#Pathfinder beholder eyes skin

The mind flayers strongly believed in their manifest destiny, and viewed the task of bringing the multiverse to heel as one of great importance. In this role as multiversal caretakers, the mind flayers constantly worked for what they saw as the betterment of the cosmos, asserting their ultimate control to provide the restoration of order that only their superior species could bestow to all the multiverse. They saw the various races in its confines as potential thralls with no supervision, living out aimless existences and working with no direction. In the minds of the illithids, their kind acted as agents of 'Order', forces of law tasked with taming a chaotic and unguided universe. However, mind flayers did not believe themselves to be horrifying monsters. The mind flayers sought nothing less than world domination, knew their destiny was mastery over the universe, and the ultimate prize they yearned for was complete dominion over all the planes of existence, with the power to reshape reality and all within it to fit their otherworldly designs. Illithids were megalomaniacal in the extreme, tyrants driven by an immense ambition and intrinsically ruled by an overwhelming sense of self-importance. While some individuals could show extreme variance in mindset, the majority shared many common beliefs and precepts. They saw themselves as masterminds that twisted others into serving their own sinister and far-reaching schemes. Mind flayers had utterly alien thought processes and enigmatic objectives. They often wore high, flaring collars, dark hats, and various other pieces of ornamentation. They were rarely seen without distinctively two-lobed boots, which concealed their webbed feet. Illithids were known to dress in flowing and dramatic robes and cloaks. Illithid feet were webbed and had only two toes, which were also nailed and could flex widely apart, as if to assist in swimming. Though illithid nails seemed dangerous, they were actually blunt and composed of soft cartilage, and so had little hope of being effective weapons.

The remaining fingers and opposable thumb were red to mauve in coloration, and their nails were thick and black. Illithid hands were long, slender, and lacked an index finger, but were otherwise similar to those of normal humanoid creatures. Their eyes, sheltered by brow ridges, were uniformly pale and devoid of pupils in addition to being bloated and featureless, similar to those of blind cave fish. Illithids did not possess exterior ears, rather hosting small, fleshy, ridged holes on both sides of their heads, nor did they have nostrils. The tentacles hung above and around their mouths and an oily slime constantly dripped out of their maws. In reality, an illithid's mouth was more like that of a lamprey, with a circular, jawless orifice ringed by several rows of small, rasping teeth. In many apocryphal descriptions and diagrams, mind flayers were portrayed as having beaked mouths, possibly owing to their octopus-like heads. They were also incredibly dexterous, powerful, and could be fully controlled by the mind flayer to perform both fine and strength-based tasks. They writhed and undulated almost constantly and absent-mindedly while the illithid pondered or otherwise was not using them, and flexed in anticipation when sentient beings drew close.

The tentacles could range in length from 2 to 4 feet (0.61 to 1.2 meters), appearing shorter when an illithid was at rest.

Īn illithid's bulging, ridged, elongated head was reminiscent of an octopus, with a cluster of four flexible, unsegmented, extendable, purplish-black tentacles surrounding their mouths. Mind flayers that were healthy from brain-rich diets excreted a thin film of slimy, glistening mucus that kept in moisture and gave off a faint odor similar to onions, garlic, or even vanilla, although the smell was imperceptible from afar.

#Pathfinder beholder eyes skin

Their skin ranged from mauve to greenish-violet in color. An illithid's flesh, was soft, supple, moist, and rubbery, resulting in an unmistakable texture easily distinguishable from any other creature by anyone familiar with it. A mind flayer's body was, in fact, a gruesome mockery of the humanoid form. In terms of height, weight, and build, mind flayers were roughly comparable to thin humans, but it was at this point that any external comparison to humanoids ended. 9.3.8 Organized Play & Licensed Adventures.