Dragon	-	Monsters	-	Dragon #92
-	-	Notes	-	-

Compiled from a discussion at a meeting of
sages in Hillsfar led by Auvras the Enquirer:

T h e   e y e   o f   t h e   d e e p   i s   a   c r e a t u r e   o f   l e g e n d ;   t h o u g h   i t   t r u l y   e x i s t s ,   f e w   t r a i n e d
o b s e r v e r s   h a v e   s e e n   i t ,   a n d   f e w e r   s t i l l   h a v e
s t u d i e d   i t   a t   l e n g t h   i n   i t s   h a b i t a t ,   t h e   o c e a n
d e p t h s .   S e v e r a l   a m o n g   u s   t o n i g h t   h a v e   d o n e
s o ,   a n d   c a n   a n s w e r   m a n y   m y s t e r i e s.

M a n y   h a v e   s p e c u l a t e d   t h a t   t h e   e y e   o f   t h e   d e e p
i s   r e l a t e d   t o   t h e   b e h o l d e r ,   a n d   i t   i s   o u r   c o n s i d e r e d   o p i n i o n   t h a t   i t   i s   i n d e e d   a   r e l a t e d   s p e c i e s ;
p e r h a p s   b o t h   w e r e   o n c e   t h e   s a m e   c r e a t u r e   a n d
e v o l v e d   d i f f e r e n t l y   t o   m a s t e r   t h e n   v a s t l y   d i f f e r e n t   e n v i r o n m e n t s.

T h e   e y e   o f   t h e   d e e p   i s   a   s o l i t a r y   p r e d a t o r ,
c a t c h i n g   m o s t   o f   i t s   v i c t i m s   b y   u s e   o f   i t s
p o w e r   t o   s t u n   i t s   p r e y   w i t h   a   b l i n d i n g   f l a s h
o f   l i g h t   f r o m   t h e   l a r g e   e y e   i n   t h e   c e n t e r
o f   i t s   r o u g h l y   s p h e r i c a l   b o d y .   E v e n
i f   p r e y   i s   n o t   t h u s   i m m o b i l i z e d ,
t h e   e y e   o f   t h e   d e e p   c a n   b r i n g
i t s   t w o   l a r g e   p i n c e r s   i n t o
p l a y   t o   g r a b   a n d   r e n d   i t s
v i c t i m s .   1  These pincers can
shred creatures much larger
than the ?eye? itself, and
octopi, giant squids, and the
huge cruising fish of the
depths form the bulk of the
creature?s diet. It prizes
most highly sinking ships,
for it breaks into the disintegrating hulls of these (aided by
the intense pressure of deep
water), and dines upon the tasty
bodies of surface creatures trapped
inside. It cannot rise into shallow
waters after such prey, because the
less intense water pressure at
shallow depths causes its body
(and internal gases) to expand,
and ultimately explode apart. (For
this reason, the corpse of an ?eye?
Compiled from a discussion at a meeting of
sages in Hillsfar led by Auvras the Enquirer:
reaches the surface very rarely; the
distorted fragments of its rent
body sink back to the bottom, or
are devoured by shallow-water
marine life.)

To compensate for their inability to travel
in shallow waters, eyes of the deep sometimes
cooperate with sahuagin for short periods and specific undertakings,
usually demanding as payment the bodies of many surface dwellers.
(This dietary preference is one of the many hints at a common origin
of both the eye of the deep and the beholder.)

Metallic treasure is often ingested by an eye of the deep, but does
not harm the creature, and remains in its stomach until it accumulates to uncomfortable proportions, whereupon it is regurgitated
forth in the eye?s lair. All eyes make themselves a lair in an undersea
grotto (slaying any previous occupants, if necessary) far from the
l a i r s   o f   o t h e r   e y e s   o f   t h e   d e e p   a n d   a s   n e a r   t o
a b u n d a n t   f o o d   a s   p o s s i b l e   ( s u c h   a s   b e n e a t h
h e a v i l y   t r a v e l e d   s h i p p i n g   r o u t e s ,   o r   i n   a r e a s   o f
s t o r m s   o r   s h o a l s ) .   A n   e y e   m a y   w e l l   h a v e   i t s   l a i r
g u a r d e d   b y   l e s s e r   c r e a t u r e s ,   o r   b y   t r a p s   ( f a l l i n g
n e t s   w e i g h t e d   b y   s t o n e s ,   a n d   s o   f o r t h )   s u c h   a s
i t   c a n   m a n a g e .   A n   e y e ? s   c l a w s   a r e   q u i t e   d e x t r o u s   a n d   c a n   s h e a r   t h r o u g h   n e t s ,   r o p e s ,   a n d
t h e   l i k e   w i t h   s p e e d   a n d   a c c u r a c y .

