Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
“What would become of this multiverse if githyanki didn't guard the Astral Plane from the illithid menace? What would reality become if beings of thought ruled the plane of thought?”
—Mordenkainen
The warlike githyanki and the contemplative githzerai are a sundered people – two cultures that utterly despise one another. The brutal githyanki are trained from birth as warriors, while the githzerai hone their minds to a razor’s edge in their fortresses within Limbo. But before there were githyanki or githzerai, these creatures were a single race enslaved by the illithids.
Although they attempted to overthrow their masters many times, their rebellions were repeatedly crushed until a great leader named Gith arose. After much bloodshed, Gith and her followers threw off the yoke of their illithid masters, but another leader named Zerthimon emerged in the aftermath of battle. Zerthimon challenged Gith's motives, claiming that her strict martial leadership and desire for vengeance amounted to little more than another form of slavery for her people. A rift erupted between followers of each leader, and they eventually became the two races whose enmity endures to this day: the Githyanki in the way of Gith, and the Githzerai in the way of Zerthimon.
Whether these tall, gaunt creatures were peaceful or savage, cultured or primitive before the illithids enslaved and changed them, none can say. Not even the original name of their race remains from that distant time. Either way, the Githyanki split from their cousins, githzerai, and fled to the Astral Plane. In that timeless, silvery realm, githyanki honed their psionic powers and built a great city called Tu’narath. They have since spread throughout the multiverse, starting in outposts outside the Astral Plane, called creches, where time passes and their children can reach adulthood while adults plunder countless worlds from the decks of their astral vessels and the backs of red dragons. Feathers, beads, gems, and precious metals decorate their armor and weapons – the legendary silver swords with which they cut through their foes. Since winning their freedom from the illithids, the githyanki have become ruthless conquerors under the rulership of their dread lich-queen, Vlaakith.
A lanky people with rough, leathery skin in tones of yellows, greens, and browns. Their eye color is often dark, verging on black and are sunken deep in their orbits. They have long and angular skulls, with small and highly placed flat noses and ears that are pointed and serrated on the back side. Their hair is often black or red, and styled in functional, militaristic styles like top knots. Githyanki complement their physical prowess with psionic might, instilled in them by mind flayers and cultivated over eons in the Astral Plane. Now all githyanki can use their psychic bond with that plane to access splinters of knowledge left behind by beings who travel, live, and die among the silver astral clouds.
Githyanki are typically cruel, arrogant, and aggressive. The few exceptional individuals who have deserted from the rigid githyanki militaristic society tend to develop a disdain for rules. The high value they place on individuality also cause them to become ambitious and self-centered. They are also known for their long memories.
Even the most open-minded githyanki come across as smug, sarcastic, rude, and overconfident, but they are generally capable of withstanding adversity without complaining. Clever and resourceful, githyanki adventurers are not known for their loyalty or ability to make new friends, but they are extremely persistent in the face of danger. Although rare, it is possible for githyanki to become disillusioned with their people's unsavory habits and to try to set up a reputation on their own acts.
As a result of their long-lasting presence in the Astral Plane, where time does not pass, the githyanki have developed a decadent lifestyle, picking up hobbies, arts, and studies in an endless search for novelty. After centuries, they have developed a hollow culture of shallow and unfinished undertakings, never truly mastering any task or seeing any personal project to completion. This constant interest with novelty is also reflected in their dressing style: githyanki are fond of collecting and wearing extremely ornate and elaborate tokens of their defeated foes. It is common for their armor and weapons to be overly decorated with gems, feathers, precious metals, and other ostentatious ornaments.