"Unleash one of these things next to a pile of diamonds, adamantine, and human brain tissue at your peril" Oh no, I have lots of that just lying around
A human, a elf, and a mindflayer enter a bar. The human : this is like some trite joke. The barman : almost. Your brains have been absorbed by a yau'quib and this is a shared hallucination. How's that for a punchline?
Man these are cool. The fact that they PRESERVE the original nervous system is so crazy. Imagine a warforged character that was construsted from the discarded brain/soul of an elder Yauquib that just found better beings to absorb. Crazy stuff
That's two monsters of mine covered so far by AJ (the fragrant one and the fabricator). I'm feeling slightly chuffed. Cannot let it get to my head... too late! By the way, the original version of the fabricator was much more dangerous, so the Kobold Press team toned it down and streamlined its abilities a little.
I like that the kaorti are very similar to humans from their goals. They want to explore what's foreign to them, and they want to explore their roots. But because the area they want to see is dangerous to their very existence, they want to either transform the area to something more inhabitable or create vehicles to traverse and explore it. Their curiosity is stronger than their fear of this other realm. So they create their own means of venturing into it. Reminds me a bit of human deep sea and space exploration. Both feel close, just a touch away, yet so far, vast, foreign and difficult to traverse through for various reasons. Enough horror stories have been written about both areas because of the things they *could* hold, even if it may seem completely implausible. Schroedinger's monster. The kaorti are so horrifying to me because they seem so familiar, yet so strange. They are a danger to all that is normal to us, and they probably think the same of us. Edit: I also appreciate that you added the names of the artists to some of the pictures used. I always wonder who made the pieces used in DnD videos. Just wanted to leave some feedback for that.
I like it, horrific and dangerous, but not inherently evil. The very definition of neutral! I bet these guys and Illithids don't get along at all, though... I smell a quest plot in there.
These creatures remind me of H.P. Lovecraft’s creatures the Great Race of Yith. Tricking “lesser” races into swapping consciousnesses with them in the future so that the Yith don’t have to experience the apocalypse of their society.
I'll never get over how weird the far realm can be. The lore is fantastic, but describing another reality would be. I like the fact they the Yau'Quib are not described as evil, but exploring. How do you evaluate (from the point of good vs evil) an intelligence that is by definition different from either of these choices. When my players encounter things from the far realm and they try to determine its alignment I say things like Chaotic Green or Lawful Orange. Its meaningless, at least to them. I good start to what will become a HEADACHE or figure out.
I love the idea of the metaphysical equivalent of salami slicing. Salami slicing is when you take billions of electronic transactions and shave fractions of fractions of pennies off of each one. If you are dealing with millions of transactions a day and shave 1/1000 of a cent off if each one, that's thousands of dollars a day. Now, imagine a warlord that miraculously conquers an entire continent over the course of a mere decade. Rumor says their arms and armor are mundane in every measurable sense. Assessments by the greatest Dwarven metallurgists say the metal is barely masterwork. Scans by the scholars of Candlekeep say it has a faint magical signature; not strong enough to be picked up by a simple Detect Magic spell, but to an organization that employs both arcane and divine casters, they find soul particle residue consistent with a well maintained heirloom sword, passed from father to son along a bloodline of soldiers. It has no magic effects but they can tell that it has absorbed some magic from the strength of a communal bond. So if these weapons are pretty much mundane, why do some of them leave wounds consistent with Acid Touch? Why do some or the armor pieces convey +1 to strength or wisdom? Turns out the guy who grew from a petty warlord to a continental Emperor overnight actually discovered and "befriended" a Fabricator and they agreed that if the warlord provides "food" to the Fabricator, the Fabricator will process raw materials into fine arms and armor. The warlord then enslaved the local goblins and put them to work in the mines. Every time a goblin gets too sick or old to work, he "feeds" it to the Fabricator in the next batch of raw material. As his lands grow, he expands that to feeding criminals and protestors to the Fabricator, each of which improves the creature's efficiency and quality. Of course, the warlord only cares about power, gold, and territory, so whenever scholars publish studies proving that a miniscule percentage of raw material and the lion's share of the soul stuff are not represented in the Fabricator's output and must be going somewhere else, they get accused of sedition and fed to the Fabricator. Just like prison slavery in the USA, the Fabricator has become so normalized in the fledgling nation that many people celebrate the power and majesty of the low cost, mass produced weapons tech used by the government. Some people even donate free materials in exchange for tickets to watch prominent sacrifices, so nobody cares that intellectuals are getting fed into the creature. But why is all of this material disappearing? The Fabricator isn't just some stupid blob that got duped by the warlord. It has a deceptive intellect and a wit sharper than any vorpal sword. Each time it is "fed", it uses the meat to increase its mass and it expands a cavity it has maintained within its now ponderous volume. Within this cavity, it maintains a factory. Every time it is fed, it scrapes .00001% of the material it is given and feeds it into the factory which then, molecule by molecule, produces the technology needed to contact the Far Realm. The Emperor is not a smart man, the Fabricator learned this long ago, so when it asks for more esoteric material, like the eye of a millennium old Beholder lich or the remains of a demon slain in Celestia, it rarely gets what it asks for. That's where the soul stuff comes in. 400 years later, the empire has grown to include millions of citizens. Millions of citizens means thousands of low skill laborers, which means that, just like a miniature Asmodeus, the Fabricator is able to gather and store truly incomprehensible amounts of soul stuff. It isn't a God, but it does have enough soul stuff in its possession to do things that gods do, like spontaneously generating those rare materials by transmuting mundane matter. By its own calculation, it is, at most, 20 years from the day it has gathered all the magic and materials it needs to complete a new Great Gate, allowing it to return to its natural habitat (the Far Realm) and allow the madness of the Far Realm to consume the tiny bubble of weird stuff we call the multiverse.
After receiving a like on the video and re-reading the comment... I just realized this is the plot of Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood and I'm truly ashamed that I didn't realize it sooner.
Pale Night was a very interesting HP Lovecraft concept too. A floating white sheet with the silhouette of a woman behind it. No matter where you walked around it, the curtain always faced you
5:50 You're delving into a forgotten labyrinth under cold, uncaring stars. You stumble upon a strange biomechanical artifact with what looks like a blank portrait at its throbbing center. With fingers bound clumsily in leather, plate and chain, you manipulate the device beyond your ken until it springs into life. The portrait displays vistas of unimaginable horror and madness, where things that should not be writhe in endless, ecstatic torment. Then, with a hiss of static, the eldritch vision is gone. Instead you see a dark forest on a world not unlike your own. A massively muscled, balding man with glasses and a strange accent stands before you. In his hands is a strange crossbow, and at his side is vision of nightmare; one so potent it unravels the last tatters of your sanity. You try to reach for your helmet visor to claw out your eyes, but find the machine has consumed your hands. You try to scream but your tongue feels lumpen, scaled and foreign in your too-small mouth. Only a croak comes out. "Now, let me show you its features," he grins without preamble. He begins laughing unpleasantly as the abomination reaches for the screen you're watching it on - and keeps reaching. The tentacle wraps lovingly around your neck, the steel plates of your armour sizzling where it touches. Gently, irresistibly, it begins to pull you toward it. You know you'll never fit but it's ever so strong. And after what you've seen and what you feel yourself becoming, the pulping of your flesh as you're dragged into the tiny aperture seems a welcome release.
Great old one gifts you with a weapon with mechanical components and knowledge on how to use it then your conciousness fades from the forest with a menacing chuckle and an accented bye bye for now.
"Let me show you its features" oh man, dude, don't give Joerg ideas like this. He'll figure out how to punch a hole through reality into the Far Realm with a crossbow made of rulers that shoots d20s. I can already hear the gleeful laughing as he does it.
Yau'Quib salesman walks into a mage city: "come wizards and warlocks alike, I have a great deal to offer you. do your old bones creak? does your body not quite do what you want it to? are the powerful magics coursing through you the only thing keeping your soul anchored to this plain of existence? why not cast off that broken old mortal shell and embrace immortality? "but wait" I hear you say "lichdom is incredibly difficult to achieve, and I am far too devoted to the science of magic for the gods to grant me their divine gifts, how could I, a normal run of the mill mage, achieve immortality?" well I'm glad you asked, I have a brand new method. by breaking down your physical body I can incorporate your brain into a hive mind inside a body that knows not the ravages of time, you can experience the knowledge and experience of all those who came before you. not quite a fan of crowds? fear not, with a simple donation of any organic components you may have lying around we can split your brain off into a brand spanking new Yau'Quib of your very own, to do with as you please. you get to live forever in a body that will never fail and I get to complete my weird alien instincts, it's a win/win for everyone. dissolve yourself and join the collective today!" a dude in a beanie cap tosses a silver coin in his hat and walks away.
Legit, one of my favorite presentations you've done. Checks all my boxes: Cosmic horror Tragedy Body horror Hiding in a log Slimey fellas I'm picturing what would happen if one of these rolled into an orphanage, fed, and just wanted to play games with the rocking horse and toy castle all day. It is an unpleasant picture.
@@AJPickett was slightly more "on brand" for halloween than my other thought of: It eats a band of troubadours and tours Faerun as a most aberrant one-man band. Maybe under the name "They Might Be Aboleths."
I have this scene in my head where these guys have completely over run a mind flayer stronghold, what happens when these bad boys get an elder brain in them...
Now I have this image in my head of an elder brain sitting in it's brine pool wondering where all the mind flayers went when a yau'quib oozes in and is all "Hey guys, we got a big one!"
either A) the yau'quib is too small to fully envelop the Elder Brain, or B) the yau'quib undergoes the psychic equivalent of biting off more than you can chew and then choking to death.
This one is going right up there with the demogorgon video and the list of awesome AJ videos to fall asleep to oh, nothing like a creepy night-time lullaby from the sage.
A Replicato....err...I mean Fabricator Dragon sounds horrifying. Screw fire breath, Conversion Breath would be a party killer. "Oh crap, the Wizard got killed....wait, he's gettinh back u.....nope he turned into Fabricator....well.....shit."
AJ have you ever considered doing a video on Good aligned Undead? It’d make for an interesting twist given the spooky season’s association with horrific, evil undead creatures.
In my last campaign the PCs came across alien tech that worked a lot like this. It didn't care went in, it would try to conform the output to its programmed pattern. In 'healing' mode this was based on the individual creature's genetic code ... but it still stripped you down to goo in the process.
The role playing potential of these is massive. I can just imagine one that absorbed enough lawful good brains to be tormented by it’s own existence and it has to go on a road of self forgiveness to unify the minds that it wronged trying to get to this point in its life.
Not to even mention the struggles one would have trying to join society to any degree, looking like some twisted hideous monster. I'm pretty sure most places would be more likely to let an Illithid through the gates than a Yau'quib
The Far Realm gives birth to many wonderful creations, tasked with the conversion of the sane into the insane. I can assume a Fabricator would be a fantastic ally to a Alienist who’s fanatic plan is to unleash a virulent version upon an unsuspecting populace.
I got a like from Aj, and I have a desire to write out the idea fully for everyone to see. But feel that’s egotistical. If enough people want and aj oks it is like to share the full “story”/ idea
That was a lot to digest. I may need another viewing. It gets the brain going though. I have a villain in my current campaign, who's is a dupe to something from the far realm. This might help fill in some details for me. Thanks again AJ. And happy Halloween 😱💀🕷
I could definitely seen them in a party right next to a warforged and a disguised Oblex. I shudder to think what would happen if it absorbed a bard. Since they tend to have a force of personality.
I am a little curious, does the absorbed brain keep its soul or does it still pass on? And if the soul is trapped, what might happen to it being trapped inside the Yau'Quib? Over enough time would it be possible for the Yau'Quib to gain a personality, or would it simply go mad? Just some thoughts I had throughout the video.
The soul is intact, the brain is not killed, just seriously traumatized. The Yau'Quib has its base Programming, this is essentially hard-wired instincts when it links with a captured mind, the two merge and may become something, or someone, quite different, this may linger as a personality change in a person restored to their original state, able to be cured as a form of madness.
Goodness living in a D&D campaign must be dreadful. Any hapless rube could be picking up sticks for a campfire and see a a Yau-Quib soaring through the sky making nary a sound, looking for better and better brains to acquire. He would thank the all the gods he had ever heard of for keeping him safe, but only his dim intellect would be the reason that he wasn't melted into biomass and forced to join the gestalt. XD
I love the vivid and visceral descriptions of the creatures movement and behavior. Very Lovecraftian. This type of monster will be perfect as a servant of my drow flesh warper villain. By the way, I noticed that you were the artist of one of the drawings near the end. It seems oration and sculpting are not your only creative talents. Most impressive. Keep up the great work AJ! I’d love to see more of your illustrations in the future. (Although as an aspiring artist, I know the time commitment for a work of art can be a strain an your schedule). Regardless, I wish you the best!
I imagine the likes of Halaster would find it tedious to continuously swat down all of these obsessive genius psychic far realm creatures that are out for his brain. Unfortunately for them, they're still only a quarter as intelligent and half as insane.
this is such an interesting creature! after I watched your video I tried looking it up on the internet, maybe I could find a wiki entry about it, but I could only find your video again. :(
Playing a character that is actually an bio construct and doesn’t know it would be interesting. It would be funny if a tadpole was placed in them and they just absorb the tadpole.
@@AJPickett Could even expand upon it with the new frog-lith realizing that this could be a new start for his species. Perhaps asking the heroes to go collect more Tadpoles for this purpose.
Happy Halloween AJ! Great storytelling and pic's. My mind kept thinking of Kurt Russell in the movie "The Thing". They seem very similar in some ways. Thanks AJ & have a great day.
I look forward to Halloween stuff every year! Maybe it’s not appealing to the wider audience, but man o man, if I could choose every one of your wonderful videos would be about undead or other things that go bump in the night.
@@CPK-iz5dd They are if you act directly on them. In 3.5, there were ways for Psis to slowly bulk themselves up and turn themselves into physical literal combat monsters. Namely through an interaction between certain powers, you could fuse yourself with another being, get the better of those 2 beings stats, and then copy that form. It ended up costing a level each time you did it, but could be DRASTICALLY worth it. You could, if you were powerful enough, use this technique on dragons and eventually epic level beings.
I tend to think of the SCP Foundation as a modern version of an AD&D organization, like the MIB is a modern version of UFO/Extraterrestrial human organization. You should see how they interpreted Baba Yaga... a very underestimated Eastern European "witch".
Great video AJ. I never even heard of these beasties before. They are awesome monsters delving into everything from body horror to psychological thriller in horror. Also, the flexibility of this monster to be not-such-a-monster. That, on top of this being a horror movie potential world-ender, a potential doomsday monster (thank the gods that AD&D has gods because science and mere wizardry cannot stop this). This beastie makes my similar homebrews look rather simple and borderline copies of existing works.
Where would I find info on the Yau’Quib in text form? Some of my party members struggle to recollect information unless it’s written down (hence why we use Roll20) and if I can find some written info on these Xoriat native-like beasts to them paraphrase, that’d be excellent!
Hey AJ! As usual, great video. I do love me some spooky stuff. Have you ever thought of putting audio versions of your vids on Spotify? I can’t be the only one who’d listen to weird lore to fall asleep ^^
I wonder about a variant that can take minor or medium tier magic items and reassemble then into a different, however similar, item ov equal (or lower) power & value. Maybe after acquiring & using a couple brains from magic casters that all have the same Craft Magic Item feat, or something like that.
