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111: Null and Void
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This week, Llewyn tells us about a dragon- or maybe it's two? Wouldn't that make it three? We're lost now, but thankfully Llewyn's got tons of information on the Guardian of the Lost and the Reaver, aspects of the draconic deity Null, so hopefully we can get out of this predicament.
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SPEAKER_01Taylor Peasley. And I'm Travis Peasley.
SPEAKER_02And Lewin, I I'm going to continue this. I think you're insane for drinking hot tea when it's like 100 degrees outside.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's not okay, it's not hot anymore because I forgot about it.
SPEAKER_03Not cold, but it is decidedly not hot.
SPEAKER_01It is decidedly not hot. It is tepid. I feel so like called out. Well, I no, but also like with the with the mug with the raven on it and this like shirt, I feel like uh Edgar Allen Ho. True. Um Jesus Christ. I do, I do. I also I have three beverages.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, that's because you have ADHD.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Um also the I I feel I do feel very like exposed in a way because the I feel like the the Travis, you mentioning your tea, and then me being like, oh, I made tea and forgot about it. Like that feels like such this the most like stereotypical person with ADHD thing ever. Yes. Like I feel like the only the only worst thing that I could do in that way would be like, oh my god, squirrel type shit, you know. But uh, you know, speaking of uh things about myself feeling very visible, y'all and those of you watching the stream may have noticed that there are different things in the background. I have changed the plushie selection. Yeah, um, does does anyone have any like like notice anything that these plushies have in common? Maybe dragon types? Well, okay, yeah. Um, Charizard Y is not a dragon type, but like he should be. But like he can, he can, whoop, but like he can he can hang, you know. He should be a dragon type. Well, Charizard X is a dragon type, so like it's fine. But like he can hang. He looks like a dragon. Would anyone would anyone like to make any guesses as to why that is? A lot of a lot of dragon plushies in the background today.
SPEAKER_03Because we're gonna do dragons.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we're gonna talk about a dragon today. Yay! A dragon. Uh yes, one dragon who is also two, um, sometimes. So there's kind of three of them, which is why there's question marks in the name of the title of the stream. Please elaborate.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would like some elaboration.
SPEAKER_01Um, I will do so. Okay, so uh I I'm gonna uh I'm gonna try to explain this as clearly as I can. I don't know if it doesn't actually make a lot of sense. Like, I don't know if it's actually weird and confusing, or if it makes perfect sense and I'm just weird. Um, okay, but anyway, I like I don't think it's that complicated, but it might be kind of complicated. Anyway, so obviously it's it's a pretty common known thing that a lot of gods in D are represented by multiple aspects, right? And sometimes that you know the the names of of you know certain of like gods are like kind of the level of importance, or sometimes those aspects are like completely separate, like that kind of thing happens, especially like across editions and stuff, right? But for for whatever reason, I don't know why this particular instance feels kind of weird, but it whatever. Um, dragon gods, dragon gods. Uh so I mean that's the important part. That's the important part, and there is a little bit of a through line, I think, with most of these. But anyway, so the the god in question, like the the the sort of singular, like what is considered kind of the singular god is called null, and his aspects, as we're going to be referring to them today, are chronepsis and phalager, which is sometimes spelled differently. Um with a U instead of an A. With a U instead of an A. But to me, the word is like like you know, FAL and then like the color Azure.
SPEAKER_03So Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, I've I've written it as that, and that's the most recent spelling of the word, anyhow. So Null appeared for the first time in the Draconomicon, which was published in 1990, one of many draconomics, but it was the one that was published in 1990 for A D, where he is described as the draconic god of death and the dead. They they they got ahead of those, they got ahead of those Greek mythology weebs who are like Hades isn't the god of death, he's the god of the dead. I do not control the die. I only control the dead, yeah. Yeah, they got ahead of those dweebs, which is people like us. So in Dragonomicon, which uh notably is a supplement, is like supplemental material that's created that was created for Forgotten Realms specifically, okay, which is kind of a little bit of the through line here, is that most portrayals of Null as a multi-aspected god are in specifically Forgotten Realms stuff. Okay, and a lot of the time the two aspects being separate entities who oftentimes have are not portrayed as having any relation to each other, is more of a like core general DD thing. Though I don't, I think not always. It's kind of strange, anyway. So Null in Drakenomicon is worshipped in two aspects called Reaver and Guardian of the Lost, which I have abbreviated in this thing as G O T L many times. I'm sorry, I got tired of typing out Guardian of the Lost.
SPEAKER_02That makes sense. Also, Guardian of the Lost honestly is such a cool, like it's such a good name or title, whatever you want to consider that.
SPEAKER_01So it's really good. And they will continue to be referred to by these epithets even after they are given the names of Phalager and Carnepsis, respectively. So Reaver is Phalager, Carnepsis is Guardian of the Lost, or yeah, whatever. I I also just like null. Yeah, it's very like it's very evocative, you know, because it's just like, oh my god, there's a cat bike. He scared me. I saw him in the in the camera and he scared me. Anyway, spooked. Spooped. I uh I'm so we're talking about death and null and spooky stuff, I guess. And then a black guy about you, and then a specter appears behind me. So as Reaver, and it's it's worth noting that as of right now, the names Phalager and Cronepsis have not appeared. So his aspects are referred to as Reaver and Guardian of the Lost, but that's what those are, you know. As Reaver, he is a lawful evil god who takes pleasure in the act of killing, which is normal. And for this reason, he is worshipped by many evil dragons, uh, and also blesses those who share in his enjoyment of killing. So this is, I think, a little bit more of the the god of death side.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Even though, like a classical, I I called out Greek mythology nerds, you know, which is not necessarily like like Thanatos from Greek mythology is not necessarily uh, you know, uh a sadistic, you know, killer type figure. But this seems to be more of the the death side.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So despite Reaver's uh explicit enjoyment of killing, he is working purely in accordance with the will of fate. So who or when he kills someone isn't actually up to him, but that's the lawful side. He just also enjoys it. Yeah, right. You know, do what do what you love, right? You know, like if you have to do it, you might as well have a good time, I guess. I mean, yeah, you might as well. Shit. The uh guardian of the lost aspect, null is of null rather, is the lawful neutral guardian of the dead, which makes sense given the name. Yeah, and as guardian of the lost, he is responsible for ferrying the souls of deceased dragons to whichever plane they are meant to go to based on you know their actions in life. So he's kind of like Karan. Yeah, he is kind of like the the draconic boatman in a way. I love that actually. I know, and this, yeah, it's really cool. And this to me is more of the like god of the dead side of it, you know. Yeah, um, and also it it states that he apparently makes sure that no dragon can be troubled by any enemies they may have had in life, and I don't really know what that's supposed to mean because like they're dead. What are their what are their like I know dragons are very powerful. What are their enemies gonna do? They're dead.
SPEAKER_03I guess maybe they could try and interfere with their uh traveling to the plane that maybe they're supposed to go.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. Yeah, it's not unheard of for you know things and people to traverse the different planes both because they can and because they want to go after something. So true. Yeah, it could be ideas. Imagine that you know, if someone was like trying to hunt this dragon because they killed their family or what have you, whatever, yeah, and they found a way to get there that they would at least try.
SPEAKER_03Like now, yeah, you don't get a peaceful afterlife? Absolutely not, yeah. Right.
SPEAKER_02Just be like, nah, bitch.
SPEAKER_01I don't think so. But no, they would they would have to contend, they would have to contend similarly to when you try to fight Karen in Hades, and you would be like, that was a bad idea to do that. Yeah, they would have to contend with with uh with null, yeah. Um who's like a level 40 something? Whoa, I think he's like he's like a level 18 wizard and a level 22 priest or something.
SPEAKER_03That's still pretty impressive, even though it's it's not it's not good.
SPEAKER_01Umikes because of his sort of his whole stease, he's worshipped uh in his Guardian of the Lost aspect, is worshipped by many dragons of all different alignments, and sometimes will receive offerings from dragons with recently departed loved ones because you know he's taken their souls to the afterlife kind of thing. Yeah, though ironically, we will learn later that this is probably not really a thing anyone has to do. He doesn't really tend to care about stuff like that. So, regardless of his aspect, um, this is so sick. No is described as a huge region of impenetrable darkness in the shape of a dragon, which is the most metal thing I've ever heard.
SPEAKER_02A huge region of impenetrable darkness in the shape of a dragon. What the hell?
