Gnome's Research Journal

Slaadi

The Slaadi are a race of toad-like beings from one of the Outer Planes, Limbo. They are a barbaric race, the Slaadi are undisciplined and have no formal hierarchy, although weaker Slaadi obey stronger ones under threat of annihilation.

Reproduction Cycle: Slaadi have horrific cycles of reproduction. Slaadi reproduce either by implanting humanoid hosts with eggs or by infecting them with a transformative disease called chaos phage. Each color of slaad reproduces or transforms in a different way, with red slaadi spawning blue and green slaadi, and blue slaadi spawning red and green. Each green slaad undergoes a lifelong cycle of transformation into the more powerful gray and death slaadi. With each transformation, the slaad retains its memories.
Shape Changers: Some slaadi can transform into the humanoid creatures from which they were originally spawned. These slaadi return to the Material Plane to sow discord in the guise of their former selves.
Variants: There are numerous variants of slaadi: tadpole (newborn), red, blue, green, grey and death. So far I have only been able to properly research the red and blue variants. So far I have only been able to summon the red ones, but Micolash can apparently summon the blue as well - and I have heard rumors of green slaadi being among the ranks as well, though I have not seen them. The red and blue are brutes but they have proven useful.
Common Traits: All slaadi appear to share a few common traits regardless of the variant. These include the following:

• Innate resistance to magic - slaadi are naturally resistant to magical affects
• Damage resistance - slaadi are naturally resistant to acid, cold, fire, lightning and thunder damage
• Regeneration - slaadi heal extremely quickly, wounds begin to heal within seconds of being inflicted
• Darkvision - slaadi are able to see in the dark
• Telepathic - slaadi can speak telepathically
  

Spellcasting(?): Though I have not been able to confirm it myself I have found in other research papers that the green, grey and death slaadi are far more intelligent than the red and blue - to the point where they have actually learned how to wield magic themselves.

Spectator

These creatures are a lesser form of Beholder, and much safer to summon into the Material Plane. A summoned spectator guards a location or a treasure of its summoner's choice for 101 years, allowing no creature but its summoner to enter the area or access the item, unless the summoner instructed otherwise. If the item is stolen or destroyed before the years have all passed, a summoned spectator vanishes. It otherwise never abandons its post.

Intelligence: Spectators are fairly intelligent, I'd say more than the average person. Though it can speak, a spectator communicates primarily by way of telepathy. It is civil while on guard, openly discussing its orders and its summoner. However, even a brief conversation with a spectator is enough to reveal quirks in its personality brought on by its years of isolation. It might invent imaginary enemies, refer to itself in the third person, or try to adopt the voice of its summoner. Like any beholder, a spectator views itself as the

epitome of its kind, and it has an intense hatred of other spectators. If two spectators encounter one another, they almost always fight to the death.

Eye Rays: Like its more powerful cousins the spectator is capable of using various eye ray attacks, one for each of its four eye-stalks. These rays include the confusion ray, paralyzing ray, fear ray and wounding ray.

Spell Reflection: Spectators have the ability to deflect or reflect magic cast on them to another creature within a certain distance of themselves.

Mindwitness

A truly fascinating and extremely useful creature, that prior to my time with The Order I did not know could exist - a Beholder/Mindflayer hybrid. As Micolash explained and showed me: beholder can be stunned and brought safely to the brine pool of the elder brain, it can be converted through ceremorphosis into a mindwitness. The process of ceremorphosis transforms four of the beholder's eyestalks into tentacles similar to those of a mind flayer, and alters some of the beholder's eye rays. Less intelligent than beholders and less liable to endanger the colony, mindwitnesses are psionically imprinted with devotion to the elder brain and submission to illithid commands, making them almost as obedient as intellect devourers.

Telepathic Hub: The primary function of a mindwitness is to improve telepathic communication in a mind flayer colony. A creature in telepathic communication with a mindwitness can converse telepathically through it to as many as seven other creatures the mindwitness can see, allowing the rapid spread of commands and other information.

Micolash is having a number of these prepared for the upcoming operation, though I doubt they'll be widely distributed. Beholders are not easily acquired afterall.

Senses: This creature is highly perceptive, very little escapes its notice - this coupled with its ability to see in the dark and being able to relay information across distances exceeding 500ft make them effective scouts/guards.

Eye Rays: The mindwitness retains the ability to use various rays due to its origins, though they do differ from a normal beholder. The options include: aversion ray, fear ray, psychic ray, slowing ray, stunning ray and telekinetic ray.