Have you considered uploading these in podcast format? I would greatly enjoy listening to this lore at work without needing youtube to be open at all times.
These remind me ov Shoggoth, that they were created as tools or bio-constructs to be autonomous workers but develop a form ov intelligence, and are able to adapt quickly. This is really great. I am going to look into these. Thank you for bringing them to my attention!
Fantastic video as always! I also hope to see more creatures from tome of beast 1&2 and the creature codex. Also if you have not AJ read it check out "the compendium of forgotten secrets: Awakening" it's a warlock supplement that honestly so pact with lore and flavor it gave me dozens of ideas.
"Unleash one of these things next to a pile of diamonds, adamantine, and human brain tissue at your peril" Oh no, I have lots of that just lying around
Same!
That is a deliciously terrifying idea. Thanks 😎
Wizards be like:
A human, a elf, and a mindflayer enter a bar. The human : this is like some trite joke. The barman : almost. Your brains have been absorbed by a yau'quib and this is a shared hallucination. How's that for a punchline?
Pretty good, now stop hogging all the nutrients.
Lol 🤣
Man these are cool. The fact that they PRESERVE the original nervous system is so crazy. Imagine a warforged character that was construsted from the discarded brain/soul of an elder Yauquib that just found better beings to absorb. Crazy stuff
That's two monsters of mine covered so far by AJ (the fragrant one and the fabricator). I'm feeling slightly chuffed. Cannot let it get to my head... too late! By the way, the original version of the fabricator was much more dangerous, so the Kobold Press team toned it down and streamlined its abilities a little.
I had no idea! They are excellent, well-done sir.
I like that the kaorti are very similar to humans from their goals. They want to explore what's foreign to them, and they want to explore their roots. But because the area they want to see is dangerous to their very existence, they want to either transform the area to something more inhabitable or create vehicles to traverse and explore it. Their curiosity is stronger than their fear of this other realm. So they create their own means of venturing into it.
Reminds me a bit of human deep sea and space exploration. Both feel close, just a touch away, yet so far, vast, foreign and difficult to traverse through for various reasons. Enough horror stories have been written about both areas because of the things they *could* hold, even if it may seem completely implausible. Schroedinger's monster.
The kaorti are so horrifying to me because they seem so familiar, yet so strange. They are a danger to all that is normal to us, and they probably think the same of us.
Edit: I also appreciate that you added the names of the artists to some of the pictures used. I always wonder who made the pieces used in DnD videos. Just wanted to leave some feedback for that.
Yeah the little spark of humanity in them makes them much worse
Why am I feeling like these creatures are more like a Venom symbiotes.
"Hors D'oeuvres......."
I like it, horrific and dangerous, but not inherently evil. The very definition of neutral! I bet these guys and Illithids don't get along at all, though... I smell a quest plot in there.
These creatures remind me of H.P. Lovecraft’s creatures the Great Race of Yith. Tricking “lesser” races into swapping consciousnesses with them in the future so that the Yith don’t have to experience the apocalypse of their society.
Aberrant nanogoo constructs scary indeed
Accurate 🤖
I'll never get over how weird the far realm can be. The lore is fantastic, but describing another reality would be. I like the fact they the Yau'Quib are not described as evil, but exploring. How do you evaluate (from the point of good vs evil) an intelligence that is by definition different from either of these choices. When my players encounter things from the far realm and they try to determine its alignment I say things like Chaotic Green or Lawful Orange. Its meaningless, at least to them. I good start to what will become a HEADACHE or figure out.
I love the idea of the metaphysical equivalent of salami slicing.
Salami slicing is when you take billions of electronic transactions and shave fractions of fractions of pennies off of each one. If you are dealing with millions of transactions a day and shave 1/1000 of a cent off if each one, that's thousands of dollars a day.
Now, imagine a warlord that miraculously conquers an entire continent over the course of a mere decade. Rumor says their arms and armor are mundane in every measurable sense.
Assessments by the greatest Dwarven metallurgists say the metal is barely masterwork.
Scans by the scholars of Candlekeep say it has a faint magical signature; not strong enough to be picked up by a simple Detect Magic spell, but to an organization that employs both arcane and divine casters, they find soul particle residue consistent with a well maintained heirloom sword, passed from father to son along a bloodline of soldiers. It has no magic effects but they can tell that it has absorbed some magic from the strength of a communal bond.
So if these weapons are pretty much mundane, why do some of them leave wounds consistent with Acid Touch? Why do some or the armor pieces convey +1 to strength or wisdom?
Turns out the guy who grew from a petty warlord to a continental Emperor overnight actually discovered and "befriended" a Fabricator and they agreed that if the warlord provides "food" to the Fabricator, the Fabricator will process raw materials into fine arms and armor. The warlord then enslaved the local goblins and put them to work in the mines. Every time a goblin gets too sick or old to work, he "feeds" it to the Fabricator in the next batch of raw material. As his lands grow, he expands that to feeding criminals and protestors to the Fabricator, each of which improves the creature's efficiency and quality.