SPEAKER_01That's insane. Right, I love it. He produces a chill in the air around him, and it's said that simply touching him results in instant death, which makes sense.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Another epithet of his is Deathworm, spelled with the Y, you know. Y'all know. Right. And he is regarded as a greater power of Gehenna, which is one out of plans, and his symbol is a circle divided by a diagonal line into a black and white semicircle. Oh, okay. Kind of like a kind of like a like a tilted half moon a little bit. Okay, okay, got it. Right. Yeah. I literally I've literally thought about drawing a picture in the notes, but I was like, I I don't need to do that. Nobody, nobody wants to see that. Um, so that's that's that's null. That's kind of the I like throughout throughout my notes, like I I kept for some reason going back to the to the image of like this being like the holy trinity, except it's not. It's really not. But in my head, like this is God, and then the other two are like, or this is like the the father, and the other two are the son and the holy spirit, but that's not actually how it works. But this is kind of like the overarching, the big one, you know, right. Um, so uh anyway, so Pranepsis and Phalager as individuals are first mentioned as completely standalone beings in monster mythology, which was published in 1992. And in this, they are not treated as being aspects of the same god, and they're not even really connected in any way. Like there's there's a note in one of their entries about like kind of the relationship between them, is in like how they feel about each other, but there's no mention of them being connected, much less part of the same being, right? But the the the vibe is definitely the same between the Reaver aspect to Phalager and the Guardian of the Lost aspect to Core Nepsis. So, like, and it's yeah, anyway. So, but but but it's worth noting- They don't know what they're doing, yeah. But it's worth noting at this point, these are like two disparate concepts, like this null, yeah, this multi-aspected god named Null, and then these two other draconic gods, not connected yet, not connected yet, and and likely at this point not intended to be connected, not intended to be connected, yeah. Um, so Phalager is classified as a neutral evil lesser god and is described as a uh wretched being that has lost the ability to fly but still exudes a terrible sort of beauty. Like they call him beautiful like five times in the thing. Well, maybe he's just fucking gorgeous. No, like fucking gorgeous. Apparently he is, despite also being wretched and described as like crawling around like a look.
SPEAKER_03I've I was on Tumblr during the heyday. I've seen many a beautiful man described as wretched.
SPEAKER_01That's so true. Like he's like a I can't, I can't think of a I can't think of a like a male celebrity that that fits that that look, but like I'm sure I'm sure y'all can think of someone who has that sort of look. So his avatar, Fowler's avatar, is a large sleek dragon with scales of midnight blue tinged with silver, bearing vestigial wings, and can also polymorph into a quote handsome human or comely elf. Cool. So yeah. I I I I like I can I can visualize sort of like a like seeing like a very like a very like a very beautiful crocodile, you know? Like a very like a you know, very beautiful crocodile. Like, you know, who who you're like, yeah, you're like that's a really impressive specimen, but also that's gonna be if I were a if I were a crocodile, I would want to fuck that crocodile. Yeah, but also I'm not getting near it because it's gonna eat me. Yeah, yeah. So his sphere is listed as that of undeath energy draining. Please don't clip that uh energy draining, decay, and exhaustion, which is like relatable. Um so he has a quote complex magical metabolism uh requiring a hefty stream of basically consuming the souls of the dead, people's energy for sustenance, which is tough, you know, like that would be tough if you wanted to maybe be a good person and do that. Fallisher does not want to be a good person and do that, but you know, right, like Tiamat and Bahamut, who we've maybe mentioned before, he is a child of Io. Io being the big one, the big the ninefold dragon. In many myths and stories of D D, he created the whole world. At the very least, he created dragons most of the time. He's he's kind of a he's he's kind of a big deal. Yeah. Fallager is a child of Io, but he hates both Tiamat and Bahamut equally, and make sure to say equally, and greatly fears Krenepsis. Oh, okay. Which is in the future. In the future, which is funny that we're talking about the future. Um, but anyway, he greatly fears Korepsis, which we'll talk about why. You can posit why in a minute. Right. So despite being evil, he's not even on good terms with Tiamat. He does not like Tiamat either.
SPEAKER_03So I mean, I understand though. He's like, he is in a weird way like opposed to both.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Because obviously Bahamut, he's ontologically sort of just completely opposite from yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um for some reason I thought Bahamut was lawful good. Oh yeah. No, I mean, but but yeah, like he's too good though. Basically, he's the okay, I guess since my camera's flipped.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, my elbow on Yeah, they're in the same, they're in the same column. Yes.
SPEAKER_03Whereas he and Tiamat are in the same row.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Oh yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. I guess I just think of I just think of evil as being which this is maybe a fallacy on my part, but I guess in my mind, evil is more dialectically opposed to good than chaos is to lawful, I guess. Fair. Because I feel like I would rather hang out with someone like as a I guess I'm even I'm not even really that much of a chaotic person. I just I just like staying at home. But like if I were a chaotic person, I would rather hang out with a very lawful person than being like a good person hanging out with a very evil person.
SPEAKER_03That's totally fair, but like within the realm of DD, you have to remember how much like devils and demons fucking hate each other.
SPEAKER_02True, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, they just hate like there's so much hate. I'm pretty sure Tiamat is actually lawful evil as well.
SPEAKER_03I I know that she has her moment or has her moments. That's not what I meant. They've gone back and forth on everything with with her because like I do know at various times she has been considered lawful evil and also chaotic evil, but she's also the god of chaotic dragons. No, she's the god of evil dragons, she's the god of chaos, I think.
SPEAKER_02The god of chaos, she's the god of a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER_03I you know what it doesn't matter. This isn't once again. This is not the Tiamat episode.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, there's we've done that. Yeah, we've we've been been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, bought the t-shirt with five head holes for all of her heads. So Jesus. So despite Fallischer's status as a lesser god, he's described as basically having grown in his power over time from all of the you know the consumption of life force and what have you. And he has a very literal interrelating of life forces into like power, basically, because you know a lot of like DODs sometimes and like a lot of fantasy stuff, do fantasy, you know, games, movies, whatever, right? Do that thing where like gods draw their power from like people believing in them, or you know, the like the life force of their their worshippers or whatever. But for Fallinger, it's very literal. Oh, like he consumes powerful thing, becomes more powerful, sort of thing.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01All right. Yeah, so he is described also as being very intelligent and a cunning master of disguise, notably less reckless than Tiamat, despite being uh uh a crawling around little necromantic creep, is less reckless than Tiamat and is also the draconic god that has actively meddled the most directly in human affairs in his sort of eternal quest to seek life force to sustain himself. So, like the the the the vibe in this being that even though Tiamat and Bahamut have worshippers, so on and so forth, like Pallager's getting in the weeds. Like he's going to the primaterial plane to eat people, you know? Yeah, he's whereas Tiamat and Bahamut are somewhat more hands-off, like you know, like yeah, Bahamut will go and like inspire his stupid paladins or whatever, and Tiamat will, you know, scheme, but like Fallager's getting up there to eat people.
SPEAKER_03I love that for him. I mean, I don't love that for everyone else.
SPEAKER_02He's hungry and says, I'm just gonna go get my food.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Yeah, Crenepsis, on the other hand, is a silent, dispassionate observer of all things. Don't take a shot every time I say the word dispassionate in this episode. You will hear it a lot. Oh no. He is a pure neutral, intermediate god. Note Fallager is a lesser god. Also, for reference, in this source book, Tiamat and Bahamut are considered lesser gods. Okay, Io is considered a greater god. I mean so Chronepsis is in the middle.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like I understand the reasoning, but also no. It does feel weird.
SPEAKER_01Also, no, it does feel weird, which in in looking at this, I noticed so many and so many supplements, Tiamat and Bahamut are considered like lesser deities, which just feels so weird to me. Yeah, I don't know if it's just because I'm I'm a believer in like dragon supremacy, but I'm like, ah, they should be like maybe not greater gods, not like Io, but like intermediate, maybe intermediate, at least. Pranepsis is an intermediate god. He is the dracana god of fate. Death and judgment.
