Neothelid Overlord

Two disgusting heads rise above this enormous mass of slime-drenched coils and slithering tentacles.

ECOLOGY

Environment any underground
Organization solitary, pair, or conclave (3–5 served by a cult of neothelids and 9–24 seugathi)
Treasure standard

In fetid pools of poisonous swamps and surreal forests of twisted, phosphorescent fungi, these gigantic worm-things rule and wage war against each other. While most know that the neothelids are ancient creatures, spawned by eldritch beings in a time and place far removed from the known world, very few are aware that some neothelids are old beyond imagining. In their eons of existence, they have changed, surviving the centuries of mindless hunger that drives the youngest of their kind and ultimately defeating enough of their peers to become truly hideous masters of the damp, nearly lightless depths.

Scholars of such lore can only speculate as to what causes a neothelid to begin the transformation into an overlord. The change could be a natural process of age and development, though nothing about neothelids can truly be called natural. It may be that by delving into forbidden lore, they discover potent secrets, just as other rituals grant mortals the hideous power of lichdom. It might instead be that overlords’ ascendant power comes from some link to the blasphemous entities they venerate, a connection that only the most dedicated among the neothelids are able to cultivate. Whatever the cause, the result is terrifying—even maddening—to behold.

An overlord achieves such immense power and intellect that it reaches a state in which its consciousness splits into two minds that work as one. In a horrifying metamorphosis, the creature’s head splits down the middle to form two separate heads, each of which contains a portion of the neothelid’s intellect. The new neothelid overlord’s enhanced cognition grants it a deeper understanding of reality and enables it to harness psychic magic beyond the ken of its younger kin. Though still able to crush a victim with pure psychic force, the neothelid overlord develops an awesome level of finesse and skill in the manipulation of both mind and matter.

Neothelid overlords undergo other physical changes as well. Although they do not become significantly larger than typical neothelids, overlords take on a darker hue and their bodies sprout myriad tentacles that constantly squirm, as though each possessed a sentience of its own.

The creatures’ tails also split into three parts, the ends of which claw and dig at the ground as though trying to take root in the very bedrock. The functions of overlords’ tentacles and triple tails are a mystery. It is possible that they have something to do with reproduction or the spawning of their seugathi servants, but the truth is something that only the most insane researchers could hope to uncover. Along with these physical changes comes an increase in might and a swiftness that one would not expect from something so large. A typical neothelid overlord measures approximately 100 feet in length from head to tail, though it usually remains coiled and takes up about one-fifth of that space. Overlords weigh about 100,000 pounds, though individuals can vary wildly in size.

Neothelid overlords rise to become tyrannical rulers, directing less developed members of their race toward goals that no healthy mind can fathom. They reinforce their power over subordinates through manipulation and punitive displays of power, believing that fear of random-appearing punishments keeps their followers in line even when they are not under observation. Most assume that neothelid overlords serve either their own whims or those of the ones they worship—the shapeless and terrible entities of the Dark Tapestry that created neothelids and countless other horrors in the darkest reaches of space and time. Few who know of these monsters, though, dare to think that their purposes are anything but anathema to normal life whether above ground or below ground.