Of course, the warlord only cares about power, gold, and territory, so whenever scholars publish studies proving that a miniscule percentage of raw material and the lion's share of the soul stuff are not represented in the Fabricator's output and must be going somewhere else, they get accused of sedition and fed to the Fabricator.
Just like prison slavery in the USA, the Fabricator has become so normalized in the fledgling nation that many people celebrate the power and majesty of the low cost, mass produced weapons tech used by the government. Some people even donate free materials in exchange for tickets to watch prominent sacrifices, so nobody cares that intellectuals are getting fed into the creature.
But why is all of this material disappearing?
The Fabricator isn't just some stupid blob that got duped by the warlord. It has a deceptive intellect and a wit sharper than any vorpal sword.
Each time it is "fed", it uses the meat to increase its mass and it expands a cavity it has maintained within its now ponderous volume. Within this cavity, it maintains a factory. Every time it is fed, it scrapes .00001% of the material it is given and feeds it into the factory which then, molecule by molecule, produces the technology needed to contact the Far Realm.
The Emperor is not a smart man, the Fabricator learned this long ago, so when it asks for more esoteric material, like the eye of a millennium old Beholder lich or the remains of a demon slain in Celestia, it rarely gets what it asks for. That's where the soul stuff comes in.
400 years later, the empire has grown to include millions of citizens. Millions of citizens means thousands of low skill laborers, which means that, just like a miniature Asmodeus, the Fabricator is able to gather and store truly incomprehensible amounts of soul stuff. It isn't a God, but it does have enough soul stuff in its possession to do things that gods do, like spontaneously generating those rare materials by transmuting mundane matter. By its own calculation, it is, at most, 20 years from the day it has gathered all the magic and materials it needs to complete a new Great Gate, allowing it to return to its natural habitat (the Far Realm) and allow the madness of the Far Realm to consume the tiny bubble of weird stuff we call the multiverse.
After receiving a like on the video and re-reading the comment... I just realized this is the plot of Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood and I'm truly ashamed that I didn't realize it sooner.
TL;DR It’s basically the plot from Superman 3.
Pale Night was a very interesting HP Lovecraft concept too. A floating white sheet with the silhouette of a woman behind it. No matter where you walked around it, the curtain always faced you
Woooooo! Let's do this!
Early morning lore is my favorite!
5:50 You're delving into a forgotten labyrinth under cold, uncaring stars. You stumble upon a strange biomechanical artifact with what looks like a blank portrait at its throbbing center. With fingers bound clumsily in leather, plate and chain, you manipulate the device beyond your ken until it springs into life.
The portrait displays vistas of unimaginable horror and madness, where things that should not be writhe in endless, ecstatic torment. Then, with a hiss of static, the eldritch vision is gone. Instead you see a dark forest on a world not unlike your own. A massively muscled, balding man with glasses and a strange accent stands before you. In his hands is a strange crossbow, and at his side is vision of nightmare; one so potent it unravels the last tatters of your sanity. You try to reach for your helmet visor to claw out your eyes, but find the machine has consumed your hands. You try to scream but your tongue feels lumpen, scaled and foreign in your too-small mouth. Only a croak comes out.
"Now, let me show you its features," he grins without preamble. He begins laughing unpleasantly as the abomination reaches for the screen you're watching it on - and keeps reaching. The tentacle wraps lovingly around your neck, the steel plates of your armour sizzling where it touches. Gently, irresistibly, it begins to pull you toward it. You know you'll never fit but it's ever so strong. And after what you've seen and what you feel yourself becoming, the pulping of your flesh as you're dragged into the tiny aperture seems a welcome release.
Great old one gifts you with a weapon with mechanical components and knowledge on how to use it then your conciousness fades from the forest with a menacing chuckle and an accented bye bye for now.
This is the single most amazing and horrific shitpost I have seen, excellent job!
Shitpost?! That was perfection.
A mad mage that can create perfect copies of himself or have very inteligent but absolutely subservient minions could do quite a lot with these
Dungeon and Dragon's very own scps
Scp is modern day dnd wild magic basically. With a dm that is scatterbrained.
"Let me show you its features" oh man, dude, don't give Joerg ideas like this. He'll figure out how to punch a hole through reality into the Far Realm with a crossbow made of rulers that shoots d20s. I can already hear the gleeful laughing as he does it.
Hur Hur Hur... "That was really Wow"
Imagine combining one of these with a boneyard statblock to simulate one that has grown enormous from how many entities it has taken in!
Yau'Quib salesman walks into a mage city: "come wizards and warlocks alike, I have a great deal to offer you. do your old bones creak? does your body not quite do what you want it to? are the powerful magics coursing through you the only thing keeping your soul anchored to this plain of existence? why not cast off that broken old mortal shell and embrace immortality? "but wait" I hear you say "lichdom is incredibly difficult to achieve, and I am far too devoted to the science of magic for the gods to grant me their divine gifts, how could I, a normal run of the mill mage, achieve immortality?" well I'm glad you asked, I have a brand new method. by breaking down your physical body I can incorporate your brain into a hive mind inside a body that knows not the ravages of time, you can experience the knowledge and experience of all those who came before you. not quite a fan of crowds? fear not, with a simple donation of any organic components you may have lying around we can split your brain off into a brand spanking new Yau'Quib of your very own, to do with as you please. you get to live forever in a body that will never fail and I get to complete my weird alien instincts, it's a win/win for everyone. dissolve yourself and join the collective today!"
a dude in a beanie cap tosses a silver coin in his hat and walks away.
