[APPLICATION REQUIRED] Illithid ; The "Mind Flayers"

"The Mind Flayers"

"Something's back, there!" he screamed. I turned to look, and beheld the incarnation of my fear staring back. A robed figure stood just out of the light, but I could see just enough to make out a misshapen head from which depended a writhing, coiling cluster of slick tentacles. As I opened my mouth to give warning of the true enemy, I felt a scratch across the surface of my mind…

Overview:

The "Mind Flayer", also called the Illithid, is an evil and sadistic being, humanoid in appearance, but with a four-tentacled octopus-like head. These beings are feared throughout Oldenland for their telepathic abilities and usually are not without two or more slaves, mentally bound, to each individual mind flayer. Although they cooperate to achieve a goal, they will back away at the first sign that it is not something that will be self-profitable. They are capable of speaking Common, but prefer telepathic communication and will attempt to mentally dominate any non-slave, non-Illithid they meet. Some theorized mind flayers to be aliens from the future, they come back in time to save their species from extinction. However, more convincing evidence points to a more sinister origin in the Otherworld. They feed on the brains of sentient creatures and are thus feared. Their natural psionic abilities also make them respected in the eyes of the Drow, Beholders, and Duergar (Dark Dwarves).

Description:

Illithids have a basic humanoid body, but their head is octopus-like. They have four tentacles around a lamprey-like mouth, and require the brains of sentient creatures as part of their diet. An illithid who snares a living creature in all four of its tentacles can extract and devour its living brain. Their eyes are pale white, and they can see perfectly well in both darkness and light. Their sense of hearing is slightly poorer than a human's; they have difficulty distinguishing between several sounds mixed together. Their skin is purplish blue to gray-green and covered in mucus, and is very sensitive to sunlight. Though sunlight does not actually harm them, they loathe it with incredible ferocity.

Illithid Psionics:

The mind flayers are feared by all beings in Oldenland because of their great mental prowess. Every Illithid has at least a small array of mind-affecting spells to take control of their prey as well as a powerful mind blast to affect a multitude of foes. The mind flayer's mind blast is a 10-foot cone that stuns anyone caught within it. The mind flayer can also innately cast three mind-affecting spells: charm monster, detect thoughts, and suggestion. Mind flayers are also capable of casting levitate, on occasion.

Normally, a mind flayer will use its mind blast ability to stun a few foes and then drag them away to feed. Once it has its victims, it will attach all of its tentacles to the head of its victim. Then, the mind flayer uses its lamprey-like mouth to suck out the brains of its victims, instantly killing the victim, as long as it only has one head. The mind flayer uses its other spells mainly to enslave its minions and keep them under total control, as well as on the battlefield.

Illithid Biology:

Illithids are hermaphroditic creatures who each spawn a mass of larvae twice in their life. The larvae resemble miniature illithid heads or four-tentacled tadpoles. Larvae are left to develop in the pool of the Elder Brain. The ones that survive after 10 years are inserted into the brain of a sapient creature. Hosts are determined in a very specific manner. Hosts generally are humanoid creatures that are between 5 feet 4 inches and 6 feet 2 inches. The most desirable of races for hosts are Human, Drow, Elves, Githzerai, Githyanki, Grimlock, Gnoll, Goblinoid, and Orc. Upon being implanted, the larva then grows and consumes the host's brain, absorbing the host's physical form entirely and becoming sapient itself, a mature (but still young) Illithid. This process is called ceremorphosis. Illithids often experiment with non-humanoid hosts, but ceremorphosis involving other creatures usually fails, killing both host and larva.



Occasionally, ceremorphosis can partially fail. Sometimes the larva does not contain enough chemicals to complete the mutation, sometimes there is psionic interference. Whatever the reason, it has happened that ceremorphosis has ended after the internal restructuring, resulting in a human body with an illithid's brain, personality and digestive tract. These unfortunates must still consume brains, typically by cutting open heads (as they lack the requisite tentacles). These beings are often used as spies, where they easily blend in with their respective host types.



The illithid society also maintains a long-standing taboo. Every so often, a mind flayer community is attacked and its inhabitants must flee. This leaves the larvae unattended. Bereft of exterior nourishment, they begin to consume one another. The survivor will eventually leave the pool in search of food (i.e., brains). This unmorphed larvae is known as a Neothelid. If the neothelid consumes an intelligent creature it will awaken to sapience and psionic abilities, while retaining its memories of savage survival. The existence of these beasts is a guarded secret among illithids, and it is considered impolite to speak of them.

Illithid Variants:

Alhoon
Alhoons (also called illithiliches) are illithids that have grown powerful enough in magic to become liches. Alhoons are generally pariahs in illithid society because they go against most illithids' eventual goal; to merge with the Elder Brain, both physically and psionically. Alhoons, on the other hand, are more concerned with their own personal survival. When discovered near illithid communities Alhoons are mercilessly hunted down.

Ulitharid
Ulitharids are created from tadpoles much like standard illithids; fewer than 1% become ulitharids, and it is impossible to determine whether a tadpole will become an ulitharid until ceremorphosis is complete.