SPEAKER_03I mean that that's some pretty uh important stuff. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I can't imagine we would leave that to a lesser god. Right, which is stuff that everyone has very simple, uncomplicated feelings about. Right. Yeah. Um so his domain, like his physical domain where he lives, is a uh just a great number of mausoleums in the plane of concordant opposition, which is where Io lives, you know, whatever, which are all filled with hourglasses, one for each dragon mortal and deity, which is so like I don't know, that imagery is so cool to me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um so much though.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Carnepsis is described as quote, knowing the future and fate of all creation at the end of time. Oh my god, I'm not gonna lie. When I read that line for the first time, it gave me chills a little bit. I was like, that's so metal. That is insane. Um so yeah, like all of them. Okay, at the end of time, okay. So all dragons respect him, obviously. Fallager is afraid of him because of the whole knowing the future and fate of creation and at the end of time, but no dragons really revere him in the traditional religious sense because again, silent observer, you know. Yeah, like he doesn't he doesn't really he doesn't exactly really do a lot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it seems like he doesn't really care about that. So, I mean, it's not like he's drawing his power from anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, he doesn't care about much, but dispassionate, you might say. Dispassionate, you might say, but despite that, I care about him a lot. So Kernepsis' avatar is described in monster mythology as a small black dragon with yellowed bones poking out from rotting skin with a magical brass harp floating over his head. Um he assumes this form uh sometimes to uh attend the death of a particularly exceptional great worm to do the whole like boatman thing, you know, helping their spirit to the afterlife, similarly to Null in Draconomicon. And this form, this little uh this little rotting black dragon, also sometimes will go to watch over graveyards where dragons go to die and will attack, you know, looters, grave robbers, whatever.
SPEAKER_02So um, does it mention the significance of the brass harp floating in its head? Okay.
SPEAKER_01It does. So the uh harp plays at the will of Crynepsis, just on its own, and can use calm emotion, symbol of persuasion, and wall of force. Oh, okay. The Avatar also has a disintegrate-based breath weapon and can use the ability that's called Slay Living at will, which is like, all right, sure. Slay living. Slay living. That's I can only guess as to what that does. Right, that's how I stay living. But yeah, so like living. Just don't. Just don't. Just don't. Also, uh, worth noting, usually when he goes and does this stuff, he turns himself invisible. And because he and because he's a dragon god, like he doesn't, you know, like it's it's the highest tier of invisibility you can get. So, like, you know, yeah, I mean, yeah, you're not even gonna know he's there. Imagine you're dying and you don't know if there's some guy there just watching you, just watching you. Like, granted, he's one of your gods, so it's like fine. It's fine, but he does he does do it invisibly, which is funny to me. It's still a little creepy.
SPEAKER_03Why are you why are you gonna do it invisibly, my man?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right? There's no sense in that. There's just this little black dragon sitting in the corner, just like, can you hurry up? Like, dude, I have like literally someone else is gonna die in like two minutes. I need you to. Yeah, he's got his little hourglass like watch on, and he's like, Can we hurry up? Now, uh, so where where it gets really interesting here in this book, and I wish they did more with this in later expansions. Expansions? This isn't Final Fantasy 14, you fucking idiot. Books.
SPEAKER_03I like how you said that like Final Fantasy XIV is the only thing that gets expansions.
SPEAKER_01It fills the same niche in my brain as saying like additions, though, is the thing. Fair. Um, there's a connection here that I really love drawn between Io and Cronepsis. So the book talks a lot about Io's multi-aspected nature as the Ninefold Dragon, because the point of that is meant that he is meant to be that he encompasses all alignments, all aspects, all aspects. You know, most dragons believe that he created everything, right? Even though in in in in K Fabe, it's not necessarily always it's not always Io. It's not always Io, it's always not all like not always 100% clear that he did make everything.
SPEAKER_03Right. Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_01The book does say don't argue with a dragon about this, though. So which is I would recommend not right.
SPEAKER_02I would recommend not arguing with a dragon about pretty much anything.
SPEAKER_01Pretty much anything, right?
SPEAKER_03What if they like to hoard spirited debates?
SPEAKER_02I mean, okay, in that case, fine. Just make sure you know, know your limits.
SPEAKER_01Watch out. You know, as it talks about Io's sort of multiplicity and how he sort of encompasses all these ideas and all this stuff, it sort of it cites that there's some draconic myths that portray Carnepsis as sort of the reunfolding of that multiplicity. And I'm gonna read the full quote here because I think it fucking bangs. Just as Io has become all things, Carnepsis draws everything back into himself. Sometimes fittingly, these two are seen as brothers and represented together in a very complex symbol, which has at its center the image of a nine-headed dragon with a ninefold forked tail, each head swallowing a tail. That fucking that's so good. It's so I would get that tattooed.
SPEAKER_03I hate you.
SPEAKER_02Hey, Jinx.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so I guess we're getting matching tattoos now.
SPEAKER_02I guess we're getting matching tattoos.
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_03But but also like, but if you're gonna do it, I feel like it may as well be a nine, uh, a nine-headed dragon eating nine tails. Yeah, it's like fucking slaps. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But unfortunately, they don't really come back to this anytime later. And I think I think it's sad, but I do think it it's sad. It's fucking sick. Crenepsis and phalager rejoin as null in Cult of the Dragon, which was published in 1998. So this is the first time that the names Cronepsis and Phalager are attributed to the aspects of Null. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03So I guess they kind of decided six years later, let's consolidate this.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But also again, this is the sort of thing where like Cult of the Dragon was made for Forgotten Realms, right? So I guess they kind of just looked at like Carnepsis and Phalager, who were these two Dracon, like draconic gods that were associated with death in some capacity, and they were like, what if we just took these and put them here? And then they just put them in the same guy. Um yeah, they were just like, let's make these two guys one guy. One guy. Uh one guy that's already existed. So it's it's funny because the the names Core Nepsis and Fallager are stated to basically be attributed to his aspects only in obscure texts. Right. And so generally the the the source material prefers using the names Reaver and Guardian of the Lost for these aspects, but it is stated that Cronepsis is the Guardian of the Lost and Phalager is Reaver. It's just said that in universe they don't use those names as often, kind of. And it's doing that thing again. It does that thing where DD is kind of like, we're just gonna say like three seemingly contradictory things very close to each other. And then you have to figure it out, and then you can figure it out. It's also suggested that these might be the names of completely different deities, which is like that's not what you just said, or simply null's name in another crystal sphere, because we're talking about crystal spheres, but also in the overview section, it says, uh, I paraphrased this a little bit, but uh, or like I redacted some of this a little bit. It says, quote, in the outer plains, it is common knowledge that null is, in fact, two different deities known as Phalager and Crinepsis. So I guess people that aren't from the outer plains just don't get it. DM. DM. I did write the DM in there.
SPEAKER_03In fairness, I feel like that that is so apt for like anything planescape.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, like it's it's just like if you don't un if you're confused, you just don't get it. You just don't get it, man.
SPEAKER_02I don't know.
SPEAKER_01If you're if you're if you're not from New York City, you just wouldn't understand type shit, which is confirmation that I am not from the outer plains, despite much evidence to the contrary, because I don't get it. Yeah, but yeah, no, same.
SPEAKER_03My guess is that it is sort of referencing the fact that they did use to exist in previous like iterations as completely unique individuals, and also sort of playing into that whole religious interpretation of myths, yeah, crystal spheres, you know.
SPEAKER_01It's so weird. Yeah. Well, and also Null gets like both like all of their portfolio stuff and a little bit more, one of which really makes me laugh. Um, so he has a portfolio in death, the dead, decay, exhaustion, energy draining, fatalism, judgment, necromancy, and undeath. That is not oh nine. Oh fatalism, fatalism. Fatalism.
SPEAKER_02What is the but okay?
SPEAKER_01Fatalism is uh like when I keep making jokes of never mind, yeah, yeah, it's that, or like the whole like it's kind of just like very grim nihilism, basically. Yeah, one could say it it is sort of like resigning oneself to the inevitability of death, but in like a not a good way, not not necessarily in a nihilism is when it's like we're all gonna die.
SPEAKER_03We're all gonna die. Yeah, I will do nothing about it or make use of my time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So he has two symbols appropriately, one being the black and white circle thing, and the other being a draconic skull, because you know, death or whatever. And obviously, these are associated with the Guardian of the Lost and Reaver, respectively. And this is the point in my notes where I started abbreviating Guardian of the Lost because I was like, I can't do this anymore. Yeah, but I do think that in this book the Reaver aspect took his personality in the divorce or the reverse, whatever. Um I see that you wrote that out. Yeah, I did. Sometimes I ran out, sometimes I ran out my jokes. Same.
