WEBVTT - STBYM Halftober Monsterfest Playlist, Episode 9: Mindflayers 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.920 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from How Stuff 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:19.599 Works dot Com. A form slightly larger than Drifts, but 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:24.520 obviously humanoid, drifted around a nearby stalactite. Drifts kicked off 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.200 a stone to propel himself at it, drawing his other 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.640 scimitar as he went. He knew his peril a moment later, 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.879 for his enemy's head resembled a four tentacles octopus. Drifts 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.720 had never actually viewed such a creature before, but he 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.280 knew what it was. An ill apant, a mind flare, 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:45.159 the most evil and most feared monster in all of 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:51.880 the under dark. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your mind. 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:54.880 My name is Robert Lamb, and my name is Christian Sager, 0:00:55.040 --> 0:01:00.160 and today we're talking about mind flares. That's right, you 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.040 get from that quote mind flares. For those of you 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.039 who aren't aware, we're really diving down the geek well 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.760 today to get a monster that we both love and 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:13.399 grew up with. But this is a creature that was 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:17.000 originally created for dungeons and dragons, right, Yeah. It also 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.440 has a long history that I'm just learning about in 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:23.080 the Final Fantasy games. And I imagine other other properties 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.600 as well. That that that's that were inspired by especially 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:29.880 early dungeons and dragons. Yeah. But so we're not just 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:34.959 talking about this because we're into geeky stuff, right, not 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.840 not that's like, yeah, we're using the mind flare as 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.560 a jumping off point to look at some really interesting 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.120 science both in biology but also a little bit in 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.720 technology today in the same way that drifts our hero 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:55.440 in the opening narration used that the stalactite as a springboard. Right. 0:01:55.760 --> 0:02:00.800 So that was a quote from R. A. Salvatores Exile, 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.919 which is part of the Dark Elf trilogy. It's actually 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:08.000 booked two in the Dark Elf trilogy. Uh, you may 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.120 be familiar with this. If you're not, I'll give you 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:15.919 a quick primer. These are dungeons and Dragons based novels, uh, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.480 set in the Forgotten Realm setting, based around this character, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:23.480 dritzto Arden that is pretty popular with that crowd and 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:26.160 still still part of the property the board games that 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.280 come out. He's He's mentioned in the materials for the 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.919 Big Current under Dark campaign. I'm pretty sure they're still 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.520 coming out with novels with him in it too. Um, 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:39.000 and these I have a fondness for these novels because 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.720 they were like my way to wind down my brain 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.080 after doing too much research, either when I was in 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:50.240 graduate school or sometimes from podcasting. So I've read. I 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:53.480 want to say, there's like these books, and I've probably 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:58.440 read three quarters of them. Uh. Mostly I refer to 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.440 them as sword porn because there's just like whole sections, 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.160 like pages and pages where it's just describing like the 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.320 ways in which he moves his swords. I mean just 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.840 in this one paragraph alone, like they've had to mention 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.840 like the way he drew a scimitar and everything. But 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:17.120 mind flares are like the primary antagonist in this specific book. 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.120 So I pulled that quote and then there's another one 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:23.040 later on where I think that this contributed to the 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:27.360 lore surrounding them, so you know, we'll refer back to it. Yeah. 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:31.079 So see, we're using this this creature, this wondrous creature, 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.920 as as as an opportunity to discuss some some science, 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.000 and we're using science as a way to explain some 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.800 of the more fantastic aspects of this fictional monster. It's 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:46.080 kind of relationship we come back to time and time again, because, 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.960 as I like to say, no matter how fantastic, how 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:54.600 crazy the imagined monster is, you can you can almost 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:59.000 count on nature to have equal or surpassed it in weirdness. Yeah, 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:03.000 that's that's exactly what's so wonderful about using this for 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.280 an episode of the show. And I'd like to point 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.120 out that this is actually connected to two other things 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:09.720 that we do on Stuff to All Your Mind. The 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:13.440 first is obviously Robert's Monster Science that he's been working 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:15.480 