107: Crabification in Every Realm!

This week, Travis takes us through a new Beholder type, the Eye of the Deep, what it means to carcinate, and more of Ed Greenwood's incredibly detailed nightmare-fuel.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You the adventurer? Yes, you. Do you desire knowledge of immense worlds and arcane power? A codex of untold stories and lore? Or perhaps simply easy listening for your daily commute? Then feast your eyes, or more accurately, yes, upon Dungeon Pedia. Shit's about to get nerdy in here.

SPEAKER_03 0:50

So I'm tired. You're tired? I'm tired. Aren't we all?

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Aren't we all? I mean That's all I got. I'm tired.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

It's it's listen, the the the days are long. It's hot outside.

SPEAKER_04 1:04

Dude, I am mostly tired of this heat.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

This heat is oppressive, actually. I I will definitely agree with you there. And I'm I'm way more well, I won't say I'm more heat tolerant than you, but I have a higher threshold before I before it is heat.

SPEAKER_04 1:18

Yeah, I'm like 30 seconds outside and I'm overheating.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

Yeah, it's um you know, the the throes of the throes of summer, the throes still for another like week or something of of cancer season, the best the best the best season. The best season at crab, crab rave emote. Everyone become crab. Everyone become crab.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Everyone is become crab, yes. To carcinate. Everyone is become crab. To carcinate.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Yeah. Who up carcinating.

SPEAKER_04 1:54

Still such a fun word for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

In case you are in chat and you don't know, to carcinate, it refers to the phenomenon of all cephalopod and cephalopod or not. Wait. Not cephalopod. Uh that's a different thing. Of all uh cephalopods. Arthropods. Arthropods. All arthropods and arthropod-like beings to slowly become crab or crab-like.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Because basically, nature made a good shape and it's crab.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

They said nature said this is this is peak performance. This is this is this is the ideal male body. I don't care if you don't like that.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:34

So you know, funny enough, Dungeons and Dragons also has something similar to that. I don't know if you were aware of this.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Dungeons and Dragons has carcinogenation.

SPEAKER_04 2:45

Kinda, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

Oh good. Oh good. I love when DD draws from real life.

SPEAKER_04 2:50

Right? Um, specifically, uh beholders. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Beholders carcinate.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

They have indeed. I don't uh think they do now, but they did before.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Are beholders arthropods?

SPEAKER_04 3:10

I don't know what def what technically counts as an arthropod.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

That's a list. You don't want to do that.

SPEAKER_04 3:16

Yeah. Well, never mind then.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

You know, I would I would get sorry, sidebar. I would kill for one of those like marine biologists talks about Subnautica creatures style videos, but for like uh like a like a zoologist or like an evolutionary biologist or something like that talking about DD. Oh my god, that would be. I would kill, I would kill for I you know what I'm gonna go back to college. I have to do that.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

I had a relative that I we might actually be able to talk to.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

Uh oh my god, that would be so good.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

I'm not gonna name drop him here, but he he does have a bit of a following online, and they're he he's big into animals. We might actually be able to do something like that.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Oh my god, I'm a I'm a genius.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

I'm a genius. So unfortunately for us, I am not a zoologist or a biologist or anything like that. But I do have information on the beholder crab.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

I don't, I don't know. I don't think I like that. Like that to me produced the same feelings as I did a couple weeks ago when I read the words Ilithid Vampire. My brain was immediately like, no. Just how about that? No, those are words that don't belong together.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

I I agree fundamentally, yes.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

But I am, I am, I am not, I am very interested.

SPEAKER_04 4:35

So specifically, they are called Eye of the Deep. And they did first appear back in the first edition of the monster manual in 1977.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Oh, that's a really good image.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

The art is so good.

SPEAKER_02 4:49

Oh my god, that is so first edition.

SPEAKER_04 4:52

It is so first edition. That's so good, dude. Had I thought about it ahead of time, I would have had you prepare that to positive.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Don't worry, I can do this.

SPEAKER_04 5:02

Uh while she uh messes with that. I'm going to start with a quote from this monster manual that says, It is possible that this monster is a relative of the beholder.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

It is possible. It is possible. It is possible.

SPEAKER_04 5:17

So it is possible. Um spoiler alert, they are in fact a relative of the beholder.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Good, good. I I would have more questions if it was just like weird convergent evolution.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:31

Right. I mean, they do look pretty similar. They're big, you know, circular body, one eye in the middle. Um they have two smaller eyes on like the long stalks, which is about where they differ there. Uh they have the big mouth below the eyes that have like sharp teeth in them, you know, all the normal things.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Right.

SPEAKER_04 5:51

Except there are just a few key differences. Even Hades is upset to learn this.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

I'm seeing two of them. I'm seeing two of the key differences.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Two very key differences, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:03

Well, the first difference is they only live at great depths of the ocean.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

Okay, well, at least they're at great depths, you know. They're they're down there. Yeah. You know, you wouldn't he wouldn't just find one walking down the beach.

SPEAKER_04 6:15

Exactly. Correct. They also have two huge crab-like pincers. They're really good. I that's really good.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Look, uh, I have now placed the image.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

Yes, there it is. There is our beautiful, beautiful eye of the deep.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

This is our this is our guest, the eye of the deep. That expression is so inscrutable. Hold on. You know, and you said sharp teeth, but I feel like the teeth don't look especially sharp in this image. They don't. And like I know that that's just the the the the like compression, you know. Yeah. Partially. But then again, also a mouth, like a beholder with a mouthful of like like human teeth. Oh goodness are special guests. Would be terrifying.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Yeah, that's that's that's worth it.

SPEAKER_04 7:04

So I mean their teeth differ from regular beholders because theirs are much smaller and basically like a razor sharp, whereas like beholders are sharp, but they're bigger teeth.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Oh, yeah, they're like they're like um they're they're like like piranhas.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

Yeah, in a sense. So also their central eye, instead of just having the uh like negate magic field, they can actually emit a blinding flash of light that is used to stun victims for two to eight melee rounds. Oh good. And this is what they use to hunt. They will flash this giant, basically underwater flash, stun their whatever they're trying to eat, and then grab it with their pincer and start tearing it apart and eating it.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

So I don't like underwater, underwater um magic uh a baron flash grenade.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

With crab, uh with with pincers.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

With crab.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

With crab. Can I get a side of crab with my beholder, please?

SPEAKER_02 8:12

I mean, I mean it'll cost extra.

SPEAKER_04 8:14

Yeah, and it while it doesn't mention it anywhere, I'm going to assume that the meat for crab beholders also does not taste good.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Yeah, I I yeah, I would I would, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

I would err on the side of gross.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

Yeah, especially because like while it doesn't exactly describe it in the uh actual like entering, as you can see, their body is covered with this what looks like rock sort of um like armor.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Yeah, maybe like scale-ish.

SPEAKER_04 8:51

It is uh later described as uh chitin or chitin. Um whichever one it's pronounced, I don't remember. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Matt Mercer.

SPEAKER_04 9:03

I have always pronounced it as Chitin because of how I read it in World of Warcraft.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

So I mean learn learning from reading is like, you know, totally but yes, their body is covered in like this hard, like chitin material.

SPEAKER_04 9:20

Like a crowd.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Like a crowd. Yeah. Or like how I see ore in the red from Baldur's Gate 3. Orange does look like she is covered in Kitin. Like she looks like she's wearing a lobster.

