Page 39 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

stalks composed of numerous knuckles and digits that can called evocularies (3). Each evoculary feeds directly into one of
rotate and bend in any direction. the eye’s three retinas and anchors an iris sheath (4), a lens, or
A beholder’s mouth performs the same functions as a both. The evocularies not only aid in the movement of the vari-
human’s mouth; it has a tongue, soft upper and lower palates, ous components, but also transmit light and magic energy from
and upper and lower teeth. A beholder’s teeth are long, thin, the retinas to the lenses and vice versa. Each eye has a slightly
and sharp, designed for ripping and tearing. different configuration of evocularies. In one eye, they might

A beholder’s sensory organs are, for the most part, not quite form a complex spiral. In another, they might form tightly wound
as acute as a human’s. Their sense of touch has atrophied nearly corkscrew patterns. In a third, they might be taut and straight.
to the point of uselessness, except for the surface of the tongue. The nature of an eye’s evoculary configuration is believed to be

Beholders use their tongue to feel objects, since this fleshy
what focuses the raw magic energy the creature generates deep

CHAPTER 3 THE EYE TYRANTS muscle is quite sensitive. One thing it’s not well designed for, in its brain to create its signature eye ray effects.
The three retinas (5) of each eye coil into a highly complex,
ironically, is taste. Beholders have no sense of taste whatsoever,
braidlike structure as they wind down the stalk or up behind
which might explain why they eat anything that falls prey to
them. Beholders detect scents through thousands of miniscule
the central eye to converge deep inside the creature’s body and
openings (called spiracles) over the surface of their bodies, and
is transmitted along this braid from the dweomerlobes of its
it is through these openings that they also breathe. Of the four brain. The raw magic energy that powers a beholder’s eye rays
nonvisual senses, only a beholder’s hearing approaches that of brain.
a human’s. Beholders typically have a dozen small tympanic
membranes at almost random spots across their bodies; each INTERNAL ANATOMY
is merely an inch in diameter and impossible to see except A beholder’s outer body, although strange, at least seems logi-
upon the closest examination. cal in construction. The farther one gets into the innards of a
Of course, beholders’ nonvisual senses are so rudimen- beholder, however, the more alien and unusual the components
tary primarily because their eyes are so much more so become. Its internal organs are a tangled, brightly colored,
developed. often inscrutable mess of tubes, sacs, coils, and “things” that
have little or no analogy to those found in a human. Sages have
Illus. by E. Cox Its multiple eyes are a beholder’s most notable (and
EYES
managed to pin down the purpose for some of these organs
feared) anatomical feature. In addition to providing the
creature with all-around vision, the eyes can be used
to aim, direct, and emit powerful supernatural effects.
These effects aside, the eye of a beholder is a wondrous
and complex organ that has long been the obsession of
countless sages and wizards.
A beholder’s eyeball is remarkably hard and solid,
about as strong as a similarly sized ball of stone. While
at rest, the eyes have a round, brilliantly colored iris (1).
The iris seems to be some sort of translucent crystal
consisting of hundreds of interlocking sheaves, each
of which is capable of independent movement. This
allows a beholder amazing control over the shape of its
iris and the amount of light that is allowed to enter the
eye. A beholder can adjust its iris to almost any shape
imaginable, and can even expand it to the rim of its eye
socket to give the appearance of having no iris at all.
Curiously, a beholder’s eye doesn’t have a single lens.
Rather, an eye can have as many as a dozen differently
sized and shaped lenses (2), all capable of independent
rotation and movement and linked to the movement of
the iris. By adjusting these lenses and the iris, a beholder
can aim with its eye ray. The numerous lenses have the

added benefit of granting the creature exceptional vision.
All beholders possess darkvision out to 60 feet, and in
brightly lit conditions can count the legs on a mosquito
at over twice this distance.
The interior of a beholder’s eye is a tangled mess of
transparent, nearly invisible strands of nervous tissue
38 The beholder’s eye (numbers keyed to text references)