The octo-hide, a relative of the octo-jelly, is a bottom-dwelling octopus of the deepest oceans. Enormous in size (20 feet or more across), with comparatively short, webbed tentacles, it might be of any color and changes hue frequently. In basic appearance, it resembles a dirty floor mop or an opened umbrella, and in general is quite a disgusting sight.

Combat: The octo-hide will try to get close enough to a victim to bite it, its beak inflicting 2-12 hp damage. On a beak hit, the octo-hide’s tentacles wrap around the prey so that no further attack rolls are necessary. In order to disable a target so it can close in for the kill, each round it can generate a cone of cold 10 feet wide and 30 feet long, that inflicts 3d6 points of damage (save vs. spell for half). The octo-hide itself is immune to all cold-based attacks.

The octo-hide is ferocious, but if the battle goes against it, and it loses three-quarters of its hit points, the octo-hide retreats, releasing any prey and covering its withdrawal with the same sort of blinding cloud as the octo-jelly. (Anyone caught in this cloud is blinded for one full turn, losing all initiative and defending against any attacks at a -2 penalty.) The octo-hide’s cloud is 40 feet high by 60 feet wide by 60 feet long.

Habitat/Society: These creatures are solitary, due to the virtual impossibility of the deep sea providing enough food for more than one in a small area. The mating season is brief, and the eggs are abandoned as soon as they are laid.

Ecology: The octo-hide has the same uses to both Man and Nature as the octo-jelly. It preys on both swimmers and bottom-crawlers, while its ink has the same value as a scroll-ink ingredient.