[lIl-IIIl]

> [Whether or not the critter has moved, we need to adjust the sword-glow, because the player may have moved.]

That must be a comment, right?

In that case: "The critter [one of]slouches[or]slithers[or]shambles[or]lurches[at random] away.";

[one of] [or] [at random] are also comments?

[chordbug]

In code, square brackets indicate comments. But inside a string literal they indicate variable interpolation or other commands.