Beholder

Beholder while vast and varied have some similar traits to them. Each and all are a floating orb of flesh around 10 feet in diameter with usually a large central eye above sharp ghastly teeth. For most eyestalks are attached to the top of the orb looking all directions. Few would ever consider a beholder anything more than revolting other than themselves.

Beholders most notable features are typically the eyes. With they’re large central eye and eyestalks, on the top of the orb, they possess site in all directions from them aside from directly beneath themselves. The eyes are also the most dangerous weapons of a beholder. The central eye emits and antimagic cone that extends in front of them and in their main line of sight. This essentially is a zone of no magic and even weapons of brilliant power lie dormant in their gaze. Then each eyestalk can cast a ray of magic every few moments. These rays are dangerous and varied depending on the stalk. Fortunately the eye stalks can only turn 90 degrees so thus most can only look in 1 quadrant of themselves allowing more cunning adversaries to avoid the most devastating rays.

Each ray can be found in 1 of 4 quadrants. These quadrants are front, left, right, and behind in relation to how the beholder is facing. Every quadrant extends to 100 feet from the beholder and represents where the eyes can look. There is slight overlaps in quadrants leaving no blind spots at all unless directly beneath the beholder.

Beholders have a large mouth and small nasal cavities that make up the rest of the face. The small cavities appear just below and to the sides of the eyes an above the top corners of the seemingly smiling mouth. The mouths are very large with several curved sharp teeth to shred food to bits before eating. All of the Beholder’s organs are contained within the lower portion of the spherical body, behind the mouth. They possess lungs, intestines and stomachs that are all tightly packed. They excrete through a tiny hole in the underside and back of the creature. Around all the organs and the skull is a thin bladder filled with a light gas, making them buoyant and giving them the ability to float.

The majority of their body internally behind the large central eye is their massive brains. The brains are large and developed further in most areas then any human other than that of motor skills as they only need to worry about eye and mouth movement. Inside of the brain which almost seems to make the brain itself a 2nd skull is the Levitus Magnus. This organ is certainly responsible for the unusual way that beholders fly by controlling the amount of the buoyant gasses produced and stored in the beholder. It is also theorized to be the origin of the antimagic cone and source of the powers of the eye rays. This has been observed a few times as when a slew Beholder still emits and antimagic cone as it grotesquely floats in midair unless this organ is removed.

Beholder flight is slow but skilled. They seem to only move at a swift walking speed but entirely in control of their movements. It is theorized that this is practiced since young beholders seem to bob and weave far more clumsily then adults although the exuberance of youth cannot be discounted. A beholder can move in any direction almost effortlessly it seems and by will of the mind. They are usually found closer to the ground and make their lairs underground. Higher altitudes are less comfortable as the gas bladders inflate for altitude in flight making them stretch in size.

Beholders are asexual and produce children in clutches of 2 to 4 eggs every century in there millennia of life. They find a high secluded perch and regurgitate the eggs and leave them to their own devices. After a few weeks the rotten revolting smelling leathery eggs produce smaller fully capable beholders that start their life of building their riches on their own. In just 50 years they reach full size and adulthood.

Beholders can be described in 1 word socially, xenophobic. They hate all other creatures and only tolerate them as dominated slaves for their purposes or designs. This extends even to members of their own race. If you aren’t them they hate you is the bottom line. Beholders, as a rule, are violent and greedy, hungering for both wealth and power over others. This is made all the more complicated since more than one variety of beholder existed, each believing itself to be the pinnacle of bodily perfection and they view other beholders who differ from this image in even the most minute details as loathsome enemies and inferiors.

Beholder minds are divided into two separate entities. Each of these entities thinks and acts on its own accord even though it is bound to the same body as the other half of its mind. Neither half of the beholder's mind trusts the other, so they hide a lot from each other, creating a very paranoid relationship. "Sane beholders" are beholders whose minds are not "divided" so to speak. They are still two entities within the beholder, but neither hide anything from the other, making a less paranoid Beholder. However, the persona of a "sane" beholder is just as likely to be considered insane by any non-Beholder. Because there are two entities within a single Beholder, that Beholder should always be addressed by its full name when in conversation with them, or they will perceive it as speaking to only one of the entities.

They do exist in a society of social importance. The more material gains the more powerful you are considered in Beholder thinking. Beholders jab and boast about their standing forming rivalries instead of friendships. Beholder communities do exist but community in a loose sense more like hated neighbors who’d kill a common threat.

There are social gatherings of beholders that they hold in their lairs. They show off their best and most expensive ornaments, (which may include slaves and victims of their flesh to stone rays) to everyone boasting of their power and presence. The other beholders go in sense of superiority that turns into haughty over bearing narcissistic verbal sparring. These are typically held by one member or another almost monthly as gloating and showing off seems to be a Beholder’s greatest joy.

When another beholder dies the “community” then races to the deceased’s lair to loot and pilfer what they can. They only take a few items but almost always go for the best items. They can only carry so much with their telekinesis eyes.

Most beholders pay homage or worship the Great Mother and think themselves’ her perfect creation. There are Beholders who instead recognize Gzemind and consider themselves a higher being then even the Great Mother.

Beholders are often found occupying deep, underground caverns. Frequently, these lairs are carved out by the beholders themselves, using their eye rays to mold the environment for their purposes. Often, these lairs are built vertically rather than horizontally like most buildings, with beholder architecture frequently exhibiting a large number of vertical shafts which beholders and other flying creatures could use with ease, while walking creatures found their navigation hindered.

Combat

Beholders are not particularly strong but are inherently magical creatures, with each of their eyes possessing an innately magical nature. Beholders, who often attack for seemingly no reason, will often try to end a battle as quickly as possible, unleashing their terrifying abilities all at once. Among the most basic of these attacks is their deadly ability to project magical power from their eyes, in varying forms such as instilling fear within, charming, knocking out, petrifying, disintegrating, slowing, or killing their enemies. Any combination of these was possible, although they often used only two at a given time.

Many, but not all, Beholders also have the capacity to use their central eye to project a field of antimagic, which cancels the effects of all supernatural abilities within a small cone of 150 feet in length. In addition to enemy spells, prayers, or similar effects, this also affects a beholder's own eye rays, suppressing their power. However, the inability to cast its eye rays at full strength is hardly a hindrance—it allows a beholder to attack its foes with its large, toothy maw.

A few sages from the Realms maintained that the different subspecies of beholders had originally been created in the image of the gods from an unknown crystal sphere with the goal of traveling to different spheres and gathering as much information as possible. The beholders would traverse the Prime Material plane and learn about the secrets and current status of various worlds and then report back to their hive mothers, who wold then gather and share what they had learned. However, as the beholders began visiting other spheres, the local deities grew fearful of their purpose and placed a number of curses upon the entire species. As a result, the beholders forgot their original purpose and degenerated into the supremacist and paranoid creatures they would become best known for.

It was believed that the knowledge station at the summit of the Spindle on the planet H'Catha had been placed there by the beholder deities, so beholders could be reminded of their original mission.

The goblin boss Yek kept a stuffed beholder in his treasure chamber on the Arcane Chambers level in Undermountain.

Beholder hide is a very rare and high quality crafting material, used in creation of armor and reinforcing weapons.