Illus. by W. Reynolds
THE MIND FLAYERS
CHAPTER 4
72
taps all the knowledge that is. It peers into the minds of the convey messages across long distances. When Ilsensine needs greatest sages of all dimensions, saps fading memories from to intervene directly in material affairs, it most often sends its the desiccating brains of dead wizards, and stares across space proxy, Lugribossk. and time itself to learn all there is to know. Of everything it Clerics of Ilsensine can choose from the Evil, Knowlsurveys, it judges the mind flayers as the most worthy of mortal edge, Law, Magic, or Mind domains (see Chapter 9). creatures. They rebuke undead. Mind flayers do not worship Ilsensine in the same sense that humans or elves worship RELATIONS WITH their deities. They revere the god for its OTHER RACES gigantic, all-sensing Mind flayers have no friends. If mental capacity. To an illithid treats a creature of them, Ilsensine is another race as an equal, it the ultimate form is pretending friendship. of what an elder Other races are useful brain aspires to when they bring be and might information and A githyanki fighter become, in the trade goods. duels a fullness of unUlt i mate mind flayer l y, illithids countable eons of growth. The have only illithids envy its two ways of interacting with other vast knowledge, races: enslavement and consumpwhich in practition. If an illithid treats a drow or cal terms appears a duergar respectfully (never deferlimitless. They enentially), it is doing so only to serve its treat Ilsensine for favors own purposes. and even supplicate it, Of all races, mind flayers have but their innate, overspecial enmity for githyanki and powering egoism githzerai. Both of these races prevents any true hunt illithids. Mind flayers “worship.” show them no mercy and reThe priestceive none in exchange. hood of Ilsensine The only creatures that is small and seillithids fear are undead, because they have no minds to lective. Illithid clerics live dominate. Undead cannot monasticalbe psionically detected, ly, pursuing cannot be attacked with knowledge mind-affecting powfor its own sake and eners, and cannot be gaging in experiments slain by the removto develop new psionic al of the powers. Through their brain—all worship, they enlist the characteristics that aid of all-sensing Ilsenmake them pecusine, who knows things liarly dangerous that are hidden even to the to mind flayers. elder brains. Mind flayer priests are not reviled the way wizards (and especially sorcerers) are, but they don’t mix with illithid soci- The Threat of the Gith The githyanki and githzerai are implacable foes of both their ety. They rarely leave their temples except when conducting former illithid masters and of each other. The relationship important ceremonies. between these three races is one of millennia-long animosity Taking a cue from Ilsensine, the clerics sometimes use and violence. cranium rats (see page 167 of the Fiend Folio) as spies or to
