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Creature -> Monster link fix (bot-assisted)
Illithids have an unstable gene which can radically alter their appearance upon certain conditions. The first of these is the chance which occurs when a young tadpole illithid is abandoned and not fed. Over the course of it's starvation it will leave the growth brine it swims in and wiggle like a snake, hunting what it can. By the time it grows up it never develops limbs. The result is a [[SRD:Neothelid|Neothelid]].
Next off comes when an illithid is punished for some grievous crime. Their head is cut off and immediately placed in a special and vile bath of special brine. The head continues to live, ceasing to eat brains and living off flesh itself. It's mind is intact but quickly degrades, usually driven mad by its new existence and acting more like an animal. It grows in size until it becomes a huge, walking squid tank, whose extra folds of flesh serve as a passenger area for those riding upon it. At this point they are merely war steeds for the collective called a [[Dazreth (3.5e CreatureMonster)|Dazreth]]. (They are slightly different to a pre-existing concept, the Kezreth.)
Then there are cases when an old illithid, whose power is so great (and of epic level) that at the time of death they do not die but instead rise from 'death' 24 hours later seeking a pool of brine. There they sink in and hibernate, their bodies rotting away and their heads expanding over the next month, until it is huge and man-sized, and only the brain exists. This is how an Elder Brain is formed. However this reaction is suppressed in communities with an Elder Brain so it only occurs with illithids in solitude. In addition if one is found it is usually absorbed by the existing Elder Brain before it can grow.
Finally in the event that an illithid cannibalizes another illithid, they don't only have a 3% cumulative chance of going insane, but they also begin to mutate. Their eyes vanish as their mouth takes over the entirety of their face, they gain the use of blindsense, their limbs elongate and become somewhat rubbery, they hunch over and grow strange spines from their back, and they become feral. This is a vicious and cruel [[Cepholathe (3.5e CreatureMonster)|Cepholathe]].
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