Watcher in the Water (dNetHack)
| ; Watcher in the Water (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 29 |
| Attacks |
Claw 2d8 physical, Claw 2d8 physical, Bearhug 2d6 drowning, Bite 5d6 physical, Single-target (active) gaze attack 0d0 special |
| Base level | 24 |
| Base experience | 1915 |
| Speed | 9 |
| Base AC | -2 |
| Base MR | 125 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 4500 |
| Nutritional value | 1000 |
| Size | huge |
| Resistances | disintegration resistance, poison resistance, stoning resistance, magic resistance
|
|
The Watcher in the Water:
| |
| ; swarm of snaking tentacles (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 22 |
| Attacks |
Tentacle 2d6 physical, Tentacle 2d6 physical, Bearhug 2d6 drowning |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 0 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 6 |
| Base MR | 125 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 4500 |
| Nutritional value | 1000 |
| Size | huge |
| Resistances | sleep resistance, disintegration resistance, poison resistance, stoning resistance
|
|
A swarm of snaking tentacles:
| |
| w long sinuous tentacle (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 22 |
| Attacks |
Reach 4d8 physical |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 0 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 6 |
| Base MR | 125 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 4500 |
| Nutritional value | 1000 |
| Size | huge |
| Resistances | sleep resistance, disintegration resistance, poison resistance, stoning resistance
|
|
A long sinuous tentacle:
| |
- For the monster in UnNetHack, see Watcher in the Water (UnNetHack).
The Watcher in the Water, ;, is a unique monster that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The Watcher in the Water is a chaotic sea monster similar to a kraken, with the same basic attributes as the monster in these variants. All 12 points of the Watcher's AC are in the natural category. The Watcher in the Water will try to keep no less than 4 squares worth of distance away from the hero where possible, and will seek to avoid being in a direct line with the hero on 3⁄4 of moves, though it will attack in melee if the hero closes in enough. It cannot be made tame.
The Watcher in the Water has two claw attacks, a bearhug attack that can drown the hero, a strong bite attack, and a special "gaze" attack that generates multiple tentacles. These tentacles consist of up to six swarms of snaking tentacles, ;, and two long sinuous tentacles, w—the attack will generate one tentacle per turn in that given order, and similarly replaces them at the same rate if any of them are "killed". The Watcher in the Water possesses disintegration resistance, poison resistance, stoning resistance, and magic resistance.
A swarm of snaking tentacles has two tentacle attacks, along with a bearhug attack that can drown the hero, and will remain in the water where possible while remaining withing roughly 5 squares of the Watcher. A long sinuous tentacle has a reach attack that extends two squares from its location and deals physical damage, and can crawl onto land while approaching the hero, remaining withing roughly 5 squares of the Watcher. Both types of tentacles possess sleep resistance in addition to the same resistances as the Watcher in the Water.
Generation
The Watcher in the Water is always generated hostile, and is not a valid target for polymorph or genocide.
The Watcher in the Water is always generated on a specific square within the waters of the Dwarf Noble quest locate level at level creation, where it will remain immobile for 3 turns before moving towards the hero.
The Watcher in the Water is always generated with three times the maximum HP possible for a monster of its size.
Killing the Watcher in the Water will kill all of the tentacles present as well.
Origin
The Watcher in the Water is a fictional creature that appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth setting, and debuts in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings.
The origins of the creature are not described in the setting itself, but critics have likened it to the legendary kraken and to Odysseus's passage between the devouring Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Its presence in combination with the barrier lake and the formidable Doors of Durin have also been compared to the multiple obstacles often found in Norse mythology. In vanilla NetHack, the passage describing the Watcher is used as the encyclopedia entry for the kraken, implying that the Watcher is assumed to be representative of that legendary creature, which is usually portrayed as a giant cephalopod.
Lurking in a lake beneath the western walls of the dwarf-realm Moria, the Watcher in the Water is said to have appeared after the damming of the river Sirannon, and its presence was first recorded by Balin's dwarf company 30 or so years before the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. It makes its first appearance when the titular Fellowship is about to enter Moria, attacking them at the western entrance—the encyclopedia entries are passages from the book that describes the creature as it grabs Frodo, the protagonist, and tries to drag him underwater. The Fellowship later learns the creature's moniker, "The Watcher in the Water", form a historical account which reveals that the monster also prevented Moria's defenders from escaping through that exit.
Encyclopedia entry
'I felt that something horrible was near from the moment that
my foot first touched the water,' said Frodo. 'What was that
thing, or were there many of them?'
'I do not know,' answered Gandalf; 'but the arms were all
guided by one purpose. Something has crept, or has been
driven out of dark waters under the mountains. There are
older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of
the world.'
Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the
world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows
them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked
there, but I will bring no report to darken the light
of day.
Long sinuous tentacle
Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it
was pale-green and luminous and wet. Its fingered end had
hold of Frodo's foot, and was dragging him into the water.
Sam on his knees was now slashing at it with a knife. The
arm let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out
for help. Twenty other arms came rippling out. The dark
water boiled, and there was a hideous stench.
