Kuo-toa

Kuo-toa were a debased monstrous humanoid fish-like race that dwelt in the Underdark. They had human-like bodies and fish-like heads.

Religion
Kuo-toa worshiped gods of their own insane creation, but if enough kuo-toa believed that a god was real, the energy of their collective subconscious could cause that god to manifest as a physical entity. Due to their madness the form a kuo-toa god took were usually random or nonsensical.

Most kuo-toas worshiped the goddess Blibdoolpoolp, though a few remote tribes worshiped Dagon. Blibdoolpoolp was the focus of the kuo-toas' lives, and even had her own monstrous, deformed kuo-toa breed: the giant kuo-toa leviathan.

On occasion kuo-toa that crossed paths with an aboleth often found themselves worshipping it as a god.

History
Once the descendants of a great race, the kuo-toa were driven deep underground ,by humans, many years ago where they dwelt in madness.

At the height of the illithid empire; the illithids captured kuo-toa by the thousands and forced them into bondage. The kuo-toa were simple creatures, never meant to endure the oppressive mental force the illithids unleashed against them. By the time the mind ftayers abandoned them, the prolonged psychic subjugation endured by the kuo-toa had driven them mad.

Due to their shattered minds the kuo-toa adopted a religious fervour, inventing gods to protect them against threats. Most notable of these threats are the drow, which have slain the kuo-toa on sight since the days when the two races first met.

Society
Their priests could cast magic, due to the fervent belief they held in their gods manifesting itself into raw power. "Whip" was the name given to clerics of Blibdoolpoolp. "Monitor" was the name given to those that had trained to fight with nothing but their bodies since birth.

They often raided seaside settlements for human victims, which they would often sacrifice.

One of their cities was Sloopdilmonpolp, the City of Pools. Others were Looblishar and Olleth.

Kuo-toa almost never wore armor, as they disliked the feel of it on their bodies.

Notable kuo-toa

 * Shuushar the Awakened, a peaceful kuo-toa hermit.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * City of the Spider Queen
 *  Out of the Abyss
 * Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land
 * The Occupation of Szith Morcane
 * Computer Games:
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
 * Novels:
 * Homeland (mentioned)
 * The Sentinels