Spectator

A spectator was an extraplanar form of beholderkin with four eyestalks. Somewhat mild and even-tempered, they had even been known to form friendships with other creatures, a trait that no other beholderkin or true beholder ever displayed.

Some spectators served certain deities, including Gaerdal Ironhand, Gorm Gulthyn, Helm, and Savras. They were often employed by the Church of Helm, and watched over their temples as ever-vigilant guardians.

Description
A spectator had four eyes stalks, as opposed to the typical 10 of most beholders, with two on each upper side of its 3-4 foot (.91-1.21) meter wide body which weighed 250 lb. A spectator's skin was thick and felt lumpy and rubbery, with numerous blood vessels visible from the surface. Like regular beholders they had a singular main eye in the middle of their floating bodies.

Behavior
Spectators were vigilant and trustworthy, and could be relied upon to protect items in all but the most dire situations. They possessed two methods of behavior, a free thinking mode, and contemplative mode. Free thinking spectators would wander the planes at will, openly, if cautiously, chatting with those they came across. In their contemplative state they were philosophers who would spend over a century debating vast philosophical questions. Approached in this state they were still friendly and enjoyed discourse but would soon after conversing, request to be left alone so as to continue thinking. Years of isolation could result in spectators gaining personality quirks such as third person reference to themselves, or adopting the voice of someone they knew. Spectators disliked guarding things for lesser lifeforms (most mortal summoners) and would only do so hesitantly. After promising however, their loyalty to their summoner was absolutely, guarding the object in question until their time was up. They prided themselves on their guardianship and refused commands to do anything else until asked to guard or they were allowed to leave. The greatest pleasure for many spectators was thwarting the forces of chaos and in defending valuable objects. Spectators' strong sense of justice dictated that creatures who did not intrude upon their duties had the right to live, and would never attack a helpless opponent unless attacked via sly or cruel means. Killing creatures for any reason outside of duty or defense would lead most spectators to commit suicide in distress via self imposed brain overload.

Abilities
Spectators were peaceful and would never attack unless seriously provoked, even fleeing from dangerous opponents. Spectators only willingly fought against those who disturbed what they was guarding, persistently pestered them, or against other spectators. Their main eye could turn spells back at the caster so long as they were in the nearby area and shooting at its face. The four eyestalks of a spectator could cause effects like the spells paralyze, inflict moderate wounds, fear, and confusion. The methods used to repel foes would become more drastic as the battle continued, starting with fear and confusion and escalating into paralysis and enervation. They were capable of creating enough food and water to sustain themselves for one day, every day, enough to create a large meal for 6 people, meaning that they would never go hungry. They were capable of shifting to other planes once a day but would only possibly do so to retreat if injured in all eyes to the point of non-functionality, thus leaving them incapable of guarding their wards. If chased after this point they would defend themselves by biting at their pursuer. They would return one day after leaving, and in either circumstance the treasure's disappearance would prompt them to leave to Nirvana for good. When trapped within the bounds of a ritual circle created with beholder eyes, a spectator was powerless to use any ability besides levitation.

Ecology
Spectators were smaller than regular beholders and as such required less food. They would create a large quantity of food every day to feed themselves, although they were willing to share with visitors. When spectators slept they drifted aimlessly around a given area. In the middle of their brains lied a small magical organ shaped like a sphere, that granted them the ability to fly, although it could not be magically disabled. A spectator's brain generated magical energy with psionic power, but was not strong enough to grant it psychic abilities. It created both magical and anti-magical force, with the former used to power its eye rays and the latter used for its spell turning. Spectators possessed a perfect internal clock, able to tell exactly when a certain amount of time had elapsed with extreme precision. Because spectators came from Nirvana, they were best adapted to equal amounts of environmental factors, (light and dark, heat and cold, liquid and solid terrain etc). So long as they were within Mechanus, spectators possessed a rapid regenerative ability capable of repairing lost structures and recovering from general damage. Newborn spectators arose from the eyes of their recently deceased 'parent'. Each is born with the ability to levitate, along with the eye ray power of whatever stalk they came from. The spectator with the ability to create food and water shared it with its siblings and every 3 months a new eye power would be gained and the spectators would grow larger. After a year passed, each spectator would leave their birth home and create their own lair. Once a spectator became 1,000 years old the cycle would reverse in a sense, with it's eyes becoming progressively larger and its body slowly turning smaller at the same points that the new spectators would gain eye powers. At 9 months the spectator would grow 4 tiny eyestalks on each of its old eyestalks and 3 months afterwards would die, causing the cycle to begin anew. Neither newborn, nor elderly spectators could be summoned via the ritual.

Society
Spectators hailed from Mechanus and could be summoned to the Material Plain by a ritual requiring at least 4 beholder eyes. Using more eyes would increase the chance of the ritual's success, with 10 ensuring completion. The beholder eyes would be ground into a powder, burnt until it was nothing but black dust, then doused with oil, set on fire and placed in a special magic circle. Using the dust as the component, a wizard would create a one way gate to Nirvana and call the monster in a way similar to Summon Monster. Once summoned this way, spectators would gain the 'Contemplative' condition, and peacefully reside for 101 years in an approximate 100 yard area from where they were summoned to. No one but the summoner and those he allowed would be permitted to touch or enter the area it was summoned to guard, unless it was previously clarified during the initial dealing.

Spectators were organized into an upper and lower class. The lower class resided alone in small vertical caves in the modron disk, dug out using their mouths. The upper class worked as guards for important modron and were educated to uphold the lawful ideals of Mechanus. Lower class spectators tended to drift between lawful good and lawful neutral, while upper class were strictly lawful neutral. The only way to become an upper class spectator was to capture and deliver a rogue modron to local Mechanus authorities, although this position would be revoked in a spectator's old age when they could no longer fight, and they would be forced to retire to their caves. High leveled modrons, and even spectators themselves would bargain with the bodies of slain spectators to be used for research by others.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Lost Mine of Phandelver


 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn