Beholder mouthpicks, or tongue-arms, were a class of tools used by beholders to perform regular tasks that they lacked the appendages for. They typically resembled a long rod or pole with one or more tools or weapon heads.[1][2][3][5][6]
Description[]
When not using their telekinesis eyestalk, beholders were limited to using their mouths in order to interact with the world at large. While a beholder could and would pick up an item, hold it in their mouth, and later spit it out if necessary, such behaviour was ill-suited to their sensibilities. While spellcasting and thralls could fill this deficiency, simple self-sufficient physical manipulation remained desirable and so the mouthpick was developed.[5][1][2][3][4]
Tongue-arms could be improvised with a tree trunk, mast, or some other large piece of salvaged wood, but beholders preferred to use custom-made metal implements with articulated joints and tipped with spikes, flanges, pincers, and other tools that allowed them to scoop, scrape, pierce, and grip small objects. Many mouthpicks had every possible function attached at the end, creating a cluster of tools that protruded from the end of it.[5][1][2]
Some beholders particularly relished the experience of melee combat and physically tearing foes apart, and so used specially-made mouthpicks that resembled large weapons. A common magical effect applied to them was that of an adaptive shifting grip, which automatically fitted itself to the wielder's teeth and mouth and made even an unfamiliar weapon easy to use.[3] Unfortunately for most beholders, their central eye's antimagic ray rendered magical mouthpicks useless and inert. Only beholderkin without that ability could properly enjoy such items.[1][2][4]
- Manipulative Mouthpick
A pair of elaborate tongue-arm weapons.
A hypothetical average tool-based mouthpick was about 6 feet long and had a trident-shaped arrangement of three utilities at the end. The first device was a sharp blade that could be used to cut, scrape, and dig more delicately and carefully than the beholder's eyes or teeth could. The second was a gauntlet-like gripper that could grab and hold objects, reach into tight spaces, and even perform gestures. The third device was a simply bowl-shaped scoop that was useful for picking up loose items.[4]
- Combat Mouthpick
A typical weapon-based mouthpick was a 10-foot long pole tipped with a whirling array of spikes, blades, and miscellaneous sharp implements.[4]
Usage[]
While held between the beholder's teeth, the mouthpick was manipulated as a human might with a pipe, jostling it about with lips and tongue without loosening the grip and manipulating the various levers, buttons, and switches. In the rare event that an attack struck a mouthpick and rammed it backwards into the mouth, the experience was unpleasant but not overly dangerous, as the mouthpick would strike the bony plating that protected the beholder's organs.[5][1][2][3]
As an alternative or a supplement to a tongue-arm, a beholder might use beholder armor, an enchanted suit of plate armor that they could control as if their own body, and thus gain access to the gauntlet-hands.[6]
The mouthpick had some use amongst shapeshifted druids and other intelligent, yet handless individuals who desired the use of tools or weapons.[3]
Notable Mouthpicks[]
- Fang pick, a powerful magical mouthpick used as a melee weapon in Undermountain.[1][2]
- Tyrant mouthpick, a useful and lethal mouthpick for the more powerful beholders.[4]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Ed Greenwood (1991). “Campaign Guide to Undermountain”. In Steven E. Schend ed. The Ruins of Undermountain (TSR, Inc.), pp. 112, 113. ISBN 1-5607-6061-3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 slade et al (December 1994). Encyclopedia Magica Volume I. (TSR, Inc.), p. 500. ISBN 1560768428.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Richard Baker, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter (April 2005). Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 46. ISBN 0-7869-3657-6.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Aaron Allston (1996). I, Tyrant. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 52, 53. ISBN 0-7869-0404-6.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Connie Rae Henson & Dale "slade" Henson (August 1992). The Magic Encyclopedia Volume One. (TSR, Inc), p. 96. ISBN 9781560764298.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Eric L. Boyd (November 1999). Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark. Edited by Jeff Quick. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 15, 123. ISBN 0-7869-1509-9.