Mozgriken

A mozgriken was the result of an illithid tadpole being inserted into a svirfneblin gnome and then subjected to a dangerous psionic ritual. The ritual involved channeling energy straight from the Plane of Shadow into the ceremorph, as svirfneblin implantation normally led to the death of both the host and the tadpole.

Description
Mozgriken heads resembled the heads of normal illithids, except they only had three tentacles instead of four, and lacked a mouth. Their tentacles seemed shadowy, with the tips fading in and out of the shadows, and their skin was pitch black. They were as small as normal gnomes, but were heavily disfigured with a crooked posture and twisted appendages.

Personality
Mozgriken were adverse to combat, and actively avoided it, even when holding an advantage. They were rendered cowardly and evasive by the cruelty of their masters, but due to their own weakness relative to other beings in the Underdark, they accepted illithid rule for the most part. Because of this, they were trusted to carry out reconnaissance missions for the mind flayers without a risk of them escaping.

Combat/Abilities
Mozgriken held a host of psionic powers to help them accomplish their intelligence-gathering missions. Mozgriken only fought to escape after their spying was discovered, and every decision after this point was made directed at this goal.

Similar to normal deep gnomes, the mozgriken could use their psionic powers to camouflage themselves in natural environments. They could also hide the presence of themselves and others using a form of psychic invisibility, and prevent their thoughts from being read. When searching for their targets, they could also use their powers to detect the presence of thinking lifeforms, heighten their senses, and even see through the eyes of targets they made telepathic contact with. Once a target had been located, they would probe the minds of their targets, searching for crucial information to relay to their master.

If a mozgriken was discovered they could temporarily don a shadow-form to escape their opponents, although it could only move through darkness and couldn't interact with the physical world, making it useful only for hiding and escaping. If forced to fight, mozgriken could use their psychic abilities to change form, although this was an incredibly strenuous process that became harder the more different the form was. They could only imitate the physical qualities of the things they became, and not magical or supernatural abilities. More likely, a mozgriken would use their powers to change one of their limbs into a weapon, taking on all physical and material properties of the weapon they chose. If a mozgriken were to run out of psychic power in the middle of a fight, they could drain their own bodily fluids to recover this power. Doing so was very physically taxing and required days of rest to properly recover.

Ecology
Because of their lack of a mouth, mozgriken could only consume the fluids of the brain rather than the brain itself, and could only communicate telepathically. The process that created mozgriken often killed both the larvae and the subject. The tadpoles that were chosen to become mozgriken were often weak and small and would otherwise be fed back to the elder brain. They did possess some method of reproduction as, when abandoned, they were capable of growing in population.

Society
Mozgriken culture took elements from both their svirfneblin and illithid ancestries. Within illithid hives, these creatures were extremely meek as a result of their treatment by the illithids. Mozgriken were also considered too weak to survive on their own in the Underdark, forcing them to cooperate with their masters. These three-tentacled ceremorphs were despised by the svirfneblin, owing to the hatred they had for the brain-eating illithids, and also by the illithids, because of their imperfections. Regardless, their aptitude for stealth and psionic powers of shape-changing made them useful spies for the illithids.

These creatures could be found occupying the ruins of Tellectus, abandoned by their original masters. This group had enslaved a group of mongrelmen and used them as thralls. A handful of mozgriken also lived in Oryndoll under the employment of the Lore Filchers.