Page 50 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

races or gathering new magic sources for study. A beholder on the surface. The primary goal of a hive mother that rules
cluster becomes the prevailing force in the region and, if left a hive city is almost always the collection of other beholders
alone, can eventually challenge the rule of nations. and beholderkin; hive mothers believe that they themselves
Even beholder clusters do not represent the most dangerous are the chosen of the Great Mother and must work to bring
aspect of beholder society. For this, one need look no further unity and order to the beholder race. Other beholder cities
than the dreaded beholder hives. ruled by rival hive mothers are their greatest enemies, for they
represent all that is tainted and wrong about the beholder race.
HIVES AND HIVE CITIES Once all other hive cities are destroyed or assimilated, the
One of the most terrifying manifestations of beholder society is surviving hive mother can turn its vast resources to the other

a beholder hive. It is not unheard of for similarly shaped behold- races of the world and begin the final cleansing to prepare for
ers to live in close proximity to one another, cooperating to build the Great Mother’s return.
incredible and alien cities in the far corners of the world. A typical hive city has a population that breaks down roughly TYRANTS CHAPTER 3
The existence of beholder hive mothers and overseers makes as follows: THE EYE
these gatherings possible. These thankfully rare creatures
possess a supernatural ability to command and dominate other • 1 hive mother
beholders. Hive mothers are powerful beholders said to have • 2 to 4 overseer beholderkin
been spawned directly from the shuddering folds of the Great • 6 to 12 director beholderkin (each with a bonded vermin
Mother herself. Overseers are horribly mutated creatures that mount, usually Huge monstrous centipedes)

only superficially resemble the original beholder stock from • 11 to 30 beholders
which they sprang. Both can organize a large collection of • 5 to 15 gauths
beholders to work toward a common goal. • 3 to 8 beholderkin guardians (death kisses or gougers)
The appearance of a beholder hive varies wildly. Some are • 12 to 24 gas spores (see page 148), used almost like traps at
little more than tangled underground mazes of chambers and the outer city perimeters
circular passageways carved by a multitude of disintegrate • 30 to 120 charmed minions (these can be of any of the races
eye rays, while others are fantastic cities of alien, disturbing that are dominant in the region)
architecture. These hive cities are built by charmed minions,
with finishing touches by particularly artistic beholders that Of course, these numbers represent only the average popula-

use their disintegrate eye rays to carve sculptures from solid tion of a hive city. Particularly massive hive cities are reputed to
stone or metal. be located in the deepest underground reaches or the farthest
A beholder hive’s population depends on the nature of corners of the world.
its leader. An overseer can command only a relatively small Life for a beholder in a hive city is an unusual prospect.
number of beholders at once, and thus its hive consists of The hive mother knows at all times where its commanded
only twenty or so beholders and beholderkin. These hives are minions are, and even if this command is disrupted (by the
typically underground warrens. antimagic eye of another beholder, for example), the beholders
A hive ruled by a hive mother, on the other hand, has no limit do their best to maintain a civil air, for to disrupt the city is to
to its size. Such a hive usually even incorporates a few overseers invite the terrible wrath of its ruler. Yet even a hive mother is
(all under the hive mother’s control, of course). These hives are incapable of directing an entire hive. It allows favored behold-
more on the scale of cities, and although they are often found ers or overseers to rule its city as a council of sorts. All city
in underground regions, a rare few appear in remote regions activities are directed by this council, and the hive mother

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WHY DON’T BEHOLDERS DISINTEGRATE THE WORLD?
This question has haunted sages and adventurers, in particular amok with disintegrate and finger of death eye rays quickly
the famed half-elf scholar Odiit Tenrest. In his famous speech finds itself without anyone to dominate and menace. Thus,
about beholders, delivered to students in the Mages’ Guild beholders use self-control to avoid destroying everything
some years ago, Tenrest put forth his theories on the matter. around them, simply to keep something nearby to give them
Tenrest wondered why these horribly powerful creatures, a sense of power. Without a matrix of fearful worshipers, a
capable of using great magic virtually at will, haven’t used these beholder could not exist.
abilities in a more obvious show of force. Sure, beholders are When several students challenged him on this theory, Ten-
more concerned with fighting others of their kind, but certainly rest simply smiled and told them to trust his sources. Newer
there must be at least a few that would use their disintegrate students wrote him off as a lunatic, but older students were
eye ray to try to destroy the world, one 10-foot cube at a time. not so quick to ignore him. They knew that Tenrest spent much
His answer lay in the mindset of the beholder. Although of his time exploring the depths of the Guild Library, and,
typically insane with xenophobia, beholders are also incred- according to rumor, the forbidden depths were themselves
ibly arrogant and vain, and nothing pleases them more than patrolled by beholders—invisible beholders, which might have
to have other creatures fawn over them and worship them, whispered advice into old Tenrest’s ears, telling him what he
bolstering their own overinflated egos. A beholder that runs wanted to hear. . . .
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