I would sign up for that!
You said something about getting a free hat, right?!
So H.P. Shelly. I like the combination.
Legit, one of my favorite presentations you've done. Checks all my boxes:
Cosmic horror
Tragedy
Body horror
Hiding in a log
Slimey fellas
I'm picturing what would happen if one of these rolled into an orphanage, fed, and just wanted to play games with the rocking horse and toy castle all day.
It is an unpleasant picture.
Holy crap... See this is why I leave it to the creative genius of everyone else to fill in the blanks... Because that is pure horror!
@@AJPickett was slightly more "on brand" for halloween than my other thought of:
It eats a band of troubadours and tours Faerun as a most aberrant one-man band.
Maybe under the name "They Might Be Aboleths."
I have this scene in my head where these guys have completely over run a mind flayer stronghold, what happens when these bad boys get an elder brain in them...
Pinky and the brain "tonight we takeover world"
Now I have this image in my head of an elder brain sitting in it's brine pool wondering where all the mind flayers went when a yau'quib oozes in and is all "Hey guys, we got a big one!"
This has deliciously juicy ramifications.
@@AJPickett My mind went right there too.
either A) the yau'quib is too small to fully envelop the Elder Brain, or B) the yau'quib undergoes the psychic equivalent of biting off more than you can chew and then choking to death.
This one is going right up there with the demogorgon video and the list of awesome AJ videos to fall asleep to oh, nothing like a creepy night-time lullaby from the sage.
A Replicato....err...I mean Fabricator Dragon sounds horrifying. Screw fire breath, Conversion Breath would be a party killer.
"Oh crap, the Wizard got killed....wait, he's gettinh back u.....nope he turned into Fabricator....well.....shit."
Im hoping lore thats spooky this Halloween. Ive already rewatched the gibbermouth, worm that walks, sibriex, and false hydra.
This hurt my brain in a good way. Reminds me of John Carpenter's "The Thing." What if a fabricator found its way into a dragon hoard? Oh dear...
“Word for entitled...”
At least they’re self aware.
AJ have you ever considered doing a video on Good aligned Undead? It’d make for an interesting twist given the spooky season’s association with horrific, evil undead creatures.
Let me just cover all the evil undead first, then I will get onto that.
@@AJPickett But....there's hundreds of evil Undead creatures T_T
The Yau'Quib reminds me of mistwraiths from Mistborn, maybe they share some common inspiration
that opening gave me CHILLS.
In my last campaign the PCs came across alien tech that worked a lot like this. It didn't care went in, it would try to conform the output to its programmed pattern. In 'healing' mode this was based on the individual creature's genetic code ... but it still stripped you down to goo in the process.
20:11 Glob have mercy on the next DM I meet who says they're open to homebrew races.
Every single one of your videos is fucking awesome, thank you so much!!
Thanks 😊
It's been awhile since you covered something in a video with thise much "Nope" . . . Good stuff
I think you mentioned clockwork horrors at one point. I would be very interested in hearing more about them. Great video as always.
I require more I'm going to sick this on my party.
The role playing potential of these is massive. I can just imagine one that absorbed enough lawful good brains to be tormented by it’s own existence and it has to go on a road of self forgiveness to unify the minds that it wronged trying to get to this point in its life.
Not to even mention the struggles one would have trying to join society to any degree, looking like some twisted hideous monster.
I'm pretty sure most places would be more likely to let an Illithid through the gates than a Yau'quib
Fantastic video aj! also the poor Yau'Quib all alone in the world! I hope it find some flumph to become it friends!
I FOUND ONE!!! A MIGHTY GLUE STICK VIDEO I HAVEN'T SEEN! 😅🥰Whew😮💨 I thought 🤔💭 I might of had to wait for the next one 😅
Did... did you just say the Joerg Sprav thing? "Let me show its features"?
I swear you got that much cooler, keep up the great work
I did
Thanks AJ!
These things somehow seem like a Proto-Mindflayer Elderbrain to me... Aren't the Illithids from a distant future?
So the lore says :)
it depends on the source. Some say they're form the distant future, some say they're form the far realm.
The Far Realm gives birth to many wonderful creations, tasked with the conversion of the sane into the insane. I can assume a Fabricator would be a fantastic ally to a Alienist who’s fanatic plan is to unleash a virulent version upon an unsuspecting populace.
Tome of Beats 2 has so many creatures, it is so inspiring. The art for the dragonflesh golem is one of my favorite pieces so far.
how spooky
I can make an entire campaign around these things. MWHAHAH the world isn’t ready for Felix his army of aberrations and his monster factory.
I got a like from Aj, and I have a desire to write out the idea fully for everyone to see. But feel that’s egotistical. If enough people want and aj oks it is like to share the full “story”/ idea
Go right ahead, people can either read or skip as they choose.
That was a lot to digest. I may need another viewing. It gets the brain going though. I have a villain in my current campaign, who's is a dupe to something from the far realm. This might help fill in some details for me.
