Dolgaunt

A thin man stands in the rain without coat or cloak before you. From a distance, his ears would have made him as an elf, but his shoulders are too broad and his arms too long to support that theory. As lightning flashes, you catch the faint silhouette of what looks like two whips anchored to his shoulders, flailing about in the storm. And in the same moment as the lightning recedes, the thin man just vanished.

As you begin to panic, looking around for both safety and your would-be assailant, a slick, cold tentacle winds its way around your throat and another quickly wraps around your sword arm. As thousands of tiny cilia burrow their way into your arteries, you are picked up off of your feet and turned to face the thin man, his skin the color of a sun-bleached rose. In the glow of some distant candlelight, you can make out that both of his eyes, and all of his compassion, are gone... simply gone.

When the forces of Xoriat were unleashed on the ancient hobgoblins of Khorvaire, many were taken and experimented on. The Dolgaunt is the final result of those experimentations. Completely hairless and blind, it is still easy to make out the hobgoblin jawline, ears and physical build. However, that is where the similarities end. A dolgaunt's skin is a dull pink and covered in tendrils that are constantly in motion; the source of the dolgaunt's blindsight. Two tentacles, each at least 10 feet long, are mounted to each of the shoulder blades. These tentacles are prehensile, but do not have enough fine control to wield objects effectively.

In the centuries that have passed since the forces of Xoriat retreated, the remaining dolgaunts have continued to live underground, forming cells that perfect a unique form of martial arts that concentrate on their tentacles and vitality drain. Many of them find themselves in service to Cults of the Dragon Below or the occasional daelkyr.