SPEAKER_03I just wanted to point out that reverse is written out, it is just divorce but with a re.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Um so the faith of Null uh has been in decline for many centuries because you know, Cult of the Dragon is all about the titular cult, Tiamat's cult, whatever. And Null has been sending agents of his faithful to infiltrate Tiamat's cult in an attempt both to bolster his dwindling faith and also to get one over on Tiamat because again, he really hates her. Yeah. And he also hates Pomet. Uh-huh. You know, whatever, it's fine. He hates all of them. Um he hates everyone. He hates everyone. Also, apparently, they are now considered to be siblings. So Null, the multi-aspected god, is one of the children of Io. Okay. So, you know, whatever. Which, you know, I think that being siblings explains the hate more, I guess. To me. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Rather than Only Child, only child.
SPEAKER_01Okay, okay. My I was about to only child syndrome. I was about to say my parents are divorced, like that means anything to the discussion. Um, I've heard lots of people with divorced parents that have siblings. I have some half siblings. Yeah, but you didn't get raised alongside them. Someone, someone having really terrible beef with their sibling makes a lot more sense to me than than someone having terrible beef with like oh wait. Well, actually, technically, technically, Phalager is from um monster mythology is Tiamat and Bahamut's sibling, but also nul than existence. See, this is why it's weird to me. Because I have to remind myself which one of these was in this was in which thing sometimes.
SPEAKER_03And I'm complicating things by calling you out. It's fine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, how dare you, how dare you call me out for the crime of being an only child? Being an only my parents not having more kids because they got divorced. Um, so anyway, uh also apparently they used to be allies, but there was some kind of beef that happened, and now they hate each other. Okay, that also makes a lot of sense, especially for siblings, which is siblings coded. Also, apparently, this whatever event put a put a riff between them happened before recorded history. So, like nobody even knows, they just hate each other. He also hates most of the other draconic gods, with the exception of a demi-power named Kausarinad. Uh yeah, it's fine. Who is a a draconic, basically a draconic demi-power of like magic and shit, who is purported to have helped Samaster create the first Draco Lynches, but he's dead now, so Null has no friends. Yeah, well, the only the only which he was uh um this uh Calsen Cal Kals Rayinad or whatever was also his his role was subsumed by Kareska. That name is familiar of Koreska's favor weapon from Baldur's Gate 3, best in slot for caster weapon fame, who is like another draconic demi-power of magic and shit. Go one episode without referencing Baldur's Gate 3 challenge impossible. So, while mention is made of the fact that his Guardian of the Lost aspect has a role, you know, as a draconic boatsman of sorts, it's definitely overshadowed by his characterization as this Reaver aspect. And it also doesn't like there's a lot about this that doesn't make sense to me because, like, you know, it talks about the dogma of the Guardian of the Lost being all about the inevitability of fate and death, which to me does not sound like someone who would be a huge fan of uh necromancy, right? Um, and there's also no explanation on how these aspects like work on a mechanical level. Like, it's never it's not really explicitly stated whether or not like this is sort of a just a wholly the same god worshipped in very different lights by different people, nor is it explained that this is like um like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of thing, you know? Right. Which to me a lot of the time is like fine when D D doesn't really get granular like that. But there is a lot, there is a lot that doesn't gel because also it it's sort of the description of his personality in this in general is uh an arrogant being who holds grudges over slights that eventually blossom into burning hatred, which is relatable. And you know, kind of it leads me to believe that however this is supposed to work mechanically, that Reaver is kind of in the driver's seat most of the time because a the the sort of like cult scheming and necromancy and being angry at everyone, it doesn't really fit the dispassionate angel of death that he previously was sting, you know what I mean? Yeah, like it feels like there would at least be some conflict, I think, between his aspects. I don't know, but I don't know if it's supposed to be like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type thing or or what, but you know, whatever. Um Right. So, okay, so this book, despite my gripes, also provides really interesting insight into the faith of the night dragon, which is another epithet for Null. Okay. So all dragons revere his Guardian of the Lost aspect to some degree, and any dragons who venerate Null are able to cast and are able to cast priest spells are part of are considered part of his clergy, which is largely unorganized. Like he doesn't have like a uh color me shocked. Yeah, yeah, right, yeah. So the few um shadow dragons and Draco Liches who directly serve him are known as Annihilists, which is crazy. Um, and they are granted a whole host of shadow and death related spells, you know. Oh yeah, just you know the normal stuff, shadow walk, energy drain, finger of death, yada yada. Yeah, all the good fun stuff. The easy yeah, the nice, the nice normal ones. Um, your everyday spells and the daily lives of priests of null, especially considering that it's not really an organized church thing, are pretty much like the typical dragon. So, you know, sleeping, hunting, acquiring treasure, looking at treasure, thinking of getting more treasure, being jealous of your neighbor's treasure. Laying on your treasure, laying on your treasure, eating it, maybe. I don't know. And I mean some, sure. Interspersed with quote necromantic investigations and the philosophical contemplation of death, which is so good. That is very good. That is quite the sentence. So temples to null are essentially draconic burial grounds, um, large existing in subterranean sanctums, littered with dragon skeletons, and sometimes pieces of their hordes that they carry with them to their final resting place. The spirits of these fallen dragons also protect the temples from looters and stuff. So um, don't. Might look tempting. Don't just don't. Um, and the most notable of these sites that is still in use is called the Well of Dragons, and I'm going to read this whole passage. Uh, the Well of Dragons is a vast natural cauldron located due east of the Skull Gorge that is concealed by illusory terrain except when bathed in moonlight. Countless dragons have gone to this ancient temple of Null to die over the centuries, some choosing to shatter themselves against the rocks in a fatal dive, and others choosing simply to peacefully wait for their imminent denouement. The Dire Dragon, an unusually large undead shadow dragon, although not a true Drakerlich, who layers in the well of dragons, is said by some to be the current worm of death. We'll talk about that in a minute, and to have been transformed into his present undead state by Reaver himself. Others claim this is simply halfling lies, but whatever the truth, the Dire Dragon has amassed an incredible horde, even for a worm of his age and power. The Dire Dragon is certainly capable of defending himself thanks to his mighty shadow magic, the numerous magical baubles he has gathered from the corpses of dragons who have perished in the well, and the secrets and stratagems revealed to him by those dragons who prefer to talk away their last few hours. Which is pretty sick. Yeah. Well, okay then. Yeah, that's also a thing about dragons. I maybe should have mentioned this earlier. They can choose when to die when they reach a certain age, and not in like a obviously sometimes in a violent way, evidently, but also just in like a normal way. Yeah. Like they can kind of decide, like once they reach like usually great worm age category, they can kind of essentially decide to just lay down and die, basically. Um you know. I don't know why you would, but it's uh tired, man.
SPEAKER_03When you're when you're like over a thousand years old, man, you get tired. Well over, like probably multi-thousand if you're a great worm. Yeah. Um, it sort of reminds me of like the ending to the good place.
SPEAKER_01I never finish watching the good place. I hate both of you, actually. Yeah, I have been thinking I have been thinking of watching it again. But but you know, it essentially the you can most of the like you know, and obviously it's only once they reach a certain age, but essentially a a a dragon can choose to basically just lay down, fall asleep, and then a few minutes later they just die. Wow, you know, or they can do that. Another notable site is the Crypt of Dragons, which is a gigantic underground tomb that is within a day's travel from the town of Help in Cormer, though the precise location is unknown for reasons that will become clear shortly. Um, it was consecrated ages before the Cult of the Dragon stuff, um, and seems to be the only remaining holy site to the Guardian of the Lost aspect of Null, though it has been centuries since a dragon was last interred within it. So in 1356 Dale Reckoning, a weaver from Help named Orncible Rommed, fantasy ass name. Orncible Rommed. Orncible Romed. And there's like several, I think, missing, missing uh vowels in here.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, uh there are um an upsettingly few amount of vowels.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So uh they the this guy and his two apprentices stumbled upon this this tomb, wherein both of his apprentices were killed by fields of crackling blue energy after they essentially made their way too far into it. Cool. Um, so Ornsible goes back to town and describes the tomb as having several mummified dragon corpses laying on top of piles of gold and gems and stuff. But but he himself disappeared shortly after making this announcement. And since then, agents of the cult of the dragon have been searching for the exact location of this crypt.
SPEAKER_03He said, I'm out. Or um or somebody else said that for him. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Someone else said, Nope, you're coming back and dying as well. I'm just gonna stay here. Yeah. What the shit?