on for years. If you go to stuff to Blow 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:19.120 your Mind dot com, there are I dare say a 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:23.120 hundred maybe monster science posts like you've covered almost every 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.279 monster in existence. Um well, well I wouldn't go that 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.560 far because they're pretty inexhaustible, but um yeah, the monster 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:31.719 the Monster of the Week post kind of like the 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:35.520 monster Science versions. And then there's the video series Monster 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:38.000 Science as well, which you can find there or you 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.480 can find while all the videos are on our Facebook 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:45.039 and our YouTube channel as well. Uh. But also you 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.760 and Joe are doing an episode coordinated with this that's 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.000 about mind control. Yeah. It's gonna be titled what Mind 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:53.520 Control feels Like, and it should be the episode that 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.200 follows this. I think this episode right here is coming 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.560 out on a Thursday, and the kind of the following one, 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:00.560 the mind Control episode, come out on who stay. But 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.479 it'll all come together, So brace yourselves, everybody. We're we're 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.120 really getting into it with minds, brains and actual brain 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.719 eating today. Yeah, because one of the things about the 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.359 mind flares, if you're not familiar and if you're not 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:14.880 familiar at all with the mind flares, just bear with us. 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.920 We'll get to the real science as well. But they 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:25.640 are not only these these octopus headed, purple fleshed evil 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.960 doers that live in the under dark, this vast subterranean 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.920 realm in the Dungeons and Dragons world. They are also 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:37.520 psychic or psionically gifted creatures that are able to just 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:42.159 dominate people left and right with their amazing psychic powers, 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.320 you know, throwing mind blasts all over the dungeon, just 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:50.279 really wreaking havoc. But that is their primary power, and 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:54.800 their finishing move is to grab ahold of you with 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.640 their tentacle mouths and suck your brain right out of 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:02.400 your head. It's like, uh, total kill, like instant kill. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.040 I think if you get uh grappled by a mind 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:08.520 flare by the head or whatever. You know. They actually 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:10.760 not to skip too far ahead into their anatomy, but 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.960 they're generally represented as having um just four digits on 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.760 their hand, so they have three knuckles. And I was 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.560 thinking the other day, this would be perfect for a 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:24.120 t p K tattoo from my Flair or Total Party Kill. 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:28.000 That's you're like your thug mind flare, I like it, 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:29.520 I like But for those of you not from with 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.479 the game Total Party Killers, when the creatures in the 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.560 game were more specifically, the dungeon Master kills off the 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:39.839 entire party with a Generally, generally this occurs because the 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:44.960 encounter is not mathematically calibrated exactly. So yeah, so we're 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:46.880 gonna use these as a jumping off point. And you 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.440 guys are probably saying to yourselves right now, like, WHOA, Like, 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.280 this isn't what I signed up for. Just bear with us, 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.840 because the thing about mind flares in particular that is 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.080 really useful for stuff to blow your mind is they 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.560 were created for this game, and then it's been a 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.240 good almost forty years that people have been working on them, 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.200 whether it's in these novels that I mentioned earlier, or 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.880 for rule books or for video games or whatever. It's 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:15.200 it's kind of like Star Wars creatures. They've had like 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:19.800 more and more tagged onto their uh, fictional biology and 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.280 culture and philosophy over the years, to the point that 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:26.520 it's like it's this fleshed out world, you know, and 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.840 it's it's really fascinating what multiple people brought to the 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.600 table with it and how that then subsequently translates because 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.200 they were obviously inspired by you know, creatures from real 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:41.520 life or or philosophy in different cultures. Oh yeah, indeed. 