SPEAKER_04 9:31

She really does. So their two smaller eyes serve two different purposes. Um, when they are working basically together, uh, they can create an illusion. Now, if they're working independently, each one can cast hold person and the other one can cast hold monster. Okay, they got the brains covered. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Also, like in the case they would need to use that instead of just a fucking instead of just a fucking flashbang. Just stun them.

SPEAKER_04 10:00

Yeah. If it's I mean, I guess it has a person, hold. If it's a monster, hold. I mean, they got everything covered.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

Yeah. And I guess I guess because presumably these are probably just like regular beholders, I would assume very intelligent. So, you know, I'm just I'm sure there are plenty of instances where they they would find uh that more useful.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

Yes, definitely. Um, now their illusion does get a more in-depth description later. So that'll be very important.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

I can only imagine what horrible deep sea thalassophobia related images that you could be subjected to if you came across one of these things. God.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Yeah, this is a real thalassophobia episode. Why did you do this to yourself?

SPEAKER_04 10:49

So mainly because one, I've already done Beholders.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Part one and two.

SPEAKER_04 10:55

Part one and two. Uh two, is because I actually found these because I was going through the Forgotten Realms Wiki just looking at random things. And I came across a section of it that has a list of all of the creatures and monsters that have had ecology articles in magazines. Oh, okay. So I started clicking through them. Those are so good. And then I found the Eye of the Deep and was like, yes, absolutely. Just like beholders, uh, if their eye stalks are ever like severed, they regrow in about a week.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

Um, they are described as hateful and aggressive. Shocker.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:37

Just kind of looking at their sheet. Stab block. There we go.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

Hey, words are really words are really hard, y'all. Words are hard. I forgot the word box earlier, so like it's not good. It was not good.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:56

So um their hit dice are like 10 to 12. Their armor class is a five, you know, thaco. Yeah, which is pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

If I knew that we were doing thaco, I would have worn my t-shirt.

SPEAKER_04 12:08

Well, it's okay. We won't stick too long in Thacko, hopefully. Oh dear. So yeah, uh, their armor class is five. Uh it says number of appearing, uh, one, so they only ever appear okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

So unchanged from beholders in that regard. Yeah, yeah. They're a very solitary creature.

SPEAKER_04 12:28

Yes, they at least do not work together.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

Yeah, at least you would only um then have to hypothetically deal with one at a time.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

Which is a plus.

SPEAKER_04 12:37

Something. That's something. Yeah. Yeah. Their size is three to five feet in diameter. So they are fairly big.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

See, it's funny you said that, because in my mind, I was like, that that seems small. I don't know why that feels small to me.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

It is small compared to normal beholders, I believe.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

I don't remember their exact yeah, I don't remember their exact measurements either.

SPEAKER_04 13:01

But they do weigh a lot more just because, you know, they have crab armor.

unknown 13:06

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

Yeah, and also probably something about like density and like, you know, the like abyssal zone of the ocean. Yeah. Man, I wonder if like if you were to take one of these guys and like bring them up to the surface, like, you know how like poor blobfish get all fucked up when when you do that? Right. Oh, they would absolutely how crazy these things would look if you did that. Deflated. Just deflated and crazy looking.

SPEAKER_04 13:36

Oh, I know. Blobfish just I feel so bad. I feel so bad.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

They only look that bad when they're pulled up here. When they're in their natural environment, they look pretty normal.

SPEAKER_04 13:46

Yeah, they just they look they look normal.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

But then you know, you pull them up here and it's just like but I don't know that I would have the same I don't know that I would have the same level of sympathy for one of these things as I do for blobfish. No, because you know these are ontologically usually very evil.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

So yeah, yeah. Okay, I can get rid of him, by the way. You can get rid of it. No, I I like him.

SPEAKER_04 14:10

So now we're gonna go to uh my favorite part, which is the ecology of the deep.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

I love ecology articles. Ecology articles are so good, dude.

SPEAKER_04 14:23

This comes from the uh dragon magazine number 93, and it was written by Ed Greenwood.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Yeah, shout out Ed Greenwood, which everyone loves Ed.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

Uh yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

As if it were an actual zoological study.

SPEAKER_04 14:44

Yeah. Yeah. So this magazine was released in 1984, if I recall correctly. I forgot to write it down, but I do believe it was 1984. It starts out this is a this is compiled from a discussion at a meeting of sages of Hillsfar led by Avrus the Inquirer.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

That's a name.

SPEAKER_04 15:05

That is a name. Given that it lives in the depths of the ocean, it is rarely seen and even more rarely studied. Right. Um it is it is the sage's considered opinion that they are related to beholders.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

I can't imagine how they came to that conclusion. Right.

SPEAKER_04 15:22

I know. I know, truly a mystery. Uh speculated that they were once the same creature, but evolved differently to like master the different environments.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

As to how they ended up in the bottom of the ocean, do they have any insights on that?

SPEAKER_04 15:37

They do not. Okay. I mean they just decided to take over the ocean, I guess, and over time they became crab beholders. Yeah. Crab holders.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Crab holders. The the you know, some beholders were like, we need to get in on this ocean thing. And then they got they got in there and saw everything else, like all the other arthropods evolving into crabs, and they were like, that's that's that's that's the ticket. That's what we gotta do. Honestly, and then they got more fucked up.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

They probably saw Avaleths ruling the the deep and were like, no, actually, I think that that should be us.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

Yeah, true. Yeah, like actually, we want some of that. So they are solitary predators, like any other beholder, um, catching most of its victims using that blinding flash from their large eye. Its pincers, like I said, can shred creatures like much larger than the eye itself. So, like they're very powerful pincers. Their diet consists of mostly octopi, giant squids, and huge like cruising fish that just kind of swim around in the depths. But of course, it does have a favorite meal.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

What?

SPEAKER_04 16:46

This favorite meal is surface dwellers.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

Okay, yeah, that that makes sense. Fine.

SPEAKER_04 16:53

So the problem there becomes they can't actually rise into shallow waters to hunt these surface dwellers.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Because then they will deflate like blobfish.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

Because then they turn into yeah, they turn into blobfish.

SPEAKER_04 17:05

They actually don't uh deflate, uh, they explode.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Oh, there's another thing that that actually also takes from real life stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:17

The oh no, the yeah. Yeah, so the change in pressure actually causes their body and like internal gases to expand until the point that they just explode.

unknown 17:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Yeah. God, I can't I can't hear about like issues with like oceanic pressure changes without thinking about that one really horrible thing that happened. Oh to like the like the the the by for dolphin incident, I believe it's called.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:45

I can't I can't think about bad things happening with oceanic pressure. The the yeah, the the the beholder for dolphin incident.

unknown 17:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

So it was kind of right there.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

Yeah. It is kind of funny. It is kind of funny imagining one of these guys just popping like a like a balloon or like a um like a like a like a mine or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 18:10

How loud of a sound would that make? Do you think it would be uh louder or not as loud as the uh submarine that has uh imploded fairly recently?

SPEAKER_02 18:23

I mean, I like how you're going as far around saying it as you can. I mean, probably louder.

SPEAKER_04 18:30

Probably pretty fucking loud. Yeah, it definitely would be, especially if it like gets to the point of actually being out of the water.

