Grouse

Grouse is a slaver at Paradise Falls who carries a Mesmetron weapon which can be obtained by killing him or by accepting the quest Strictly Business from him.

Background
Grouse was born in 2247.

Strictly Business
Grouse mentions Eulogy Jones wants to acquire some VIP targets. If you accept his proposal to capture some slaves he will give you a list of some priority targets.

The targets are as follows:
 * Flak from Rivet City
 * Red from Big Town
 * Susan Lancaster from Tenpenny Tower
 * Arkansas from Minefield

You can ask him why these targets have been selected and he gives a brief explanation to add to the overall story line. Flak and Susan Lancaster were former slavers and Eulogy Jones wants them back. Arkansas apparently killed a crew of Paradise Falls Slavers and they want their revenge, and Red made some deals she couldn't afford, and Grouse wants to collect her personally.

Unmarked quest: Strictly Profitable
After completion of Strictly Business you can continue to enslave random people and he will pay you 250 caps per slave. If your Karma is "very evil" and you have gained entry into Paradise Falls, you will be able to do this during completion of Strictly Business (as well as after).

Bugs

 * (Observed in several instances on PC) If you fast-travel to Paradise Falls mid-quest(Strictly Business)-- without bringing in a new slave-- and decide you're tired of doing Grouse's dirty work and it's time to end his pitiless existence with a few well-placed V.A.T.S. shots, the game will freeze upon exiting V.A.T.S. (360) Possibly only happens if you target Grouse and the other gate guard in the same V.A.T.S. period; maybe the game is trying to bring up the "Quest failed: Grouse is dead" notice, while the PC is targeting the other slaver. It's better to kill Grouse in real-time to avoid this... or just save before attacking him.


 * (Observed in two instances on two different 360s) Even though Grouse will equip different weapons and armor reverse-pickpocketed onto his person by the player, his entire inventory constantly seems to erase and refresh itself. This means he will switch back to his default outfit and weapon after a few days, and you will lose anything you "gave" to him. He appears to be the only named NPC in the game with this behavior, possibly to avoid possible problems with the Mesmetron. If you think about it, he's the only NPC in the game who has a quest item that's also a weapon. So if he somehow lost the weapon before you accepted the quest, there would be no way to obtain the Mesmetron.
 * (Observed in Xbox 360) If you fast-travel to Paradise Falls mid-quest(Strictly Business) A Giant Radscorpion appears behind him and kills him ending the quest.
 * (Observed in some instances on PC) Grouse will sometimes stop walking and just keep standing on the same spot after sometime in the game. If you fast-travel or approach Paradise Falls after enslaving someone, he will not approach you and start his usual dialogue about the slave and giving you the caps. You must approach him manually then he will start his usual dialogue. (Any fixes for this?)
 * (On 360) If you shoot Grouse with the Mesmetron right after you get it, he may spin around in his chair and his head explodes.

Appearances
appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * Grouse, by definition, means "To complain".