Cronenrith of the Old Flesh (3.5e Elder Evil)
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Contents
Cronenrith of the Old Flesh[edit]
Background[edit]
Sentience is an emergent property of life. The complex chemical dance between cells brings an overall order the whole. Yet this intellect resides in spells specialized for it: neurons linked together to form complex webs and maps of thought and mind. It is a thing contained in its own patterns and not any produce of some external ghost puppeting meat from the outside world. At least, not in this reality. Woe for those whose world is ruled by mind-body dualism, for such a world was surely one which bore this horror, a legion of fell spirits all within one form. Believed to have been one, or perhaps many, demons of its world it possessed not merely a body but every part, every cell, and each scrap of flesh and bone. Organs grew enlightened to their reality, skin and muscle moved with their own intellect, and well fell magic they spread this gift to others, becoming what is now known as the Old Flesh.
The Old Flesh was born from a world where all flesh grew to the intellect and sapience of human, and gained the power to live independently of each other. Imagine the instinctual aspects of a hungry white blood cell, a hungry expansive tumor, and other body parts and grant them the power to change the world, and you will imagine the hell it has brought to life.
- Knowledge Psionics DC 30: This results reveals a story amongst psionic history, a tale of a man so powerful in the psionic arts that every part of his body was uplifted to great intellect. However one day his power grew so great his body rebelled against itself and went wild, transforming him to a giant of flesh.
- Knowledge Psionics DC 40: It is believed that the story of the powerful psion was true, and birthed a terrible being known as Cronenrith into the world. However this is not the history of your world, but of another. Deep in the void, the Old Flesh waits.
- Knowledge Psionics DC 50: The Old Flesh has sent pieces of itself across the cosmos. Each shard is naught but in power to itself, but is a powerful psychic presence within this world. It learns and grows, adopting more and more strength until the day it shall call its body to the world and join all beings as one into the Old Flesh. There they shall live forever and ever as uncountable minds in eternal perpetuity.
- Knowledge Religion DC 25: A deity known as Renatus exists, an obscure but helpful deity of Healing, Fleshcrafting, and Life. The religion speaks of a prophet from the stars who revealed the secrets of the body to its followers and blessed them with health and knowledge. Still some rumors persist that somehow the god had dark origins.
- Knowledge Religion DC 45: This result reveals that Renatus is actually Cronenrith of the Old Flesh, and that its worship brings its attention to the world.
- Knowledge The Planes DC 40: The Old Flesh may have once been a legion of infernal spirits who wished not to die and whose desire to live once more was so great they would possess any scrap of matter they could. And so in dark harmony with each other they did, and were about to spread their will to others with naught but contact.
Goals[edit]
All life is sacred. All flesh shall be the Old Flesh. Each element of life deserves to be awakened and live once more, and if it shall desire to work separate from others it shall. Thus it is the ultimate life, for it teems with intellect for all. Thus it is the ultimate freedom, for all life can choose to associate as it shall. Thus it is the ultimate anarchy, for no life shall be a mere cog in someone else's biological machine.
And thus the goal is the awakening of all flesh into the Old Flesh, to fuse and melt and combine and split, and thus through endless motion and chaos reach perfection of form. Thus it travels the stars, following the psychic beacons lit by its loyal shards it flings unto planets and consuming the populace of all life. It brings the minds of the living and the dead into one great biological body from which they shall experience eternity. One could almost say its purpose is benevolent in a sick and twisted way, offering an afterlife as one or more cells yet as fully aware as they were when they were living. But you are joining the Old Flesh regardless if you are willing or not.
Cronenrith of the Old Flesh in the Campaign[edit]
The Old Flesh can be seen as a warped benevolent thing by some, a desire to bring unity and peace or a true afterlife by rendering all living beings into a great immortal mass, free to interact or disassociate themselves as they see fit. Often it comes in the form of a cult or under the guise of a religion dedicated to Renatus the healing god, or it could even be a discovery of powerful psionics tapping into dreadful powers associated with bringing the souls of the dead back into the world of the living. It could even be an awaken spell somehow gone horribly, terribly wrong. Regardless of its origin, soon its dark herald appears and begins the process of calling the Old Flesh from the depths of the void. If they succeed, the world shall soon become barren of life and they shall join the Old Flesh within the stars.
