Octoscholar

Octoscholar

No. Enc.: 1d4 (2d6)

Alignment: Neutral (Chaotic)

Movement: 90'

         Swim: 90'

Armor Class: 8

Hit Dice: 4

Attacks: 1-4 tentacle, bite or spells(some use weapons)

Damage: 1d3 per tentacle/1d4 bite/ byspell or weapon

Save: F2

Morale: 9

% Liar: (2d10 per HD as %)

Cold and calculating, unforgiving and given to sorcerous feuds amongst themselves over the most arcane bits of trivia. The Octoscholars have had a long-standing multi-planar cold war with the various offshoots of the primordial serpent people, especially the tube-born clone-descended serpent men who no longer even remember the long ago rule of their now nameless Queen.

Octoscholars are the sages of their particular sub-species of Octopoidal Degenerates and as such most of them know 2d4 random spells and will possess 1d4 random magic items(usually [30%] scrolls, [30%] rings or [30%] wands, but sometimes[10%] weapons). Their areas of expertise tend to be quite esoteric and wide ranging, often veering into areas of restricted scholarship, forbidden knowledge, primal arcana or even more troubling fields.

Octoscholars have an innate ability to spew forth a cloud of clinging, inky darkness (as Darkness spell, only an actual cloud of suspended ink droplets), or to Befuddle Laymen with their grossly arcane and convoluted pseudo-scientific discourses, lectures and rants (effectively a Confuse spell). They also use their natural ink to inscribe scrolls and to form sigils. They have a rather fine sense of touch and are extremely dexterous, enabling them to pick pockets, open locks, or disarm/set traps just like a thief.

Their ink becomes a more potent poison the angrier they get.

For a small fee (X3 the going rate) an Octoscholar will attempt to decipher and translate ancient inscriptions, old journals and spell-books, or scrolls. They always reserve the right to make copies for their own use, of course. If they roll over their % Liar score, they complete the translation honestly and with no hidden pranks or spurious gibberish to complicate matters or cause things to fail, explode or melt-down spectacularly.

They also have a base (20%) chance to cobble together some infernal contraption or improbable device, if sufficiently motivated. It is left to the GM/DM as to what constitutes 'sufficiently motivated,' in this instance.