SPEAKER_01So uh if anyone is interested in following uh the the faith of the deathworm, they even have holidays. Oh so yeah, occurring at most once per month is an event known as the drawing down, uh, which is a fortnight-long ceremony that begins on the night of the waning half moon, kind of like the symbol, during which dragons with recently departed loved ones will essentially like formally consign them to the guardian of the lost by way of like elaborate physical burials, which ends on the night of the new moon. Okay, and the less frequently occurring holiday is called the Nullification, which occurs on the day of a total solar eclipse. Okay, that's sick. I think they recently had one of these in Europe. I think they're very sorry for them because during this time, followers of the Reaver rampage across the land, and the individual who kills the most of the mammalian races is transformed into the worm of death, which we mentioned a minute ago, which is essentially a special undead dragon form that is similar to a Draco Lich. And this worm of death reigns as like the high priest head honcho of the faith until the next nullification, which could be a while because solar eclipses don't happen all the time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they also don't last that long typically.
SPEAKER_01So it's like it's like the day.
SPEAKER_03The okay. So it's I was thinking like maybe it followed the eclipse because like oh on the day of yeah, I think that's the idea. But also, you know the eclipse you could theoretically stay in totality for at least several hours. I can't remember.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but it's um I think it I think it's meant to just be like the day of, you know. But even then, I feel like a really big fuck-ass dragon could probably do a lot of damage even in like just a few minutes, yeah. Yeah, of an eclipse. Um, so for sure. You have those holidays to look forward to if you so if you want to adopt this faith.
SPEAKER_02Initially, I was like, oh cool, holidays. I think I'm gonna change my mind. As I am not a dragon, so I feel like I would be one of the ones to be massacred. And I I'm yeah, I don't want that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this um this this incarnation of null doesn't really um vibe with non-dragons. Yeah, he doesn't really have a lot for for non-dragons, though like he is he is revered by like necromancers, actually. So like if you wanted to get into necromancy. Yeah, maybe, yeah, maybe, you know, you could you could you probably learn some things. So with that, we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna take a break to go look up some easy necromantic rituals for the for the initiate. All right. Hell yeah. Hey everybody, thank you for listening to our episode on null and phalager and carnapsis. Uh we still have our affiliate partnership with Fanroll Dice. Uh, you can use code Dungeonpedia for 10% off of your entire order at fanrolleddice.com. We also have our Patreon if you would like to support us directly. It is at Dungeonpedia. You get access to a mini sode, and we also post our notes there.
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SPEAKER_01Tell your friends, tell your friends about the inevitability of death.
SPEAKER_02I mean, what friend group doesn't end up having that conversation at one point or another?
SPEAKER_03At least a few times when you're drunk in your 20s. True. Your 30s, probably. Also, I mean, also that, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And a big thank you to Alexander Nakarada for our theme song Blacksmith.
SPEAKER_03And with that, I think I want to go back to our conversation about death. Yay!
SPEAKER_01I turn around and mouth at my cat like he understands. I mean, he might know something we don't know. So the the first mention of our subject is but also just just just the one this time is in the appendix of Faith and Pantheon since was published in 2002. Like he's literally in the appendix, but he's there, you know. Um technically, and all the brother are your are your cats going crazy? He just like fully slammed himself into my patio door. He's fine, but he's like he's going fine is a word for it. He's he's he's he doesn't seem immediately injured, he's going sicko mode. Um, so noel, but you know, like he is just in the appendix, but all the all the important information is there. So null is listed as a lawful neutral greater deity. His domains are death, fate, knowledge, law, scaly kind. His portfolio is fate, death, and judgment. But again, like I said, he's just in the appendix. That's literally everything. Okay, so he he is he is formally described in a in a in a way, he's mentioned again. No, this is cool though. Uh, in the player's guide to Feyrune, which was published in 2004, as living atop the peak of the Dragon Erie, which is one of the neutral planes in the world tree cosmology. You know, right. Everyone knows everyone knows the world tree cosmology, everyone knows exactly what it looks like. Um I mean it's a tree.
SPEAKER_03I do recall that.
SPEAKER_01It's a tree. There's you know, there's there's there's branches.
SPEAKER_03Correctly, this is the one that I have described specifically as a fucking mess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, it is kind of a mess, but the the important part is that it's in the one of the neutral planes, so like not, you know, not not the hells, obviously, and like not you know, the the heavens, Mount Celestia, whatever, it's in the neutral plains, and it's also like the top most neutral plane, and so null lives at the top of the top of that. So most of the Erie is not formally claimed by one draconic deity, they just kind of they kind of just all hang out. Um, besides the peak, which is Knull's territory.
SPEAKER_02Um got up there and was like, y'all can have everything else. This is mine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but he he can have it because it's very cold up there. So while any draconic adherent can, you know, go to the dragon Erie for supplication, the cold-loving white and silver dragons are particularly drawn there. Um, and it's sort of sort of painted as the white dragons who are considered to be the least intelligent and most bestial of the of the various types of dragons, um, revere the aspect of null that delights in violent killings, you know. And the silver dragons revere the aspect of null that is sort of that that boatsman, you know. Uh the aspect that shepherds the souls of dead dragons to the eerie and hopefully says guides them beyond that point towards perfection, which I don't know if that's supposed to mean a reincarnation kind of thing or what the deal is. Um, but that's their their that's their perspective on it. So he he lives there, you know. He's at the he's at the top of the he's at the top of the the top of the mountain. So Cronepsis and Phalisher appear as separate unrelated entities again in the 3.5 Draconomicon, the Book of Dragons. There's a lot of these things. This isn't even the last one in this episode, um, which was published in 2003. And both are considered lesser deities, so they're on the same level this time. And this section will also include tidbits from the book Races of the Dragon, which was published in 2006, which adds some cool details about them and their faithful. So Cronepsis is again described as a dispassionate observer of the world, befitting his new symbol, which he maintains this one pretty consistently for the rest of forever, which is an unblinking dragon eye. Cool. Um, it's pretty cool. I like it. Um, his form, uh, his physical form is one without color or luster, which completely separates him from both chromatic and metallic dragons, um, which I think is cool. Yeah. He is said to pass judgment on all dragons when they die, but he is not concerned with justice, merely observing quote, what is and is not, which is so delightfully vague. Yeah, but like also kind of like cool. I think, you know? Because it's like it it's if it reminds me of Withers. Yeah. From Baldur's Gate 3 a little. Again, don't mention Baldur's Gate 3 Challenge Impossible, but that is kind of the vibe I get from a lot of the descriptions of of Core Nepsis, is like he just he just is is on some weird. Also, I feel like I didn't I didn't emphasize this enough earlier. He is described fairly consistently as being silent. He doesn't speak. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03He does not he does not speak, he does not reveal his specifically mention it, but I I got the vibes of from it.
SPEAKER_01In certain in certain books, he literally has the epithet like the silent. So like he doesn't speak, he does not share how he feels about things, he just watches. He's always watching. Yep.
SPEAKER_03I'm watching you, Azowski. Always watching.
SPEAKER_01The reason he doesn't speak is because he sounds like Bab. Um he's Roz from uh uh Monsters Inc. Yeah. So his worshippers are few because most dragons don't really gel with a completely neutral, dispassionate, silent observer. Because, you know, it could like chromatic and metallic dragons obviously trend very strongly towards their particular sides of the equation. They're very passionate, they're very passionate, you know, and also like there's a lot of because because obviously in in this conversation, there's a lot about like dragons and religion and like how dragons feel about religion. And it, you know, it talks a lot about how you know, even dragons who are good or dragons who are, you know, who do revere a god are also still dragons, so they're kind of naturally a little bit self-interested and a little bit full of themselves, which makes it hard to, you know. Yeah, like like, you know, most dragons kind of low-key a little bit think of themselves as gods a little bit, you know, yeah, which makes it a little hard to really buy into, especially like uh a faith in a god of sorts who doesn't really have anything to offer you in a sense of like power or eternal life or whatever. Because like Cronepsis does not give a shit about anything, you know what I mean? Right. Well, I say can't offer you power, that's not entirely true, but it's not like uh it's not like a bid that that you would be able to to get from a god like what's a good example, like a like a like appealing to uh you know to a god like uh like Bane, for example, you know, like some of your evil gods like Inogu or Magluviat or something. Right, you know, it's not the same type of thing that you can get from Crenepsis. Um, so he has no allies or enemies, though the closest he gets to the former is a deity. I don't know who this deity is. I'm so sorry, I just included this because it's funny. Um, a deity called Bacab the Uncaring, though, quote, neither deity cares enough to forge an alliance. You don't say which is really good. Interesting. I don't know who this macabre is, but I just think it's funny that they're like we would be friends, but like we literally don't care enough to hang out ever.
