True to their nature, the Illithids have come up with yet another design, based on their favorite pre-decessors; the nautiloids of premordial aeras. This ship however is quite special in its design. In addition to the standard piercing ram at the bow of the ship, the Illithid Lance has an additional shearing ram. The winches of the shearing ram make it possible to shear even ships which are passing by. Shearing the Illithid Lance is a hazardous action on itself.
As with more and more Illithid ships, this vessel is outfitted with a retractable dome, enabeling the Illithid masters to keep in the safe darkness while the slaves operate the observation deck and the ships weapons.
The owners and crews of the Illithid Lance ships are (naturally) always Illithids and their slave cattle. The slaves consists of a diverse group of slaves of the most commonly encountered species in the originating crystal sphere.
Mostly this ship harbors a crew of 2 - 3 Illithids and 4 - 9 slaves. Of the Illithids one is the supreme captain and the others his personal subordinates. Often the ship returns without captain, due to various "mishaps" and the highest Illithid of the ship is promoted to captain.
The ship is very versatile in its use.
Scout: Because of its small size the ship is a great short ranged scout. It can land on water and approach the beach by stealth and cover of night to unleash its cargo for various purposes.
War Vessel: The vessel is outfitted with two rams which makes it a perfect first wave attack vessel. The shearign ram will diminish the maneuverability of the opposing ships, making it a sitting duck for the ships weapons or to finish the battle with a ramming attempt with the piercing ram. Since the ship can harbor enough Illithids for spell use or psionic combat, some of the highly maneuverable vessels will be lurking in the vicinity of the crippled ships to shower it wil spells and psionic attacks and creations.
Brain Collector: Sometimes the harvesting of brains will be a frontal attack on lesser races, thus enslaverig them, sometimes stealth is necessary for the harvesting of brains. In those cases this ship is very functional for the quick extraction of specimen of other races and thereby improving their stock of brains.
