Sephithid

Sometimes, when an Elder Brain craves an expansion of perspective, it will subject a tadpole to a barrage of pure self-loathing and fear before implantation. This sets off a biological chain reaction that results in a sephithid. Other mind flayers take no notice whatsoever of sephithid, ignoring them completely. This isolation combined with the grating of foreign thought against their sensitive minds leads the sephithid to leave the colony and create its own knot of mindless companions elsewhere.

Mental Chameleons. Sephithid possess a unique psychic defense that enables them to travel safely beyond the bounds of the colony. As one moves futher from a sephithid the mind begins to slip past them, ignoring their presence completely. This ability also extends creatures the sephithid holds, and many a cave explorer has literally vanished in their clutches. This ability is automatic and involuntary, but can be disrupted by injury or distraction.

Grey Matter Grazers. Sephithids two long hunting tentacles possess far greater finesse than those of other mind flayers. Their careful feelers can inflict a horrible fate: the transformation into a Mindless Thrall. Instead of extracting the entirety of a brain, a sephithid nibbles on only the most delectable portion, which contains the creature's personality. The resulting husk is completely under the Sephithid's control, and functions as an extension of its body.