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A giant squid was a rare, gargantuan, and powerful squid.[2][1][3]

Description[]

These squids were similar to the standard mollusks that posed no threat to society. Giant squids, however, were dangerous hunters, and would attack anything they encountered, even ships.[1] They were absolutely huge, measuring over 60 feet (18 meters) long, and had ten powerful tentacles.[2] Giant squids were protected by a hard shell, but were vulnerable in other areas.[3]

Krakens were a type of gargantuan squid. Despite their similarities, krakens were highly evolved, intelligent, and one of the most deadly types of creatures in existence.[2]

Behavior[]

Giant squids were excellent and fast swimmers, and able to jet away at extremely quick speeds.[1]

Combat[]

Such creatures mainly attacked by constricting their foes with their strong tentacles and biting them. It was possible for these squids to have their tentacles severed, and if so, they grew back within a few days. If they were losing a fight, they were able to emit huge inky clouds and swim away.[1]

Even vessels had little chance to survive a giant squid attack, as the mollusks could drag the whole ship to the bottom of the ocean.[2]

Ecology[]

Giant squids, though deadly predators, sometimes fell victim to hungry cachalot whales.[4] They had no need to hunt in groups, and only ventured alone.[1]

Sub-Species[]

A giant river squid was known in Kara-Tur.[5]

Habitats[]

These squids appeared in natural waters, such as in the Staunt Pools of Luruar[6] and Mlossae,[7] but also in other places. They were known to inhabit the Fated Depths, a water-based fiendish plane of limitless depth.[8]

Relationships[]

These giant animals were kept and revered by the Kraken Society.[9]

Some nereids were known to keep giant squids as pets.[10]

The marid Kalbari al-Durrat al-Amwaj ibn Jari had some giant squids as servants in her Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls.[11]

Usages[]

AD&D TC - giant squid

A giant squid attacking a ship.

Occasionally giant deepwater squids could be found for sale in the fish markets of Waterdeep.[12]

Stuffed giant squid was a specialty dish as big as a short human, served at the Tulmene's Tower inn of Tethyr in the late 14th century DR.[13]

Giant squid sepia was a very common material component in spells, particularly those that involved language, detection, and reading.[14] It was used in erase,[15] message,[16] detect magic,[15] read magic,[17] and comprehend languages.[15] The mage Casimur reported that a form of darkness, 15' radius developed by Asmiak in the Book of the Silver Talon could be cast using giant squid sepia, but it had a reduced duration compared to using giant octopus ink.[18] Giant river squid ink was used to paint the magical cards of the Edu'sascar at S'tung Monastery in T'u Lung.[5]

A piece of a giant squid tentacle was one of the material components of the battle tentacles spell.[19]

Such giant squids could be summoned by the summon monster IX spell.[20]

Trivia[]

Appendix[]

Appearances[]

Adventures
Ruins of Adventure
Video Games
Gateway to the Savage FrontierIcewind DaleNeverwinter (Storm King's Thunder)
Referenced only
Hillsfar
Card Games
AD&D Trading Cards

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 281. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 331. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 92. ISBN 0-935696-00-8.
  4. Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 282–283. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume I). (TSR, Inc), p. 63. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
  6. Ed Greenwood and Jason Carl (July 2002). Silver Marches. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 20. ISBN 0-7869-2835-2.
  7. Ed Greenwood (January 2000). “The New Adventures of Volo: Onward!”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #267 (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 82–83.
  8. Richard Baker, James Wyatt (March 2004). Player's Guide to Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 152. ISBN 0-7869-3134-5.
  9. Beyond Software, Inc. (1991). Designed by Don L. Daglow. Gateway to the Savage Frontier. Strategic Simulations, Inc.
  10. Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 104. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
  11. Wolfgang Baur (November 1993). Secrets of the Lamp. Genie Lore. (TSR, Inc.), p. 32. ISBN 978-1560766476.
  12. Ed Greenwood (2019-07-31). Fish markets of Waterdeep (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2021-05-24. Retrieved on 2021-05-24.
  13. Ray Muzyka, Lucas Kristjanson, James Ohlen eds. (1998). Baldur's Gate: Game Manual (Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate). (BioWare), p. 84.
  14. Westwood Associates (1989). Hillsfar. Strategic Simulations, Inc.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Ed Greenwood, Tim Beach (November 1995). Pages from the Mages. Edited by Jon Pickens. (TSR, Inc.), p. 22. ISBN 0-7869-0183-7.
  16. Ed Greenwood, Tim Beach (November 1995). Pages from the Mages. Edited by Jon Pickens. (TSR, Inc.), p. 23. ISBN 0-7869-0183-7.
  17. Ed Greenwood, Tim Beach (November 1995). Pages from the Mages. Edited by Jon Pickens. (TSR, Inc.), p. 21. ISBN 0-7869-0183-7.
  18. Ed Greenwood, Tim Beach (November 1995). Pages from the Mages. Edited by Jon Pickens. (TSR, Inc.), p. 21. ISBN 0-7869-0183-7.
  19. Ed Greenwood (June 2006). “A Dark and Stormy Knight: Another Evening with the Wizards Three:”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #344 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), p. 60.
  20. Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams (July 2003). Player's Handbook v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 286–287. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7.
  21. Christopher Perkins, et al. (September 2016). Storm King's Thunder. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 215–223. ISBN 978-0-7869-6600-4.
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