ILLITHID ILLITHIDS

History:
There are as many theories regarding the origin of the ancient species known
as the illithid as there are historians. One theory claims that the illithid
developed from the primordial coils of entropy itself as Aabahran was formed,
twisted and blended monstrosities made from the nightmares of Chaos. Another
theory argues that illithids were the byproduct of a monstrous magical merging
of humans and octopi by a long-dead civilization. Others argue that it is more
likely that the illithid race is a natural race which developed totally
separate from all other races. Still others argue that the illithid were
originally from an entirely different plane and are not native to Aabahran at
all. But when all is said and done, no one knows the true history of the
illithid, shrouded in the deepest of mystery, save for the Elder Brains, and
they are silent, telling the story to none, not even the illithid themselves.
Only in death, when they join the Elder Brains, do the illithid themselves
find out.
 
That can take a long time, as the illithid do not die easily. Even individual
illithid can live for longer than ten thousand years, and as a race, their
memory literally stretches back for epochs. Much of that history is known
only to the illithid. What is known is that the vast bulk of the illithid
civilization lies deep within the bowels of the world, in what is known as the
'Elder Earth'. The first contact which any of the modern races had with these
fearful creatures came about during the ill-fated Clan Ranidon expedition to
tunnel into the Elder Earth (see the scrolls regarding the history of the
duergar for more details). The histories say that it was this first contact
which led the illithid to become aware of the surface races, and thus it is
the fault of the duergar that the monstrosities known as the illithid have
been introduced to the world.
 
The actual history, as known only to the illithid and shared with no others,
is somewhat different. Although the duergar intrusion into the Elder Earth and
the subsequent massacre of a Hive did play a role, the role was overstated.
The duergar did briefly bring the minds of the illithid to the surface, but
that which truly caught their notice was the appearance of the strange
undead creatures after the ascendance of the deity known as Virigoth during
the Bloodletting of the First Age. The illithid quickly discovered that these
undead creatures shared a 'Continuum' which was akin in some ways to their own
neural networks. What was even more intriguing to them was that this undead
Continuum seemed to provide some degree of protection from the powerful
psionic abilities of the illithid.
 
Determined to take the full measure of this new potential threat, all of the
Elder Brains convened and agreed to send an expedition of illithid out of the
Elder Earth to found a new Hive, with the sole mission of accumulating as much
information on undeath as possible. After much time spent surveying the 
and, it was decided that the best place to situate this new Hive would be
underneath the sewers of the city of Miruvhor. First, the location was dark
and hidden away from the sun; illithids loathe light. Second, there were
plenty of beggars and other dregs of society in Miruvhor whom no one would
care about if they went missing and were harvested. And third, Miruvhor was a
hotbed of evil magic and necromancy and it was the illithid interest in
undeath, after all, which drew them to the surface.
 
It was decided that this Hive would be similar to the traditional Hives in
many respects, but with a few important differences. First and foremost,
traditional illithid restrictions against the practice of magic would be
lifted, but only for the learning and practicing of the surface arts of
necromancy. The existence of knowledge which was not possessed by the Elder
Brains was judged unacceptable, and it was hoped that by allowing the practice
of necromancy, the illithid would divine the secrets of unlife and learn its
weaknesses. Second, there would be no Elder Brain to rule over this outpost;
the risk was judged too great. This has led to an unprecedented degree of
autonomy by the individual illithids of this Hive. By illithid standards, they
are practically rogues, but by the standards of other races, even these
illithids are often still Hive-minded to a frightening degree.
 
See also: ILLITHID2