Mind War

The Mind War is a cosmic conflict that took place during the time Before History and was a result of Primos taking the Illithid at the end of the Titan War. The ensuing events would lead to the Illithid Revolt, creation of the Gith and their Citadel, and the birth of the Pathfinders.

**Taking of the Illithid**

At the end of the Titan War, Malachite Prime offered Primos the Illithid for its help in imprisoning the Titans. Primos agreed and brought the Illithid back to its home of Limbo, so that they might aid in the duties of policing the planes. Sometimes called the *Supreme Machine*, Primos was a being know to be devoid of emotion. Even so, many believed Primos to be proud of the Illithid, and to love them like a parent might.

Unfortunately for Primos, the Illithid had been gifted incredible intelligence and were not content to remain on Limbo as gatekeepers to the planes. Beyond the eye of Primos, some of the Elder Illithid gathered and concocted a plan to make their escape.

**Illithid Revolt**

Leaning in to the love Primos held for them, the Illithid convinced their master to spill the secrets of its origins. Trusting its "children," Primos told them of the machine world Mechanus. An autonomous world filled with beings just like Primos, Mechanus was the first workshop of the Genkiddion. Since then, the eldritch beings had moved on to unknown space, but Mechanus continued to dwell somewhere in the multiverse. The Illithid pleaded with Primos to see the home of their ancestors and against better judgment, Primos crafted them a map.

The tales of the Illithid's journey is one of treachery and terror, and upon arrival the Illithid enacted their plan. They enslaved Mechanus and its clockwork inhabitants, taking the power of the forge for themselves and turning it towards their goal of conquering the multiverse. A single Mechanite called Modron managed to escape the wrath and plunged into the roadways of the multiverse. Modron tracked down Primos in Limbo and told it what the Illithid had done.

**Creation of the Gith**

Primos knew the Illithid would be a scourge to the multiverse, and so called up the Lorekeeper, Queen of the Dragons. She arrived to Limbo and heard Primos' tale, chastizing the Supreme Machine for growing a heart. Together the two would forge a new creation. This one was given very little of Primos' intelligence, but an overwhelming sense of the Lorekeeper's loyalty, honor, and valor. These were the Gith, and Primos would grant them great boons with which to hunt and defeat the Illithid.

The Gith knew no better than to accept the quest of their master, and set out to find Mechanus with their starships made from Primos' rings. The Lorekeeper even entrusted some of the Gith with draconic companions, who they rode proudly into battle.

**The Mind War**

As the Gith arrived to Mechanus, they found that the Illithid had corrupted it beyond recognition. The floating city had become a fortress of impenetrable black rock and writhing tentacles, surrounded by psionic storms of lightning. The Gith assaulted this stronghold the Illithid now called the Hive, and casualties began to pile.

Mechanus was all but destroyed by the Gith's weapons and their dragon's breath. Split into a hundred thousand clusters of rock, the Illithid's numbers were shattered as they careened across the multiverse. Collecting what they could, the Gith returned to Primos with broken bits and scraps of the machine city. Knowing logically that Mechanus would not have survived the incursion (and recognizing the danger in keeping another sentient species as servants) Primos took the pieces of its old home and set the Gith upon their own path. Some of the Gith would remain on their course to see the extinction of the Illithid, while others would leave Limbo to find new purpose and peace.

**Birth of the Pathfinders**

When the Gith returned, some of them sought to stay with their draconic companions. The Lorekeeper was moved by the connection between gith and dragon, and requested that Primos find them a job that would allow the duos to serve together for eternity. Pulling some of its rods free, Primos gifted the rods to the Gith and warped them into the Pathfinder Staffs. These staffs would allow them to aid the Lorekeeper in its journey to chronicle all of history.

Some of the Gith would fall in battle or to tragedy, and be replaced by other Pathfinders. After some time, Pathfinders from different universes began to meet and share their knowledge with one another. No one is certain how many Pathfinders Primos created, but the sign of their slender, black, metallic staffs is sign of a cosmic historian.

**Aftermath**

Primos and its last living companion Modron would use the remnants of Mechanus to make a new mechanical race to oversee Limbo autonomously. Primos would name the race after Modron, and settle into its role as the gatekeeper to the planes for all of eternity.

As for the Illithid, a small selection of their hive managed to cling to existence on the outskirts of the Astral Sea. Forever plotting revenge against Primos and the Gith, this faction (now called the Ascendancy) now works as all Illithid do, to reconnect with their hive and reassert dominance over the multiverse.