Thanks for the replies, all -- both comic and serious! (Which is not to say people should stop replying.) Here's what I've come up with for my campaign. It's likely way more than the players will ever know, but knowing it will help me tremendously in describing mind flayers, their feeding, and the remains of their victims.
The mind flayer uses the lamprey-like teeth @MonsterEnvy pointed out, but not in the manner of a lamprey. Rather, the frontmost teeth snap erect and shoot forward with tremendous force. They break through the skull and crack loose a circular piece of bone. Then, as the teeth draw back to their normal inward-curving position, they naturally hook the edges of the bone fragment and yank it free*. (The teeth are not very long -- just long enough to punch through a humanoid skull -- so as to minimize damage to the brain inside. This means the victim has to be held right against the mind flayer's mouth for the process to work, which is the main function of the tentacles.)
Once a hole is created, the mind flayer extends a kind of tongue into the victim's head. This tongue has a muscular core covered in many layers of nervous tissue, an extension of the mind flayer's own brain. It thrusts into the victim's brain and establishes an intense telepathic connection even as it releases a flood of digestive juices. The mind flayer consumes the victim's psychic energy through the telepathic link, and the brain is liquefied and sucked out through the hole.
This process normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how fast the mind flayer pumps in digestive acids. It can last an hour or more if the illithid wants to savor its meal. Used in combat, the mind flayer does not have time to eat much of the physical brain; but it can and does devour the mind, and what remains in the skull is inert, rapidly dissolving mush. Over the next few minutes, this mush will liquefy on its own and drain out through the hole**. This gives the impression that the whole brain was eaten.
*The mind flayer swallows the bone fragment whole, and will later regurgitate it like a cat with a hairball. This is somewhat comical to watch. Unfortunately, very few people are ever in a position to appreciate it.
**If the corpse falls with the hole pointed upward, the digestive acids soon eat through the membranes of mouth, nose, and ears, and the fluid drains out that way. This takes a little longer, but not much.
The mind flayer uses the lamprey-like teeth @MonsterEnvy pointed out, but not in the manner of a lamprey. Rather, the frontmost teeth snap erect and shoot forward with tremendous force. They break through the skull and crack loose a circular piece of bone. Then, as the teeth draw back to their normal inward-curving position, they naturally hook the edges of the bone fragment and yank it free*. (The teeth are not very long -- just long enough to punch through a humanoid skull -- so as to minimize damage to the brain inside. This means the victim has to be held right against the mind flayer's mouth for the process to work, which is the main function of the tentacles.)
Once a hole is created, the mind flayer extends a kind of tongue into the victim's head. This tongue has a muscular core covered in many layers of nervous tissue, an extension of the mind flayer's own brain. It thrusts into the victim's brain and establishes an intense telepathic connection even as it releases a flood of digestive juices. The mind flayer consumes the victim's psychic energy through the telepathic link, and the brain is liquefied and sucked out through the hole.
This process normally takes 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how fast the mind flayer pumps in digestive acids. It can last an hour or more if the illithid wants to savor its meal. Used in combat, the mind flayer does not have time to eat much of the physical brain; but it can and does devour the mind, and what remains in the skull is inert, rapidly dissolving mush. Over the next few minutes, this mush will liquefy on its own and drain out through the hole**. This gives the impression that the whole brain was eaten.
*The mind flayer swallows the bone fragment whole, and will later regurgitate it like a cat with a hairball. This is somewhat comical to watch. Unfortunately, very few people are ever in a position to appreciate it.
**If the corpse falls with the hole pointed upward, the digestive acids soon eat through the membranes of mouth, nose, and ears, and the fluid drains out that way. This takes a little longer, but not much.
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