Inspired by Lords of Madness (Updated with 65% more ideas, and 74% more confusion)!

[Vecna]

What if you don't have Illithid that are evolved Aboleth, but Aboleth that are devolved Illithid?

The dying stars in the far future emit strange radiations, that turn Illithid tadpoles into Aboleth. While the Illithid slay such abominions quickly, some of them escape and manage to travel to the begin of time.
In the meanwhile, the Illithid discover the stars influence over their reproductive cycle, and travel back in time to avoid their whole race to turn into Aboleth.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

The unknown enemies that wiped out the illithid empire were, in fact, the descendents of the illithid who went back in time to escape the unknown ememies who were wiping out their empire.

Assuming your eyes haven't crossed, what do you think? I feel there's some great campaign/story potential here, but I'd love to hear other responses.

Cool. What will be the distinction, physiologically or culturally, between the two types of Illithid? There has to be a significant one. Otherwise, it's just Illithids fighting Illithids to the PCs observing.

Also, this has struck a "recursive Illithids" idea in my head. The original Illithids (which I will call Illithid^1) found their empire, are getting sacked, and send some of their number back in time, creating what I will call the race Illithid^2. The I^2 group gets to the time of empire, realizes they've failed to correct things and attack. But they also send some of their number back in time to correct their mistakes, creating Illithid^3. I^3 then has to navigate the world while manipulating I^1 AND I^2 in an attempt to change the overall result. What do you think they do when they realize they failed as well?

Soon enough, there are so many different strains of Illithid wandering the timestream, manipulating each other, humaniods, and everything they can get their tentacles on, that it becomes one big quagmire. Still, Illithids would have all kinds of prophecy and seemingly strange knowledge of the big picture and what is likely to happen as a result of what. But different strains would have different ideas of what went wrong, so they would be trying to manipulate history in opposing ways at times.

Ultimately, it is the conflicting actions of the Illithids themselves that keeps the timeline stable on the outcome of the fall of the Illithid empire

 

[Rystil Arden]

Cool. What will be the distinction, physiologically or culturally, between the two types of Illithid? There has to be a significant one. Otherwise, it's just Illithids fighting Illithids to the PCs observing.

Also, this has struck a "recursive Illithids" idea in my head. The original Illithids (which I will call Illithid^1) found their empire, are getting sacked, and send some of their number back in time, creating what I will call the race Illithid^2. The I^2 group gets to the time of empire, realizes they've failed to correct things and attack. But they also send some of their number back in time to correct their mistakes, creating Illithid^3. I^3 then has to navigate the world while manipulating I^1 AND I^2 in an attempt to change the overall result. What do you think they do when they realize they failed as well?

Soon enough, there are so many different strains of Illithid wandering the timestream, manipulating each other, humaniods, and everything they can get their tentacles on, that it becomes one big quagmire. Still, Illithids would have all kinds of prophecy and seemingly strange knowledge of the big picture and what is likely to happen as a result of what. But different strains would have different ideas of what went wrong, so they would be trying to manipulate history in opposing ways at times.

Ultimately, it is the conflicting actions of the Illithids themselves that keeps the timeline stable on the outcome of the fall of the Illithid empire

The recursive illithids would work with my spiralling permissive timeline, but not with Mouse's deterministic mobius-strip timeline. If you want to do recursive illithids, you need to come up with a reason why the first group of illithids went back (since they didn't have illithids attacking them).

 

[Vocenoctum]

Don't forget the Neothelid, which is what a mind flayer that doesn't merge with a humanoid, becomes:

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Don't forget the Neothelid, which is what a mind flayer that doesn't merge with a humanoid, becomes:

How could it let itself go like this?

 

[Gez]

The tadpole needs to first chance upon a yummy sentient brain before they can become a neothelid. Otherwise, they stay larval tadpoles, growing bigger and bigger, but devoid of psionic powers.

 

[Staffan]

The tadpole needs to first chance upon a yummy sentient brain before they can become a neothelid. Otherwise, they stay larval tadpoles, growing bigger and bigger, but devoid of psionic powers.

I think you mean "before they can become a mind flayer". Also, if the tadpoles aren't implanted they normally become absorbed by the elder brain after a while. It's only if one is taken away from the EB, but not implanted, that they eventually grow to become neothelids.

 

[Psion]

Assuming your eyes haven't crossed, what do you think? I feel there's some great campaign/story potential here, but I'd love to hear other responses.

Well, it certainly is a mind-bending twist. I would find it a challenge to orchestrate it in the game so this fact unfolds in front of the players eyes and comes to them as an epiphany. I'm not sure that they would even get it then. Perhaps a narrator-style character who would have the light bulb come on if they don't.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I think you mean "before they can become a mind flayer". Also, if the tadpoles aren't implanted they normally become absorbed by the elder brain after a while. It's only if one is taken away from the EB, but not implanted, that they eventually grow to become neothelids.

No, he's right.
Usually, "ripe" tadpoles are sent through ceremorphosis at the very first opportunity - everything else would be blasphemy. There is no delay in that - it isn't happening that often, anyway. What you say is exactly the opposite. Those tadpoles that aren't "eaten" by the elder brain are the one that are turned into mind flayers.

But there can be extreme circumstances, usually the destruction of a illithid colony, inlcuding the elder brain. When that happens, the tadpoles aren't fed any more, so they become cannibals, and only one of all these tadpoles survives it. It becomes really large because of the psychic energy it absorbs from all the others. Finally, it has to leave the pool and go into the greater world, eating rats and vermin, growing even larger.

Finally, it eats a sentient creature, and from that first intelligent brain, the latent psionic powers awake. Only then it is really a neothelid. Before that, it's just an ugly, oversize tadpole.

 

[Psion]

Don't think of it as the event happening twice. It didn't. It happened once. It's just that one element of the event saw its genesis in the years after the event began. Gotta love time travel paradoxes. You can have effect before cause.

Love is not the term I would give to my feelings for this particular literary construct.