Thanks again AJ.
And happy Halloween 😱💀🕷
Most welcome, happy Halloween Jake.
I love aberrations! This is a close second favorite monster. The first being the deepspawn! Thanks AJ.
I could definitely seen them in a party right next to a warforged and a disguised Oblex. I shudder to think what would happen if it absorbed a bard. Since they tend to have a force of personality.
imagine a brain in jello seducing a dragon
@@iliketurtles2531 Exalted is one such setting.
Great video! Spooky and great creatures.
I am a little curious, does the absorbed brain keep its soul or does it still pass on? And if the soul is trapped, what might happen to it being trapped inside the Yau'Quib? Over enough time would it be possible for the Yau'Quib to gain a personality, or would it simply go mad? Just some thoughts I had throughout the video.
The soul is intact, the brain is not killed, just seriously traumatized. The Yau'Quib has its base Programming, this is essentially hard-wired instincts when it links with a captured mind, the two merge and may become something, or someone, quite different, this may linger as a personality change in a person restored to their original state, able to be cured as a form of madness.
@@AJPickett Thankyou for the information, it is much appreciated.
@@AJPickett Thankyou for the information, it is much appreciated.
Goodness living in a D&D campaign must be dreadful. Any hapless rube could be picking up sticks for a campfire and see a a Yau-Quib soaring through the sky making nary a sound, looking for better and better brains to acquire. He would thank the all the gods he had ever heard of for keeping him safe, but only his dim intellect would be the reason that he wasn't melted into biomass and forced to join the gestalt. XD
Yeah but... Picture that Yau'Quib tending a herd of goats with quiet satisfaction...
I love the vivid and visceral descriptions of the creatures movement and behavior. Very Lovecraftian. This type of monster will be perfect as a servant of my drow flesh warper villain. By the way, I noticed that you were the artist of one of the drawings near the end. It seems oration and sculpting are not your only creative talents. Most impressive. Keep up the great work AJ! I’d love to see more of your illustrations in the future. (Although as an aspiring artist, I know the time commitment for a work of art can be a strain an your schedule). Regardless, I wish you the best!
Yes, I dabble at sketching when I can.
I imagine the likes of Halaster would find it tedious to continuously swat down all of these obsessive genius psychic far realm creatures that are out for his brain. Unfortunately for them, they're still only a quarter as intelligent and half as insane.
TOO...MANY...IDEAS...BRAIN...INSUFFICIENT...ERROR.ERROR.ERORRR.ERRRRORRRR.......BRAIN ACQUIRED. ASSEMBLING NOTEBOOK AND DICE. BEGINNING CAMPAIGN FABRICATION.
Ok let's see what we have here.
3:59 So tritons?
12:25 Their going to become neural good heros.
Deliciously disgusting and vile! Happy Halloween my nerdy friends!
this is such an interesting creature! after I watched your video I tried looking it up on the internet, maybe I could find a wiki entry about it, but I could only find your video again. :(
That's right. Halloween home brew, a new creature is born.
Imagine a “good” aligned duo where they just want to create and care for their “children” that the fabricator makes from the brains.
Thanks again AJ!☆☆☆☆☆
Playing a character that is actually an bio construct and doesn’t know it would be interesting.
It would be funny if a tadpole was placed in them and they just absorb the tadpole.
then they run into a fabricator walk up to it, vomit the tadpole into it and just smile as the tadpole is give like a frog body or something
That is excellent ☺️
Wholesome content
@@AJPickett Could even expand upon it with the new frog-lith realizing that this could be a new start for his species. Perhaps asking the heroes to go collect more Tadpoles for this purpose.
@@DreadnoughtFiend Until they run into an Elder Brain and immediately switch over to being thralls of it's will.
Happy Halloween AJ!
Great storytelling and pic's. My mind kept thinking of Kurt Russell in the movie "The Thing". They seem very similar in some ways.
Thanks AJ & have a great day.
AJ you should make videos of all Elder Evil's in DnD ...
I look forward to Halloween stuff every year! Maybe it’s not appealing to the wider audience, but man o man, if I could choose every one of your wonderful videos would be about undead or other things that go bump in the night.
WotC: come up with thematic spells & abilities
Me: or... just refer to the AD&D Complete Guide to Psionics?
I loved 2E thru 3.5E Psi. It was more flexible than magics. It was no threat to Gods because they were immune...
@@CPK-iz5dd Oh my poor friend, 3.5 Psis could indeed be a grave threats to gods. But that's just my opinion.
@@SuperTinyking I though demi-gods, a god essense in a avatar body, and gods where immune to all mortal psi powers?
@@CPK-iz5dd They are if you act directly on them. In 3.5, there were ways for Psis to slowly bulk themselves up and turn themselves into physical literal combat monsters. Namely through an interaction between certain powers, you could fuse yourself with another being, get the better of those 2 beings stats, and then copy that form. It ended up costing a level each time you did it, but could be DRASTICALLY worth it.
You could, if you were powerful enough, use this technique on dragons and eventually epic level beings.
@@SuperTinyking Thank you...
I love you man. "Let me show you it's features." Ha! I love his laugh.
