The Cephalossk that was mentioned in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage was a regular mind flayer. This Cephalossk was a ulitharid. They are two different people.Gem Hound (talk) 13:48, June 25, 2019 (UTC)
- Thank for the info, please split the two characters
- Lore can evolve or devolve over editions, so it's worthwhile seeing how things change with each edition. In DDGttUd (2e, 1999), Cephalossk is a "LE ulitharid priest 18 of Ilsensine". In Underdark (3e, 2003), Cephalossk is a "LE mind flayer cleric 18 of Ilsensine". However, the ulitharid wasn't created for 3.5 edition until Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations (2005), so it was necessary to make him a regular mind flayer in Underdark, not a ulitharid. (5th edition doesn't have this excuse; Volo's Guide to Monsters introduced ulitharids before Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and others appear in Cephalossk's section.) Unfortunately, Dungeon of the Mad Mage is more likely to have followed Underdark before Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, hence he stayed a regular mind flayer. Whether this is just a stats change, a physical change, or whether he should be retconned as a ulitharid is unknown.
- That doesn't explain how he went from being a cleric to an arcanist, however, but a lot can change over a century, even for a mind flayer. One possibility is a storyline begun in the Class Chronicles articles, here, here, and here, in which Ilsensine is angry with Oryndoll over a lost fragment of an avatar. Cephalossk isn't named, but could well have fallen out of favor with Ilsensine, perhaps losing his cleric powers and starting again as an arcanist. Work the lore and the story tells itself. :) I don't know if there's any 4th-edition lore for Cephalossk or Oryndoll that might follow up on this and fill the gap. — BadCatMan (talk) 06:11, June 26, 2019 (UTC)
- Regardless of the decision, it would have never been either a Creedmaster or sat on the Elder Concord as a regular illithid. Illithid are Lawful Evil creatures and such a thing would go completely against tradition. It also goes without saying that the ulitharid controlled Oryndoll with an iron grip, since their numbers were higher than in normal illithid communities. Such a thing never would have flown in Oryndoll. It also never would have recieved tendril rings of ilsensine. I would definitely call this a devolution of lore if that is the case.Gem Hound (talk) 06:55, June 26, 2019 (UTC)
- Also going to add this–it said that Cephalossk wanted to be an arcanist, not that such a life was thrust upon it, so I don't see becoming disfavoured as the catalyst of the switch. Remember. Cephalossk was essentially the most powerful Ulitharid on Toril. I will look deeper into those links you posted however for clues. I have most of 4e yet barely use it. It is of note that the Cephalossk in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage did not have the tendril rings mentioned, though a high priest giving up Ilsensine would doubtless have made the bracers harm Cephalossk too.Gem Hound (talk) 07:23, June 26, 2019 (UTC)