Beholders
"You don't stick around when you see a beholder, because you know that it's seen you." -Tales of an Unknown Adventurer
Basic Information
Anatomy
The beholder's general body structure consists of a large, fleshy orb surrounded by multiple prehensile tentacles (generally ten), each ending with an eyeball. The center mass of the creature has one large eye and an extended mouth containing multiple rows of teeth. The skin of the beholder is extremely hard and can be a variety of colors including red, white, purple, pink, and yellow, though the most common colors are grey, green, and brown.
The beholder's bones are made of a rare material known as levitite which allows them to levitate by pulsing a small amount of magic through them. While they lose this ability upon death, the bones can still be harvested and melted down for various uses.
Genetics and Reproduction
Beholders do not "reproduce" in the traditional sense. Instead, when a beholder dreams the inherent magic inside of them may spark a warp in reality which causes an entirely new creature to manifest immediately. These creatures are frequently other beholders (including exact copies of the original beholder, if they were dreaming of themselves) but can also be other beholderkin or even entirely different species'.
Ecology and Habitats
While beholders can be found pretty much anywhere, they tend to prefer colder regions. This can be as simple as a dank cool cave or as inhospitable as an arctic tundra.
Dietary Needs and Habits
The omnivorous beholders are capable of eating pretty much anything organic, though they show a particular taste for small mammals, birds, mushrooms, and intelligent creatures, especially the brains of intelligent creatures. While they generally require an average of around twenty pounds of food and about 7 litres of liquid per day, they can store an absurd amount of resources in their bodies at one time, which can lead to a cycle of gorging on large amounts of food and drink followed by long periods of rest or work. Due to their general paranoia, beholders will tend to gorge themselves on all food present no matter how recently their last feast was, since they fear that this may be the last chance they get to eat for an extended time. During their "hibernation" state they can on average a decade without food or drink, with some sources saying they can even live as long as half a century.
Biological Cycle
While beholders generally do not need to rest, when they are unable to find a solid food or liquid supply they will enter a "hibernation" state until presented with a new source. During this time their skin will turn grey and lumpy and their body will partially flatten out, giving them the appearance of a large stone. Despite this change, they are completely conscious and aware of their surroundings for the entirety of the hibernation, and they can still move their prehensile eyestalks with much less efficiency.
Though rare, this ability has seen some minor adaptations to match specific environments. Beholders in a forest may adapt to look more like the dead foliage and dirt, those in the snow may become white and flaky or blue and smooth, and in one documented case a beholder in an old castle adapted to look like a pile of rubble.
Behaviour
Beholders are incredibly xenophobic. They have a deeply rooted hatred (and paranoia) in regards to every other species on the planet, including other beholderkin (though sometimes to a lesser extent). They also consider themselves to be the alpha species and will hunt and kill any other species they encounter. Though some beholders will take members of sapient species' as slaves for labor their tentacles are incapable of, this usually does not last long due to the beholder's paranoia convincing them that their slaves are conspiring against them.
Additional Information
Domestication
Being a sentient creature and due to their extreme nature, beholders cannot be domesticated, though in extremely rare cases they may be civil enough to become socialized.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Due to the fact that beholders are sentient, intelligent, violent, and powerful creatures, they are not used in any form of supply chain. That being said, those who do slay a beholder will frequently harvest the levitite skeleton to either use or sell.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Beholders can be found in small numbers practically anywhere on any plane, though they are most frequently found in the Underdark.
Average Intelligence
Beholders are on average extremely intelligent, with the average beholder rivalling even the greatest scholars of most species'. Despite this, their paranoia often clouds their otherwise brilliant minds and can cause them to make life-ending mistakes.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Beholders can see in both the dark and the light equally well and have incredible sight in general, though their other abilities are somewhat lacking. Many beholders are entirely missing noses and almost all beholders have a muted sense of taste. Their hearing is slightly worse than the average creature and when they do have a sense of smell it is most often equally as bad.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Beholders are almost always named by the beholder that created them. They also almost always immediately choose their own name afterwards out of spite.
Beauty Ideals
Every beholder believes that they are the most beautiful thing that has ever existed.
Gender Ideals
Beholders do not usually have genders due to their antisocial nature and the lack of sexes to even derive a cultural connection from, though some have taken on genders after exposure to other sapient creatures. There is no actual consensus between beholders as to what genders mean and is usually just decided on by the individual beholder.
Average Technological Level
Beholders are generally on-par or slightly behind on technology when compared to most sapient species'. This is due to most of their technological advancements being taken from trespassers who "leave behind" various technology which they promptly study. In terms of magic, they are generally ahead of most sapient species' due to their inherent magical capabilities.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Beholders understand and can speak Deep Speech, Undercommon, and their own language, Beholderspeak.
Genetic Descendants
Scientific Name
Oculus Mortem
Origin/Ancestry
Mostly unknown
Lifespan
120-650 years
Average Height
Beholders are usually around six and a half feet in diameter.
Average Weight
Beholders weigh an average of a whopping 80,000 pounds. This is due to their bodies having a density 1/4 of that of iron, combined with their heavy levitite skeletons and seemingly extradimensional stomachs.
Related Ethnicities
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