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.000 I mean, and in so many cases, either the people 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.560 adding to the the mythos so say, the mind flares, 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:52.240 they either were directly inspired by natural world organisms or 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:58.040 they're just weird creativity managed to to parallel actual natural 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:00.360 world weird. That's the like somebody needs to do a 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:04.440 like a history of the mind flare creation book where 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:06.920 they like talk to all these people, because in front 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.680 of us here in the studio right now is Volo's 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.840 Guide to Monsters, and it has a pretty comprehensive, like 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:18.320 what almost ten page section on mind flares, more more, 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.760 I dare say, than real world encyclopedias have on some 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.680 of the real world animals we're going to talk about 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:28.400 in today's episode. But it's really impressive and I would 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:32.000 love to see how all these pieces came together. Yeah, 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:33.840 and I just came out by the way of anyone 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.360 out there is interested, Uh just can't just published now. 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.440 In terms of what we're not going to attempt to 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.320 do what we just mentioned here, We're not going to actually, 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.440 uh you know, go piece by piece through the generation 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.280 of the mind Flare, but we will just touch on 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.600 its origins, which go back to Gary Gygax himself, the 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:55.760 creator of Dungeons and Dragons. Indeed, he is the guy. 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:57.520 He's the guy who started the whole thing, and you've 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.800 got a nice quote from him here, specifically about mind flares. Yeah, 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.080 he said, quoth the mind Flare I made up out 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.120 of whole cloth using my imagination, but inspired by the 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:10.679 cover of Brian Lumley's novel in paperback edition, The Burrowers Beneath. 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:13.440 So I've never seen this before. What's it looked like? Um? 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:14.760 I looked at it, I will. I looked at the 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.040 various covers and the one that I think most modern 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.440 readers are used to is the one looks kind of 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.240 like an eye in the center of a nautilus, and 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:27.280 that one looks more mine flairy. Um. But the original cover, 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.040 the one that I think Guy Gas would have seen 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.000 just kind of looks like a silhouette of dark tentacles 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:35.880 rising out of a hill. But still I take the 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:40.080 man in his word, um lumly of course was Lovecraft influenced, 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:44.559 and there's definitely a lot of Lovecraft I and weirdness 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:47.200 to the mind flare. So just just as the fictional 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.880 race has crossed over from another realm in Dungeons and Dragons, 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.040 the very inception is sort of a cross pollination from 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.680 a different dimension of literary fannas. Yeah, I think you 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.080 could probably trace their origins all the way back to 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:04.800 of Craft's intense fear of sea life. So and just 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.160 to get this out of the way too, because again 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.680 I know a number of you maybe primarily familiar with 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:14.080 these critters from Final Fantasy. Are their properties e lit. 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:17.800 It is definitely a D n D property, right, They've 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:20.160 got the t M on that. Yeah, so you can't 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.560 just throw a lithids around another games or video games 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.319 or novels without you know, big Dungeon getting a cut, 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:32.760 but mind flavors you'll see elsewhere. Yeah, thats right. In fact, 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.280 we saw there was a paper that you found that's 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:40.400 stunning all about like the various types of sort of 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:45.280 cephalopod monster mollusks that show up in video games. Oh yeah, yeah, 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.080 it's an article um that was published in Geek Studies, 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.240 and I'll try to include a link to that on 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:52.200 the landing page for this episode. But yeah, just all 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:56.280 about weird squid and octopus monsters from sixteen videos. And 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.680 there was this amazing chart of all of the various ones, 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:03.400 uh down to their little like eight bit renderings, and 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:07.400 there's the mind Flare very recognizable in there. So yeah, again, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.480 these are basically purple people with octopus heads. Their mouths 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.480 are like Lamprey's. We're gonna go through the anatomy pretty 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.720 carefully because that's how we're going to tie it into 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.600 real world science. That's right, all right, So let's dive in. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.600 Let's talk about their origins real quick, which are of 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:26.000 course shrouded in mystery. So they're basically two origin stories 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.640 in play here. Most likely the mind Flares hail from 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:32.079 the far Realm, which is an alien dimension of cosmic 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:34.600 horror and the dn D universe, but there's also this 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.080 whispered rumor that from the future and perhaps even the 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:42.040 distant highly evolved state of humanoid life in the multiverse, 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:44.720 though I'm I'm not sure much doc is actually put 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.560 in that interpretation. I want to say that that is 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.840 that's the one that's heavily Lovecraft influence, because there's and 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:52.480 I can't believe I can't remember the name of the 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.320 monster from one of the Lovecraft short stories, but that's 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:57.960 one of the things from his This monster is from 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:00.800 the future and it's come back in time to sort 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.320 of right some wrong or something like that. And I 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:07.360 think this is again not there's no sources behind this, 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.480 but but if my memory is correct from playing D 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:14.000 and D for twenty some odd years, uh, their origin 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:18.439 story differs depending on which setting you're playing D and DAN. Well, 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:20.480 that's right, it's a it's a multiverse, and and of 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:23.600 course they also instill this in you. Your game is 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.160 not necessarily taking place in the same corner of the 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:32.840 multiverse as the campaign across across the Road. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So. 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:34.920 One of the really important plot points with the Lithids 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.559 is that in ages past they carved out an enormous 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.400 empire for themselves. What the cells, one that spanned whole 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.920 worlds and the material plane as well as other various planes. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:49.360 They they had Slash have spaceships called no Alloyd's then 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.760 enable travel across the plains. But they've lost the technology 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.440 of their manufacture like any you know, decent elder race. 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.280 They've they've forgotten how to read kind of like relative 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.840 now out. But they built their empire mostly on the 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:07.480 back of psionically dominated slave labor. But after time, as 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:09.880 you know happens when you build your empire on slave labor, 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:14.560 the slaves rose up, they rebelled, and their their empire 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.600 felt to pieces, and so they had to go out 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.840 and just sort of find little corners to survive. And 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.320 and in particular they end up taking up in the 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.440 under dark. Uh and and here they end up, you know, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:28.240 having more slave races, and each one they mess up 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:33.040 by just psionically dominating them, altering them, changing them into 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:37.080 whatever form suits the mind flares, and just just causing 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.320 lots of trauma and mischief, um, just across the world. 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.000 They remind me kind of of this ant that we've 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:46.200 covered on the show before. I'm gonna have trouble remembering 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:47.760 its Latin name off the top of my head, but 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:51.840 you might know it Court Accepts. Oh, yes, the Court 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.720 aceps U. Fun guy that end up growing in the 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:59.319 ants exactly. Um, so this this fun guy gets inside 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.040 these aunt brains and it's it sort of controls them 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.560 to take care of its fungal colony and allow it 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:12.440 to take the aunt resources and mind flair. I guess 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:16.960 sociology is somewhat similar. And that they they dominate these 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:23.120 you know, people of various D and D species, dwarves, elves, 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:28.480 human beings, whatever. Gift Oh yeah, the gift off touching 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:30.560 the gift here, and that they're the slaves that sort 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.240 of like work and do all the labor for the 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.960 mind flares. They even one of the things that the 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.280 slaves are known to do is they have to scrub 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:43.080 down the elder brain and get in massagy. Oh yeah, 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.080 and they all their brains important to that. That's the thing. 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.560 All the all these different elements that we're touching on here, 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:49.160 they might sound a bit like fluff that we're gonna 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.880 come back to them and discuss some science around them. 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.520 But real quick about the gift. The gift were the 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:59.080 the biggest mistake that they made. These were the thralls 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:02.040 that really os up and not only helped bring about 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:05.200 the follow their empire, but regularly now the Gift regularly 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:09.520 venture out from their astral plane headquarters to hunt down 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.840 and eradicate Elithid colonies wherever they can find them. And 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.280 that's one of the key reasons that elipids live and 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:17.880 you know, the safety and secret of the under dark 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:22.040 or other secluded places and in each separate colonies cut 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.080 off from all the others while while they calculate in 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.840 scheme and forgot how they're going to restore their empire. Right, Yeah, 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:31.720 So they basically like live in these like deep caves there. 