Court of One Hundred Eyes

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The Court of One Hundred Eyes are the personal advisers of the Emperor of the Orchish Empire. As an agency, they fall under the authority of the High Command.

The Court of One Hundred Eyes was established by Emperor Blac'drugulois and a close ally and friend - the elder beholder Modragh. Together they formed a staff of beholders to help manage the vast population and territory of the Orchish Empire.

Even my great intellect cannot control this burgeoning population. I have cleaned up their language, instilled discipline, and broke their chaotic intentions through generations of selective breeding, but what I cannot do is given them the greater intellect to manage on a grand scale. The beholders with their heightined intellectial potential shall be raised and nurtured as advisors and think-tanks.

- Blac'drugulois, excerpt from a personal journal - "Hollow 1349"

Blac'drugulois and Modragh kept the most intelligent and subservient of these until the court was composed of ten elder beholders. Over time, the number of beholders has increased to handle the issues of a growing population. These beholders allow the reigning emperor to draw upon a pool of intelligence that rivals an illithid think-tank.

The experiment has gone bad. Modragh and I created something more terrible than either of us thought could happen. Five years of research by the Court, and explorations to ancient locales and across realms has ended with the creation of a monster of true power. It was uncontrollable, unbridled rage, we fought for a long time against it. It was greater than any beholder we have ever seen. It had 24 different eye rays, 12 gaping maws and a hide equal to the skin of a demon lord. We slew the gibbering orb at great cost, Modragh gone, and my weakened, suffering from the gibbering.

- Blac'drugulois, excerpt from a personal journal - "Hollow 1812"

When Emperor Blac'drugulois was killed, the Second Orchish Civil War ensued. During this civil war, a number of the court's beholders were killed when they tried to themselves become the leader of the Orchish Empire. When Monty the Mad became the Emperor of the Orchish Empire, he reorganized the court with more loyal members of humanoid blood along with the beholders.

The Emperor keeps the Court of One Hundred Eyes on a tight leash, monitoring their activities for any ulterior motives. Those that pose a threat to his reign or become a nuisance are either killed, banished (c.f. Master Death Ball) or sent to some far-flung outpost.

When the Court was being formed, Modragh determined that the only way to have a steady supply of beholders and to make them subservient was to make them themselves. Blac'drugulois and Modragh designed a beholder crèche and then had the military build the place near the Spire of Krak-Oth. In the Beholder Crèche, staff raise beholders from birth to adulthood. They teach those that seem subservient and kill off the unruly and self-serving. Those that survive, and most don't, may one day come to serve as an Eye of the Court.