SPEAKER_03 18:37

Yeah. Yeah. And like I would imagine it would probably produce like a big, you know, like a big wave and shit. And then, you know, beholder guts and blood all over the place. Uh delicious. I love I love how they like it's purported that they probably probably decided that they wanted to conquer the ocean also, because having dominion over anything else isn't good enough for them. You know, they need more. Yeah. And then they accidentally evolve themselves into a corner where they like can't go too high. They can't leave the ocean or else they'll explode. Like kind of fucking idiots.

SPEAKER_04 19:12

So they will mainly get their favored food from shipwrecks. Uh they use their claws and everything to break into like the disintegrating holes to eat any uh tasty, delicious land dwelling bodies within.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Yeah, anyone anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves at the bottom of the ocean for some reason. Hopefully at that point you are.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

I feel like there are uh there are probably a lot more adventurers at the bottom of the ocean in D than there are in the real world.

SPEAKER_04 19:40

That's true. Yeah, that's true. That's a good point. Also, in order to get around their inability to go up to like shallower depths, they do sometimes cooperate with Sahuagan for a short period of time or for like very specific undertakings.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

That it sounds like my least favorite team up.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

Yeah, I like how they they won't work with other beholders because you know because the way they are, but they'll like they'll team up with Sahuagan. That's fun though. I like I like when I like the evil, the evil team up.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Yeah, usually they will demand, you know, bodies in return for uh payment for whatever they helped the Sahuagans with. It wasn't specific on what exactly they do for the Sahuagans, but it's up to your imagination. I'm sure you can think of several things.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Oh, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

Yeah, because like the Sahuagan also enjoy eating people, so like it could be as simple as just giving them information.

SPEAKER_04 20:42

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, due to you know, eating people, yeah. Um, they do tend to often ingest uh like metallic treasures, but these don't actually harm them when they ingest them. Um they actually just kind of like remain in their stomach until it accumulates to a point to where the eye is uncomfortable. No, and then they will just regurgitate all of the items into their layer.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Oh my god, it's it it's like um cows swallowing stones and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

Yeah, or like or like um like an owl pallet, except instead of like bones and shit, it's full of like gold coins and stuff.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

Yeah, just gold coins, swords, shields, spears, whatever you can find, fishing hooks, like goop together in this like yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

But you know, if you want to take the time to sift through it, you might find something there.

SPEAKER_04 21:40

Probably. Uh their layers you might die.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

You might die. You might die if you're in their layer though. Pros and cons here.

SPEAKER_04 21:48

Yeah, you have to kind of weigh those. Yeah. Um, I mean, to find their layers though is fairly simple. Um, I mean, they kind of just always make them in like Undersea grottos, which, if there's any occupants there, they just kill them to take over. They also like to actually make their lairs under heavy trafficked areas. Uh, so you know, a bunch of ships would be passing over them.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

Yeah. More chance for them to get.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

I was I've been watching too much True Crime because my brain was like, trafficking? The word traffic. No, not that kind of traffic.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

Not that kind of traffic. Listen, beholders are are generally speaking like awful and like evil, but they're not that evil.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Actually, they are.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

They are. They would be, but I I I take no qualms with like, you know, like stories about human trafficking not typically being a feature in most DD stories. I'm sorry. I don't disagree with you.

SPEAKER_04 22:49

Yeah, fair. They do sometimes have their layers guarded by lesser creatures or by traps that they set up. It mentioned most of the traps are usually like sort of rockfall type traps, like a bunch of rocks and like fishing nets. Then what they have to do is like, you know, clip the rope and it falls down. Fucking wily coyote shit. Basically, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:13

Fucking Skyrim trip roll tripwire rockfall shit.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

Yeah. Home alone ass.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Home alone ass.

SPEAKER_04 23:23

Home alone ass. So again, incredibly shocking. They are described as aggressive, deceitful, and totally self-interested.

SPEAKER_03 23:31

Wow. Yeah, they really, they really are just they really are just beholders of the seas.

SPEAKER_04 23:39

They are crowd beholders. They avoid other eyes purely for reasons of practicality. They don't want to die or get badly injured in a fight with an opponent of equal power.

SPEAKER_03 23:48

Yeah, like that tracks for beholders, but I do think that they're just just something about their complete like you know refusal to like be near or like associate with other beholders and stuff like that is always like so funny to me because it's like, you know, they'll have minions, they'll work with like Sahuaga and other like assorted things, but it's like it's such an interesting expression of like their egotism, too. Also to where they're like, okay, well, this is like an actually but but then also like it it kind of I guess serves its purpose because like I wouldn't wanna I wouldn't want to have to deal with more than one of these at a time. Yeah. So that's fine.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

It's it's so intrinsic to the core of like every beholder and beholder kin, basically, because even like the most like good canonically beholders want nothing to do with each other.

SPEAKER_03 24:39

Yeah, which is it's funny because like if they if they work together, oh my god, like they can you know what I mean, but they won't, you know, because they because they suck.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Forget mine flares, forget aboleths, these are the real like potential like threat, but they refuse to work together.

SPEAKER_04 24:57

Yeah, completely refuse. It is noted that after observing a few of these uh incredibly rare battles, that an eye can be affected by another eye's illusions, but they are immune to these stunning powers.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Oh interesting.

unknown 25:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 25:14

Uh their eye stalks can regenerate in six to eleven days. Other body parts, such as like their pincers or their central eye, can also be regrown. It just takes longer, a matter of months, and is dependent on how much food that they are able to consume during that time. Interesting. So if they're able to consume a lot of food, they will regenerate it quicker. But I mean, a beholder without its main eye is not going to be able to consume a whole lot because it can't really hunt.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Right. It would basically have to rely on either its minions if it was like already had some, or the kindness of others, which is laughable. Yeah, referring to a beholder.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

Why would it's like a a doomsday prepper like beholder? So it's like, oh, it's fine. I got, you know, I got I got MREs, you know. I got MREs.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

I got some MREs I can eat until my agro's a bunch of a bunch of guys with MRE.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

It's just a bunch of guys in like one of those like shark cages, you know. Like he's like, Yeah, I got, I got, you know. I stocked up. Yeah, he stocked up, you know.

SPEAKER_04 26:28

So this part was illustrated in the picture from the first edition monster manual, but I wasn't sure exactly how to describe them.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 26:36

So those mini uh tentacle things that are on the bottom.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

Are we actually called feelers? They are described as like flexible, sticky body strands which can act as paddles when swimming. It allows them to basically like walk along rocks or other solid objects if they decide to actually do that rather than swim. They can hold prey, etc. You know.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

To any audio only listeners, they kind of look like tentacles, but more rigid.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

To me, it looked like a seaweed beard.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

I'm not gonna also kind of a seaweed beard.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Like I figured it was like a it was like a little tentacle feet situation, but the art did kind of make it look like a seaweed beard.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

It it it's first edition also.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

And it's like it's it's black and white, you know, so like Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:27

Like the they had a very specific style with in first edition, which is a good style, but it's it's like like it's iconic as hell, but it does not lend itself to to like the most fine details of a lot of things. Yeah, exactly. But it looks like really thin tentacles that are just more rigid, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:47

And like new feelers are constantly growing. Uh the old ones are continually being like lost or damaged due to you know the various things that they do. Whiskers.

SPEAKER_03 27:57

Oh, yeah. I don't like I like that even less for some of the things. I do too.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

I'm the one who said it, and I I don't I don't like it.