Superior in nearly all ways to a regular mind flayer, ulitharids possess two extra tentacles, which are twice as long as the others, and an extreme arrogance, even by the standards of their own kind. Only the elder brain holds more sway within an illithid community.

Vampiric illithids
The origins of these unique undead mind flayers are unclear. All that is known of these creatures is that they cannot create spawn, need both fresh blood and fresh brains to survive, are more feral than typical illithids, and are barely intelligent. They are feared, and hated by other Illithids, and races amongst Oldenland.

Society:

An illithid city is ruled by a creature called an Elder Brain which lives in a pool of cerebral fluid in the city's center. When an illithid dies its brain is extracted and taken to the pool. Illithids believe that when they die their personality is incorporated into the Elder Brain, but this is not the case. When the brain of an illithid is added to the Elder Brain, the memories, thoughts and experiences are consumed and added to the sum of the whole, but all else is lost. This fact is a closely guarded secret of the Elder Brains, since all illithid aspire to a form of immortality through this merging process. An extremely ancient Elder Brain is called a God-Brain because its psionic powers are almost limitless.



Since the Elder Brain contains the essence of every illithid that died in its community, it functions in part as a vast library of knowledge that a mind flayer can call upon with a simple telepathic call. The Elder Brain in turn can communicate telepathically with anyone in its community, issuing orders and ensuring everyone conforms.

Illithids generally frown upon magic, preferring their natural psionic ability. Psionic potential is an integral part of the illithid identity, and the Elder Brain cannot absorb the magical powers of an illithid mage when it dies. They tolerate a limited study of wizardry, if only to better understand the powers employed by their enemies. However, an illithid who goes too far and neglects his psionic development in favor of wizardry risks becoming an outcast. Denied the possibility of ever merging with the Elder Brain, such outcasts often seek their own immortality through undeath, becoming alhoons.

Illithids typically communicate through psychic means. They project thoughts and feelings to each other in a way non-illithids can scarcely comprehend. When they do feel the need to write, they do so in "qualith." Instead of typical alphabet-based writing, illithids write in qualith by making marks consisting of four broken lines. They use each tentacle to feel the breaks in the lines, making it basically similar to braille. However, qualith is extremely complex, as each line modifies the preceding lines through explaining abstract concepts associated with the above words in ways no human can understand; only by understanding all four lines simultaneously can the meaning be understood properly.

Recent Activity:

Currently, the illithids are in a period of intense study and experimentation, gathering knowledge of all sorts. They frequently meddle in the politics of other races through subtle psychic manipulation of key figures, not to cause chaos but so as to better understand the dynamics of civilization. They regularly probe the minds of surface dwellers so as to gather intelligence and learn about new advances in magic and technology. They also do a good deal of research themselves, mainly focused on developing new psychic powers.



Illithids regularly conduct raids on all sentient settlements to acquire new thralls, because their existing stock of sentient thralls do not breed fast enough to satisfy their food and labor needs. Typically, a group of mind flayers will teleport to the settlement and swiftly incapacitate them with their psychic powers. The captives will then be marched all the way to the illithids' underground settlement by specially trained and conditioned thralls. Great care is taken to cover their tracks.

Religion:

Traditionally illithids revere a perverse deity named Ilsensine (The God-Brain), and once had a second deity named Maanzecorian. Although Ilsensine is the illithid patron deity, few mind flayers actively worship him, thinking themselves the most powerful creatures in the universe. Maanzecorian was once their primary deity until he was killed, then the illithids switched their primary god to Ilsensine.

The Under-Dark:

The under-dark is where all Illithids dwell, aswell as other reaces, Drow, and Dark-Dwarves included. The Under-Dark is a series of Caverns beneath Oldenland's surface, where cities sprawl over it's rough terrain. It's rare to see the Under-Races on the surface, but not uncommon in certain areas. Caves, and the like.



References
* Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual 3.5. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.

* Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.

As a DnD fan, I believe it's my obligation and guilty pleasure to say:

Spoiler:

Battleship Approved

Yeah, by far the coolest, and greatest race ever to come out of Dungeons and Dragons.

I love the enthusiasm!

I hope they get accepted.

Err. To be honest, I think they are a bit overpowered. Pscyhic abilities to control every person in Oldenland? If there are any real weaknesses, they aren't listed. Psyche, Narran, no offense, but did you guys just TL;DR this and accept because you recognize it from DnD?

List some cons, Zaku. Because as it looks now, it seems they can just blow the mind of anyone who tries to oppose them. And it seems they only come out of their underground-cities to enslave people and eat brains.

read da whole thing. >.>
maybe i read it wrong, who knows?

Don't just blindy accept. I bet you're just doing it cause it's Zaku.

I mean, look at what you're accepting first.

Quote :

read da whole thing. >.>

Then I fear for your powers. You are accepting a race that would stand out more in public than a celebrity on fire and has the power to enslave everyone they want to.

In that case
undecided

Kallistia wrote:

In that case
undecided

Err. Narran, no offense in mind, but.. when I have to TELL YOU that it's a bit overpowered, I get worried. You're an admin. You're supposed to think before you write.