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:35.440 It's like a it's almost like an ant colony, it is, yeah, yeah, 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:38.960 and it's all based around the center of this elder 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.720 brand I mentioned earlier, which we're gonna get into. Uh. 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:44.560 They but they yeah, they kind of like occasionally just 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:48.520 go out grab some slaves, pull them back in, and 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.480 like that's how their society runs. Yeah, it's gonna be 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:53.520 very helpful as we go far just to think of 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:58.360 them as youth social parasites. Yes, they write really like 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:01.560 they have two options. They either capture somebody and eat 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.680 their brain, or capture them and dominate their mind and 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.640 make them into a slave. Right, So either way, an 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.840 encounter with the mind flare is going to end up bad, 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.119 all right, So let's launch into their biology again. Bipedal 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:18.040 humanoid bodies, four tentacles, four claude digits per hand. Diet 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:22.760 consists mostly of psionic energy, with some additional sustenance stuff 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.560 from the gobble brains themselves. Uh. Now, technically speaking, their 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:31.040 troglophiles their cave dwelling creatures that complete their life cycles 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.680 in a cave, but they can also survive above ground. 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.880 Help me out with this. Troglo files is a real term. Yeah, yeah, 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:38.360 this is this is a real term. There's not a 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.760 dungeon dragon's term. This would be the the the natural 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:45.000 world classification for a creature like this, though, of course, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:49.200 classifications are difficult when you're considering even fictional intelligent creatures. 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.840 You know, one that is choosing to live underground in 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.200 a subterranean environment for their own purposes, and now their 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:02.760 reproductive system is utterly bizarre. And yet uh, there are 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.960 real world examples that are almost as bizarre. Oh yeah, 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:07.720 I mean they're a real world example. When you start 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.520 looking at complex life cycles, you look at some of 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.520 the the parasite life cycles out there, and various insect 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:16.920 life cycles. They are not only just like a bizarre 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:21.320 circle of parasitic behavior, but also when you see branches 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:23.840 in the tree. And this is key to understanding the 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:28.120 mind flares, when you see various morphs that can emerge. Yeah, 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:30.560 so all right, walk us through this. All right, So 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.080 you have an egg. That's where it starts, an a 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:37.399 lipid egg, a mind for an adult mind flare. What 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:41.840 came first, the mind flare the egg. Now an adult 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.240 mind flare lays an egg. Yes, okay, so they lay 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.399 an egg. That egg hatches into an a lipid tadpole, 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:51.520 so little squirming us a tadpole, a little larval elithid. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.120 Now from that point there are a few different things 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:59.320 that can happen. Ideally there there's a process called sea 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.720 morphous us and this is where adult mind flares would 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.720 come and pick up the little tadpole and implant in 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.959 the cranium of a captive humanoid, like a captive kind 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.080 of like psychically washed humanoid. And they usually you put 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.399 it through the ear. But there's a drawing in volos 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:18.440 guide of monsters of like it's very based on wrath 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:22.120 of calm of like the tadpole like crawling its way 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:25.000 up the face towards the eye socket of a victim. Yeah. 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.720 So yeah, that exact scenario. So one way or another, 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.600 they get that dust that puppy into the brain and 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.600 then it eats the brain, replaces the brain, and then 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.359 that host body becomes the new mind flare body. Go. 