SPEAKER_04 28:05

Well, you're gonna love this quote. Probably not. So uh direct uh quote is an eye's underside is a tangled forest of whitish mauve modeled feelers, all of differing lengths and diameters. Yeah. Yeah. So all of the feelers except for the reproductive ones can be made to be sticky by a secretion of like a glue-like fluid to help, you know, restrain and catch things, and then they can basically become unsticky by an emission of like an alcohol-like solvent.

SPEAKER_03 28:40

Okay, that's really that's really interesting. I don't like the idea that they're sticky though, like I don't want to touch it. They can be made sticky, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:51

I don't want to oh but yeah, no, I I understand that they're not sticky all the time, but I don't like the idea that they can be sticky.

SPEAKER_03 28:58

That it would be sticky.

SPEAKER_02 28:59

That that at any given point that it it might be sticky.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

That's not a word that I like almost anything being described as, but especially not a beholder. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

Yeah. Well, so now we're gonna get to everyone's favorite part about beholders and ecologies.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Our favorite part of the ecology article?

SPEAKER_04 29:20

Yes, the reproduction article.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

Oh my god. Okay, I I was Greenwood.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

I was I was I was shaking in my boots when you said the when you mentioned the the the re the reproductive feelers, and I was like, okay, that's gonna be a thing.

SPEAKER_04 29:37

Yep, it sure is, and we will cover that after our break.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Oh, oh my.

SPEAKER_04 29:43

Thank you everyone for listening. Uh, we do still have our affiliate partnership with FanRoll Dice going on. You can use code Dungeonpedia for 10% off of your entire order at fanrolleddice.com. Uh, we do, of course, also still have our Patreon if you would like to support us directly. Uh, it's just Dungeonpedia.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

I also meant to mention if you are more interested in like a one-time thing, there is a tip link down in the description on Twitch. Totally optional. Everything is appreciated. No hard feelings one way or the other. I just don't know. Just if you are interested in doing more of a one-time thing, that is an option. Um, we have our Discord, which is linked wherever you follow us. On our Twitch page, on YouTube, threads. Threads. Yeah. Speaking of which, you can follow us on Threads and Instagram at Dungeonpedia. We post every so often. We are about to start posting clips and more stuff. Uh, Travis has been putting in a lot of fun uh little bits of lore on threads lately.

SPEAKER_04 30:47

Yeah, I really, really need to make use of that uh schedule feature because good god, I suck at social media. But if I do that, I could just schedule things and I won't have to worry about it.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

It's okay to suck at social media because social media sucks.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Social media does, in fact, suck. If you have any episode suggestions, you can email us at dungeonpedia.podcast at gmail.com or just anything you'd like to send via email. We're always perusing and checking that email.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

Also, uh subscribe wherever you listen to us to get notifications of new episodes when we post them. And also if those platforms allow, if you'd consider leaving us a rating or review, uh, we would really appreciate that. And also tell your friends, your friends who like crabs and your friends who hate the ocean. Because I'm sure this will make them this will make them hate it worse.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

Yeah. Our resident Travis has thalassophobia, and for some reason he still decided to do this episode.

SPEAKER_04 31:43

It's I can't, I just can't ignore a good ecology article, man.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

True. I can't ignore a good opportunity to thank Alexander Nacarata for the use of our theme song, Blacksmith.

SPEAKER_03 31:54

Hell yeah. Well, I think with all that, we have to go back to um sex ed with with beholders. I know they're called Eyes of the Deep.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

Sex Ed with Ed Greenwood on Beholders.

SPEAKER_05 32:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:07

Specifically Eye of the Deep Beholders.

SPEAKER_02 32:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

Well, so uh as I uh mentioned above, I'm I'm I'm I'm I don't know if I'm ready for this.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

I I know I'm not.

SPEAKER_04 32:22

Hidden amongst the mini feelers are a few quote strands devoted to reproduction.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

I don't like I don't like the use of the word feelers anymore. I don't like the use of the word strands.

SPEAKER_04 32:35

These long feelers uh hold the eyes eggs like peas in a pod, basically. So eggs are produced at a rate of one per strand every two months. When a strand accumulates six to eleven eggs, it will split open lengthwise and deposits the contents into the surrounding water. I love I love the horrifying reactions when I do these.

SPEAKER_03 33:05

I'm just I'm just you know, I uh I I'm not even gonna make the joke. I'm not even gonna make the joke. Like I'm not even gonna I prefer the budding and and having dreams versus instead, this is whatever this is, and um having nightmares.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

I want you to know we're losing viewers right now. I don't actually know that for certain, but we're losing viewers.

SPEAKER_04 33:36

Yeah. So the eggs are spherical, about six inches in diameter, with a tough but flexible shell that allows them to withstand the water pressure and moderately hard blows without cracking. So the fun part about this is the eyes of the deep are bisexual. So any other eye can fertilize the eggs, they just can't fertilize their own eggs.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

Hey, Ed, that's not what bisexual means. Ed, that's not what bisexual means.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

Wait, can you not do that? Because I can do that.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

Maybe I maybe I'm not bisexual, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

As then I guess maybe it's like literally bi-dash sexual.

SPEAKER_03 34:27

God bless. Yeah, you know, it was it was the it was the eighties. That's fair, but like it was the 80s. It's really that's really all I feel like I can say is that it was the 80s.

SPEAKER_04 34:41

And people might be thinking, like, but why would they fertilize other eggs because they really just hate their own kind and don't want to be around them? Yeah. Well, it's because it's done instinctively whenever the eyes recognize the eggs for like what they are. They just do it without even thinking about it.

SPEAKER_03 35:01

Yep. So it's like a it's like a it's like a um it's like a dead drop. It's like a dead drop. They just like they're they just like, hmm, this this little pile of this little pile of rocks looks kind of weird.

SPEAKER_04 35:13

And then they yeah, well, because whenever the eggs are deposited into the ocean, you know, they're caught up in the ocean currents, so they just get like swept everywhere. So if another eye comes across it, it's like, oh look, eggs fertilized.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

Man, TSR really shot themselves in the foot when they decided in terms of reproduction of beholders, when they decided that beholders won't like each other at all.

SPEAKER_06 35:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Dude, that's having to go up with all of this work around.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

Does it does it at all does it does it at all expand on the um on the on the process of the uh the fertilization? It does not. Okay, so okay, I'm just featuring fish. Yeah, no, I am I have to say also given the the the the feeler and the strand imagery, um, I think it was a good call for for for uh Ed Greenwood to draw the line there. Like he was like, I've talked about long tubular things enough. We should probably just we should probably just let people, you know.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Big fan of Mr. Greenwood and all of his work, but oh my god, what is wrong with you in the words that you use?

SPEAKER_04 36:34

Like so uh very few eggs are ever actually like fertilized. It says about 20% of all eggs that are released are fertilized, since you know there's only two months of a window of after being released before they just become inert and infertile.

SPEAKER_02 36:53

Makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 36:54

And also, you know, I'm sure other predators eat them.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Delicious.

SPEAKER_04 37:00

But when a fertilized egg does happen, they fall to the ocean floor and just kind of lie there until they either hatch or die.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

Okay, so it's still a toss-up. Post fertilization, whether or not they actually hatch. I guess the is why that there's not, you know, a fuck ton of them.

SPEAKER_03 37:21

Which honestly, again, thank God.

SPEAKER_04 37:24

So like of the eggs that are fertilized, so 20% of all the eggs they're released, only 50% of those survive long enough to actually hatch.

SPEAKER_02 37:35

Cool.

