How Flour became the best Weapon against Beholder monsters

This is the one I was most afraid of other than visiting Menzoberranzan. Allow me to explain. I will remind you here dear reader, that I am merely a rogue, raised on a pirate ship and barely used to being on land, much less under land. My name is Jinx. Jinx   The friends I have come to know over the months are reliable, mostly. We have had a lot of lively and sometimes wild adventures since we first escaped our chains and found ourselves in the Underdark. Being in such close proximity to people for months at a time, you get to know each other pretty well. My friends have discovered I am given to superstition. But I don't know a single pirate, I mean sailor, who isn't.   My friends laughed at me when I insisted on purchasing a 5 pound bag of flour. I tried to explain to them that when you're on the seas, there are times when invisible creatures might try to board your ship. The best way to make sure there's nothing there, is to throw flour around. If something invisible is there, you'll see them alright.   In case you don't remember, we had been tasked with finding bizarre ingredients for a great Drow Archmage whose name is Verzen Devir or something like that. If we could find all the ingredients, he said he would help us escape the Underdark forever.   Here is the list he gave us:  

• The intact and unhatched egg of a purple worm, for channeling great physical power.
• The central eye of a beholder, to break down magical resistance and overcome magical forces.
• Six feathers from six different angels — the authority of the celestial realms and a force to enrage fiendish creatures.
• The heart of a goristro, to reach and influence the hearts of other demons.
• Thirteen timmasks, also known as “devil’s mushrooms,” sprouted from the footprint of a marilith, a balor, or a goristro — a lure to draw demons in.A few drops of blood or ichor from a demon lord, to connect with the demons the ritual will call. Gromph Baenre’s grimoires and notes on his ritual, to assist in better understanding the power that summoned the demon lords.

    We had already accomplished the first task. The next one was pretty scary. We had to retrieve the central eye of a Beholder.   We had to find the Vast Oblivion. Even in the underdark, something called the 'Vast Oblivion' is somewhat demoralizing. But we had a job to do. When we lost Jarzak, our wizard, I had agreed to study really hard and learn a bit of wizarding.   Before entering the beholder's lair, I used a wizarding feature I have that is called "portent." Essentially it allows me to change some numbers around when an enemy is trying to save himself from the good guys, us. Or I can use one to help the good guys get a better hit against an enemy.   Before we went into the oblivion, Eldredge reminded me for the thousandth time that when he cast a spell that I should make sure the beholder failed his saving throw. He seemed to think I was stupid and would forget.   I didn't know what the place would look like but I wasn't expecting what I saw.     Each one of those lines that end in circles was a bridge and each was on a different level. At the top, where we came in to the lair, it was the ground was so far below that I could barely make it out. All I knew was that if I fell off that bridge, I'd be in trouble. As soon as we entered, we were all thrown as the bridges were shifted by the Beholder. I was closest to the horrible creature and I dared not look at it. I was on the second level, almost everyone else was way down from me.   I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I was terrified because the Beholder was taking a leap towards me! But then I heard Eldredge cast a spell on the beholder to make him into a toad (the beholder, not Eldredge). I came to my senses then and used my portent ability to make the Beholder fail his saving throw against Eldredge's spell. As the Beholder rushed toward me, he turned into a toad in mid-air and shot right by me.   As soon as we had opened the door into the Vast Oblivion, I had pulled out my bag of flour because I didn't know what to expect. Before we had entered the lair, I had taken out the bag of flour. I don't know what I thought I was going to do with it, maybe blind his eye stalks? All I knew is that flour had always worked against really frightening things when I was a pirate.   Because of momentum, the Beholder/toad was really moving fast and went hurtling right past me on the second highest bridge. I had the bag of flour in my hands and just dropped it right after him. Then everyone of us from all those different bridge levels watched with fascination as the Beholder/toad dropped towards the ground.   I was most concerned for the Paladin and the Cleric who were both on about the second bridge from the bottom.   It seemed to take forever for the creature to hit the ground. It was a long way down. He hit so hard that at first I thought it had killed him. But then I could barely make out his form shifting back to that of a Beholder. He was bloody and hurt but he was starting to stand up. And he looked mad.   That's when the 5 pound bag of flour hit him. It hit him really hard. He was all but dead then and it was easy for the Paladin to take him out in one shot.   But when they tell the tale, and my friends tell it often, they claim that my bag of flour killed him. After that, nobody laughed at my superstitions. As soon as we could find a place to purchase goods, we all got a bag of flour.   Somehow the story has spread and grown bigger in the telling. And now it's not just pirates who carry flour with them on the sea; every good adventurer knows to carry a bag of flour in their packs. It is well known that you can kill a Beholder with a bag of flour.   When you become an adventurer, there is a firm ritual that takes place when you purchase your first pack of equipment. It's a solemn occasion but a glad one. Every adventurer needs rations, tinder, water, a bedroll and a variety of things depending on the location they plan to travel to. But every adventurer includes a 5 pound bag of flour as part of their starting equipment. It's part of the ritual of starting your first journey.