Olothec (OH-luh-thek)

Protean (changing) in form, beings of nearly pure intellect, the old ones think in alien geometric logic. Their name for them-selves is unrecorded, but sages believe they are the oldest beings in the known realms and simply call them “old ones.” Voiceless talkers and other Illithid refer to them as olothec (OH-luh-thek)— “ancient enemies.” But some humanoid scholars have noted this term bears an uncanny similarity to another archaic synlirii word meaning “ancient ancestor.”   Across countless cultures and ancestries, olothec feature in nightmares and temple friezes alike. While their origins are obscure and may never be known, their hatred of the Mundane World and every living thing in it is well recorded. Olothec channel psionic energy beyond any mortal power, surpassing even the voiceless talkers. To them, a living creature who can’t reshape their own flesh is repugnant, an unnatural abomination requiring eradica-tion—or transformation.   At first sight, an olothec seems like little more than a rippling mass of tentacles, twisting around each other like a shifting shroud. Creatures who get too close discover each of those tentacles ends in a ravenous mouth set with razor-sharp teeth. Each mouth is tipped by a cluster of three eyes that focus the olothec’s relentless attacks. In water or on land, fetid slime coats the aberration, protecting them against attackers and acting as a conduit for their fearsome psionic power.