SPEAKER_04 37:36

Because again, they're usually like eaten by other denizens of the deep.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Or the oceans like crush, or whales.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Whatever, yeah. But also the ocean's a big place. So you know that too. There could potentially be an amount of these.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

An amount.

SPEAKER_04 37:53

There are certainly an amount.

SPEAKER_02 37:55

I I I promise you, it's more than one, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_04 37:59

Six more than it's more than it's more than zero, which so the hatchlings are about two feet in diameter. Um, and as soon as they hatch, they are rapidly carried away by ocean currents because they are too small.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

You just okay, that's actually kind of cute. You just you just get bored and then just like poof.

SPEAKER_04 38:22

Yep, you hatch and they get swept away, and then wherever they land, they will typically like hide and feed on like bottom life.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

Um in fairness, isn't that kind of what happens to turtles? I mean, like, don't get me wrong, they they do have to have their own self-yeet, but like immediately after hatching, they do like take themselves to the water to self-yeet.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

I don't know why. I thought you were gonna say, isn't that what happens to people? I mean, you do kind of you are kind of removed. You are yeeted, yes. You are removed from a place that but you do not get whooshed away in an ocean current. No, I mean, hopefully you don't. Hopefully you don't.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 39:03

I do worry about some of those crunchy moms. Oh, yeah, them crunchy moms are up to some shit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

So it usually takes about two to three years after hatching to basically become uh like full size and power. The fun part is as it grows, its skin will split. Oh, they will abs. It will shed the tough uh outer layer, like the outer armor plates that they have that they're outgrowing. Right. Like a soft, new, like larger set underneath. It then will eat the discarded plates to regain some of the body minerals it lost and to help begin rebuilding a new set of plates when it eventually outgrows the next set.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

I feel like I feel like some I feel like some real animals do that. I don't think I don't think lobsters, I like I don't know why I'm thinking lobsters specifically when I know that they're supposed to be like crabs kind of maybe. But I think some real life, I think some real animals do that. Like they eat the yeah, they eat the shed part. That is cool that they molt.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

I I know that there are real life animals that eat eat their shed. I just can't think of any of them at the time at this current moment, and I don't know how many of them are arthropods.

SPEAKER_03 40:19

Yeah, yeah, can't I can't recall. I do think that's fun though, that they molt like lobsters.

SPEAKER_02 40:25

That is really fun. Like, god damn you, Ed Greenwood. I know you put in so much. Like, there is so obviously so much love and care. And then Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:35

And you know, also as much as it's like I am um troubled by most of the passages about reproduction, I do also think it's really fucking funny.

SPEAKER_02 40:45

So, like Yeah, you know that's fair. I I just it's the verbiage for me.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

Yeah, I don't like the I don't like the strands.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

I don't like the words.

SPEAKER_04 40:56

I don't like strands, feelers, the vokies and a pod bad. Yeah. So when they actually do end up reaching like physical maturity, their body processes uh switch from the continual growth to regeneration at this point. If their armor plates become damaged or lost.

SPEAKER_03 41:16

Yeah, I was gonna say unlike lobsters.

SPEAKER_04 41:18

Yeah, unlike lobsters. Uh, if their plates are like damaged or lost, they are repaired by a secretion of like new material. Okay. It doesn't specify exactly what that really entails, but I'm guessing it's just like a secretion of stuff that kind of ends up hardening into that outer shell.

SPEAKER_03 41:37

As opposed to them having to undergo another full mold metamorphosis or molting process, not metamorphosis.

SPEAKER_02 41:44

They've already metamorphosed.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

They have already metamorphosized. Yeah, they they are already their beautiful beholder um butterfly form, you know.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

I hate it.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Uh so eyes can communicate with like all other intelligent creatures by means of telepathy.

SPEAKER_02 42:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 42:04

So they do actually have a way of communicating with other creatures as long as you know the creature's intelligence is six or higher.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

I that sounds right.

SPEAKER_03 42:15

I believe it's six or higher. Sufficient because they're in the ocean. Oh my god. Sorry.

SPEAKER_06 42:22

Are you not really?

SPEAKER_04 42:25

I don't think you're no. So now we get into the more detailed description of like their illusions, as mentioned earlier. Um, so now we can learn that uh since you know the eyes never sleep, they can actually hold these illusions for an unlimited duration.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

No. They're metagamers because they're not bound by the like till your next long rest, you know, because they don't long rest, so they're not bound by the restrictions.

SPEAKER_04 42:58

Um the illusions only end if the eye wills it to do so, or when one of its eye stocks is blinded by damage or something else, or if it's used to cast, you know, like the whole person or hold monster.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

Time to bring out the trident, that's all I'm saying.

SPEAKER_04 43:14

Right. Bring out the trident, aim for those eyes. Also, on top of that, these illusions can be moved around and appear three-dimensional.

SPEAKER_03 43:24

God, all those, all those, like, all those like thalasophobia or like submechanophobia, like images, you know. Like I I I I watched a random video the other day that had like a a picture of just like a plastic chair just like on the on the bottom of the ocean. And like I'm not, I'm not scared of the ocean. Right. You know, I'm not, you know, I'm not really like everyone wanted to be a marine biologist when it was finger. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I'm not scared of the ocean, but like something about like that particular image. It was just one of those like random videos that was like, you know. In all caps, like the lasophobia images that'll make you hate the ocean or something. And I was like, most of them, I was like, okay, this is pretty cool. This is pretty cool. And then there was one that was just like a plastic chair.

SPEAKER_02 44:10

Like a lawn chair.

SPEAKER_03 44:11

Yeah, like a lawn chair, kind of. Or like um, like a church assembly chair, you know?

SPEAKER_02 44:16

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:17

Yeah, like on the bottom of the ocean. And I was like, like sitting up, like like a chair. And I was like, that's fucked up.

SPEAKER_02 44:24

That is fun.

SPEAKER_03 44:26

That's fucked up. So like I'm imagining that all of those are like beholders are are having a meeting. Yeah, they're they're responsible for for like when you see weird shit, the pictures of weird shit on the ocean floor, and you're like beholders. Yeah, it's it's the eyes of the deep.

SPEAKER_04 44:44

And the worst part about that is can just be a blank crash, you know. The eye can remain in hiding and still manipulate this illusion it can't see. So it could be hiding, like in its cave, and using this illusion outside of the cave, and you would look around trying to make sure there's no trap or anything, and you wouldn't see anything. That sucks. I don't like that. And it does mention that like the illusions are usually those that would tempt creatures or any like specific prey to coming closer to them. So, like shipwrecks with possible treasure, whatever it can think of, it can create these incredibly realistic illusions that can last forever if it wanted to.

SPEAKER_03 45:33

Like, oh hey guys, check out this, check out this um rare sea creature, or this this like sunken, this like sunken treasure chest. Oh my god, you know, or like yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 45:45

Actually, worse than a mic.

SPEAKER_03 45:47

Guys, guys, we cracked it. I think we just solved the Bermuda Triangle. We just we it's oh my god, it's ice in the deep, guys. We just solved the Bermuda Triangle. Hate it.

SPEAKER_04 45:58

Well, I'm not ever going there anyway. So we weren't we weren't going there anyway, but so uh that's it for the ecology article.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

Thank you, Ed Green.

SPEAKER_04 46:09

Thank you, Ed Greenwood. Uh so now sorry, that was very formal of me.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

Thank you, Mr. Greenwood, for your contributions yet again to my nightmares.

