Editing Ith-kon

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[[File:Ith-kon.png|thumb|right|300px]]
Ever since the expanding Dragon Empire made contact with the stars surrounding the Dark Zone, bizarre rumors and even stranger creatures have been filtering into the Empire. One of the most terrifying of tales that has sprung up since the Explorer Corps first encountered this region has been the existence of a vast mind flayer kingdom. While found in small groups on a number of planets, these horrific creatures have always remained deep within those planets, unwilling to emerge into the interstellar society.

The drow of Mezzenbone’s ISPD are particularly keen on tracking down these tales—no other race has suffered as much at the hand of these ruthless horrors. So when stories of mind flayer-like creatures began to circulate along the fringes of the Dark Zone, the ISPD sprang into action. They launched an ill-fated expedition into the area. The security recordings from the ship were later recovered, showing the expedition members falling before the onslaught of a group of blurry figures that seemed to be able to see around corners and mentally stun their opponents. A year later, the first ith-kon turned itself in to the ISPD, revealing the information below. A day after that, the ith-kon was dead, killed by another member of its race that had somehow penetrated deep into the ISPD’s headquarters. When the ISPD agents attempted to capture the assassin, it blew itself and most of the room apart with a device strapped around its waist. Since then, other ith-kon have turned rogue, but none have gone to the ISPD with further information.

The ith-kon, it turns out, were created by the mind flayers through careful breeding and unspeakable magical manipulation to serve as psionic commandos. As servitors, it was not deemed necessary for the ith-kon to share in the full mental powers of their mind flayer masters. Attempts to “prune” these abilities in the subspecies gave rise to several new gifts, which allowed the ith-kon to achieve a more respectable place within the mind flayer hierarchy. Most importantly, they developed remarkable powers of stealth. With the ability to blend into their surroundings, the ith-kon quickly became spies operating within the Dragon Empire. The most powerful of the ith-kon can even stun their opponents with the powers of their mind alone, making them deadly combatants and assassins.

==Personality==
The typical ith-kon is quiet and secretive, going out of its way to avoid being the center of attention—except in private, where they prefer to terrify and dominate those they have cornered. They are very goal oriented, and without instructions or a self-imposed objective they become listless and depressed.

They are careful planners and very deliberate in their actions, and rarely fail to account for the consequences of their acts. As junior partners (or most favored slaves, depending on who is asked) in the mind flayer’s kingdom, their status is high, but only so long as the individual ith-kon achieves its assigned goals and advances the agenda of the race. As such, they tend to place deep trust in each other and hide their shared fear of their masters.

While they are initially mistrustful of everyone and everything, those who have operated outside the Dark Zone for extended periods often come to trust one or two close allies who have consistently helped them in the past. This uncharacteristic trust (something no mind flayer would ever consider) has helped the ith-kon to pull off assignments that their masters—with their more limited social skills—considered impossible.

Non-evil ith-kon are uncommon, but not impossible. In some cases a lone ith-kon has been grievously injured, and then nursed back to health by a kind-hearted individual. Ith-kon who place their trust in good individuals may also come to emulate their associates and gradually shift alignments. Within the Dark Zone, however, few ith-kon have the opportunity to consider moral alternatives, and those who rebel in this fashion are quickly slain.

==Physical Description==
Ith-kon share the same general shape as a mind flayer. They have gray skin, a lumpy head, bulbous eyes, and a roughly humanoid torso. Ith-kon are easily distinguished from their masters by the knowledgeable viewer due to their less numerous facial tentacles and heavier, more muscular build. These adaptations were originally intended to create a slave race, suited to physical labor and supervising other slaves. Ith-kon weigh between 140 and 200 lbs. They live for about 60 years (less if residing in the Dark Zone) and reach maturity after only 12 years.

==Relations==
Those ith-kon who have only known life in the Dark Zone have the disposition of a whipped dog—they will bite anything, including the hand that feeds them. But as they adapt to life outside of the Dark Zone, they can become surprisingly tolerant—anyone can be viewed as either an ally or a tool. As such, ithkon can get along with almost all the races of the Dragon Empire. There is one notable exception—loyal ith-kon despise drow. This hatred seems to be encoded into their very cells, and is unwavering in its fierceness. This natural animosity is only intensified by the fact that drow make up the majority of the ISPD, and are a major threat to the mind flayer kingdom.

Renegade ith-kon don’t seem to suffer from this odd hatred, though they remain uncomfortable around drow. Somehow, by abandoning their masters, the ith-kon are able to suppress whatever conditioning the mind flayers have inflicted on them. These ith-kon are free to form their own opinions of the other races.

