The Great Mother
The Great Mother, sometimes specified as the Great Beholder Mother, is the eldritch matron deity of the beholders. This title reflects her role as the progenitor of their race, not necessarily a designation of gender – a concept largely irrelevant to their alien minds. The beholders themselves hold no need to utter her name, their telepathic connection to her forming a direct and potent bond.
Tenets of Faith
Whispers of the Great Mother
- The multiverse is flawed, a tapestry woven without the singular vision of the Great Mother. Our sacred duty lies in reshaping it in her image – a cosmos teeming with beholders, a testament to her ultimate design. All lesser life shall be replaced, consumed by the glorious evolution she sets in motion.
- Knowledge is a weapon unfit for lesser minds. The Great Mother's pronouncements remain an enigma, even to her children. We are not spoon-fed wisdom, but forged in the fires of discovery, driven by the inherent urge to fulfill her grand design.
Physical Description
Facial Features
In avatar form, the Great Mother takes the horrifying guise of a bloated, grotesque beholder. Its carapace resembles a twisted mosaic, a chaotic collage of encrusted rocks, gleaming gems, shattered armor fragments, and the rusted remnants of weapons. Monstrous teeth and the intact skeletons of unfortunate victims are gruesomely embedded within its flesh. This horrifying spectacle is merely a glimpse, a warped reflection of the true horror that lies beyond.
Scholars who venerate Gzemnid, the beholder god of illusion, posit that the Great Mother's true form is ever-shifting, an inconceivable monstrosity that defies mortal understanding. The horrific avatar sighted on rare occasions is but a fleeting glimpse, a distorted projection of its true essence that resides within the Abyss, a realm where the very fabric of reality bends to its unimaginable will. Within that chaotic dimension, within the eyes of its own planar layer, reside the true, unfathomable eyes of the Great Mother – a sight that would shatter the sanity of those foolish enough to witness it.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Myths and legends
Kzamnal
Beholder lore whispers of Kzamnal, the first of their kind, birthed directly from the Great Mother. Each beholder breed clings to the belief that Kzamnal mirrored their own distinctive pattern of eyestalks and carapace, fueling their arrogance and justifying their disdain for "blasphemous mutations" – beholders of other breeds. Kzamnal, according to legend, fathered the mortal ancestors of all beholders, tasking them with the pursuit of ultimate knowledge – a quest to mirror the Great Mother's own omniscience. However, treachery stained this noble pursuit. Some of Kzamnal's children, defying his will, spawned offspring who deviated from the "true beholder" form. This act of rebellion ignited a brutal war that continues to this day, a conflict that divides the various beholder breeds in an endless cycle of genocide.The Beholder Ancients
Legends speak of the Beholder Ancients, or Elders, hatched from a clutch of cosmic eggs laid by the Great Mother across the planes. Hive Mothers, powerful beholders, are said to be their descendants. Yet, the Great Mother's affection is fickle. She is known to devour her own offspring when they fail to meet her expectations. One tale recounts the cunning Gzemnid, whose mastery of illusion alone protected him from the Great Mother's insatiable hunger.Vikhrispa
Vikhrispa holds a revered place in beholder history. This legendary being, blinded in battle, pioneered the art of beholder magic. Its thirst for knowledge led to groundbreaking discoveries in planar travel. Vikhrispa, accompanied by other beholders of the "true breed," embarked on interplanar expeditions, exploring the vastness of the multiverse. Tragically, Vikhrispa was captured by beholders of a rival breed. These cunning captives stole Vikhrispa's knowledge and fled to other planes, seeding them with their own twisted progeny.The Fragmented God
Beyond the typical beholder myths, whispers circulate among scholars of other races concerning a forgotten deity: the Fragmented God. This theory posits that the Great Mother is but one part of this colossal being – her single, malevolent eye. Other gods, they believe, represent various limbs, organs, and even the fragmented mind of this vast entity. The theory further proposes the existence of both good and evil aspects, lawful and chaotic factions warring within this dismembered deity. Some hold onto the hope that the Fragmented God can be reassembled, restoring balance to the cosmos. Others, however, tremble at the thought of a unified god, fearing such an entity would become an unstoppable force of wickedness.Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Unlike her primarily lawful evil offspring, the Great Mother embodies pure chaotic evil. Her motivations are an enigma, a swirling vortex of madness that defies comprehension by both human and beholder standards. Mortals, with their limited mental capacity, can only perceive a horrifying distortion of what might be considered thought. Even the most brilliant beholders struggle to grasp the Great Mother's intentions, and those unfortunate enough to witness her directly rarely survive the encounter. In a stark contrast to the live-birthing ways of beholders, the Great Mother reproduces through a monstrous act of oviposition, laying colossal clutches of eggs that hatch into the ravenous beholders we know.
It should be mentioned that according to the dogma, the Great Mother tests her children. Weak beholder communities are allowed to crumble, their demise a lesson for the stronger. Only the cunning and the ruthless will survive, their resilience a testament to their worth in her eyes.
While the Great Mother may seem indifferent, her wrath is a tempestuous storm. The complete annihilation of a beholder brood can trigger a terrifying retribution, a reminder that even the seemingly insignificant hold a place in her ultimate plan.
Social
Contacts & Relations
The Great Mother maintains an alliance with Kiaransalee but stands as the adversary of Callarduran Smoothhands, Laduguer, Lolth, and Vhaeraun, showing minimal interest in the activities of other deities.
Legend tells of the Great Mother's unions with demons, demodands, and even darker entities, always ending with the consumption of her mates. Some believe her unholy offspring still roam the depths of the Lower Planes.
Among her progeny, Gzemnid stands apart as the sole offspring to ascend to godhood. In the presence of the Great Mother, he finds relative safety from her unpredictable whims. Though unable to fully comprehend her nature, Gzemnid endeavors to glean fragments of wisdom from her madness. His admiration for her, albeit twisted, mirrors the extent possible between deities.
Divine Classification
Alignment
Chaotic Evil
Realm
Children
Aligned Organization
| LG | NG | CG |
| LN | N | CN |
| LE | NE | CE |
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