Eyeballs part 2: The Evil Eyes of Augrah-Ma

©2010 jistsomeguy

The Evil Eye is a monster from The Iconic Bestiary: Classics of Fantasy, reprinted in Forgotten Foes, and adapted in the first edition of Blood & Treasure. It is a substitute for the closed content Beholder. The Evil Eye's concept is simple: it is a giant flying eyeball that shoots various magic beams and is connected to a mysterious being known only as Augrah-Ma. The origins of the evil eyes and the nature of Augrah-Ma are left deliberately vague for the GM to fill-in as desired.

As the book explains:

An enormous floating eye, apparently ripped raw from the skull of some giant beast, hovers in the air before you. Lengths of optic nerve writhe and thrash behind it like tails, fading away after several feet into thin wisps of white mist. That same white mist is visible in the eye’s dark pupil, as though through a window to some distant world. 

The so-called evil eyes are also known as the Eyes of Augrah-Ma. Legend has it that Augrah-Ma himself (itself?) is some great and dark power; perhaps demon prince, perhaps a god, perhaps something else entirely. His presence is so inherently baleful that the very forces of nature prevent him from entering any of the known planes. It is said that the Augrah-Ma lurks in the emptiness between worlds. The evil eyes, though they seem to have independent minds and often pursue their own agendas, are said to literally be Augrah-Ma’s eyes, allowing him to see and influence events in the material plane. 

Most evil eyes seem obsessed with the destruction of spellcasters, and the acquisition of magic items. They rarely make use of such items themselves, but sages theorize that they constantly seek some means of allowing Augrah-Ma to enter the world — and to make themselves supreme in his order, rising above all other evil eyes. As such, evil eyes oppose one another as often as they cooperate.

An evil eye is about 8 feet in diameter, with its “tail” of optic nerves running an additional 3 to 9 feet, depending on the individual. These tails are fully prehensile, allowing the evil eye to manipulate objects as well as human hands. Some are perfectly white, some yellowed, and some bloodshot. An evil eye’s iris can be of any color, from standard blues, greens and browns, to inhuman violets, golds and reds.  

Evil eyes have no concern for any living being other than themselves (and sometimes other evil eyes). They are capable of fighting with their optic nerve “tails,” but prefer to remain at a distance and make use of their gaze attacks. Unless an evil eye believes itself outmatched, or believes it can bargain with or intimidate potential foes, it attacks without provocation. This is partly due to their obsession with acquiring magic, but also because they enjoy the kill.

The writer Ari Marmell offered further commentary:

You'd expressed some questions about the source of the evil eyes. I deliberately left the idea of where they come from vague, to allow DMs to choose whichever option best fits their campaigns. Here are a few possible suggestions, though:

• They are literally the eyes of Augrah-Ma, that he (it) has somehow detached and sent through the planar walls to the Material Plane.

• They are the eyes of sentient beings sacrificed in Augrah-Ma's name. The magic of the sacrifice causes them to burst from the skulls, grow to their current size, and develop a mystical connection to the trapped entity.

• Augrah-Ma once had an army of demonic servants, all of whom were enormous in size. They were all wiped out by the forces of good (or perhaps a rival evil), but Augrah-Ma reached through the worlds, ripped the eyes from their bodies, and gave them a new life of their own, now fully bonded to him.

Of course, plenty of other ideas could work as well, but these three should get you started. :)

And here is one such suggestion offered by a fan:

Have an idea for the origin of the Evil Eyes- there is a plane out there that is made up of eyes (call it the elemetal plane of eyes) and Augrah-Ma is an intelligent part of that plane (several sections have hive minds). It wants out and thus sends parts of itself to other plane to observe and determine which would the best for invasion. The problem for Augrah-Ma is another section of the EPE doesn't want it to leave. So now you can use both the evil eyes and either the beholder or a beholder variant. I wouldn't want to be the people living in such a plane that they are warring over...

Blood & Treasure offers further expansion on the concept at its blog.

So there you have it. I hope these references prove helpful to anyone who seeks to use them.