Anyway, Zaku. Except for the massive pscyhic abilities without cons this looks good.

Mack wrote:

Err. Narran, no offense in mind, but.. when I have to TELL YOU that it's a bit overpowered, I get worried. You're an admin. You're supposed to think before you write.

Seconded.

Don't whine to me because you disagree, I read the whole thing. I want it accepted because I like Mind Flayers and are, in my opinion, fun to read/talk/rp/whatever about.

Quote :

Don't whine to me because you disagree, I read the whole thing. I want it accepted because I like Mind Flayers and are, in my opinion, fun to read/talk/rp/whatever about.

I wasn't whining. I was wondering why you were giving an accept to a race that can stun anyone and eat their brain, killing them instantly.

If you like it, so be it. But I'm not really into the idea of super kinetic powers without cons.

Mack wrote:

I wasn't whining.

Mack wrote:

You're supposed to think before you write.

Mack wrote:

Psyche, Narran, no offense, but did you guys just TL;DR this and accept because you recognize it from DnD?
.

Kruggly wrote:

Don't just blindy accept. I bet you're just doing it cause it's Zaku.

*Cough*

Anyways, I suggest nerfing the race alongside added cons.

Mack, Kruggly,

This is a game, we're here to have fun. Not to balance the world out. Look at it this way, life's not fair. Not everything is equal. The Illithid are supposed to be stronger then everyone else, they're supposed to conquer people. They're bad guys, not pussies. It's not a matter of strength vs weakness. It's if you trust the person playing them enough to play them correctly. Life isn't balanced, a rabbit doesn't have the same chance of fighting off a tiger, as a leopard would. (Weird animals, I know).

If everyone was equal, there would be no wars, if everyone had the same amount of power, everything would be balanced, and it's not.

That's not whining. Just because I don't share your opinion and state it doesn't mean I'm whining. That was suspecting you guys of accepting without reading it through, but since I was wrong, the question changed.

Anyway. Psyche is right. Nerf it. And, to be honest, I don't really like copy-pasta lore.

Mack wrote:

That's not whining. Just because I don't share your opinion and state it doesn't mean I'm whining. That was suspecting you guys of accepting without reading it through, but since I was wrong, the question changed..

Well really, by whining I'm implying blatantly insulting me because you challenge my opinion.

Also, Oldenland can't be much fun if everything is completely balanced. Sure, trying to survive a stronger opponent is half the fun, but not when the opponent is able to kill you instantly.

Personally.....
There psychic haven't everyone despise and hated psychic?
Considerably this is Illithid, they are highly intelligent beyond anyone's comprehension they could as may and willingly have the power to mind control a commander of an army, towards an admiral, towards an General. Soooo yeaaaaa

I could rewrite the entire thing, and it would be the same. Saved me the trouble of re-writing lore I was basing the race off of in the first place. And there are nerfs, if you guys bothered to read it. Since you like to preach so much.

They're subject to light, they don't go outside during the day. That being said, they're extremely weak against holy, or divine magic. And they're rare, very, very rare. They're not an everyday occurance. They can't walk into town, and act like a normal citizen. They're not people, they're monsters. They're sentient, yes, but you won't see one buying a basket full of apples at the market, that's for sure. You could easily take one down, in a group. Work together, don't try to do everything yourself. And think as a group. Illithids are much stronger then most races, but they're rare.

Zaku350 wrote:

This is a game.

Then no need to ruin the fun by adding the bully to the playground.

This isn't ruining the fun, it's adding it. We need enemies, bad-guys. So the little kiddies don't start attacking one another for the sake of it, Drakeson for example.

And Drakeson, you're the one that caused the hate against psychic magic. And like I said, it's not strength vs weakness, it's if you trust the player or not. And we all know Drakeson can't be trusted for shit. And that's why it got ruined in the first place.

Don't base your opinion on the past, or you'll spoil the future.

Zaku350 wrote:

This isn't ruining the fun, it's adding it. We need enemies, bad-guys. So the little kiddies don't start attacking one another for the sake of it, Drakeson for example.

And Drakeson, you're the one that caused the hate against psychic magic. And like I said, it's not strength vs weakness, it's if you trust the player or not. And we all know Drakeson can't be trusted for shit. And that's why it got ruined in the first place.

Don't base your opinion on the past, or you'll spoil the future.

I was told people hated psychic long before I came in with psychic so get your shit facts straight Zaku,
Yvi was one of the reasons why people hated it.
I didn't even have any psychic powers as of yet.

We're talking about your shitty demon hunter, you get the facts straight. You don't even know your own god damn characters. Your shitty roleplay is going to end up ruining it for the rest of us, because people base everything on the terrible, retarded example you left.

Zaku350 wrote:

We're talking about your shitty demon hunter, you get the facts straight. You don't even know your own god damn characters. Your shitty roleplay is going to end up ruining it for the rest of us, because people base everything on the terrible, retarded example you left.

The Demon Hunter Never had Psychic powers, it was merely a simple mind talk never knew it was ruining everything.

So fuck off, I didn't leave shit.
So yet again
Get your facts straight buddy.