Gzemnid

"The Gas Giant"
Pantheon:	None
AoC:	Gases, obscure- ment, deception
Symbol:	Bronze rod held in tentacles
Home P/L/R:	Outlands/Gzemn- id's Realm

Most ordinary beholders aren't willing to bargain with creatures they deem "inferior," but Gzemnid - one of the two beholder powers - is a bit more flexible. When confronted with strong mortal beings who make no immediate move toward violence, it's said that Gzemnid might offer to trade for magic and secrets, though a berk who counts on this'd best have a grave already dug. The deity most definitely spies on mortal wizards and sages who study the nature of the multiverse; he hopes to steal their discoveries through illusion and deception.

Lots of folks wonder why a power of chaos and evil makes his home - a tangled mess of tunnels - below the neutral Outlands, and more to the point, why the realm doesn't slip over the Abyss. Some say it's on an alliance with the much stronger Ilsensine, though a few scholars claim that Gzemnid's hiding from the retribution of powerful foes - perhaps even the Great Beholder Mother, although most reports mark the two as friendly.

In any case, some thinkers attribute the presence of Gsemnid (and Ilsensine) to simple mortal relativism. See, the monstrous gods are considered evil by most mortal standards, but perhaps their own standards are different enough to anchor them to the Outlands.