Page 62 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

ew monsters inspire as much horror or terror as the appetite for living brains. All mature illithids are psioni- Illus. by D. Lukacs
illithids. They are rightly feared by everyone and cally gifted, and some are wizards or (rarely) sorcerers
everything. Few can match them in undiluted evil, as well.

cruelty, or cunning. Their origins are cloaked in mystery, Mind flayers dwell underground and prefer to remain
their plans are enigmatic, and their culture and thought there. They have sometimes been encountered in deep-
processes are utterly alien. sided chasms and half-buried surface ruins, but the
Illithids are better known by their common name of mind world beneath the surface is their realm. In that place,

flayers, and it is an apt title. A mind flayer’s attack strikes into filled with fearsome races and monsters, mind flayers

a victim’s most vulnerable spot. It can psychically peel back are among the most dangerous predators of the dark.
a target’s personality the way a surgeon draws back swollen A lone illithid hunting in its element is more than a

flesh. Tentacles slick with slime writhe across ravaged edges match for a group of surface warriors, and seldom is an
of bone to caress gray, glittering coils of brain before drawing illithid alone. They travel with the protection of their
them from the conscious, screaming prey. minions, enslaved subterranean monsters, or worse
Where the illithids came from, why they choose to live in yet, others of their own kind. Those who explore the
eternal darkness beneath the earth, what they seek, why they deep underground paths agree that it is better to die
take such delight in cruelty and horror—these questions almost any other death than to fall into the clutches
have stymied sages for centuries. The answers are startling of the mind flayers.

and horrible, yet provide little illumination. One can know

the mind flayers without understanding them. MIND FLAYER
Illithids are humanoid monsters, roughly the size of
humans. Their pale mauve flesh is covered in glistening ANATOMY

slime, and in place of a human head they have a terrifying A mind flayer is roughly comparable to a thin
visage reminiscent of nothing so much as a four-limbed human in height and build, but the external resem-
octopus. Their evil reputation is based on their horrid blance stops at that point.
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