Unhuman Gods

Aberrations have an entirely different notion of divinity from that of humanoids. Human cultures perceive a discontinuity between mortal and divine, a dividing line as vast and impassable as a great ocean. Master aberrations, on the other hand, regard their divine patrons as exemplars of their kind—older siblings that have achieved divine power through age, knowledge, and fearlessness. Every aboleth believes that it holds the potential to achieve godhood, or something very much like it, with suffi cient study. Those who battle master aberrations must confront dark cults, mad priests, and ancient, hungry horrors in the shape of gods.

Ghaunadaur

Also known as That Which Lurks or the Elder Eye, Ghaunadaur is a primordial deity of Faerûn, the world of the FORGOTTEN

REALMS campaign setting. It is the lord of oozes, slimes, and nameless underground monstrosities that slither and seep through the lightless places of the world. Aboleths and renegade drow seek its divine power, but Ghaunadaur is an unpredictable patron at best. It might reward casual worshipers by granting great boons, or it might devour or maim its own high priests without warning. Ghaunadaur is nominally considered part of the drow pantheon, but in truth the Elder Eye is simply a dark power of the deep underground. All who venture there would be wise to respect its hunger. Ghaunadaur’s symbol is a purple eye on a black circle.

T he Great Mother

Progenitor of beholders, gibbering orbs (Epic Level Handbook page 191), and less well-known aberrations, the Great Mother exists to fi ll the multiverse with its offspring. By replacing all other creatures with monsters spawned in its own image, the

Great Mother intends to remake the multiverse. Beholders believe that the Great Mother’s mind encompasses all the knowledge in the cosmos, and in fact the Great Mother possesses secrets and lore that no other creature knows. However, the entity comprehends so much that it is virtually impossible for it to communicate with beings that lack nigh-infi nite knowledge themselves. Students of the monstrous gods believe that the Great Mother is hopelessly insane—whereas in truth they simply lack the intelligence to perceive the reason in the beholder god’s actions. Some human cultists revere beholders as deities in their own right; the Great Mother answers their supplications on behalf of her spawn, thus perpetuating the cultists’ belief in the divinity of the beholder race. The Great Mother’s symbol is an eye in an egg.

Ilsensine

Deity of the mind fl ayers, Ilsensine is a cold and calculating being that embodies the illithid ideals of mental prowess, infi nite knowledge, and purposeful dominion over all other forms of life. Ilsensine manifests as a disembodied brain of emerald hue that trails countless ganglionic tentacles through the infi nite planes. It gathers information from all worlds and planes simultaneously, learning every secret and perceiving every thought. Ilsensine’s symbol is a stylized illithid face with four mouthtentacles, rendered in jade green.

Mak T huum Ngatha

The Nine-Tongued Worm is an entity of the Far Realm. Unlike many of the terrible and powerful creatures that dwell in the mindless chaos of the Far Realm, Mak Thuum Ngatha is interested in the Material Plane. Psurlons, tsochari, and nilshai (Unapproachable East page 67) pay the Nine-Tongued Worm homage, but it has few worshipers among other races; only a handful of alienists, cultists, and half-farspawn monstrosities even know of its existence. No being outside the Far Realm can say what the Nine-Tongued Worm’s desires or goals might be, but they are certainly inimical to every living creature on the Material Plane. Several other entities of similar power and disposition exist in the Far Realm, some with their own cultists and adherents. Mak Thuum Ngatha’s symbol is a fan-shaped glyph of nine squiggly lines.

T he Patient One

The terrible divine entity known only as the Patient One is patron to a number of aberration races such as aboleths, cloakers, chuuls, avolakias (Monster Manual II page 28), and other monsters. It waits and watches in the darkness, whispering sibilant secrets to the shadows, until it is time to feed on the humanoid sacrifi ces its worshipers offer. The Patient One is an old and alien divinity, an elder power similar to Ghaunadaur or Tharizdun. It is possible that these terrible dark powers are

Table 9 –1: Aberration Deities

Deity Alignment Domains Favored Weapon Worshipers

Ghaunadaur* Chaotic evil Chaos, Corruption†, Evil, Hatred† Warhammer Drow, aboleths

The Great Mother Lawful evil Law, Evil, Hatred†, Strength Greataxe Beholders, cultists

Ilsensine** Lawful evil Evil, Knowledge, Law, Magic, Mind† Unarmed strike Mind f layers

The Patient One Neutral evil Corruption†, Evil, Vile Darkness† Light f lail Aberrations

Mak Thuum Ngatha Chaotic evil Destruction, Knowledge, Madness†, Travel Morningstar Psurlons, cultists

Tharizdun Neutral evil Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Force†, Madness† Dagger Cultists * If you have the Player’s Guide to Faerûn, add the domains of Cavern, Drow, and Slime to Ghaunadaur. ** If you have the Player’s Guide to Faerûn, add the domains of Slime and Tyranny to Ilsensine. † New domain described later in this chapter.