==Alignment==
Many ith-kon are evil, but exceptions exist. Virtually all ith-kon are lawful, and chaotic individuals are even rarer than good individuals. Chaotic members of the race are considered deviants by other ith-kon, while good-aligned individuals are merely seen as weak and soft-hearted.

==Ith-kon Lands==
The ith-kon have no worlds or territories of their own, but can be found on many worlds within the Dark Zone. Outside of that dangerous realm they are only found as individuals or small groups who do not announce their presence to others.

==Religion==
Ith-kon rarely have religious leanings—the ancient powers venerated in the Dark Zone would be hard to describe in Unification terms (being more of a form of ancestor worship among the mind flayer overlords). Outside of the nebula, some ith-kon find solace in the worship of the Reaper.

==Language==
All ith-kon speak Undercommon and Common. In addition, they sometimes learn other languages to spy on their enemies or to carry out their missions.

==Names==
All ith-kon are assigned a given name by their masters, which are followed by the designator “-kone”. This shows both their breed and rank within the mind flayer kingdom. Lower ranked creatures have only a rank designator, and do not receive names. They have no family names, but many take nicknames based on the identities they create for themselves. Often, rogue ith-kon will drop the “-kone” from their name to declare their independence from their mind flayer masters.
Male Names: Abold-kone, Greld-kone, Naveth-kone, Helvad-kone.
Female Names: Ferel-kone, Halal-kone, Nimil-kone, Zamil-kone.

==Adventurers==
Ith-kon outside of the Dark Zone are usually spies or messengers dispatched from the mind flayer kingdom, but this is a poor choice for player characters. A better choice is an ith-kon that has gone rogue, perhaps leaving traces of a faked death to avoid having packs of loyal ith-kon assassins sent to destroy them.

==Ith-kon Racial Traits==
::+2 Strength, –2 Wisdom, –2 Intelligence: The ithkon were bred as servitors, and then moved into other roles, but the marks of their origins remain.
::Medium: As Medium-size creatures, ith-kon have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
::Ith-kon base speed is 30 feet.
::Aberration traits: As aberrations, ith-kon are immune to spells that target humanoids, such as charm person and hold person.
::Darkvision up to 120 feet.
::Chameleon Skin (Ex): Ith-kon can change their skin color to blend into their background at will. They receive a racial bonus of +10 to Hide checks. This ability does not function in bright light.
::Psionic Scouting (Sp): Once per day as a standard action, ith-kon can cast clairaudience/clairvoyance as a 6th-level sorcerer. However, unlike the spell, the ith-kon cannot use this ability to see further away than 300 feet.
::Mental Blast (Sp): An ith-kon may use this ability as a standard action against an opponent it can see within 20 feet a number of times per day equal to 1 plus its Cha bonus, if any. The target must make a Will save (DC 10 + the ith-kon’s character level + the ith-kon’s Cha modifier) or be stunned for 1 round. This ability cannot be used in conjunction with the ith-kon’s psionic scouting ability.
::Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds an ith-kon for one round. Ith-kon also suffer a –1 circumstance penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and checks when operating in bright light.
::Automatic Languages: Common and Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, and Orc.
::Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass ith-kon’s rogue class does not count when determining whether or not there is an XP penalty for multiclassing (see PHB, Chapter 3, Experience for Multiclass Characters). The ith-kon were born and bred to be stealthy commandos operating in hostile areas.
::Level Equivalent: +0.

===Ith-Kon Racial Feats===
Improved Mental Blast
Your mental blast is extremely powerful.
Prerequisites: Ith-kon only.
Benefit: When you select this feat, choose one of the following benefits:
* Increased DC: The DC of the Will save against your mental blast ability is increased by 2.
* Increased Duration: Creatures affected by your mental blast are stunned for 1 additional round.
* Increased Range: The range for your mental blast is increased by 20 feet.
* Extra Use: You may use your mental blast an additional three times per day.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. You may select different benefits each time or choose the same benefit multiple times. All benefits stack.

Mindspeech
You retain the mind flayer ability for telepathy, though your range is not as great as the dark masters’.
Prerequisites: 1st level only, ith-kon only.
Benefit: You may communicate telepathically with any creature within 20 feet that has a language. This is a supernatural ability.

Seer
You have spent time mastering your psionic scouting ability.
Prerequisites: Ith-kon only.
Benefit: You may use your psionic scouting ability an additional two times per day.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons Races]]