SPEAKER_02So uh he is the god of magic, arcane knowledge, balance, and foresight from Greyhawk. Okay, sure.
SPEAKER_01Interesting. He's he's too balanced, he's become so balanced he does not even doesn't even shift towards anything. I I like I just thought that was hysterical. Um, so fittingly, he's entirely uninterested in the affairs of the living world, and it said that it would take a cataclysm of world-ending proportions to move cronepsis to do just about anything.
SPEAKER_03Has anyone just asked him if like maybe he needs some SSRIs or something?
SPEAKER_01He didn't they did, but he didn't say anything, so they were like, Okay, he's fine. Okay, I don't I don't think he's depressed, I think he's just like that.
SPEAKER_03I yeah, but he seems depressed.
SPEAKER_01I don't think it would even be like you would pity him necessarily. I think he would just be like, he's just sitting there not doing it, he's just watching. It's kind of creepy, you know, when I'm depressed. So despite his number of worshipers being few, some dragons do choose to become clerics of Cronepsis and are rewarded with an incredible title, which was a prestige class, dispassionate watcher of cronepsis. Take a shot every time I say don't do that, don't do that, you'll die.
SPEAKER_03Um let it be known that we said to not take a shot. Yeah, don't do that every time Lewin says dispassionate because you will die.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there there is there is no passion, there is um dragons. Uh so most chromatic and metallic dragons, as we discussed a minute ago, are too predisposed to ideological extremes to attain this level of detachment. So most dispassionate watchers are gem dragons, which are you know neutral. Uh, you know, gem dragons, song dragons, fang dragons, dragon turtles, wyverns, and any other category of draconic creature that is more likely to tend towards a neutral alignment. Dispassionate observers tend to be excellent sources of advice and are sometimes called upon by other dragons to like resolve disputes between one another. And they similarly to Cronepsis himself, will oftentimes they will make their homes in or near dragon graveyards to protect those sites from robbers and uh defilers, what have you. Right. So despite Kronepsis' penchant for not involving himself in anything, um, he does grant his dispassionate observers abilities. Because, like I mentioned, this is a prestige class for dragons. Yeah. And it actually overwrites the individual's latent sorcerer class abilities because that's how dragons are kind of as of as of this, you know, source material, that's kind of how their spell casting is like treated, is basically like as like sorcerers, yeah. They're just very powerful sorcerers. So the class is, I think unsurprisingly, int-based class, intelligence-based class. Yeah. And they receive a lot of abilities related to observation and communication, like clear sight, comprehend languages, discern lies, etc. etc.
SPEAKER_02Um, yeah, so they're very mission is kind of funny because given that their goddamn doesn't talk, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But you know, they're communication. Right. They're kind of like, you know, they they kind of they kind of seem to me like they're, you know, they're kind of like, you know, like a like a wise, solitary monk living alone in the mountains type type beat, you know. So per racist of the dragon, worshippers of Krenepsis, so this is like your normal run-of-the-mill drag, usually dragons. Some some humans, presumably, based on a thing we're gonna talk about in a sec, also worship him. But this is like your typical person who reveres Crenepsis, not a dispassionate watcher. They don't pray in the traditional sense because they are aware of the fact that Cronepsis is not really that kind of God. Yeah. Um, because it doesn't really matter if you pray to him. It's not like he's gonna make you not die. Right. You know, so whatever. So uh his worshippers intend instead spend time meditating on the nature of life and death. And a common saying among them is quote, we begin to die the day we are born, end quote. Uh, which I would have thought was really deep when I was about 14. But I mean it's true, kind of. Kind of, I mean, it yeah. Kind of.
SPEAKER_03Well, I guess not from the moment we're born, more accurately, just from the moment that our cells stop replicating faster than they die.
SPEAKER_01Which I think is around like it's like in your 20s.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But also like in a spiritual sense, it's kind of true. And also, I don't know when that point is for dragons. Maybe it's never, so maybe they do. It may in fact be never. It may in fact be never, so they might start dying when they're born. Who knows? The only right mentioned for worshippers of Core Nepsis is a daily ritual where the the adherent turns over an hourglass at least once a day to remind them of the inevitability of their own time trickling away.
SPEAKER_03Um, it's a very nihilistic group.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, oftentimes this is done before bed. And the specifically, it gives an example that makes it sound like this is a human, this is like a human woman doing this. Because it posits that a worshiper might turn over her hourglass before she gets into bed and then kind of contemplate it for a couple minutes the next morning, which most dragons don't sleep in beds because they don't make them that big. So that sounds like a human woman.
SPEAKER_03Exactly.
SPEAKER_02I guess, but oh yeah, that's true. I guess some dragons do that. Silver dragons are gonna be freaking.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but that definitely did make it sound like a human woman. Also, a little bit like the thing is is that on the surface, I feel like just a straight reading of it does make it sound very like dank not dank, but like dank nihilistic in a in a not in a dank way, but like, you know, in a in a in a negative kind of way. Yeah. But like kind of my my reading of it is very like like not like fatalistic nihilistic. No, kind of, not exactly, not like positive nihilistic, like not that funny image that's like oh no, like the that's my fatalistic nihilistic. Yeah. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Like more nihilistic, less fatalistic. Yeah, it's yeah, like it's not like that that that one funny uh thing of like that really gnarly looking dude being like, nothing in life matters, but like but it's still not quite like nothing in life matters, yeah. It's not quite like depressing.
SPEAKER_03It's kind of very neutral, nothing in life matters.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it kind of just it is what it is in a sense. Um, so by contrast to Crenepsis' detached demeanor, uh Pallager is again incredibly involved in mortal affairs. He's all up in that, and actually has the most non dragon worshippers and followers of any draconic deity besides Tiamat and Bahamut, who of course are doing their thing. Right. He is often worshipped by necromancers of all species and is credited with either outright creating various kinds of undead dragons, such as Dracolitches, Vampiric Dragons, yada yada. Right. Or at least having a hand in creating them. He was in the lab. He was he would he said, We live a long time, but what if I told you we can get even longer? That's literally his pitch. That is literally his pitch. Like his his dogma does revolve around the extension of life through necromancy and rites and rituals associated with his fate pretty much all involve necromancy. It's raising undead servants, trying to become a lich or something. He's very, very into necromancy. Very into necromancy. Yeah. And his temples are, of course, dark places far beneath the earth, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, where dead things are. Where dead things are, and where you will not be immediately found by everyone in town if you're doing necromancy. Yeah, exactly. Um he's very very singular in his interest there. So we're gonna take a quick sidebar to go to Eberon. Because these guys are in Eberon.
SPEAKER_03I'm so super not surprised because Eberon, very big on dragons. Very big on dragons, you know, considering the world is made from the corpses of dragons.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, so the the the sort of two things we're gonna we're gonna use uh here are the Eberron campaign setting, which is published in 2004, and the book Dragons of Eberon Eberon, sorry, which was published in 2007. So Phalager is one of the dragon gods who it basically are the it's been a while since since like I've brushed up on my Eberon cosmology. Right. Um, but essentially the the dragon gods are the middle tier of the draconic faith of Thear, I think would be how you pronounce it. I think so, yeah. So the the the upper tier are the progenitors.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I didn't oh I didn't write their names down.
SPEAKER_03Um but they're the they're the I I mean one is named Eberon.
