In order to really get to know the night hags, the eternal gray misery of the three major
realms of Hades and the thriving markets of despicable evil where yugoloths willingly
transform themselves into fiendish magic weapons, first we have to understand that the most
commonly encountered species in hades are the Diakk, and it is unavoidable to compare
them, so lets just call them Hades Chickens, I mean, their origin is magically transformed
chickens formerly owned by the hag feylord Baba Yaga.
Baba Yaga is not the mother of all hags though, that would be the hag goddess Cegilune, an
excellent example of what happens to a goddess and her most powerful servants when all her
worshippers get murdered, in the hag mother's case, well I shall just read to you directly
from the Forgotten Realms wiki page on her, as it covers her history and the origin of
the different hag breeds, according to legend that is.
And I quote "Cegilune was thought to be related to the
other sylvan deities in some way, and was allegedly Titania's sister, although given
the existence of the Queen of Air and Darkness, this claim was somewhat suspect.
There was definitely some relation between the two, with a widely held belief, even among
gods, being that Titania and Cegilune were as light and darkness, and that to destroy
one was to destroy the other.
Others claimed that Cegilune was simply a supremely powerful night hag with god-level
powers, and it was also purported that she was the mother of the night hag race.
Some theorized she had gifted them with the ability to create altraloths so that they
could maintain their dominance over the Gray Wastes, although given her apathy towards
them this tale was often discounted.
Given that hags were a race of narcissists with a penchant for deception, any claims
regarding their history were self-aggrandizing interpretations at best and blatant lies at
worst.
Still, a myth held for the longest time by ogres and hill giants—which given Grolantor's
supposed dalliances with Cegilune were at least notable—potentially gave some hints
regarding the true nature of Cegilune and the hags.
When the world was dark and young, the fearful races prayed for protection from things that
haunted the night, and in response came the existence of the moon and the queen to rule
its light, Cegilune.
Worship of the silver-haired beauty, said to be as fickle as the moon itself, quickly
spread across the world to many races, and the moon goddess received much fear and love
from her worshipers.
Cegilune adopted as her daughters those followers who constantly courted her favor, the most
pious and physically pleasing priestesses whose attractive forms reminded Cegilune of
her own.
To them, Cegilune gifted powers to further her glory.
She granted her prophets the power to walk on water to spread her word; her evangelists,
called "songs", were granted beautiful voices to compel others to worship; and her protectors
the strength to protect other followers from attack.
However, the indulgent Cegilune made the mistake of growing complacent in her status, basking
in worship while rarely expending the effort to assist her followers.
Only when her supposed eternal beauty was marred by her first wrinkle did she realize
this miscalculation, as besides her devout daughters, all her former worshipers had moved
on.
The deities of distant lands were able to appeal to those embittered by the moon goddess's
vanity and neglect, who took pride in their divine patrons and the power that came with
their new allegiances.
The moon goddess's good sense was eclipsed by a thirst for blood and vengeance when faced
with abandonment and mockery, so she sent her remaining daughters, now aged and weakened
by the waning of her worship, to enact a crusade.
They slaughtered hundreds of her former worshipers, but this too was a massive mistake on Cegilune's
part—she was in no position to conduct a war, with her and her daughters outnumbered
by new deities and their devotees, and she was already lacking a source of new divine
power.
Thus, her holy war lasted for a brief yet horrible time.
Cegilune's tantrum only served to cement the world's contempt towards her, as well as exhaust
her stored divinity, devastating her beauty and leaving her a weakened crone.
She retreated to the darkest, loneliest pit in existence, and her remaining daughters
fled to the darker reaches of the world.
Cegilune's bitterness and hatred were infused into her divine blessings, turning the prophets,
songs, and protectors of Cegilune into the first sea, green, and annis hags.
Thus did Cegilune begin to brew her wicked schemes, planning revenge for the indignation
she suffered at the hands of the countless mortal races and the usurper deities that
took her place as the goddess of the night."
End quote.
Reminds me very much of what Guanadaur did when he went ballistic and burned the intelligence
out of 99% of the ooze species in the multiverse.
So, Hags are drawn to Hades, it is the evil version of Elysium, the flip side of the same
coin basically, it is the battleground of the blood war, rife with disease and roaming
bands of Hordlings, which definately will be covered by a video very soon, plus the
wretched Hades chickens, the Diakka and what passes for their nasty, bickering, wretched
culture, as Diakka are not unintelligent animals, they are sapient, but mostly quite stupid,
petty and too self involved to ever really organise themselves or do anything for the
greater benefit of their own kind, over their own selfish goals.
They are also so stupid that they reliably allow themselves to be fooled into serving
more powerful beings who invariably end up cooking and eating them after they are done
with whatever they conned the Diakka into doing for them.