SPEAKER_03 46:19

Thank you, Mr. Greenwood, for this for this sentence. Um, eyes of the deep are bisexual. That's gonna be my new like that's my new like bisexual discord tag. No, that's my new like like echo lelia, like eyes of the deep are bisexual. Eyes of the deep are bisexual.

SPEAKER_04 46:39

So now we jump to uh spelljammer. Oh actually.

SPEAKER_02 46:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 46:44

So this is uh realm space from second edition uh from 1991. So the eyes of the deep do actually exist in spelljammer. Um, I mean, a lot of beholders exist in spelljammer. We haven't covered a whole lot of spelljammer, but it is there. Right. So they live on two planets. The first one is called Carpri. It's a spherical water planet. Um, it has no islands or like land to speak of, so it's water world. Nothing but water.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

Yeah, I feel bad for the eyes of the deep kind of that live there because they're completely deprived of their favorite food. Because there's no land. There's no land, yeah, there's no surface dwellers.

SPEAKER_04 47:22

I mean, it's spelljammer, so like there are still plenty of people that go and explore these.

SPEAKER_03 47:28

Yeah, yeah, but but like the I'm but I'm being like I'm being pedantic, Travis. Yeah, I'm being pedantic.

SPEAKER_04 47:36

Oh, my bad. Uh so it says deep within the heart of Carpery is a group of creatures known as the Eye of the Deep. It says a group of creatures. I don't know if it actually means like they are grouped up or just that there are several of them that is creature. Yeah. Um, they tend to take uh shelter and live in like the husks of sunken spelljammerships. Good. And now Taylor gets context. Uh something that I said in her chat when she was streaming the other day. They also live on the planet H Katha.

SPEAKER_02 48:13

Is that pronounced H Katha or Hakatha?

SPEAKER_04 48:15

I don't know. That's how I was pronouncing it. Hakatha, H Katha. Oh H Katha. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 48:24

H Katha.

SPEAKER_04 48:26

This is another water planet, but this one is flat.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

No. Yeah. This I don't like it.

SPEAKER_04 48:35

Is a flat planet. It is the only planet in Spelljammer in Realm Space System that is flat.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

Oh my god, what is that? Series of books about uh Discworld. So were they just big fans of Discworld? Is my first question.

SPEAKER_04 48:55

Possibly. I don't know, but possibly.

SPEAKER_03 48:57

You know what though? The good news is is this it still doesn't prove flat Earth because it's not flat Earth, it's flat water, evidently.

SPEAKER_02 49:05

True. So flat water, flat H Katha.

SPEAKER_03 49:10

It's just I like how it's the only, it's the only one that's flat that we don't know.

SPEAKER_04 49:16

The only one. It is the only one. It specifically states in realm space system, it is the only planet that is flat.

unknown 49:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 49:25

Why? That's really funny. And they took a shot at the flat earthers.

SPEAKER_02 49:32

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 49:33

Because it it this is a direct quote. The culture that lived here before the beholders took over lost three ships trying to prove that the world was round. Inadvertently, they proved otherwise.

SPEAKER_02 49:44

Oh my god. Oh my god, they literally were in fact fired.

SPEAKER_03 49:48

That's they literally fell off the edge. That's so stupid.

SPEAKER_04 49:52

They literally fell off the edge of the world because they were trying to prove that it was round.

unknown 49:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 49:58

They had way too much fun with that. Uh so I mean, as you've probably gathered, uh beholders do, in fact, live on this planet.

SPEAKER_02 50:07

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:08

Um, there are several different species of beholders, actually, that apparently live here.

SPEAKER_02 50:12

Oh, fun. Great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:14

Each, I think there are six. Not going too deep into it because it really has nothing to do with Eyes of the Deep specifically, but there are, I think, six different species. Each one of them uh controls a different port. That's just kind of, I guess, how the planet runs.

SPEAKER_06 50:30

Right.

SPEAKER_04 50:31

Um, so I I believe I mentioned this in either the episode one or two of the beholders, but uh they were created by a god in this. Bad person. Yeah. So in this it states that they are created by their gods to search worlds over and report back to them on the status of the worlds that they did not control. Good. So their whole purpose in Spelljammer is to basically infiltrate these worlds, report back any information on it, and then probably take over it from there. Good. But beholders as they are, over time kind of lost that whole uh mess and their whole objective and just became beholders that don't work with each other now.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

So they lost the plot and now they're just obsessed with taking over in their own name.

SPEAKER_04 51:20

Yeah. Exactly. Um, the Eye of the Deep specifically were sent to search the land beneath the seas to uncover any secrets that were there.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 51:29

Now on this planet, the Eye of the Deep are actually at the top of the food chain. That's all it mentions about that. It's just that it basically was talking about like the cycle of, you know, this eats this and this until it eventually gets to the top of the food chain, which are the eye of the deep.

SPEAKER_02 51:44

Over other beholders, too.

SPEAKER_04 51:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 51:48

Apparently.

SPEAKER_02 51:49

Apparently, H. Catholic is really good for Eyes of the Deep.

SPEAKER_04 51:52

So I'm not 100% sure if this quote is just for like the Eye of the Deep or all of the beholders on this planet, but I wanted to share it anyway. Um, so it says these monsters do not seem to care for the environment they live in, for they spend as much time as possible running about and eating everything they can find.

SPEAKER_03 52:10

You know what?

SPEAKER_04 52:11

That doesn't shock me.

SPEAKER_02 52:12

That that sounds very beholder to me.

SPEAKER_04 52:15

Yeah. Unsurprisingly, the beholders are constantly fighting each other for ultimate supremacy.

SPEAKER_02 52:21

Also, very beholder.

SPEAKER_03 52:22

Yeah. And I guess, yeah, I guess evidently it's been proven that if kind of stacked up in a in a one-to-one sort of thing, then the eyes of the deep would would be the ones who would ultimately win that.

SPEAKER_02 52:33

So they're at the very least on H Katha.

SPEAKER_03 52:35

Yeah. Yeah. So uh I can't believe it's flat. I I know. I know every like 30 seconds I would remember that the that the the world is flat. This world is flat. And I would I would struggle to not lose it. But if it's but if it's flat, then no, you know what? No. No, you're you're thinking too much about it. I'm thinking too it's not that deep. I think it which is my problem. I don't know where the ocean would go.

SPEAKER_04 53:02

So okay, so actually, because it's flat, it does still have a depth to it.

SPEAKER_03 53:09

Oh, it's a bowl. Is it a bowl?

SPEAKER_04 53:12

Uh I don't it doesn't specify that it was a bowl, but it did say that uh the ocean is like a certain amount of like feet deep.

SPEAKER_02 53:20

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 53:21

So it is, you know, it does still have like depth to it. It's just not round.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

How does the if it's not a bowl, how does the ocean stay in?

SPEAKER_04 53:30

Oh, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 53:32

Oh, so it is disc world.

SPEAKER_04 53:34

It is constantly like falling off of the edge of the world and it turns into like steam and stuff as it falls, which then creates like condensation up above it and it rains. I see. And constantly refills it.

SPEAKER_03 53:49

And that's the what that's the water cycle. This is an educational podcast.

SPEAKER_02 53:53

This is an educational podcast. Okay, no, I'm actually now more certain that uh it is partly like inspired by Discworld because of the fact that uh I looked it up. The first book in Terry Pratchett series came out in 1983, and Realm Space stuff was 91.

