Mindflayers, [ she says softly, ] illithid.

[ he could be referring to the githyanki, too, inhuman and bizarre as they both must be to his eyes... but he's not. ness knows he's not.

she breathes in, breathes out. tries to find equilibrium. ]

They're some of the most horrifying creatures in my world, [ too rattled to maintain the distance she's been carefully cultivating since she arrived, ] because their goal isn't to kill, or to conquer. They propogate by infecting other species with their parasites, which grows within their victims in a process called ceremorphosis. For seven days, the infected experience a series of...

[ she flounders, momentarily, searching for the words, the clinical vocabulary that will keep this at arm's length. ]

Of symptoms, I suppose. Transformations. Fever, graying skin, loss of memory. [ among other things. ] At the end, the adult illithid emerges, with all of the memories but none of the soul of their victims.

[ she pauses, lets that sink in. the person that mindflayer was is destroyed. obliterated. from the inside out, they are unmade. understand? ]

There's no known cure. No recourse. Once you're infected, you're already dead.