Beholder mage

A beholder mage was a beholder which was blind in its central eye&mdash;thus lacking its innate antimagic powers&mdash;and had taken advantage of this circumstance to train as a wizard. They were one of two kinds of beholders which could cast arcane spells, the other being elder orbs.

Description
The distinguishing feature of a beholder mage was its blind, destroyed, or missing central eye. While some made some effort to hide this deformity, others proudly displayed their eye, or the wound or disease which had rendered it useless.

Most beholder mages were a bit smaller than the average beholder.

Abilities
A beholder mage used its dead central eye as a spellcasting focus, and was able to cast spells by wiggling and writhing its eyestalks and singing a spellcasting song. A beholder mage was able to sing songs of such complexity that they could juggle the verbal components of several spells simultaneously.

Beholder mages advanced their spellcasting by converting their eyestalks to "spellstalks". To learn spells of a new level, a beholder mage had to convert an eyestalk to a spellstalk by permanently sacrificing the innate power of that eyestalk to dedicate to the new level. Doing this not only granted it access to more powerful spells, but also negated the need for material components. Beholder mages were so innately gifted with magic that they could simultaneously cast spells with each eyestalk that had been dedicated to their arcane studies. While they could sacrifice their eyestalks in any order they wished, most beholder mages chose to begin with their power to charm person and saved their most devestating powers&mdash;such as the ray to disintegrate&mdash;for their later sacrifices. After it had sacrificed its third eyestalk, a behold mage gained the innate ability to summon a familiar, with some favoring the mini eyeball beholder. A beholder mage who had sacrificed all ten eyes could gain the ability to absorb magic with its dead central eye such that spells directed at the creature could be captured in the eye, which would glow red until the beholder mage made an effort to absorb and feed off of the energy.

Beholder mages prepared spells in the same manner as a wizard, keeping track of their spells with a spellbook, although their physical limitations meant that they had to be mindful of how they handled this book. They needed either to have some form of telekinesis to manipulate it&mdash;and some developed the ability to freely use mage hand for such tasks &mdash;or they needed charmed servants to manage it for them. That said, they were not as reliant on their spellbooks as normal wizards, and could "store" one spell in each sacrificed eyestalk to be memorized later. There was no limit to the number of spells that a beholder mage could know or learn.

In some ways, beholder mages' spellcasting skills were more limited than a normal wizard. For instance, they were unable to learn spells that increased their capacity to memorize more spells&mdash;such as Rary's mnemonic enhancer&mdash;and some were unable to learn spells from more than one school of magic. They also tended to struggle with spells that took more than one minute to cast.

About one in ten beholder mages had psionic abilities.

Personality
Beholder mages tended to be antisocial. Nevertheless, they were more willing to engage in diplomacy than the average beholder, although almost always with the intent to betray or undermine.

Combat
Depending on how many eyestalks had been dedicated to spellcasting, a beholder mage fought with a combination of wizard spells and their own innate powers. They took full advantage of their unique ability to cast multiple spells simultaneously.

If one of a beholder mage's spellcasting eyestalks was severed, the mage lost the ability to cast spells with it until the stalk could be regenerated.

Society
The ancient and unique spellcasting techniques and traditions of the beholder mage were largely developed to overcome the innate physical difficulties of spellcasting without hands. In many cases, beholder mages developed their own spells to better suit their limitations, and many spells that looked familiar to normal wizards were in fact the product of efforts to duplicate those spells. Beholder mages were also among the few beholders who could create magic items, such as the Crown of Eyes.

The main prerequisite to becomeing a beholder mage was the loss of sight in a beholder's central eye. Most beholder mages had been born blind, lost their central eye during battle, or were so ambitious that they intentionally put it out in order to study magic. Normal beholders tended to shun beholder mages, although others saw them as disabled and worthy of pity rather than ostracization. The necessity of sacrificing the powers of their eyestalks to cast spells was generally abhorrent to beholders, so very few were eager to take up the path of a beholder mage.

Major populations of beholder mages in Faerûn were found in the Underdark beholder cities of Ooltul &mdash;where the phaerimm Triumvirate had forcibly converted two hundred beholders into mages &mdash;and Zokir&mdash;where wizardry among beholders was discouraged but not permitted.

Ecology
Beholder mages could be found not only on Toril, but throughout Wildspace. They also seemed to be drawn to the extraplanar city of Sigil.

Some scholars believed that beholder mages had created the first gas spores.

Uses
The spellcasting eyestalk of a beholder mage could be substituted for a normal beholder eyestalk in any potion that called for that ingredient, but it would frequently result in unpredictable if not bizzaire effects.

History
The origins of the beholder mage spellcasters was unclear. Some scholars believed that the first beholder mages had been born blind, while others proposed the first was one of a couple mighty ancient beholders who lost their sight in great battles.

In the, the phaerimm seized control of the beholder city of Ootul, precipiating the conversion of hundreds of beholders into beholder mages at their behest. They still controlled the city as of the mid-to-late 14 century DR. By that time, both the phaerimm and the beholder mages of the city had independently developed a way to create mutant, miniature beholderkin.

Beginning sometime circa the 4 or 5 centuries DR, the hive mother Xraunrarr took up residence in the Underdark beneath eastern Cormyr and compelled many of her brood to become beholder mages. At some point, she warred with Hullack, a druid who would become the namesake of the Hullack Forest (which was then still part of the greater Cormanthor forest), but she was slain by one of her own: the beholder mage Uldeeth. The remaining beholder mages created an organization known as the Xraunrans, and as of the, they were secretly manipulating Cormyrean society and had been doing so for centuries. Their aim appeared to be to ensure the status quo while secretly funneling riches and captives to themselves.

Notable Beholder Mages

 * Irixis the Sourceorb, a powerful beholder spellcaster of Ooltul who purportedly served the Triumvirate but schemed to seize control of the city for itself. Irixis was also an elder orb, and as of the 1370s DR, it had dedicated four eyestalks to spellcasting.
 * Lestch’cymatium, an ally of the fang dragon Nartheling who conspired in the late 14 century DR to seize control of Umbergoth and, from there, perhaps invade Thay or Aglarond.
 * Orichalxos, who resided and conducted experiments in an old observatory in the Selskar Vale between the Frost Hills and the Lurkwood. As of the mid-to-late 14 century DR, it had sacrificed three eyestalks to spellcasting.
 * Quaervaxthanus, a beholder mage who grafted many Netherese wands to its central eye socket and who served as Magister at the turn of the 6 century DR before being slain by Almer Galarthund.
 * Qyraaptir, who claimed the throne of Calimshan from to.
 * Uldeeth, a beholder mage who attempted to usurp Xraunrarr, but was defeated by its fellow beholder mages and became a unique undead creature resembling a swarm of spectral eyeballs.
 * Xargaul, a member of the Xraunrans.
 * Xianthrope, leader of a tribe of beholders in the Southern Lluirwood who raised several death tyrants to ward off the local halflings and yuan-ti. As of the 1370s DR, it was very old and had sacrificed seven eyestalks to its spellcasting studies.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Prison of the Firebringer
 * Novels
 * Condemnation &bull; The City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel
 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark