Large Luigi

Large Luigi was a beholder who ascended the Spindle on the planet H'Catha and thereby obtained ultimate knowledge of the universe. With that knowledge, he settled down to become the proprietor, bartender, and bouncer of his tavern, the Happy Beholder in the city of Bral in the mid-to-late 14 century. He was a well-known citizen of the Rock of Bral and the greatest mortal broker of information in the universe. "It came in on the last neogi trader... Well, not really. A groundling galleon brought it in yesterday."

- Large Luigi's 'joking' about his ale.

Abilities
Large Luigi was exceptionally intelligent and wise. He had, at least at one time, complete knowledge of everything, rivaling even the gods. Thanks to the beholder's many eyes, Large Luigi hardly ever missed an order.

After his ascent, one of Luigi's eyestalks had the detect lie spell instead of the death ray spell that most beholders had. His other rays were quite intact, and he used them to good effect in keeping his tavern customers well-behaved,  namely charm person, charm monster, and sleep  so trouble in the Laughing Beholder was stopped almost as soon as it started. He used his telekinesis eye ray to mix his drinks and to deliver them through the air direct to a patron.

Personality
Luigi's journey to obtain knowledge changed him. He gained great intelligence and wisdom, and no longer a lawful evil creature, he grew more lawful neutral in his moral outlook. He only made friends with those of a similar lawful mindset and had no close friends who did not also maintain a balance between evil and good. He believed that good and evil must be balanced, that each had a purpose and one could not exist without the other, and he never would give out information that he felt would upset that balance,  even if it was vital information to the one asking, which could be frustrating to those in need—even simple things like the location of a legendary ruin or the home of a wise hermit might need to be withheld. Otherwise, he was quite happy to give out information if asked, his only requested payment being a song or story for his other customers.

Luigi had a sense of humor, though not a well developed one. He occasionally played harmless jokes on his patrons. He was also civic-minded and had no political designs.

Activities
While running his tavern, Luigi spent most of his time listening to rumors from other crystal spheres and hearing the tales of adventurers. Most patrons had no idea that Luigi had more collected knowledge than some of the gods.

History
Luigi used to live on H'Catha, the beholder discworld at the far reaches of Realmspace. While many attempted the challenge, Luigi was one of the few of his kind to successfully reach the summit of the Spindle, a 1,000-mile-high (1,600 kilometer) peak, interacting with each of the hundreds of "mind-readying stations" along the way. It was said that any being who succeeded, as Luigi did, would have their mind filled with all knowledge collected since the creation of the phlogiston. Luigi realized that the true purpose of the beholder race was to learn all that there was to know and to teach and share that knowledge as the supreme information brokers of the universe. It was even possible he'd discovered that the entirety of existence lay wholly within the minds of strange and unknowable beings beyond even the gods, beings who titled themselves "roleplayers".

In any case, Luigi's entire outlook&mdash;and even some of his inherent magical powers&mdash;were changed, and he returned to the surface a new beholder. So, of course he was soon scorned and shunned by his kin and, when they learned of his changed powers, he was forced to flee for his life. He actually crossed the Spindle a second time to get away.

He managed to find a human-run tradesman and convinced the crew to take him on and let him work off his passage. Eventually, they let off on the Rock of Bral, where he purchased his own tavern, the Laughing Beholder. It was his patrons who gave him the name 'Large Luigi.' He became a famous citizen and business-beholder of the city.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Maelstrom's Eye (mentioned only)


 * Adventures
 * Light of Xaryxis (mentioned only)