#illithids

[coyoteralyn]

Emperor/Tav

My wonderful dream. My first love.

LIES! LIES! LIES!

[ludinusdaleth]

"Now I feed from those who... act against the Society's goals."

[baldursghaik]

Do you have tips on how you draw mind flayers? I cannottttt get a handle on that anatomy (especially the head) and your art is so impressive! 😁❤️

of course! I threw this together pretty quickly, so it's not exactly comprehensive, but I hope it helps (and please, feel free to ask if you need clarification on anything)

I take a fair amount of creative leeway with how I draw illithids (and god knows that has been a process, please know I'm honored that anyone would ask this lmao), but also keep in mind that no two are the same. For example, I draw Thyneron and the Emperor broadly similarly, but some key differences that I keep in mind are that Thyneron is both shorter and more slender than the Emperor, and in turn, I prefer to draw the Emperor slightly more built (larger biceps, broader shoulders, etc).

However--I do also have a ripped model from the game that I use for reference. It's a fully configured fbx file (shoutout to @arcandoria for both supplying me the model, and helping me figure out how to get it to work in clip studio!), so below I've included some basic head angles, as well as a few trickier ones

As always, reference reference reference, and never be afraid to trace things for practice. I spent a lot of time just tracing the Emperor's head shape to get my hand and arm used to the motions of drawing something so alien. I rarely need to do so today, but if I'm drawing the Emperor's head from a particularly weird angle, you bet I'm loading the model in and grabbing exactly what I need. Thank you so much for asking this (and for the compliment <3), I hope this is useful!

[venacoeurva]

What if we held tentacles and hands 😳❓and we were both illithids 🦑🧠🤔💖💕

-Please do not reupload/edit or use without crediting, though feel free to actually use this as a valentine-

[a-rogue-tiddy-bot]

["The illithids had to dominate not only to achieve their goals, but to fulfill certain basic needs of their own. Without a mind to control, a mind flayer would feel incomplete. They actually had an intimate relationship with their own thralls, suffering when they died (whether by sickness, age, or physical harm) and sometimes going mad from loneliness without their constant companionship. Illithids were known to postpone their other goals just to renew an emptied retinue of thralls..."]

Uhm... oh dear... oh... oh shit...

[everythinghaik]

Brain-eating logistics

The relative lack of brain extraction technicalities by illithids in DnD canon inspired me to share some ideas.

[monstersmashorpass]

SMASH OR PASS: Mind Flayers

[Art credit: Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast]

Note from Mod Ghoul: Listen. We've all seen at least some hentai. We know where those tentacles are gonna go. ;) You can't deny it~

Mind Flayers

Smash (cuddle/date/etc)

Pass (not my type)

Voting ended onJan 20, 2024

Please reblog for greater sample size, as per usual!

[pocketpauling]

What Year did Gith's slave revolt take place?

This is a question I've had for awhile, and through much research I've done my best to try and put an actual number to it.

TLDR: My theory is that the revolt began shortly before -11,000 DR.

We can go to the Forgotten Realms wiki page on the Illithid Empire, and they'll give us a real number. They say it occured 2,000 years before the Faerunian Era of Upheaval (which began 1358 DR) meaning the rebellion occurred around -642 DR. Seems simple right? WRONG.

The source the FR wiki uses for this number is 2001's Lords of Darkness, a sourcebook on villainous factions in the Forgotten Realms. Its an interesting book, but if you actually read it, you'll find it has an extensive write up on the illithids without mentioning the gith once! Even in the history section, it mentions the empire falling to a slave rebellion, but it never once mentions who the slaves were or who their leader was.

Even in the enemies of illithids section, the gith still don't get a mention in this book, despite being the number their number one opp.

So, that number is out. Remember to always check sources, people.

Lets instead look at the Grand History of the Realms, which catalogs the history of Toril from -35,000 DR to 1385 DR. As this is specifically a book on the history of Toril, so its not going to give us a direct answer in regards to the multi-dimensional empire that existed before recorded time.

But, we can learn about the history of Mind Flayers in Toril. The very first mention of them in this book is -11,000 DR

That's pretty interesting, when they first came to Toril, they came as refugees. But what were they fleeing? Can we find more information on this?

The city of Oryndoll was created as a part of Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, and here is the section on its history.

The book goes on to talk about the enslavement and mutation of the Duergar Dwarves in a manner very similar to the gith, but this is all that's presented on its founding. No mention of the conflict these Mind Flayers were escaping.

So, we know the first Mind Flayers to come to Toril were refugees, fleeing an unknown conflict from the Planet of Glyth in -11,000 DR. What do we know about Glyth that can tell us of this potential conflict?

We can learn a lot about the illithid dominated society of Glyth in Spelljammer. Rather than screenshots I'll put quotes down for this page, as theres a lot, but I recommend you read it for yourself.

Description:

"Glyth is the sixth planet in the Realms’ solar system, and it is a sad world indeed... What forests do remain are in control of the underground dwelling inhabitants of the planet. The rest are purposely burned off to limit the possible hiding places for their runaway cattle." (Page 39)

On Resources/Trade

"The illithids often trade their food cattle—humanoids—to others in order to try out someone else’s breeding process, all with a goal of increasing the flavor of the brain. During the years the mind flayers have brought the art of selective breeding to a culinary success." (Page 40)

"These skull cattle are kept on ranches in what forests remain on this burned-out world. The illithids laughingly call these dismal locations Skull Sod. The humanoids are herded from one location to the next, from this watering hole, to that pasture; the constant moving keeps their sense of direction off." (Page 40)

"The humanoids granted breeding rights are encouraged to produce as many children as physically possible. These breeders are never sold as brain food until their abilities to produce are extinguished." (Page 40)

Its a world they use for breeding slaves. The race of their slaves are simply said as being humanoids, but the gith race had lost their name under generations of slavery, as they're named after the woman who led the revolt, Gith. We can also learn in the Illithiad, illithids keep their slave population all of one or two races for breeding purposes. Its very possible that once, this humanoid race had been the gith.

So, to put it all together, my theory is this: The first mind flayers to come to Toril and found the city of Oryndoll, the ones coming as refugees from a planet known for breeding humanoid cattle, were actually fleeing the uprising of their own slaves - the Gith. This would mean the Gith uprising came shortly before -11,000 DR. The fleeing Mind Flayers would then go on to subject the Duergar to the same enslavement and experimentation they used on the Gith before they'd throw their own uprising.