E y e s   a r e   a g g r e s s i v e ,   d e c e i t f u l ,   a n d   t o t a l l y
s e l f - i n t e r e s t e d ;   ? l o y a l t y ?   h a s   l i t t l e
m e a n i n g   f o r   t h e m ,   a n d   t h e y   w i l l
c o o p e r a t e   w i t h   c r e a t u r e s   o f   l i k e
a l i g n m e n t   o n l y   w h e n   t h e y
s t a n d   t o   g a i n   m u c h   p r e y ,   o r   a r e
coerced into doing so. Eyes
a v o i d   o t h e r   e y e s   p u r e l y   f o r
r e a s o n s   o f   p r a c t i c a l i t y ,   n o t
d e s i r i n g   t o   d i e   o r   b e   b a d l y
w o u n d e d   i n   a   t o u g h   f i g h t   w i t h
a n   o p p o n e n t   o f   e q u a l   p o w e r s .
I t   s h o u l d   b e   n o t e d   h e r e   t h a t   t h e
a d m i t t e d l y   f e w   o b s e r v a t i o n s   o f
s u c h   b a t t l e s   i n d i c a t e   t h a t   a n
e y e   c a n   b e   a f f e c t e d   b y   a n o t h e r
e y e ? s   i l l u s i o n s ,   b u t   e a c h   i s
i m m u n e   t o   a n o t h e r ? s
stunning power. Eyes t a l k s   c a n   b e   r e g e n e r a t e d
i n   s i x   t o   e l e v e n   d a y s
w h e n   l o s t ,   a n d   o t h e r
b o d y   p a r t s   ( s u c h   a s   i t s
p i n c e r s   o r   c e n t r a l   e y e )
r e g r o w n   i n   a   m a t t e r   o f
m o n t h s   ?   b u t   t h e   r a p i d i t y   o f   s u c h   g r o w t h   d e p e n d s   u p o n   t h e   a m o u n t
o f   p r e y   a n   e y e   c a n   c o n s u m e ,   a n d   a   s e r i o u s l y
w o u n d e d   e y e   i s   a   p o o r
h u n t e r   d u e   t o   i t s   s l o w   n a t u r a l   s p e e d .

E y e s   o f   t h e   d e e p   a r e   h i g h l y
m a n e u v e r a b l e   w h e n   s w i m ming, due to their many unders i d e   ? f e e l e r s ?   ?   f l e x i b l e ,   s t i c k y
b o d y   s t r a n d s   w h i c h   c a n   a c t   a s   p a d d l e s
when swimming, "walk" along rocks
or other solid objects, hold prey, and
so on. An eye grows new feelers
constantly, and feelers are continually
lost or damaged by its activities, so
that an eye's underside is a tangled
forest of whitish, mauve-mottled feelers
forest of whitish, mauve-mottled feelers, all of differing lengths and
diameters. Hidden amongst the many feelers are a few ?strands?
devoted to reproduction ? long felers which hold the eye?s eggs like
peas in a pod.  2

Periodically these egg-holders rupture, depositing
their cargoes on the ocean bottom or in the powerful currents of the
deeps. Any other eye of the deep can fertilize these eggs; the creatures are bisexual, but cannot fertilize their own eggs. (An eye w i l l   f e r t i l i z e   a n o t h e r   e y e ? s   e g g s   i n s t i n c t i v e l y
whenever it recognizes the eggs for what
they are.

Fertilized eggs fall to the ocean bottom, if
they were not there already, and lie there
until they hatch or die. Few fertilized eggs
survive to see the end of their maturation
period, because they are seldom left undisturbed by other denizens of the deep. Fewer
still are fertilized in the first place, since
they can only be left adrift for two months
after being released from the nutrient-rich
?strands?; after that time they become inert
and infertile. For these reasons, few eyes of
the deep are born, and this monster is
thankfully very rare.

