Ipillion

Appearance:

The best description of an ipillion would be a hybrid of a Beholder and a harvestman spider (daddy long legs or granddaddy long legs) The creature has a fused body with no distinct sections and eight long legs. Where a harvestman could bounce and wobble in the palm of a hand, the ipillion has a body the size of a beachball and its leg span can reach as much as twelve feet. The torso is dominated by a single massive eye like a Beholder, and several lesser eyes on its back.

Movement:

Slow to moderate, a human on foot can generally outrun an eye spider with little issue. An eye spider can climb walls, and stick to ceilings, so they are almost never encountered on the same level plane as adventurers. Part of their reputation as a Dungeon Sneak comes from this movement ability, along with their ability to hide in shadows, move unseen, and sneak.

Actions, Abilities, and Combat

Ipillion are not aggressive creatures. They are scavengers and thieves. Their most common use is as dungeon sentinels, letting the higher-ups know when something has gotten in and is working its way through the dungeon defenses. The ipillion will then generally follow the would-be heroes, observing their actions, and taking an inventory of their gear, and their combat abilities.

Once their targets are scouted, the ipillion will start acting. Their favorite tactic is organized theft. They will loot the party of their small things, things easily overlooked, or not immediately considered vital. More than one dungeon delve has come to a premature end because the rations, water supplies, and oil all seemingly was lost. The eye spiders do not steal weapons, armor, or wondrous items. As mentioned, they steal food, jewelry, potions, things that are small and shiny, small things that radiate magic, and bits of leather, because they eat it.

The mouth of an eye spider is on the bottom of its torso, and when they eat it basically looks like they are sitting on something, and that is what its tiny mouth parts are slowly but vigorously chewing up. An ipillion can eat a leather belt in about an hour, a suit of leather armor in a week. It's not fast. They also pick skeletons clean, and in the case of some dungeons with larger monsters, they will form symbiotic relationships, where they pick and eat the mites and lice off of said larger monsters. If an adventurer is downed and incapacitated, more aggressive ipillion might try and chew on their faces, hands, or other exposed flesh, but it is more dangerous to be overrun by rats that eye spiders. A good swat sends them rapidly swaying away.

Eye-Rays

Of course, ipillion have eye ray abilities, why wouldn't they? The difference is that eye spiders are more of a nuisance than a high-level threat. Each has a single eye ray ability, and canny adventurers can tell, if they know anything about ipillion and eye coloration.

Gray Iris - Weakening Ray, reduces target's strength by 1

Light Blue Iris - Distracting Ray, reduces target's dexterity by 1

Lime Green Iris - Sickening Ray, target makes an easy CON check, failure is throwing up and losing a few rounds of action due to sicking up. A critical failure is a double dragon, and they are considered hindered until said hero can clean their clothing and gear.

Purple Iris - Confusing Ray, reduces target's intelligence by 1

Spiral Shaped Iris - Charm Person, weak

Cross-Shaped Iris - Mage hand

Star-Shaped Iris - Sleep ray, easy CON save to avoid

Vertical Slit Iris - Vampiric Ray, target loses 1 HP, ipillion gains 1 HP

Greater Ipillion

Ipillion are gregarious, and large numbers of them will congregate together, usually if it is cold, or there is nothing going on, nothing to do. If found and threatened, they will usually scatter, eyeballs bobbing away on entirely too many legs. This creates a spell-like effect of Fear. One eyeball spider is disturbing enough, but watching an entire corner of a chamber start moving and dozens of giant eyes darting around, even people who aren't afraid of such things are unsettled. As long as they run, it is fine. If the ipillion feel sufficiently threatened, they can form into a single entity, an EyeSore. This eyeball spider gestalt has greatly enhanced eye ray powers, generally having access to all of them, and instead of hitting for 1 point of stat or an easy CON save, they hit for 1D4, or 1D6 stat reduction. CON saves go to average. That might not seem like much, but a fighter might not like taking a few stat reducing hits and then finding out they are casually making CON saves to stay awake. In a room with a carpet of eye spiders. An EyeSore can also create auras around itself, usually protecting it from fire, and deflecting ranged attacks, and truly gargantuan EyeSores can create palings, magical barriers that deflect all damage and act as a physical barrier.

The gestalt breaks down and the ipillion scatter after a few hours.

Notes:

Ipillion are a sentient race. They have their own language, history, and even religion. Biologically they are an infernal/arachnoid species, but have been diverged from the infernal planes long enough that they are more mundane that demonic/devilish now. There is no written language, and given that much of their language is composed of leg gestures, pheromones, and iris flexing, learning it is impossible for other sentient beings. Communication spells do work, as do telepathy, and the ipillion are chaotic stupid, kleptomaniacal, gossips, and hecklers of the first order.

The ipillion deity is known as Matareal, the Great Walker, and its eye is the Sun. Day and night only exist as it wanders around the world looking for snacks. The Moon (or moons, depending on your cosmology) are the ghosts of Matareal, its previous incarnations following it, its eye being pale and cold, like the dead.