What does an Elder Brain eat?

[Pooky the Imp]

So we all know mind flayers eat brains. I think one of the books even gave a rough figure (one brain a month? something like that?).

But what does the Elder Brain eat?

I've looked everywhere but I can't seem to find any mention of what an Elder Brain eats. I know it needs to stay in its brine pool but that seems to be made at the same time as the Elder Brain is created and isn't 'topped up' with anything (so I presume it doesn't just drink its pool?).

Does it eat brains like other mind flayers? If so, does anyone know (roughly) how many it might eat per month?

Or, if not brains, does anyone know what an Elder Brain is supposed to eat instead to stay alive?


Thanks

[Unoriginal]

So we all know mind flayers eat brains. I think one of the books even gave a rough figure (one brain a month? something like that?).

But what does the Elder Brain eat?

I've looked everywhere but I can't seem to find any mention of what an Elder Brain eats. I know it needs to stay in its brine pool but that seems to be made at the same time as the Elder Brain is created and isn't 'topped up' with anything (so I presume it doesn't just drink its pool?).

Does it eat brains like other mind flayers? If so, does anyone know (roughly) how many it might eat per month?

Or, if not brains, does anyone know what an Elder Brain is supposed to eat instead to stay alive?


Thanks

They eat Mind Flayer brains.

I'm not joking, that's the lore.

Although to be fair, the Elder Brains are interested in the psychic content, not really in the flesh itself, but they still absorb the brains all the same.

In past editions I think it was stated they also ate Illithid toadpools, but I don't think it's still stated to be the case.

[Naanomi]

Illithid and their kin (including the elder brains) subsist on psychic energy, anything physical is just a vessel for said energy. An elder brain in a functioning illithid lair not only gets the brains of dead illithid, but 'takes a little off the top' of all the illithid living there

[Millstone85]

Does it eat brains like other mind flayers?
They eat Mind Flayer brains.
In past editions I think it was stated they also ate Illithid toadpoolsAll of the above, according to Volo's Guide to Monsters.

Non-illithid brains:
An elder brain sustains itself by consuming the brains of other creatures. When the mind flayer servants that guard and tend to an elder brain don't bring its meals directly to it, the elder brain reaches out with tendrils of thought, mentally compelling creatures to come to it so that it may feed upon them.

Illithid brains:
When a mind flayer perishes, the elder brain's servants feed the contents of its skull to their master, which absorbs the illithid's brain and all the knowledge and experience contained therein. In this way the elder brain continually increases its knowledge, uniting the thoughts and experiences of the illithid colony into a unified whole. Mind flayers conceive of this "oneness" as a sacred state in the same way that a worshiper of a human deity might view an eternal afterlife in the heavens--for an elder brain can evoke the persona of any illithid it has ever absorbed.

Illithid tadpoles:
On rare occasions, an illithid colony collapses, typically after an external assault, and the elder brain is killed. When that happens, the colony's tadpoles are suddenly freed from their fate. They no longer serve as food, and in turn are no longer fed by their caretakers. Driven by hunger, they turn to devouring one another.

[Pooky the Imp]

Oh, that first quote is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much.

(Also, the second one is quite fascinating. I thought the minds of illithid brains absorbed by an Elder Brain were effectively destroyed, so the fact that the brain can evoke their personalities is really interesting.)

One thing - with regard to eating regular brains, any idea how many an Elder Brain would need, relative to a regular illithid?

[Millstone85]

Oh, that first quote is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much.You are welcome. :smallsmile:


Also, the second one is quite fascinating. I thought the minds of illithid brains absorbed by an Elder Brain were effectively destroyed, so the fact that the brain can evoke their personalities is really interesting.In past editions, that was a con on the part of the elder brains. Yes, an elder brain could use the absorbed memories to impersonate all these illithids, but the elder brain did not themself believe that it meant anything.

But 5e elder brains do believe themselves to be living afterlives, not only for illithids but for humanoids as well.
An elder brain also sees itself as a savior of the mind flayer race and a living memorial that preserves the memories of the mind flayers' prey. By its twisted logic, humanoids whose brains are devoured by the colony are rendered immortal, their memories preserved forever in the elder brain's labyrinthine mind.

Whether that belief is correct is a different matter.


One thing - with regard to eating regular brains, any idea how many an Elder Brain would need, relative to a regular illithid?Sorry, no idea.

[Segev]

But 5e elder brains do believe themselves to be living afterlives, not only for illithids but for humanoids as well.

Could be interesting to run a game where there's a strange sense that something is "off" and it is eventually discovered that the whole setting is inside the mind of an Elder Brain. Possibly one that is fighting a losing war with another group, and the weirdness they notice is literal damage to the Elder Brain causing glitches in the matrix.

[Unoriginal]

(Also, the second one is quite fascinating. I thought the minds of illithid brains absorbed by an Elder Brain were effectively destroyed, so the fact that the brain can evoke their personalities is really interesting.)

The individual Illithid don't maintain a personality, the Elder Brain can just act like said individual due to having access to all their memories.



One thing - with regard to eating regular brains, any idea how many an Elder Brain would need, relative to a regular illithid?

I don't have any info, but personally I would make so they need considerably less than a regular illithid, because the Elder Brains has more "reserve", is more adept at squeezing the psychic energy out of the brains, can partially get sustenance from the surrounding minds, etc.

Now, "need" and "want" isn't the same, and one of the perks of being living god-kings is to get as much food as you want as long as it's available. I imagine the Elder Brains is smart enough to limit their consumption when it's needed for practical reasons (ex: if they need as many Illithids available and the food reserve is low), but in periods where brains are readily available, why not indulge?