SPEAKER_01It's like layout uh Cyberus, Eberon, and kyber. Kyber is the yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, um, so the progenitors are kind of the highest tier, and it's it's essentially considered that it's sort of sacrilegious to pray to the progenitors because well one of them is dead, and the other two, it's like they're too important. They're too. They do not have fucking time for you. They're too important, they're too busy. So a lot of the time praying either to the dragon gods or the lower tier of that, which is a sovereign, which essentially a dragon can ascend to after death, is kind of what you do. So very Catholic. Yeah, you gotta go through all the appropriate saints, and then maybe if you gotta escalate it to Mary, you can do that. You but like you do not have Mary, do not bother Jesus. Do talk Jesus, do not bother Jesus, he is too busy. So um, Fallisher is one of the dragon gods, of which there are 12, and his domain is listed as being of death and decay, and that's me. That's it. He's there, that's literally it. They're just like, Yeah, Fallisher's here. Okay, um, yeah, pretty much. Yeah, he's just he's just vibing. He's vibing, and is again besides them both being dragon gods in this same kind of pantheon, not related to Kronepsis at all. The more interesting and mysterious of these two entities is Chronepsis, and by extension, we're gonna talk about an organization called the Eyes of Cronepsis. So his domain has shifted away from death mostly, though he is still said to judge the souls of dragons after death, and he has the ability to send a dragon down the path to become a sovereign, like we talked about a minute ago. But he's not like I don't like I don't know exactly like if it totally makes sense. Obviously, saying that someone judges the souls of the dead makes them sound very associated with death, right? But that's kind of it, you know what I mean? Like he doesn't control the die, and he only controls like one aspect of what happens to the dead, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03Otherwise, very hands-off.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, his his realm is much more into the fate and prophecy side of things, and I don't just mean lowercase p proper prophecy, I also mean uppercase P because some dragons of Eberron believe that he is the scribe and interpreter of the capital P prophecy, yeah, which is essentially the the evolving will of the progenitor dragons we discussed a minute ago. And it's just like uh it's the whole thing, it's a big fucking deal. It's like sort like part of like the establishing framework of playing in Eberron, like yeah, like it's it's like the the interpretations of things in the prophecy are like the moving parts of what happens in Eberron. Yeah, it's a it's a big thing.
SPEAKER_03If you've never listened to our Eberon episodes, you should go back and listen to that. Do that not just like not just for self-promo, but like not self-just self-promo, but also like Eberron is a very interesting setting and does revolve a lot around dragons.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it is very interesting for sure.
SPEAKER_01So the eyes of Crenepsis are a group of about 150 elder dragons, which are selected by the Conclave of Argonessen, which is essentially the draconic leaders of a big wild continent. Okay. It's fine. Um it it it seems that it's it's not necessarily always like the primary continent that people will often find themselves on, but it is very big and there's a lot going on there. And though the eyes are selected by this conclave, they only answer directly to Cronepsis. So even though the conclave has the ability to essentially select one of them once they've done so, that eye of Cronepsis does not have to answer to them. Right. Um, which is funny. Though Eberon, the book Dragons of Eberon, like directly states that they only act in dire circumstances, it also describes a lot of scenarios where they just sound like secret police. Um acting as both judge and executioner to any dragon disrupting the peace in Argonesson or sort of hindering the fulfillment of the prophecy, which again, some dragons, not all, there's a lot of theories about many things about the prophecy, but one of those is that Carnepsis is the scribe and interpreter of the prophecy. Right. Um, you can't disagree with him on that. Yeah, so it does say that they only act in dire circumstances, but it also describes them doing a lot of shady stuff. So I don't really know what to believe, and I'm kind of scared. It's fair, yeah, especially also because it's like they're they're elder dragons, they're very powerful, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's what Krinep, which there's also another note where like it it talks about because in in in Eberron, Chronepsis is not a big fan of necromancy, uh, you know, or any any other such means of like escaping your fate or your judgment or whatever. And it says that even though Chrenepsis is not a big fan of necromancy and that there is a chance that if you get busted for like doing necromancy, that one of the eyes of Crenepsis may come and kill you, it also says that there's no guarantee that there would be any direct intervention from the god because he might not exist. I don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_02I don't know what that means. He might not exist.
SPEAKER_01I don't know what that's supposed to mean. I don't know if it's just like uh I don't know what that means. Like, I don't know. I don't know what that means, guys. Like there was a note, there was a note immediately afterwards about like you know, DM interpretation of like various legends and stuff. But it's like but like he's there, he's in the he's in the the chart, he's in the list of all the dragon.
SPEAKER_03We read it, like it's there.
SPEAKER_01He's there, he exists. Now whether or not he might not exist, whether or not he's gonna he's gonna come down from his his whether or not he's gonna leave his his fuck ass mausoleum and do anything is is neither here nor there. But like you just said he's he exists, he's in the chart, he's in the table because there. But maybe not, who knows? I don't know. Um, so anyway. There's no telling, man. Yeah, there's no telling. So we're gonna we're gonna talk about fourth edition. This might be a speedrun of the fastest fourth edition discussion ever, because I hate this. I'm okay with that. Yep, let's go. Speed run it. So, fourth edition, Drink and Navacon, Chromatic Dragons, published in 2008. They're Exarchs now. Chrenepsis is an exarch of the Raven Queen and can consume both dead and undead souls. I don't know what the implications of that are. Uh Phalager is an exarch of Vecna and knows special dragon secrets, like about necromancy. I'm bored. Moving on.
SPEAKER_03Okay, time it. I'm pretty sure that that was our fastest fourth edition speedrun. And I'm proud of us. We didn't interrupt with any commentary.
SPEAKER_01We just got through it. Like, it's fine, whatever. I'm bored. Moving on. It is boring and it explains. Yeah. Like the, but they're they're pretty much doing the same thing, you know. They're just down a tier. Like fuck them up, except for the thing. Yeah, they didn't decide. I mean, they the and the the deities kind of the deities make sense. Like the Raven Queen kind of makes sense in association. Kind of Vecna makes sense, but you know, like it's not like they decided to suddenly make Crenepsis want to go outside or something. Um, but it's just kind of the especially the concept of a dispassionate observer being an exarch. I guess kind of going out and doing things for another deity does feel weird. Yeah. Um, whatever. Anyway. So, as a fifth edition, the only one of our subjects with more than a trace amount of information is Crenepsis. There was some weirdness. I feel like I should mention this. It's it's it was a weird, it was a weird thing. I I it took me like two days to try to sort through some stuff with this one book. Um, so there was a book called The Book of Dragons, which was published in 2025 by the publishing company Dorling Kins Kindersley. I that's relevant. That according to the like the wiki mentions Null and Fallisher, but I wasn't able to get access to it due to its recency. Right. And it also doesn't seem like there was anything really changed. Like I'm sure Fallisher is still a necromantic freak, and null is whatever.
SPEAKER_02Um necromantic freak. Uh that yeah.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say that's mean, but you know what? That's fair. It's pretty accurate. But there's also some weirdness because, like, if you if you google the book of dragons, even with the release year, there's another book with the same title that was also released in 2025 that has lots of available PDFs, but it's not the same book because it has a different cover, different authors, and it also seems to mostly be a compilation of information about different dragons, including a lot of art from older editions that has been rendered in very poor quality. Um, and it also contains no mention of the you know the subjects of this this episode, but it does have one art from the 3.5 Races of the Dragons, Races of the Dragon, rather, um, that is art of the example art for the dispassionate observers of Korepsis and refers to them as such in the like description of the image. I feel like there's a specific name for that thing, but whatever. But that's it. Like it doesn't talk about Krenepsis himself or Phalager or Null. But I think this also confused some other people that I saw posting about the Dorlan Kindersley release on forums. Like, you know, so and it also like this was compounded by the fact that it seems like Wizards of the Coast did not promote the Dorlan Kindersley book release like at all, which apparently is not necessarily unusual. But this kind of went so far as to lead people to question whether or not the release was even like real or official.
SPEAKER_03Um, which it seems it is, like it has all the it has all the necessary trademarks, and so far wizard hasn't hasn't sent a C Synthesis.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but also it it's very confusing, but it doesn't seem like there's anything particularly earth-shaking happening in there, but I did feel like I should mention it. Yeah. Um, because like I'm so sorry, like I wasn't gonna I wasn't gonna buy it for like $40. And like and then wait for it, and then wait for it to come here probably after this, even after we're even streaming. So I'm so sorry. Yeah, no.
SPEAKER_03Like if it's as poorly marketed and stuff like that, that means it probably was it. I mean, I'm assuming you already did did all this looking it up.