Hatchlings are rapidly dispersed by ocean
currents and typically hide, feeding on
bottom life, carrion, and small fish for a
year or more, slowly growing to full size
and powers. As an eye grows, it actually
splits its skin, shedding the tough, chitinous
outer armor plates of its body to reveal soft,
new, larger plates within. It eats discarded
plates to regain lost body minerals and
begin building a new layer of plates within
itself once more. When an eye reaches
physical maturity, its body processes shift to
regeneration rather than continual growth.
Thus, lost or damaged plates are repaired
by the secretion of new material from
within. Young eyes cooperate with other
creatures more readily than do the more
wary older ones. An eye can communicate
with all other intelligent creatures by means
of telepathy.

Perhaps the most fascinating and dangerous ability of an eye of the deep is its mastery of illusions. These it can create and
hold with practiced concentration, for a
literally unlimited duration (since eyes
never sleep). Such illusions will end when
the eye wills it, or when one of its eyestalks
is blinded by battle damage or some other
mishap (apparently, both must be intact for
it to create and focus clear illusions), or
when one or both of the eyes is used for its
other purpose (the magic of hold person and
hold monster spells).

An eye can move its created illusion
about, and the image appears threedimensional. An eye can remain in hiding
and manipulate an illusion it cannot see.
This skill is assumed to be simply a result of
practice; the creatures employ illusions
constantly from maturity to death (improving their skill as they age), except for the
few times when their eyestalks are incapacitated or otherwise occupied. A typical tactic
of the creature is to lure prey to its vicinity
with an illusion and then use the light-blast
of its large central eye to stun the victim.

Notes
1. Intended victims of the eye-flash stun
must save vs. poison to avoid its effects.
Targets that are blindfolded, hooded, or
unable to see in the visible spectrum cannot
be  stunned. A  darkness spell will provide an
effective screen against such flashes. However, most defenses require more time to
put in place than the stunning flash of the
eye requires to ?fire?; and an eye of the
deep will recognize any defensive preparations for what they are. Any physical strike
against a creature  stunned by the eye-flash
is made at +4 to hit; the victim cannot attack
or defend itself, and AC bonuses for shield
or dexterity do not apply. A  stunned victim
is effectively incapacitated for the duration
of the effect (2-8 rounds, determined separately for each victim).

The effect of repeated eye-flashes is not
cumulative; a stunned victim cannot be
?more stunned.? The creature can use its
stun power for as many as five rounds in
succession, but then must rest the eye-flash
power for an equal number of rounds before
it can be used again.

The eye of the deep can use its physical
attacks (pincers and teeth) in the same
round that it emits an eye-flash. It will go
after  stunned creatures in preference to
other nearby prey only if it thinks that the
?unstunned? targets (those that made their
saving throw) present no immediate threat
to itself. The creature will attempt to grab
prey with one or both of its pincers and then
bring the victim up to its mouth. A bite
attack is made at +2 to hit against a victim
held by one pincer, or at +4 to hit against a
victim held by both pincers ? and such a
victim can only attack back at a corresponding penalty (-2 or -4). If the creature takes
damage in a given melee round, it will
release its hold on anything in its pincers;
otherwise, prey that is held by both of the
pincers will continue to take 2-8 points of
damage from each pincer until it dies or the
hold is broken. A victim held by only one
pincer can (if not  stunned or otherwise
immobilized) wrest itself out of the pincer?s
grasp and must then be grabbed anew. An
eye of the deep will attack prey that is considerably larger than itself (such as a giant
squid), but is intelligent enough to only do
so when it has an advantage and is not in
immediate danger of being severely hurt
itself.

2. All of the feelers except for the few
reproductive ?strands? can be made sticky
by the secretion of a gluelike fluid, and
made ?un-sticky? by the emission of an
alcohol-like solvent that counteracts the
glue. The former process requires one
round and must be performed before the
feelers can be used to manipulate objects or
provide traction on a solid surface. The
latter process takes only one segment and
must be performed before the creature can
again use the feelers to help it move through
the water. The feelers can grab and manipulate any object as large and heavy as a
human body, but the creature cannot hold
such an object and move under its own
power at the same time; as such, the feelers
are almost exclusively used either for locomotion, or to anchor the eye of the deep to
a solid surface while it awaits the approach
of prey.

The reproductive ?strands? have none of
the properties of the other feelers. They are
very few in number (3-6 out of a total of 60-
90 feelers) and are continually replaced or
regrown like the other feelers. Once every
two months, an egg is produced in each
strand; when a strand accumulates 6-11
eggs, it splits open lengthwise and deposits
the contents into the surrounding water.
Each egg is spherical, about 6 inches in
diameter, with a tough but flexible shell that
enables it to withstand water pressure and
moderately hard blows without cracking.

