Mind Flayer Pod is an Illithid device that allow mind flayers to keep their captives in order to conduct various experiments on them, including infesting the victim with larvae to create thralls or for further reproducing. Mind Flayer Pods can be found either on a Nautiloid or in Mind Flayer Colony. The pods, as most other illithid devices, are operated by psionic abilities of these creatures - or of the player's, who from the very start of the game learns to use his/her tadpole to these ends.
Prologue[edit | edit source]
Apart from his/her 'own' pod, the player can find several others in the Nursery room (the starting location of the game). Some are damaged and contain the remains of ill-fated victims, but others are intact and empty, which hints that there are other captives that managed to free themselves. Interacting with both types bring forth a respective Narrator line.
Exploring the Nautiloid further, the player will find several other intact and operational Mind Flayer Pods in other parts of the ship. In one of them the player will find Shadowheart - her pod has been magically shut, and agreeing to free her starts the quest Rescue the Illithid's Captive. Another one contains an unknown unconscious woman, who cannot be saved. Instead, by interacting with the nearby control panel the player can instantaneously turn this captive into a newborn mind flayer.
Act One[edit | edit source]
The party can discover two other ruptured Mind Flayer Pods (inactive) scattered after Nautiloid crash: at the Ravaged Beach X: 175 Y: 274and in the Forest X: 124 Y: 376. The first one seemingly kept Astarion, as he stays nearby considering next steps. The second one belonged to an unknown captive and is located on the bank of a brook flowing towards River Chionthar, across the Blighted Village.
Act Two[edit | edit source]
A whole bunch of functional Mind Flayer Pods is located in Tadpoling Centre of the Mind Flayer Colony. Some of them are empty, some already keep newly created mind flayers, while others contain NPCs that the player has met previously in Act One: Zevlor, Gauntlet Yeva, Manip Shuurga. In the next room with several brine pools is located a detached Pod that keeps imprisoned Mizora, who had been captured by Absolute cultists.