SPEAKER_01Wasn't available at any of the local libraries, wasn't available uh on any of the um online libraries, and has a and has a has the same name as another book that came out in the same year for some fucking reason. Anyway, so the meat of interesting developments is with Cronepsis. So FizzBond's Treasury of Dragons, which was published in 2021, good supplement, which is meant to be a supplement for DD at large, again, as opposed to Forgotten Realms specifically, but it takes a lot of time offering insight for different dragon-related things, kind of how they would work in different settings, you know, including like Forgotten Realms, obviously, yeah, Eberon, OEarth from Greyhawk, so on and so forth. Right. Um and it outlines a concept that sort of informs a lot of the changes to Core Nepsis. And this concept is called dragon sight. This is a phenomenon wherein a dragon becomes aware of the existence of various other incarnations of themselves across different worlds in the material plane. Because again, this is all about multiplicity, right? Oh, we're it's uh it's kind of like the start of the episode where we talked about Io. Uh Oh good job, Lewin. Good behind. I totally meant to do that. Yeah, definitely, definitely playing. Definitely, and it and obviously, this this awareness usually comes into like later on into a dragon's life, you know, when they get older and wiser. And it can progress from a passive awareness to the ability to communicate with these other incarnations. So Krinepsis is proposed in this book to not necessarily be a true draconic god. In fact, they kind of explicitly say that he's not, but uh is instead an incredibly powerful great worm who used his highly developed dragon sight to aid in his consumption of several of his other incarnations before he eventually became powerful enough to leave the primaterial plane and settle in the outer plains.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Um so he just said, Oh, look, I have other incarnations. I'm gonna eat those.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm gonna eat them to increase my power. Okay. I mean, sure. And then he and then he fucked off to the outer plains. Um, and specifically, he he fucked off to a specific area that puts him in the supplement Sigil and the Outlands. I hate that pronunciation. Sigilescape, Adventures in the Multiverse, which is published in 2023, by way of his mausoleum, which exists outside some of the gate towns, like outside the gate towns surroundings, uh, sigil, sigil, whatever fucking god. So in this, also it it does refer to Cronepsis as a god. In this, it refers to him as the draconic deity of time and fate. So again, we're much more in the time, fate, prophecy, whatever side of things than death. So whether or not they're leaning into the chronos of it. Yeah, they're leading into the chronos rather than the sepsis. Um okay, but whether or not this is this is meant to be like a because obviously the the the fizz like FizBond's treasury is meant to be like a general DD thing that can be applied to a lot of different settings. Whereas, like, you know, this is very specific. Like it's you know, it says on the on the tin, like Planescape Adventures of the Multiverse. Right. So whether or not this is just then being like, okay, we want him to be a god here, versus uh supposed to be a statement on maybe him growing in power over time after he went to the house. Like maybe he went back and ate more of his other selves. I don't know. Um got bigger, but he's a god more powerful, yeah, more powerful. Um, but he's a god again, I guess. Okay, good. So, you know, obviously in this mausoleum, he is surrounded by hundreds of hourglasses um that are each meant to represent the life of a dragon somewhere in the multiverse. Okay, I don't know how he has them for every dragon in the multiverse, but he's got them. But he's got them. He's got him.
SPEAKER_03Like I was I was okay when it was just in the one verse, but now that it's the multiverse, no, it's too many hourglasses.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it's also it also says here that he typically manifests as an ancient time dragon, which we're gonna talk about in a minute. Okay. Um and as per is his is his norm, prefers to be left alone and does not leave the mausoleum very often, but he might rely on adventurers to you know recover stolen hourglasses or travel back in time to mend a wrongdoing, which was which doesn't really feel like a god of fate kind of thing.
SPEAKER_03No, uh unless like something went off kilter with fate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Which is, I mean, possible, but yeah, it can happen. There is there is, I think this is just me this can I make a confession, guys? Go ahead. This is a this is a piping hot take. Time travel as a as a thing in most like media uh-huh immediately makes me less interested.
SPEAKER_03I'm not a I think that's fair. I'm not a big fan of like I didn't actually want to watch the Avengers that much when I like the uh in-game when I found out that there was gonna be time travel. And actually they did it really well.
SPEAKER_01So I yeah, and like I'm sure like there's there's examples of some that I feel like does it like things that do it well. But you're automatically a little bit more skeptical that you're gonna enjoy it. But it usually is something that like unless it either does it particularly well or like it has to lean into it in the right way, but most of the time it becomes a plot point that then the thing has to overcome for me to enjoy it.
SPEAKER_03Yes, it's an obstacle rather than a than a storytelling device. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, which I I can understand that, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And that's that's my hottest take. Um, like it's not an immediate like no for me, but it is something that's clear. That and like that and like simulations, like it was all a simulation. Immediately I'm kind of like, okay, yeah. So anyway, time dragons. Yeah, time dragons, which the a good way to get to get me to get over an obstacle in enjoying something is to introduce is to attach the word dragon to it. So yeah, I mean um, so for time dragons, our last stop is not even really talking about Cronepsis directly, but is Morte's Planner Parade, Planscape Avengers in the Multiverse, published 2023. Yeah, um, Ancient Time Dragons, which Cronepsis' avatar is said to be, he can also appear as like a big black dragon, which I guess he was in life before he ate himself, his other self. Ancient times, yeah. But ancient time dragon is a gargantuan creature with silvery scales and a set of branched horns shining in rainbow colors, uh, representing the spectrum of paths that you know, time, you know, like time. Yeah, yeah, the different paths that can be taken. Yeah. So they can use their horns because they kind of they kind of you know curve up over their head almost in that like almost complete halo sort of shape. Right, love that um, right, love it. But they can use their horns to open a time gate once a day through which they and their allies can travel to any point within 8,000 years of the time the gate was opened. Now, this can either be created directly between the horns, which looks a lot cooler, yeah, or within 30 feet of the dragon, thus allowing the dragon to the dragon can use it. But it would be like, yeah, you have to.
SPEAKER_03That'd be super oroboro see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but you have to like awkwardly like get your, you know, get your tail in there first and then hope that you the rest of you can pull your pull yourself through Yeah. Yeah. So they also have a breath weapon attack with the property of disintegration towards non-magical items or vegetation. The idea being that it essentially causes it to waste away as though time passed very rapidly. Okay. And also a weakening effect on living creatures. That is to say, as though they've been uh desynchronized from the time stream. Um and it can also, like, by the time they're ancient, I think can also essentially produce an effect that's supposed to be like time freezing for them. So like reduces their movement speed to zero. The the the target of the breath weapon. You know, obviously, since they have the ability to travel through time, this gives them a very interesting, if somewhat slightly more detached, perspective on things, because you know, they're they're open, they're the you know, their minds are open towards so many different possibilities. Basically infinite possibilities. Yeah. So, you know, they have a little bit of a open of a yeah, they have a little bit of a different perspective on things. So that's Kranpsis's kind of manifestation often. That's his whole uh thing. Yeah. Um and other other like full-time ancient time dragons. Yeah, even though he apparently doesn't seem to really do that, he just kind of hangs out in his mausoleum looking at his creepy hourglasses and sometimes sending other people to do that, right? Um but he could if you wanted to, and that's important the important part, right? Which like relatable because I also don't like leaving the house. So but yeah, that's null slash chronepsis slash fallisher.
SPEAKER_03I like it.
SPEAKER_01Jesus.
SPEAKER_03But I do need to ask you one very important question that I have been holding off on asking. What? How many times did you type out cronepsis as crinepis?
SPEAKER_01Um never, actually.
SPEAKER_03Really? Because uh from like the second time I saw it, I kept misreading it as chronipus.
SPEAKER_01No, okay. I didn't I did okay, uh, to be fair, I didn't do that one specifically, but I did occasionally do um like switching the the P in the first S, like like the suffix that a lot of like ancient jawlish fish have, like Drepanaspus. I did do that a few times. Okay, so like Kronespis, yeah, I did that a few times, but the two S's never touched. So that's the important part. That's the important part. You can't let the two S's don't touch, you can't let the S's touch. But yeah, that's that's that's them. Those those guys, the the unholy trinity, but also not, but also not not even a little bit, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Very confusing sometimes.
SPEAKER_03Um unholy-ish trinity, yeah, but also still kind of holy. I don't know how to describe this. Yeah, they're they're dragons, the draconic trinity. Yeah, thank you guys so much for listening. Don't forget to follow us on threads, on Instagram. Uh, we have TikTok now, we do YouTube shorts now, various social media platforms. Spread the word to your friends, spread the word to your enjoyers of dragons.
SPEAKER_01Spread the word to your friends that you would be friends with, except neither of you can be bothered to be friends, but you don't have anybody else, so whatever.
SPEAKER_03Spread the word to your nihilists. We would absolutely appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Uh, if you have anything that you would like to suggest as a topic for us to cover, feel free to email us at dungeonpedia.podcast at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_01Thank you once again for listening, and we'll catch you next week here on Dungeonpedia.
SPEAKER_03Seriously, I don't care if it's not bringing up his name.
SPEAKER_01That might mean something.