Relations with Other Races

Illus. by W. Reynolds

taps all the knowledge that is. It peers into the minds of the greatest sages of all dimensions, saps fading memories from the desiccating brains of dead wizards, and stares across space and time itself to learn all there is to know. Of everything it surveys, it judges the mind fl ayers as the most worthy of mortal creatures. Mind fl ayers do not worship Ilsensine in the same sense that humans or elves worship their deities. They revere the god for its gigantic, all- sensing mental capacity. To them, Ilsensine is the ultimate form of what an elder brain aspires to be and might become, in the fullness of uncountable eons of growth. The illithids envy its vast knowledge, which in practical terms appears limitless. They entreat Ilsensine for favors and even supplicate it, but their innate, overpower ing egoism prevents any true “worship.” The priesthood of Il sen sine is small and selective. Illithid cler ics l ive monastically, pursuing knowledge for its own sake and engaging in experiments to develop new psionic powers. Through their worship, they enlist the aid of all-sensing Ilsensine, who knows things that are hidden even to the elder brains. Mind fl ayer priests are not reviled the way wizards (and especially sorcerers) are, but they don’t mix with illithid society. They rarely leave their temples except when conducting important ceremonies. Taking a cue from Ilsensine, the clerics sometimes use cranium rats (see page 167 of the Fiend Folio) as spies or to convey messages across long distances. When Ilsensine needs to intervene directly in material affairs, it most often sends its proxy, Lugribossk. Clerics of Ilsensine can choose from the Evil, Knowledge, Law, Magic, or Mind domains (see Chapter 9). They rebuke undead.

REL ATIONS WI TH OTHER R ACES

Mind fl ayers have no friends. If an illithid treats a creature of another race as an equal, it is pretending friendship. Other races are useful when they bring information and t r ade go ods . U l t i m a t e l y , illithids h ave on ly two ways of interacting with other races: enslavement and consumption. If an illithid treats a drow or a duergar respectfully (never deferentially), it is doing so only to serve its own purposes. Of all races, mind fl ayers have special enmity for githyanki and githzerai. Both of these races hunt illithids. Mind fl ayers show them no mercy and receive none in exchange. The only creatures that illithids fear are undead, because they have no minds to dominate. Undead cannot be psionically detected, cannot be attacked with mind-affecting powers, and cannot be slain by the remova l of t he b r a i n — a l l character ist ics that make them peculiarly dangerous to mind fl ayers. T he T hreat of the Gith

The githyanki and githzerai are implacable foes of both their former illithid masters and of each other. The relationship between these three races is one of millennia-long animosity and violence.

A githyanki fi ghter duels a mind fl ayer