The Illithoid and Martial Arts

So, after belatedly discovering that the illithoid, as a race, had approximately 10 years between first sharding and then showing up on the surface, I'm stuck with a few questions about them, and wondering if anyone might have any insight. Or, possibly just some interesting proposed canon.

How did the illithoid become so proficient in martial arts? They splintered from a serpentine Primal God, without the benefit of the star shape to work with, and they had only 10 years to gain the knowledge.

Possible explanations:
  • Proficiency is entirely the result of training with Scorpion cultists, spread hastily through illithoid numbers.
  • Proficiency is the result of eaten fragments of martial arts Elders, and some of the illithoid happened to inherit those particular skills (unlikely, illithoid culture would probably show a lot more varied interests and martial types if there were whole fragments of Elder in there all over.)
  • Proficiency is the natural result of not having weapons, and having to struggle for freedom in the darkness (unlikely, 10 years of existence.)
  • Proficiency is the result of eating a ton of kephera martial arts masters (unknown, don't have a timeframe for how long the kephera have been around. Might be plausible if Keph sharded hundreds or thousands of years before CE.)
Wondering if there's an official explanation someplace or just some interesting idea I haven't thought about.

Comments

  • Option #5: Psychicly stealing martial arts skill from the Kephera.
  • SiamSiam Whispered Voice
    I always thought it was #5 since you brought that up on PF.
    Viravain, Lady of the Thorns shouts, "And You would seize Me? Fool! I am the Glomdoring! I am the Wyrd, and beneath the cloak of Night, the shadows of the Silent stir!"

    #bringShikariback 


  • QistrelQistrel the hemisemidemifink
    The exact origins of martial arts depends on who you talk to. Obviously, both the kephera and illithoid claim they created it, and the other race stole it. The Nekotai claim that Grandmother Scorpion taught nekotai to the illithoid, but I'm not sure if they intend this to mean all martial arts or just nekai stuff. We  also have a vision of Bull asking the kephera to look after an elfen long ago.

    And then there is Tosha, a Vernal God who taught martial arts to the loboshigaru, including, it would seem, psychometabolism. We don't know where he got his version from.

    So the answer is, we don't know. And I don't foresee us finding out, unless some secret history book or zone is revealed that explains it all.

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