"Remove and contain"... is this an SCP Foundation crossover?
I tend to think of the SCP Foundation as a modern version of an AD&D organization, like the MIB is a modern version of UFO/Extraterrestrial human organization. You should see how they interpreted Baba Yaga... a very underestimated Eastern European "witch".
I always liked Khen-zai (etherguants). Had a second skin with pure madness underneath. Implied they created illithid
Great video AJ. I never even heard of these beasties before. They are awesome monsters delving into everything from body horror to psychological thriller in horror. Also, the flexibility of this monster to be not-such-a-monster. That, on top of this being a horror movie potential world-ender, a potential doomsday monster (thank the gods that AD&D has gods because science and mere wizardry cannot stop this). This beastie makes my similar homebrews look rather simple and borderline copies of existing works.
Well now I need a yau’quib boss that has consumed a mind flayer elder brain and has a squad of ooze flayers.
Yesss
That's why solars are a thing.
@@nicolaezenoaga9756 hmmm Corellon is in the campaign actually that would be a cool battle to have the pc’s witness or influence
I declare Exterminatus
@@davidmathieson8661 the Astartes will not stop us
"Let me show you it's features." I think I know which channel you've been watching =D
Which channel? I need it for research purposes.
@@HenriFaust JoergSprave The Slingshot Channel
Where would I find info on the Yau’Quib in text form? Some of my party members struggle to recollect information unless it’s written down (hence why we use Roll20) and if I can find some written info on these Xoriat native-like beasts to them paraphrase, that’d be excellent!
Full scripts posted on subscribestar and Patreon for supporters, minimum $1 per Month gets you full access
Thanks AJ.
Crazy mage cult tries to become one with one of these things. I wonder if it could gain the collective spells of those involved...
that's cool
good video aj
Thanks Chris 🧙♂️
Thanks AJ for the amazing momster and you have a happy holloween too
Fantastic! This thing has sooooo much potential.
Hey AJ! As usual, great video. I do love me some spooky stuff. Have you ever thought of putting audio versions of your vids on Spotify? I can’t be the only one who’d listen to weird lore to fall asleep ^^
I wonder about a variant that can take minor or medium tier magic items and reassemble then into a different, however similar, item ov equal (or lower) power & value.
Maybe after acquiring & using a couple brains from magic casters that all have the same Craft Magic Item feat, or something like that.
A Horadric Cube!
@@AJPickett Ha! That wsd actually what I had been thinking ov.
They say God-Kings think alike 😎
I loved that thing. What tier magic item would a Horadric Cube be? Artifact?
@@johnsnow9210 💯 Percent.
creepy AF! gonna use this in our special halloween session this weekend >:)
Look up Yakub. Thought this was him at first.
Have you considered uploading these in podcast format? I would greatly enjoy listening to this lore at work without needing youtube to be open at all times.
Awesome video.
Also, thx for reminding me that ToB2 is out.
These remind me ov Shoggoth, that they were created as tools or bio-constructs to be autonomous workers but develop a form ov intelligence, and are able to adapt quickly.
This is really great.
I am going to look into these. Thank you for bringing them to my attention!
Thanks AJ.
14:50-14:54 No!
14:55-15:09 NOOOOOOOO!!!!
00:01 - 21:53 YESSSSSS!!!!
@@Im-Not-a-Dog This thing might be second in power to the marut.
It should eat a Fragrant One
BRUH. 😂
I love your content sir. it helps me so much at work.
Just doing my part for the workers brother Rains.
This guys name is just a gold mine in scrable.
What is this music? It would make for a good addition to my "Dark Worlds" playlist.
It's from a web service called Storyblocks that provides stock footage and music legally. I'll get the song track details for you.
@@AJPickett You have my thanks.
@@liamhunter1197 "Dreamland" by Lance Conrad
@@AJPickett Thanks again. I'll be sure to look for it.
Upfront like for you sir.
Hmmm wonder what Mind Flayers would do with Yau'Quib?...Horrifically awesome or awesomely horrific
Yau-Quib = mini fridge?
@@johntheherbalistg8756 Minifridge/"can opener" combo perhaps
@@davidmathieson8661 f'ing genius
That pic really managed to capture the intricacies of the rough endoplasmatic reticulum. Where's the Golgi apparatus though?
I like my endoplasmic reticulum rough.
*snort* hey this is a family petri dish pal!
Guys what about the midocondrea?
@@trajanfidelis it is overhyped.
This seems like an evolved version of the tortured beings in jars during BG2 prologue
And one of my old D&D stories my character was a dwarf I fought one of these gelatinous creatures it was no use so I got the hell out of there
How do you call a joke you made? Ya'Quip.
Good shit
Fantastic video as always! I also hope to see more creatures from tome of beast 1&2 and the creature codex.
Also if you have not AJ read it check out "the compendium of forgotten secrets: Awakening" it's a warlock supplement that honestly so pact with lore and flavor it gave me dozens of ideas.
Thanks! Will do!
"So pact with lore." About warlocks.
I see what you did there. 🤣
@@dillongage7628 ^^ thanks.
Gotta say, I loved the intro to this video! Also this creature is amazing!
Glad you like it!
Love the intro
Please cover the metalmaster slug