N is for Neogi

Sorry for more delays - a bout of insomnia has wrecked my drive to work.

Another underused monster of D&D, the Neogi are large, spider-like slavers, who traverse the multiverse in search of prey to sell and exploit.

I love their design - like a huge spider-eel thing, covered in fur. Their large, bulky bodies are at odds with their slender limbs and necks, and the vicious, lamprey-like mouth sets them apart as distinctly horrible looking creatures.

As per usual, Tony DiTerrlizzi brings a little something more subtle to the table. While not as obviously horrific as later versions, the smooth, arachnid legs and body are offset by a very alien head - like a snake or a true eel. It carries itself as "strange" rather than "OHSHITRUN", which is a very good look.

As befitting such a horrible species is their horrible method of reproduction - when Neogi get old, the grow large and immobile - and the younger Neogi inject them with their larvae, allowing them a place to gestate and a meal on the way out. Their young eat the old during birth.

Eeeewwwwwwww.

Originating from the old-school Fiend Folio, they were used extensively in the Spelljammer setting, as a standard "Mastermind" race. They were open to barter and trade, though many saw trading with them as an act of Evil in and of itself - they mainly dealt in slave labour, and were frequently seen with their charmed Umber Hulk bodyguards. Most encounters with them would be fights - after all, few people would trust something as alien as a Neogi, and all they really want is to sell you into slavery.

One of the cooler things about their Spelljammer appearances was their ships:

How awesome is that thing. A huge, biomechanical spider, floating through space, ready to disgorge hundreds of creepy furry-spider-eels to murder you and sell your friends as cattle.