Aboleth

Unbelievably ancient, aboleth are nasty aquatic aberrations, highly intelligent.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Aboleth have long, eel-like bodies; three major tentacles that they use like arms; and three eyes, arranged vertically above their toothy maws.

Genetics and Reproduction

It is not known how, or if, new aboleth are conceived. Instead, they reincarnate when slain, so it is very difficult to make their numbers permanently dwindle.
An aboleth's soul, when disembodied, is drawn to the Plane of Water, where a new tadpole body will gradually form for it.

Growth Rate & Stages

Aboleth tadpoles, fortunately, take a long time to mature into re-grown adults: up to 70 years.

Ecology and Habitats

Aboleth are aquatic by preference; though they can breathe air, they are not good at moving about on land, so they mostly stick to swimming. Deep below the surface, in most cases.
They subsist mostly on fish, although they enjoy other meat when they can find it in the water. Like some other magical creatures, they consume far less than would seem necessary for their body mass, possibly subsisting telepathically off of the mental energy of their slaves.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Aboleth slime can be used to brew potions or salves that allow breathing underwater, but distilling the negative side-effects out of the slime is difficult, and most modern crafters eschew this ingredient in favor of less dangerous ones.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Most aboleth probably remain in the Plane of Water. Those who inhabit Ferkathas generally dwell in the rocky depths of the ocean, in pods, or in subterranean lakes and seas in The Deeps.
Hshhkyssaxsyl is a noteworthy exception, dwelling in shallow waters as it rules the swamps on the eastern coast of Liassang.

Average Intelligence

18 Intelligence. Aboleth have excellent memories, which extend back to their souls' previous incarnations. Thus, they can hold grudges for a very long time.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Aboleth are observant creatures, and have superior darkvision as well as telepathic senses.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

While they are willing to enslave just about any sapient creature they encounter, aboleth are the godlike ruling caste of the sahuagin, and have been since the Primeval Peace. Some sahuagin are religious enough that they won't even try to resist enslavement. Since aboleth prefer deeper water than sahuagin, however, the two species do not interact constantly; only when an aboleth has a particular need for slaves.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

Aboleth have no native conception of gender within their own society. Many aboleth prefer to be referred to by neutral pronouns, such as "it." Some adopt masculine or feminine pronouns out of convenience, when dealing with languages other than their own Deep Speech, but they have no real attachment to their gender identity (biological or otherwise).

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Deep Speech is the native tongue of aboleth, which is one of the clear indications that the Far Realm was involved in their conception.

History

Aboleth spawned in the Plane of Water due to clear influence of the Far Realm, before the Prime Plane even existed. They were among the elementals who inhabited the Prime Plane in the Age of Elements, and in fact came to be dominant among such elementals, to the point where they instigated The Great Quench. Thus the world became its own space, ready and able to develop its own flora and fauna, rather than being an interplanar space where the four Elemental Planes mingled.
Aboleth enjoyed dominance of this new space for over four millennia, although they mostly neglected the part of it above the surface of the water. This allowed other Prime species to form and develop during this "Primeval Peace." Their neglect of the surface turned out to be an important strategic folly, as the dwarves didn't like the aboleth or sahuagin, and forged and sculpted an army of giants, which drove the aboleth and their slaves off the coasts of the land in a campaign known as the Scouring of Scales.
The aboleth bided their time for another four and a half millennia, more or less content with their underwater holdings. They schemed about invading the surface world again, perhaps with a new brand of non-aquatic slaves who were more equipped than the sahuagin to hold dry territories; oh yes, they schemed; but they were waiting for some kind of strategic moment to strike.
The Cataclysm was the moment they were waiting for. It devastated the ecology of the surface world for years, which made the surface races divide their attention between defense and simple survival; it blocked out enough sunlight to make the aboleth more comfortable above water than usual; and it provided them with a huge supply of adamantium to use as elite weaponry.
They used their magic to create humans in the course of about a decade, and invaded the Firmwold in a massive multi-front campaign. It was a highly successful campaign, due to the difficulty the surface races were already having with survival. Surface races largely had to retreat into terrain that was more difficult for the humans to navigate, such as underground or in steep mountains.
The aboleth more or less ruled the Prime Plane for another four centuries at this point, before the War of Human Ascension was waged against them.
Now the aboleth are mostly confined to the deep waters again. It is unknown whether their ambition to rule the surface has worn off, but it is certain that they hate the humans and their other historical enemies. And they are long-term schemers ...

Historical Figures

• Hshhkyssaxsyl

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

With their sinister nature and ability to hold grudges for eons, aboleth have no lack of species enemies, starting with other Plane of Water creatures who don't enjoy their neighbors.
Many Plane of Fire denizens still consider the aboleth genocidal due to The Great Quench.
Pretty much all the surface races of Ferkathas consider the aboleth an historical foe; the aboleth have a particular hatred for those that have waged successful campaigns to drive them from the land: dwarves, giants, and humans (those ungrateful former slaves).
Their only species relationship that could be called "good" by any stretch of the imagination is the sahuagin.

Lifespan

Indefinite

Average Weight

1500 lb.

Average Length

18 ft.

Average Physique

21 Strength, 15 Constitution