opponents . Gray renders are immune to the effects of sleep spells . They are light sleepers in any case , the better to respond to any danger threatening their charges . Gray renders can understand a spoken language even though they have no language of their own and can ' t speak . Combat . A gray render attacks to kill , whether to bring down prey or to protect itself or those it has adopted . When hunting , it sometimes attempts to hide and wait for prey to wander close . Note . In Monster Manual 2 4th edition a gray render is classified as a natural humanoid with chaotic evil alignment .