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.080 You know, I guess it turns purple, slimy, loses a 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.640 digit on each hand, gets pretty skinny. Yeah, and then 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.399 you've got You've got yourself an adult elithid that carries 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:49.080 on adult elipid business and eventually can go onto legs 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.639 of its own. Right now, there are two other possible 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.199 ways that this can go with the elithid tadpole. So 0:18:56.280 --> 0:19:01.200 sometimes the elithid becomes a you lethar it. And this 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.639 is uh, this is essentially a super mind flare that 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.120 is going to eventually leave the colony with some other 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:13.800 mind flares, found a new colony and become its elder brain. Okay, 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:17.800 so it doesn't have human humanoid form. It's just like 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.520 the superpowered tadpole. It's a super powered tadpole still have 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.119 to be implanted into a humanoid, but it's destined to 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:28.040 be this uh, this this cedar of a new colon 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:30.640 and it will eventually grow into a giant brain right 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:34.800 once it establishes itself. Else and then the other way 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.439 that things can go is the elithid tadpole can become 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.359 a neolithid. And this is when they're nobody's taking care 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:44.280 of the tadpoles. Nobody, no mind flares are coming around 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.040 to look after them and make sure they're stuffed into 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:49.760 the right skull. In this case, they all freak out 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.000 and start eating each other, and whichever one is left 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:57.040 grows into a giant, powerful beast intelligence monster. Huh. Okay, 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.560 I have never encountered one of these before. It's is good, 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:04.440 it's like a level wow. Okay. But but what's going 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:06.680 on with both of these cases, and this is where 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:09.880 there's a there's a real world parallel that will will 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:11.560 break down a little a little more in a bit, 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:15.320 is that you essentially have two morphs springing off from 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:20.040 the tadpole. One is caused by negative environmental constraints and 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:22.480 that leads to the neolithid, and the other is positive 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.840 environmental constraints, which leads to the leth All right, so 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:29.159 I'm assuming this is dependent on like how many humanoids 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:31.760 are available for them to eat. Brains of or make 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.480 slaves into or or or whatnot. How big the cave 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.920 system is that they're living within. Yeah, it's it has 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.080 to do with population density in our real world examples 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:43.359 that will get to so you can think of it 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:45.760 in those terms like is the is the colony successful 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:49.399 enough to send off anything to found a new colony, 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:53.159 or is it even successful enough for the tadpoles to 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:55.280 continue to thrive or should they just all eat each 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:59.399 other out of you know, purely economic cannibalism, which is 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:04.040 the thing that happened in multiple species. Yeah, well right, right, 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:07.080 in real species, but also in this fictional when we're 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:10.879 talking about right, just in our real world, cannibalism is 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:15.280 always the most economic path to avoid wasting the energy 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:19.119 that goes into flesh. So we've mentioned this elder brain 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:22.440 multiple times, and basically I just said it's a giant brain. 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:25.400 But let's let's get a little bit more defined here 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:27.719 on this. Yeah, I mean, essentially, it's just a giant 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:31.240 brain in a Brian pool that is in charge of 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:34.800 the mind flare colonies see in the in the Drifts books, 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:38.199 it's in cerebral fluid. And I always wondered where did 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:40.560 they get all that cerebral fluid from like maybe they 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.280 eat the brains and then they like keep they drain 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:45.920 the cerebral fluid out to put in their little elder 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:50.000 brain pool that they've got. Now, they just had Amazon 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:54.080 weekly deliveries on sailing, Okay, yeah, well the two day 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:56.359 shipping on projects. Yeah, we gotta do it, even to 0:21:56.440 --> 0:22:00.200 the under dark exactly. Yeah. So according to vote is 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:02.520 what's going on here with the elder brain is? So 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:05.440 is this to survive and to make the necessary meta 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:10.080 calculations in order, you know, to to to actually survive 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:13.800 and to eventually reclaim their empire. Uh, they've either evolved 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:17.200 or developed the elder brains and these are giant immobile 0:22:17.400 --> 0:22:20.280 thought thought organs that flowed in tanks of Brian serving 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:23.440 as the mind Flares colonies, library of knowledge, a history 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:27.240 of past lives and a nexus of metacognition for the 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:30.359 individuals in the colony and each individual that is going 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:34.320 to employ non aliftid thralls as well. This reminds me 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:37.680 of in the Marvel universe, they have a similar thing 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:41.360 the Cree alien species, which I haven't seen a lot 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:43.160 of the TV show Agents of Shield, but I think 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:45.840 they show up in there, they're ruled by a thing 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:48.679