Sample file Written by Kim Frandsen Layout by Kim Frandsen Cover Art by Dean Spencer and Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games Interior Art by Dean Spencer DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, FORGOTTEN REALMS, RAVENLOFT, EBERRON, THE DRAGON AMPERSAND, RAVNICA 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 Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All artwork is copyright 2020 to their respective creators. All othSampleer original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Kim Frandsen and published under the Cofilemmunity Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. Book of Races: Devurin eep beneath the world, one of the most feared creatures are the powerful mind flayers. They In Darkness Born infect the world around them, transforming The devurin are unable to breed, but they have a long history other creatures to make them serve their needs. nonetheless. They were created millennia ago by the mind The most successful of these creatures are the flayers, when they first encountered humans. Instead of intellect devourers, who are now endemic to turning these humans into more mind flayers as would be the almost all mind flayer colonies. There are other normal way, the mind flayers realized that the humans were D far too numerous to be converted in this manner and far too examples, but one of the least known are the creatures known as the devurin. stubborn. They required a delicate touch, one that was subtle, firm, and easy to maintain without the presence of the mind The devurin appear to be normal humans, except for void at flayers themselves being nearby, to avoid discovery. These the center of their chests, along with tentacles that sprout humans becom devurin by after implantion with some of the from the void. They work for the mind flayers as infiltrators, illithid tadpoles, in a specific ritual, designed to give them but while they make for ideal spies, they are - from the illithid some of the strange thought-patterns of the illithids view - unreliable, and prone to turning on their masters. themselves, while maintaining the physical appearance of the humans. And the result was successful. The devurin do appear to be human, and have many of the illithids traits. Hiding in Plain Sight However, they are not as loyal to the illithids, as they had The devurin appear to be completely human, and vary as hoped, and have proven to be resistant to the mind affecting much in size and coloration as any human. They're usually spells and abilities of the mind flayers. They're therefore bred by the mind flayers to fit into a specific region, so they either often controlled directly (through magic or coercion) or appear as an average human for that area. If a devurin they're misguided into thinking that the illithids consider somehow ends up in a region where their appearance means them equals, and treated far better than the other minions that they do not fit in, their body changes over the course of a that the mind flayers use. few months to appear as the inhabitants of that region do. When created, a process that involves one of the mind flayer This includes growing in height, skin and hair color changing, tadpoles, along with a live human, the devurin have no even gaining any natural occurrences that the inhabitants memories of their former body’s life, and their bodies become have - so in a region where a mutation has caused humans to an amorphous mass. It is placed in a pool, and over a period have six fingers, so will the devurin. The process is normally of 30 years, it grows into the shape of a human adult. The painless, but more extreme transformations, especially in physical gender of the devurin is decided at the time of height and gaining or losing digits, can be painful. Often creation, but like its appearance, the devurins physical devurin experience it akin to how a human would experience gender will change depending on where it lives. All devurins a toothache. The only constant for the devurin are their eye are asexual, however, and have no physical urges in that color. It always remains brown, but with a milky film over the regard - in fact they consider the urge to procreate disgusting. iris though their eyesight remains unaffected. Their need for mental stimulation is higher, likely due to the This means that any individual devurin varies, at any time, resistance that they built up during their years of exposure to from around 5 to 6 feet and a weight between 125 and 250 the mind flayers. pounds. Devurin age slowly compared to humans, taking 30 years to When sent out, the devurin take on the physical aspects of reach adulthood, and living to be around 120 years old. the people who live there, but they also absorb the Unfortunately, for most devurin, since they're used as spies, mannerisms and and the sense of community of the people they often have to report back to their illithid masters - they're surrounded by. As such, they often start wondering if masters who are prone to devour their brains once the they're doing the right thing when working for the mind devurin has outlived its usefulness. flayers. More importantly, the mind flayers know this, so they recall them often to refresh their indoctrination and The main feature of the devurin is the dark void at the center mindwashes. Those who escape the mind flayer clutches of their chests from which sprouts four tentacles. This often find themselves fighting the hardest against illithid replaces the normal way for the devurin to gain sustenance, encroachment. and they eat through their chest-hole. They cannot eat through their mouths, though they can still breathe and talk through. This means that they avoid eating in the company of those they're trying to spy on or infiltrate to avoid tipping them off. They've also found that most creatures react with discomfort or hatred when they see the dark void where the devuriSamplen's hearts should be. file BOOK OF RACES | DEVURIN 1.