SPEAKER_04 54:12

Nice, so it very well could have been.

SPEAKER_03 54:14

I was okay. I I also looked up images of H. Katha, and then I saw that there's apparently a beholder whose name is Large Luigi, and like I gotta stop. Oh I gotta stop.

SPEAKER_01 54:24

Is that why you sent me out of context large Luigi the other day? Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_04 54:30

So uh he's large and charge. Just uh real quick aside. So large Luigi. So on this planet, uh there is something called the spindle. It's just like a giant mountain, more or less. And if you get to the top of it while also reaching like hundreds of basically like checkpoints throughout, you have to like actually touch these things, and you get to the top, you end up learning all knowledge there is of the universe. Oh so large Luigi was a beholder who actually ascended the spindle and obtained ultimate knowledge of this universe. Uh-huh. What did he do with that? So with that, he ended up like seeing everything as it was, switched to lawful neutral, and then went and became a propriet proprietor, bartender, and bouncer of his own tavern on another planet called the Happy Beholder.

SPEAKER_03 55:31

Okay, I was about I was about to say, and then he became the Buddha, but evidently not. He did not do that.

SPEAKER_04 55:38

No, so he actually got shunned, and they tried like all the other beholders tried to kill him when he came back down and told them what he had learned.

SPEAKER_02 55:47

Yeah, because it ruined their whole steeds.

SPEAKER_03 55:50

Yeah, they were they were like, you know, like that one that one panel from that one. Yeah, they hated him because he spoke the truth, and then the other beholders are like, shut up.

SPEAKER_04 56:00

So uh Large Luigi uh was named by the patrons of the bar. He didn't name himself, but they named him Large Luigi.

SPEAKER_06 56:10

I love Large Luigi.

SPEAKER_04 56:13

Now, the one part that I really wanted to specify here, and for the life of me, I didn't write it down, but it is uh mentioned in some supplements somewhere, because I did look up a little bit of Large Luigi. Talking about getting meta, he apparently discovered that the entirety of existence lay wholly within the minds of strange and unknowable beings beyond even the gods. Beings who titled themselves role players.

SPEAKER_03 56:44

Shut up! Shut up. I love it. Large Luigi, I every time you say the name Large Luigi, I'm struggling to not lose it because that's just so good. I love Large Luigi.

SPEAKER_04 56:58

Large Luigi is so good. Oh my god. If there is enough information on him, I might actually have to do a mini set about him. I just don't know if there is or not yet.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

Very good.

SPEAKER_04 57:11

So, uh, let's continue on.

SPEAKER_03 57:13

Okay, I need to I need to like resetter myself. Keep it together.

SPEAKER_04 57:16

Keep it together. Keep it together.

SPEAKER_03 57:19

Whoosa.

SPEAKER_04 57:21

So, jumping to the monstrous manual for second edition from 1993. The Eye of the Deep are now considered beholder kin in this book.

SPEAKER_02 57:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 57:32

Beholder kin is basically just used to describe all other beholder-like creatures, including like the undead beholders, spectators. Right. All that fun stuff. We really don't get a lot of information in general about them from the source. They're just basically water-breathing versions of the beholder. They, you know, dwell at great depths of the ocean where they kind of just float slowly about stalking prey. Right. Uh their crab-like pincers inflict two d4 damage each. The mouth, you know, sharp teeth. Their primary weapon is still their big fucking eye.

SPEAKER_02 58:06

Right.

SPEAKER_04 58:06

Right. That stuns people for two d4 rounds. Uh the smaller eyes still do the same thing. They create illusions if he's using both, or they can cast hold person and hold monster separately. All of that fun stuff. Oh, yeah. So it does say uh intelligence is very 11 to 12. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 58:27

Which is such a good I I love intelligence. Very.

SPEAKER_04 58:31

Yep. They are uh still solitary.

SPEAKER_02 58:34

Naturally.

SPEAKER_04 58:35

Because this decided to put their activity cycle in the book. Uh, they are active during the day mostly.

SPEAKER_02 58:42

Intriguing.

SPEAKER_04 58:42

They are omnivores.

SPEAKER_02 58:44

Surprising.

SPEAKER_03 58:45

Yeah. I mean, it's the it's the ocean. You gotta take what you can get out of it.

SPEAKER_02 58:49

I mean, you're not wrong.

SPEAKER_04 58:50

True.

SPEAKER_03 58:51

They also have the lowest EXP yield, which I think is very interesting of any of the beholder kin.

SPEAKER_02 58:57

Which is interesting.

SPEAKER_03 58:58

I don't know why that's I don't know why that's interesting to me, but it is.

SPEAKER_04 59:01

Yeah, 4,000 experience value.

SPEAKER_02 59:03

That's on par with spectators.

SPEAKER_03 59:06

It's also very interesting that if you look there, there's four zeros after that, comma.

SPEAKER_04 59:11

I I was just gonna say on spectator. It's four zero zero zero zero.

SPEAKER_02 59:16

Same with under undead.

SPEAKER_03 59:19

It's one three zero zero zero zero. That's a very interesting type. That's a very interesting like exp distribution choice, and also very interesting type typing choice.

SPEAKER_04 59:29

Right. Like so this time their size is small to medium, uh, three to five inch in diameter. Sh medium. Sh medium. And that's kind of all from that source. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 59:45

That's feet, not inch.

SPEAKER_04 59:47

Is that feet? Did I say inch? You did? I meant feet.

SPEAKER_02 59:50

I was picturing it very tiny.

SPEAKER_04 59:53

There's a tiny little beholder.

SPEAKER_03 59:58

Yeah, I meant feet. I don't I don't know why I still think of that as as like small. I'm like, I know I'm probab it's probably just because I'm picturing like Baldur's Gate 3 spectators, yeah, which are like significantly bigger than the player characters, like could like could eat in one bite size. Um, which spectators looking at this chart, I think aren't even uh No, they're four in four feet four inches in diameter.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:27

They're four feet in diameter, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:29

So they're like kind of right in the middle there too. But like I think I am just kind of biased picturing like BG3 like spectators, so that I like I hear like it's still this unequivocally dangerous DD monster for like a variety of reasons, but I hear like three to five feet, and I'm like, This is a little guy. This is a little guy. This is this little guy. It's like, oh, I thought you'd be I thought you'd be um bigger, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:55

I thought you'd be I think that that would be very insulting to them.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:00

It would be. We now jump to Lords of Madness, the Book of Aberrations for 3.5. Uh that was released in 2005. And unfortunately, this is as far as the Eye of the Deep go. They do not exist in any future editions.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

At least they were spared the pain of fourth edition.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:20

They were spared the pain of fourth edition.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:22

Well, they don't exist in any other things that we know of. Because like we know of the the ocean is a very big place, you know. That's true. Like, we're finding new shit in the oceans all the time.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:34

So that's true. He's hanging out with megalodon.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:40

That's true. I think I think you just you just like low-key like triggered the entire like marine biology community who are like consistently telling people like no megalodons doesn't still exist.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:53

I'm aware, but it's fun to make fun of the people who think so.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:58

Yeah, we should we should start talking about like spinosauruses now to get to get some more people riled up.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:05

So there are a few changes here. They still dwell, you know, in like the deepest parts of the ocean, but now they have the ability to actually rise to the surface to quote menace those who dwell above the waves.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:16

Okay, it's done then. We're just we're just like fucked. Yeah, they lost the main thing keeping them down there, so like Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:24

