Able of Contents

able Of TContents Dagmarth The Secret Sage of Candlekeep...... 3 Craggenoch The Pirate Eye...... 5 Auntie Sneech The Ragamuffin Queen...... 7 Uthramogg the Cognitarch of the Madlands...... 9 Master Shoolagool The Mindful Eye of Zerth...... 11 Zeggmoth and Idiot Zeggmoth Hideous Surgeon...... 13 Boolagong The Feywild's Dread...... 15

Dangerous otherworldly beings with strange appearances and even stranger personalities, Beholders loom large in the fears of adventurers and common folk alike. Whether they lurk in light-less caverns deep below the surface or sit at the center of criminal networks right in the heart of civilization, eye tyrants pose a threat to all sane beings who cross paths with them. In a very real sense they are madness personified, driven by paranoia and insanity, their very thoughts warping the space around them.

I, Tyrant describes seven different Beholders, each with their own schemes, fears and abilities. The dreams of these beings have warped them into unique creatures, with unusual powers and abilities that have helped them thrive in the strange corners of the Forgotten Realms they inhabit. Each should provide your adventurers an intriguing and worthwhile challenge.

Written and Illustrated by The Grumbleputty

Monster Stat Block Software by Bryan Holmes

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, the dragon ampersand, and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community ContentSample Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. file Stat blocks generated using the Monster Maker from Genius Inc: http://thegeniusinc.com/dd-monster-maker-download/ All other original material in this work is copyright [2018] by Douglas Snook (as The Grumbleputty) and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. Dagmarth

The Secret Sage of Candlekeep

Hidden behind a bookshelf in a chamber deep in the enormous library of Candlekeep, a sharp-eyed visitor might spy a cleverly hidden door. Beyond that door lie an array of guards, traps and devilishly clever puzzles, protecting something the Sages of Candlekeep have gone to great lengths to hide. But for those who manage to overcome all the obstacles in their path, they will be rewarded not with a piece of forbidden lore or a priceless treasure- but rather, an eleven-eyed monster with little patience for those who disturb his solitude.

Dagmarth appeared in Candlekeep many years ago, in a tower so rarely visited that he may have been there for months before his discovery. The scholar who stumbled across him met a predictable fate, as did the scholar who stumbled across what remained of the first scholar. It took weeks or careful trial-and- error among the sages before they determined that the Beholder had come to Candlekeep for much the same reason any scholar does- to gather knowledge from the collected works stored in the written before the casting of the spell, so hiring someone to great library. write him such a book would be folly.

Over the ensuing years, a detente has evolved between the In the meantime, Dagmarth has settled into a comfortable scholars and the beholder- the sages (or, more accurately their routine, with the scholars of Candlekeep bringing him an endless more expendable students) bring the beholder a steady supply of stream of books and fine foods, and in return he only books and meals, while for his part Dagmarth seems content to occasionally kills and devours anyone. roam the maze of bookshelves in his tower, reading books as quickly as they can be brought to him. Dagmarth is a wellspring of obscure knowledge, his alien mind having absorbed a great deal of information in his years of No one has divined what knowledge Dagmarth seeks- there is no reading. It is safe to say he has many secrets and bits of obscure rhyme or reason to the topics of the books he so eagerly lore locked away in his mind, and if anyone could find a safe way consumes. Indeed, a clerical error several years ago resulted in of approaching him, they could probably learn some amazing him being delivered a dozen books he'd already read, and things. It is also safe to assume that anyone approaching him Dagmarth simply re-read them without comment. He has spoken without some impressive gifts will meet a quick and messy death. three times in the decades he has lived among the sages- twice commanding “More books” and once critiquing a meal as having Ideal “too much salt” before disintegrating the unfortunate server. “Nothing matters except finding the key to end my curse- although even when I'm free, I'll hoard books instead of gold.” The sages keep Dagmarth's presence carefully hidden, with an Bond array of guards, traps and hidden doors built around his chamber. “I have come to love the books I've been reading, the stories and Their chief concern is that an ambitious band of adventurers knowledge they convey and the wisdom they offer.” might decide to rid Candlekeep of its uninvited guest, and that the ensuing battle might lead to the destruction of countless Flaw priceless tomes. That being said, they have gradually been “I have little patience for anything that takes me away from my replacing the books in Dagmarth's wing with copies, as a hedge search.” against the day the beholder might need to be confronted. Lair Actions: Roleplaying Dagmarth The Secret Sage is indeed on a quest for something hidden in the Dagmarth has forged a deep connection to the tower he inhabits books and scrolls of Candlekeep. Dagmarth is under a curse of in Candlekeep, and his presence has warped reality there in sorts, cast on him by a rival Beholder. Until the curse is broken unusual ways. In times of trouble Dagmarth might harness these Dagmarth cannot dream, and the only way he can be freed from Samplechanges to confound attackers- althoughfile the Sages of his curse is to find a book which contains the phrase “a modicum Candlekeep have spent much treasure and energy to make sure of sophistry enlubricates the gears of any conjugality” hidden in that doesn't happen. its' text. By the terms of the geas the book must have been • The books in a 50-foot square area within 120 feet of Dagmarth can't repeat an effect until they have all been used, Dagmarth burst open, their pages flying out to form a and it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row. If whirlwind of paper: that area is difficult terrain until Dagmarth is encountered outside his lair his challenge level is initiative count 20 on the next round, and is heavily decreased to 13 (10,000 xp). obscured • Books within 120 feet of the Dagmarth fly off the shelves until initiative count 20 on the round after next, flapping their covers like a swarm of bats. Each creature of the beholder's choice that starts its turn within 10 feet of such a swarm must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be mobbed by the flying books, and effectively grappled. Escaping requires a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. • An book within 60' of Dagmarth flies open to a page with a magical illustration of an eyeball. One random eye ray of the beholder shoots from that eye at a target of the beholder's choice that the illustrated eye can see. The book then snaps shut and falls to the floor, no longer containing the drawing.

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