Description[edit]
The Old Flesh is an unspeakably large mass of rolling ever-changing flesh, bone, muscle, and sometimes even inorganic bits. It is forged from a biosphere of quadrillions of beings fused together into one, and its surface bubbles with fragments of organs and limbs from hearts to eyes to entire people of all shapes and sizes. These constructs are temporary, for all the flesh is puppeted by the ethereal mass of souls that makes up the great and overwhelming psyche of the Old Flesh. When the time of its arrival is upon the world it appears within the sky, quickly filling up the entire heavens with its seemingly mass-defying bulk. Some say it is even larger than the planets it has begun to consume, and its hunger only grows with time.
Worlds ravaged by the Old Flesh are left barren lifeless rocks devoid of any biosphere, the vast majority of organic materials and living creatures taken up in the wave of meat.
Sign[edit]
Reforging of the Flesh
This sign heralds the presence of the Old Flesh through both the acts of its servants on the world, and the growing psychic sickness that afflicts it. More and more strange mutants appear on the world, massive and oversized forms of natural creatures or unnatural meldings of creatures such as owls and bears. Often this can be blamed on errant magic or the foolishness of wizards, but by the time their population becomes clearly the result of something much larger, it is often too late to stop it.
Faint: More dire examples of creatures begin to appear, as well as creatures a size category larger than normal or creatures of some hybrid nature such as the owlbear.
Moderate: Life blooms in unnatural fecundity. Plants begin to overtake the world in far greater numbers and speed than expected, and animal populations experience a boom. Even sapient creatures seem far more fecund than normal, with twins or triplets becoming more commonplace.
Strong: Creatures now begin to appear in larger and larger forms two or sometimes more sizes larger than normal. Legendary animals, giant beasts, and ambulatory plants take over the wilds and begin to encroach on civilization. The occasional kaiju sized terror begins to appear. Even normal animals begin to act oddly, with awakened examples naturally popping up in the world. These awakened creatures are loyal to the arrival of the Old Flesh instinctively, and use whatever means they have to bring their unawakened kin into line. In the distance, like a tiny star, something reddish-brown appears as a speck observable by telescopes or a keen eye.
Overwhelming: The Old Flesh has arrived, its bulk spreads across the sky from horizon to horizon. The world teems with life uncountable, and all plants, animals, and other creatures are awakened to its malefic intellect. Strange aberrations roam the earth and begin to subdue any who would fight against the Old Flesh. Soon, the world shall join the Old Flesh and they shall all become as gods.
Malefic Properties[edit]
Anathematic Secrecy: Immune to all divine divination spells and effects.
True Life: The presence of this elder evil banishes death and thus nothing ever dies, which means nothing can ever be revived. Any creature which dies within this area continues to live, but rather than perish their body begins to fall apart into 2d4 separate pieces which begin to act on their own. As they are not truly dead all pieces must be gathered and stitched back together to restore the original mind, which requires a DC 25 Heal check and at least 10 minutes of work. This leaves the reborn creature at 1 hp and stable, with the usual penalties associated with raise dead. True resurrection and similar abilities can return a body destroyed completely, which appears in 2d4 pieces and must be put back together, but the spells do not cost gp or XP for this purpose. This ability is always active.
Encounter Information[edit]
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Deities → Elder Evils
| Eiji-kunv |
|---|
| Author | Eiji-kun + |
| Identifier | 3.5e Elder Evil + |
| Rating | Undiscussed + |
| Sign | Reforging of the Flesh + |
| Summary | The Old Flesh was born from a world where … The Old Flesh was born from a world where all flesh grew to the intellect and sapience of human, and gained the power to live independently of each other. Imagine the instinctual aspects of a hungry white blood cell, a hungry expansive tumor, and other body parts and grant them the power to change the world, and you will imagine the hell it has brought to life. l imagine the hell it has brought to life. + |
| Title | Cronenrith of the Old Flesh + |