They are fond of creating illusions of shipwreck survivors, small islands, mermaids, uh, pretty much anything else that they can think of that might lure their prey closer to them.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:36

Mermaids is really funny.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:37

Mermaids is really funny.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:39

It is. Some of them can be found in relatively shallow waterways far underground. They have gotten significantly bigger. They are now uh nine feet in diameter.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:49

Okay, that that fills. Okay, see that's that's that's the beholder I'm thinking of.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:53

That's a chunky boy. And weigh 6,000 pounds.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:56

That's a chunky boy.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:59

Yep. Um, they speak common beholder and aquin, so I believe they lost their telepathy ability.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:06

It's possible that it just didn't mention it. I would imagine because it's underwater. Yeah, I don't think.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:16

Well, even though I guess they maybe that's I don't know. Maybe those are the languages that they can telepathically speak in.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:23

Yeah, or like maybe they can they can speak maybe if they are like above the surface. Also, but the idea of a of a talking beholder, I don't know if this is something we we discussed in the beholders uh specific like episodes, but the idea of a beholder like talking with its mouth, I don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:42

Like, yeah, no, that's I don't like it. That's not what beholder mounds are for.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:48

They're for eating, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:48

They're for eating exclusively.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:51

Like, I don't know. The idea of one of them just flap flapping their jaws and talking like a person. I like that.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:57

So like picturing that is just a little upsetting. Just a little.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:01

Just a little bit, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:03

Um, according to their stat block, they now will live either alone in a pair or a cluster of three to six.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:11

Interesting.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:12

They're they're learning to get along.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:13

They are they're in their get along shirt.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:17

They still have their two little ice docks, their spells have changed up a bit now. One ice dog can still cast hold monster, but the other one now casts cone of cold.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:26

Okay. Bad. Yeah. Because they they they essentially already have the hold person capability with hold monster, if I remember correctly. Like, I mean, I'm probably just fucking thinking of Baldur's Gate 3 again. God damn. But I I'm pretty sure many iterations of Hold Monster is essentially just a stronger hold person, maybe. I might, but still also Cone of Cold is not something I want a a beholder casting at me either. So, like especially in the water.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:53

Yeah, no, thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:54

That just sounds bad. Their health is 12d8 plus 48, an average of about 102 HP. I mean, they can fly 20 feet.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:07

No.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:08

Uh they can swim for 30 feet. I also don't like them flying. Their armor class is 18. Um, they have their i-ray attacks, basic attack, and like grappling with their pincers and all that uh feelers, fun, fun stuff, their reproductive feelers.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:28

Oh, I don't I don't want I don't want them to I don't want them to to grab me with their reproductive feelers.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:38

Yeah. Because it you know gets more specified into what we're actually used to reading, it's uh ability is called Baleful Flash, which is a free action. No, no, and it can generate a flash of terrible white light. No, it affects all creatures. Creatures in a 60-foot cone and blinds creatures for two D6 rounds and stuns them for half the duration of the blindness.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:08

So it can just keep doing this.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:12

Yeah, pretty much. Uh DC2242 save negates the stun and reduces the blindness to just being dazzled. Silas creatures are obviously immune to this attack.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:23

No.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:24

But yeah, it's a free action, so they can just kind of do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:27

Repeatedly. Whenever they want.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:30

Yeah. Oh god, y'all. They're they're they're their third edition art is is bad. And by bad, I don't mean like the art is bad. I mean the subject matter is bad.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:40

Okay, well now I have to look this up.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:42

It's not good. It's not good. It's nasty. It looks like they don't have the little the little the the the the the feelers anymore.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:53

Yeah. It yeah, it does not have the I don't know if it's I don't know if it's just the angle or I think it's just the angle because it so it is coming down at sort of a top down yeah almost an isometric angle actually. That thing is hideous.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:11

I hate it.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:12

Because like the the first edition art was like is good, you know, it was kind of funny, you know. But like this is just not good. Yeah. And again, like I said, I'm not saying the art itself is bad. I'm just saying that it doesn't, you know, it it's not a it's not a good looking it's not pretty. That's a that's a that's a that's a face only a uh only a only a bisexual parent could love. Holly.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:41

So to make these things even worse, their eye ray attacks are now also a free action that can be done once per round.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:50

Cool. Uh each of them has a range of 150 feet with a save DC of 18. They're charisma-based. Uh so you have hold monster, must succeed on a will save, or be affected as of the spell, and then cone of cold, which just lurk lurks, which just works like the spell, but affects only the creature touched by the ring.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:12

Is that the one you were looking at?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:13

That is it's not good.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:16

It's not good.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:18

It's not, it's terrible.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:19

And and they've been they've been they've been buffed in this in this edition. Like they're not they're not constrained to, for one, operate individually, and they're also not constrained to being stuck at the bottom of the fucking ocean where we don't live.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:34

Yeah, no, I I I would like to remove their buffs.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:38

Right. That's why that's why they haven't that's why they haven't been in they haven't been in the game since they were like, oh, these are too OP.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:45

We can't put them in the next uh their mouths remind me of goblin sharks in this picture. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:50

Yeah, actually. It it kind of does.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:53

Like it looks like the jaws are unhinged.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:55

Terrifying.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:56

Yeah. Everything about this, everything about this is unhinged.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:02

Thanks for that. That.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:05

Yeah. And uh that is all the information that I have for Eye of the Deep for this week.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:11

Um bad. Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:13

Well, you know, if there's one, there's one thought for me this whole time that's been comforting, because I feel like with the exception of like them, with the exception of like the ecology article kind of discussing them, well, this might have been in the first edition of Monster Manual 2, actually, but like with the discussion of them, of them kind of like walking, you know, on the ocean floor with their like tentacle things, besides that, there's like it's it's kind of like charmingly nondescript about how they move in the water. And so the only thing that I could imagine, because it's like, you know, they don't have like fins, they don't have like a tail to kind of like rudder them, you know, they don't have um octopi, you know, will like walk along the ocean floor and then also so the only the only thing like that comes to mind for me as for how they move is some kind of like propulsion that yeah involves maybe an expulsion of like air from like a part of their body, probably on the back side, so they can move forward, you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:13

So actually, um I feel I I failed to mention that for some reason, but um they're uh little feelers they actually use to swim as well. God damn it. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:25

So now I now I can't even have the good visual just of just imagining them just fucking just farting their way along the ocean.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:33

You can still imagine it. You can still imagine it.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:35

I I will, I will.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:37

Good, good.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:38

Yeah, no, their feelers act as like rudders and stuff to help them move.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:42

They're they're multi-purpose, they're for grabbing, they're for swimming, and they're for mating.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:49

You know, I guess technically reproducting, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:52

Yeah, for for for um for for airdropping. I guess not air. It's not airdropping, it's water dropping. I mean, listen, I feel like that's the grounded. That's the level. I feel like that's the level of like care and intentionality that they would put into like parenting and reproduction. So you're not wrong. Like, I feel like they're just kind of like, oh boy, I got I got too many eggs in me. Now let me just get rid of these, just drop them off down the street, you know. They are kind of the snakes of they are kind of the the worst the deep, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:29

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SPEAKER_03 1:12:08

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SPEAKER_04 1:12:16

And uh thank you once again for listening. And we will catch you next week here on Dungeonpedia.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:26

Do you think I can find any more productive ecologists?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:32

I feel like that's you should search that on Google.