3. Only 50% of all fertilized eggs actually
hatch (and only 20% of all eggs released by
an eye of the deep are ever fertilized).
Hatchlings are weak swimmers (3?), Msized (2-foot diameter), with 2+4 HD. They
have only 11-20 feelers and no strands, and
their pincers and teeth are softer and
weaker (1-6/1-6/1-4 damage) than those of
full-grown eyes of the deep. Their stun
attack lasts for only 1-4 rounds, and targets
get a +2 bonus to their saving throw to avoid
the effect. Young creatures cannot create
illusions or use the  hold powers of their stillimmature eyestalks. At the age of one year,
an eye of the deep specimen will have 8-10
HD, move 4?, and the full range of attacks
that a mature creature has, with a 3-footdiameter body and 40-60 feelers, but still no
strands. Full physical maturity is attained
within 2-3 years after hatching.

4. The  telepathy ability of an eye of the
deep will work on any creature of  animal
intelligence or higher within a 6? range.
Eyes of the deep know the tongue of lawful
evil, and usually sahuagin, ixitxachitl,
common, or (5% chance) some other
tongue. Knowledge of these languages is
acquired by telepathy; an eye of the deep
cannot understand or communicate with a
creature that is using a language the eye
does not know.

5. The illusionary image created by an
eye of the deep is equivalent to a  phantasmal force with a range of 18? and an area of
effect equal to a 6-foot cube or equivalent
volume (enough to simulate an M-sized
creature or a small school of fish), Any
creature of average or higher intelligence
that attempts to disbelieve such an illusion
obtains a saving throw, and if the save is
successful then that creature can add +4 to
the saving throws of companions (cf.  phantasmal force, Players Handbook). An eye of
the deep can sense vibrations or unusual
currents in the water emanating from as far
as 36? away; the creature has infravision
out to a range of 12? and can smell blood or
sweat in the water from up to 9? away.

The  hold person and  hold monster
powers of the creature?s secondary eyes are
treated as spells from a 6th-level magic-user
for determination of range and area of
effect. Each of the secondary eyes has one of
these spell-like powers, i.e., either one
cannot use either power. The eye of the
deep can employ one or the other of these
powers in any given round, but not both in
the same round, and can use each power as
often as three times per day. Remember
that whenever the eye of the deep uses one
of its  hold powers, it cannot  create illusion
at the same time, and any illusion that had
existed is dispelled.
 

LETTERS

Eye examination
-
Dear Dragon,
I have a question about the article on the eye of
the deep (#93). It says that when an eye of the
deep grabs hold of one of its victims, it attacks at
+2 or +4 depending on the number of claws
holding the victim. Also, because of the claw
holding the adventurer, his attacks are made at -2
if held by one claw and at -4 if held by two. My
question is, does dexterity affect this penalty to
hit? When attacking with two weapons, the
higher a character's dexterity is, the less of a
penalty. Shouldn't this apply here, too?


Seth Walther
Marietta, Ohio
(Dragon #96)
 

Attacking with two weapons isn't really a
similar circumstance to being grabbed and held
by an eye of the deep, but it does seem logical to
give a character with high dexterity less of a
penalty to hit when he's being grabbed by an eye
of the deep; following the system on page 70 of
the DMG, try an adjustment of +1 for every <BD4: Attacking with 2 weapons>
point of dexterity over 15. All that does is add a
little more detail on top of the new information
given in the article. If you use a dexterity benefit
like this because you think the monster is too
tough, then leave well enough alone. But if you
want to tinker a little more to maintain a balance
of power, you can add in a "reflex attack" for the
monster: Whenever an eye of the deep takes
damage from an attack by the character it is
holding, it will reflexively squeeze its pincers
tighter, doing twice normal damage (4-16 points)
to the held character before releasing him.

Ecology articles, as complete as we try to make
them, are not as detailed as monster descriptions
could be. There's always room for a little more
elaboration, but the amount of detail you use is
always your decision; the extra "rules" incorporated
into ecology articles are not official
changes, so you can do anything you want with
them -- or nothing at all. We can't give a yes-orno
answer to a question like "Does dexterity
affect this penalty to hit?" Whether it does or not
is up to you. 

-- KM
(Dragon #96)