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Galenson
 
PostPosted: Sun, Jan 19 2014, 11:21 AM 

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Joined: 26 May 2006
Location: Down Under, calculating your demise with blunt expressions.

The aim of this thread is to provide common knowledge about the more prominent monsters in the FR setting which your characters will have access to via the libraries and folk tales of Amia and its surrounding Islands. The rule of thumb with this thread is:

* If it's mentioned in this thread, then its common knowledge that is easily accessible.

* If something is not mentioned in this thread, then further research in the subject is required at DM discretion: this can be achieved through DM events, NPC interactions or via the forums.


The list for easy referencing:

* Illithids.

_________________
Plays:

"I'll think of something once Amia:EE drops."


 
      
Galenson
 
PostPosted: Sun, Jan 19 2014, 11:25 AM 

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Joined: 26 May 2006
Location: Down Under, calculating your demise with blunt expressions.

The following information is common knowledge that has been recorded in libraries throughout Amia or spoken in folk lore and tales between the different peoples who inhabit the Isle. Most of this information also comes from dealing with the Illithids in Underport: an extremely rare occurence of openness by the Illithids.


The Illithids:



Who are the Illithids?


The Illithids, more commonly known as Mind Flayers to those on the surface world, are an enigmatic terror from the Underdark who frequent folk lore throughout the races of the Faerun. They are feared amongst the surface races for being cruel yet cunning slavers who appear unexpectedly and leave as quickly with their captured prey as they had arrived. Such is their reputation that it is rare for those who encounter these terrors from the Underdark to ever be seen or heard from again. Those who do are generally maddened by the experience and speak only of the Mind Flayer's signature trait which is undisputed in every culture: their ability to consume the minds of their prey.For this reason alone, the Mind Flayers are popular in mother's tales to scare misbehaving children into obedience.

To the races of the Underdark, the Illithid instead are an ancient race whose cities have been present in the Underdark well before the exile of the Drow and Orog progenitors from the surface. Their cities and enclaves are powerful bastions of both power and wealth in an otherwise inhospitable realm which, combined with their formidable reputation, has earned them begrudging respect and fear in equal measure from the races who share their domain.


Appearance:


An Illithid is tall and stands upright with a pair of arms and legs like like most humanoids. However the similarities to most humanoids cease there: An Illithid's limbs are long and slender, their arms ending in hands with three elongated fingers tipped with sharp claws. Their heads appear cephalopod in nature, with no visible nose and a number of tentacles that extend from where their jaws should be. Illithid skintones vary from dark purple to grey and their eyes are generally milky white in appearance.

Illithids prefer wearing dark, tight fitting robes and it is common for individual Illithids to adorn themselves with items and trinkets both Illithid and humanoid in design.

Personality:

Illithids very rarely show any form of personality or emotion to others as their features do not show emotion like most humanoids do. However based off their habits one can only assume that Illithids are inherently evil creatures: they are just as likely to attack or enslave you as they are to indulge your presence.

In the rare times that an Illithid is willing to converse with those beyond its own kind, such as in Underport or when Illithid merchants are encountered, the Illithid will always attempt to use its abilities to manipulate events into its own favour, making them extremely untrustworthy at best.


Culture and society:


Illithids prefer to communicate using their psionic abilities, however it is known to many Underdark races that the Illithids regularly speak Undercommon beyond their own cities. Individual Illithids can learn other languages if they desire thus it is common in Underport for Illithid merchants to speak common or for individual Illithids to speak Drow or Svirfneblin tongues.

Very little is known about Illithid society beyond the high population of slaves who inhabit Illithid cities because it is rare for outsiders to enter Illithid domains of their own free will and return to speak the tale. Some references theorise from observing Illithid raiding parties that Illithids are divided into castes, with the more powerful castes leading their lesser castes... though no specifics are known to support these theories.

Illithids have a particular, alien architecture which many Underdark races can easily distinguish from at eye level. Most Underdark races know that if Illithid architecture is present, its advisable to get as far away from that area as fast as possible.


Relationships with other races:


To most surface races, Illithids have earned their hostile reputation through encounters with Illithid slaving parties. They are most likely to attack or enslave an individual on sight, however circumstance do vary. On the rare occasions that an Illithid is not openly hostile, their inherently evil nature and their enigmatic goals makes them highly untrustworthy creatures to deal with. Only desperate or powerful individuals of unsavoury reputation would risk dealing with them willingly.

To most Underdark races the Illithids also extend the same hostilities to what they offer the races of the surface: they willingly attack, enslave and contest their neighbours over resources to fulfill some secret agenda known only to the Illithids themselves. The hostility between the Duergar and Illithid races in particular is legendary with both races going to great lengths to exterminate the other should they encounter one another. Due to the nature of the Underdark however, it is not uncommon to find Illithid cities trading with their neighbours despite such hostilities where their wealth and technology is begrudgingly respected by the Drow, Orog and Svirfneblin races. Despite this begrudging respect, every Underdarker knows that the Illithids cannot be trusted: like many an Underdark race, the Illithids think only of themselves and won't hesitate to discard their "friends" for their own benefit.

Many sources also speak of a legendary war between the Illithids and the Gith, however the specifics of this war or the cause behind it is still unknown to most modern scholars.



[editor's note:] //thanks to the Udos Colony being a common hunting ground, the existence of Elder Brains is known to adventurers. However, little is known about the Elder Brains themselves beyond that they are the leaders of Illithid colonies.

_________________
Plays:

"I'll think of something once Amia:EE drops."


 
      
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