Elder orb

An elder orb was a very old and powerful beholder.

Description
Elder orbs were between 4 and 6 feet (1.2–1.8 m) in diameter. They lost their eyes over time, being unable to regenerate them, but gained wizardly powers instead. They were extremely intelligent.

Society
Elder orbs were generally the councilors or leaders of the beholder faction they lived in.

Ecology
Elder orbs ate less food than other beholders and thus were able to tolerate more foods, including poison. The elder orb's body itself had a high level of magic resistance and could easily see through most illusions.

It was believed that elder orb brains could be used to create great spells and magical items.

Elder orbs were immortal beholders. They were born like any other beholder and were&mdash; apart from inborn sorcerous abilities &mdash;indistinguishable from others. The differences became apparent with very advanced age. From some point onwards, an elder orb stopped growing physically weaker from age and continued to live on forever until it suffered a violent death. They never went senile. Compared to other beholders, a elder orb was big and strong but also less agile.

Combat
Elder orbs were powerful spellcasters, although they were restricted to verbal spells that they developed on their own or stole from others. They guarded their knowledge jealously. They were born with sorcerous powers and could also substitute the somatic components of a spell with their eyestalks. What was a problem for them was the casting of spells with material components. Some learned to cast spells without cheap components, but they generally had a penchant to choose spells without material components to learn.

Elder orbs were able to control death tyrants with their magic, as well as create them. They preferred to use the death tyrants to do their dirty work for them, including fighting enemies.

Notable elder orbs

 * Arglath
 * Irixis
 * Skixtalq
 * Vaxall
 * Xanathar

Appearances

 * Sourcebooks:
 * City of Splendors: Waterdeep
 * Cloak & Dagger
 * Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark
 * Empires of the Shining Sea
 * Monstrous Manual
 * Underdark


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


 * Magazines:
 * Dungeon #69