Page 17 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

milathast (an organ described in Internal Anatomy, below) Along the creature’s flanks run twin sets of large orifices (3),

to the tentacle surface. The creature uses this toxic slime to each of which can open as wide as 2 feet. Most aboleths have

transform captured victims into creatures more able to serve two orifices on each flank, but a particularly well-endowed

in its watery lair. specimen can have up to seven on a side. On a more natural
An aboleth swims using powerful strokes of its tail while creature, they might be called nostrils. An aboleth uses these
holding its tentacles up against the side of its body. The vents to breathe, scent, speak, and expel mucus into the sur-

creature possesses numerous fins to stabilize and guide its rounding area. On land, this mucus provides a slimy bed of
motion. A swimming aboleth looks more like a snake than a ooze that allows the creature to slither about more easily. In

fish, so sinuous and fluid is the motion of its tail and body. water, the mucus transforms the liquid around the creature

into a cloud of soupy slime. In either environment, an aboleth
The creature’s mouth is a unique organ. When closed, little
CHAPTER 2 THE DEEP MASTERS is visible beyond a pale white pucker, no more than a few breathes the mucus in order to survive; an aboleth that some-
inches across. It opens with shocking speed when the crea-
how loses the ability to create the slime quickly suffocates,
even underwater.
ture feeds. Fully opened, the mouth resembles an equilateral
An aboleth’s senses are roughly equal to that of a human’s,
triangle about 2 feet wide on a side. At each corner, a long,
thin stalk tipped with a bony spike (2) extends outward. The
well as a human’s in bright light, but in complete darkness they
inner walls of an aboleth’s mouth are studded with thousands with the exception of its eyesight. An aboleth’s three eyes see as
of tiny serrated teeth. The three bony stalks are used to col- give the creature darkvision out to 60 feet. All three eyes appear
lect food and push it into the mouth, which then constricts as little more than large, red ovals; no iris or pupil is visible.

and shreds the food into easily swallowed ribbons. Despite An aboleth detects scents via its ventral orifices, as mentioned
its fantastic amount of teeth, an aboleth has no natural bite above, and detects sound by feeling the vibrations in the air or
attack; its feeding mandibles and teeth are too small and water upon its skin; in effect, the creature’s skin acts as a huge
weak to be used in combat. eardrum. Aboleths lack tongues, but the walls of their mouths
Illus. by E. Cox

The aboleth revealed (numbers keyed to text references)
16