Star Spawn Mangler

"The creatures known as star spawn are the heralds, servants, foot soldiers, and lieutenants of the Elder Evils, capable of taking on forms that can journey to the Material Plane. They arrive most often in the wake of a comet- or perhaps such a phenomenon merely signals that star spawn are in the vicinity and available for communication. When the signs are right, warlocks and cultists hasten to gather together, read aloud their blasphemous texts, and conduct the mind-searing rituals that guide the blazing star spawn into the world." - from the research of notes of the Sharlayan scholar Mordenkainen.
I myself have only been fortunate enough to study one specific type of Star Spawn, dubbed the "Mangler" by my associates. This creature has a serpentine body, but two arms with dangerous clawed hands. It is deceptively agile and stealthy for its size. This makes it optimal for guarding dimly lit areas and for dispatching intruders before they can react.
Senses: To add to the mangler's effectiveness as a guard/assassin it is able to see in the dark - it's as though this creature was designed for this purpose.

Resistances: The mangler appears to only resist damage caused from cold sources - this creature lacks defense but excels at attacking.

Mindflayer

There is not anyone in my field of research that does not know the name "mindflayer", also known as "illithids". That name has become synonymous with "aberration". Despite their notoriety and how widely they are feared, they are not the most powerful creatures that we call "aberrations", but they are among the most cunning and are not to be taken lightly. I do not know how Micolash, or even Lord Skithiryx managed to secure the cooperation of even one of these creatures, let alone the small group I witnessed.
The following information is a combination of what little I could find from other researchers and information I obtained when one of the mindflayers agreed to answer my questions.
Psionic Abilities: Mindflayers possess psionic powers that enable them to control the minds of creatures such as troglodytes, grimlocks, quaggoths, and ogres. Illithids prefer to communicate via telepathy and use their telepathy when issuing commands to their thralls.

When an illithid meets strong resistance, it avoids initial combat as it orders its thralls to attack. Like physical extensions of the illithid's thoughts, these thralls interpose themselves between the mindflayer and its foes, sacrificing their lives so that their master can escape.
Hive Mind: Solitary mind flayers are likely rogues and outcasts. Most illithids belong to a colony of sibling mindflayers devoted to an elder brain-a massive brain-like being that resides in a briny pool near the center of a mindflayer community. From its pool, an elder brain telepathically dictates its desires to each individual mindflayer within 5 miles of it, for it is able to hold multiple mental conversations at once.
Diet: Illithids subsist on the brains of humanoids. The brains provide enzymes, hormones, and psychic energy necessary for their survival. An illithid healthy from a brain-rich diet secretes a thin glaze of mucus that coats its mauve skin. An illithid experiences euphoria as it devours the brain of a humanoid, along with its memories, personality, and innermost fears. Mind flayers will sometimes harvest a brain rather than devour it, using it as part of some alien experiment or transforming it into an intellect devourer.
Intellect: Without a doubt the most dangerous thing about a mindflayer is its intelligence - even the average mindflayer has an intellect far exceeding all but most brilliant of us.
Senses: Like many aberrations the mindflayer is able to see in the dark and is very aware of its surroundings at all times.
Innate Magic: Mindflayers display a limited amount of inborn magics, mostly telekinetic and telepathic in nature. As I learned it is frowned upon for a mindflayer to "lower itself" by learning arcane magics.
Magic Resistance: Mindflayers display a natural resistance against magical affects.

Cloaker

An intelligent, ambush predator that makes its home in dark underground regions waiting for prey to wander into its reach. The name comes from the creature's resemblance to a leather cloak. It is my understanding that Micolash is planning to use a few of these creatures as extra deterrent for one of the target locations during the operation - I just hope they don't end up eating members of The Order.

Appearance: Like a stingray, a cloaker's body is composed of cartilage and muscle. With its tail and fins unfurled, it flies through darkness and lurks among the shadows of caverns the same way a stingray glides through water and hides on the ocean floor. Parallel rows of round, black eyespots run along its back like buttons, and the ivory-colored claws on its cowl resemble bone clasps.

When a cloaker unfurls and moves to attack, it reveals its pale underside and makes its true nature evident. Red eyes glow above rows of sharp teeth, and a long pendulous tail whips behind it.

Hunting: When hunting, cloakers glide through the shadows at a safe distance behind groups of other creatures traversing the Underdark. They follow parties of humanoids to prey on the wounded after a battle, or pursue herds of Underdark beasts, attacking the sick, the weak, or the straggling.

Cloakers strike quickly and consume their meals as swiftly as possible, enveloping and devouring their victims. While it feeds, a cloaker uses its swift, whiplike tail for defense, although it rarely takes a stand

against dangerous foes or groups of creatures. As an added defense, cloakers can create illusory duplicates

of themselves.

Moan: Cloakers' thoughts are alien to other life-forms, and they communicate with one another through subsonic moans inaudible to most creatures. At higher intensities, a cloaker's haunting moan becomes audible, evoking sensations of doom and dread in creatures that hear it.
Conclaves: Cloakers prefer isolation, but they sometimes convene with other cloakers for defenseor to exchange information about new dangers, suitable hunting grounds, or developments that might affect their habitats. When this convergence is complete, the cloakers separate again.
Sensessubterranean
Light Sensitivity: Because of its subterranean nature the cloaker does not tolerate bright light very well and becomes disorientated.

Type

Journal, Scientific