Diakka collectively never learn this lesson, it just is not in their nature to think they
are going to be a victim of this same fate, they are too arrogant for that, their constant
fear and yet totally unrealistic opinion of their own power is both ridiculous and terrible
to witness... to the hags and other evil beings of the planes, the Diakka are easy pickings
and seemingly exist in infinite numbers, they know there are different types of Diakka but
don't really bother to learn much about what the diakka do when not being hunted, manipulated,
enslaved and eaten.
Thankfully, there is plenty of lore on this, but... its not from all from Dungeons & Dragons.
The Diakka lore is greatly expanded in Pathfinder, or perhaps has just done a much better job
of gathering the lore from old editions of D&D, Dragon magazine and dungeon magazine,
after all, Paizo published dragon for many years, so, I am going to break with tradition
and meld this stuff into the forgotten realms and planescape lore a bit better for you.
In the end, its just a better understanding of the Diakka and the nature of existence
in the Realms of Hades and lower planes culture.
Also, it's a bit of laziness on my part as I just get to quote some pathfinder lore for
you, but hey, it's Hades, expending effort is almost illegal in Hades, so I am on brand
for the theme.
There are three sub species of the Diakka, they are the common Carcene, the nocturnal
Varath and the rare, very intelligent Sarcox, so lets delve into some pathfinder homebrew
from the amazing Nicholas Herold from the Creature Codex on Tumblr and official (he
says with a hefty dose of salt) pathfinder lore!
First off, here is basically all you need, 5th edition stat block wise, for the Common
Carcene Diakk, in a nutshell the varath are taller and storklike.
The carcene are short and broad, more like squat pelicans with dodo looking head, the
head has a much larger brain case than any bird, the carcene have a deeper, burbling
croak for a voice, the varath have sharper voices, much like their sharper, stabbing
beaks that they use in combat, the carcene are more liable to just tear prey apart with
claws and their beak, their tactic is to swarm at prey and overcome with superior numbers,
on their own they are pathetic, cowardly creatures, but, they survive on Hades, there is no such
thing as a weakling creature that survives and thrives there like the Diakka do.
For this stat block, it can apply to either species, just use more stabbing beak attacks
for the Varath and more claw attacks for the Carcene and keep in mind, while technically
one species is more nocturnal than the other, in Hades, that doesn't matter, there is no
sun or moon visible in any part of Hades unless a god puts one somewhere for some purpose,
such as the artificial moon that Cegilune stages many of her powerful rituals under.
Oh important note, for planar travellers such as those adventurers reaching Hades from Toril,
your common tongue is next to useless there, unless you are talking with one of the many
beings who can understand and speak all languages, as common as darkvision on the world of toril,
you will need to speak or understand infernal, the Diakka speak it as well as the language
of the Night Hags that is spoken among them at the night markets...
yeah, the place has its own languages, its that old and that big... plus the Diakka speak
their own language, nobody bothers to learn it, also, technically you could play a Diakk
as a playable character species I guess, but I have to stress that they are not very smart,
an intelligence of 10 for a carcene is considered brilliant, the average intelligence is seven
or eight for most diakka aside from the Sarcox, the Sarcox would be unlikely to go on adventures
outside of Hades though, they are rare and generally stay away from other creatures.
The lore in the Monstrous Manual has some weird but cool art for the Diakka that certainly
went more humanoid and less avian, giving them a look more like Skeksis from the dark
crystal, which is not that far off, a lot of Diakka do clothe themselves in once fine
garments now little more than moldering rags and carry themselves with ridiculous pomp
and arrogance, they are also utterly cruel and merciless bullies who eat any creature
that is weaker than them and join in on the screaming maelstrom of Diakka and Hordlings
that swarm and devour much larger creatures that perish on the plane and of course, they
feed on whatever creatures that fall in the endless wastes of the blood war battle grounds,
the demons and devils don't leave behind corpses and flesh for the diakka but they certainly
bring a lot of creatures that do, the Slaadi included, who lose huge numbers from getting
a little too close to the action, as chaos and violence tends to attract them as it does
with Demons, who are drawn to violence like a magnet, the hordlings prove that quite well,
its only a matter of minutes before any combat in Hades draws in some damned Hordlings, once
you see one, just run for it, any direction, doesn't matter you are probably already surrounded.
So, every creature eats every other creature in Hades, including their own kind, this is
just normal in the lower planes, the Diakka are most commonly eaten because they are plentiful
and relatively easy to catch and kill, also, the meat doesn't spoil, its already packed
with disease and parasites, basically you just end up with piles of dead, Diakka meat
bloated parasites after a while, the nutritional value is about the same.
Creatures that need to eat in the lower planes can not afford to be fussy.
With the spells available in that stat block, the Diakka can make audible illusions, not
visual ones, and their powers are related to the nature of Hades to drain strength,
will and vitality, other than enervation and ray of enfeeblement as a touch attack, they
can use magic to jump, thats about it.
Their sound illusion is almost always used to make it sound like there are many more
Diakka close by, on the way, used when a diakk is caught all alone and freaking out that
it is about to get murdered.
Diakka all cast a version of ray of enfeeblement, its just not a ranged attack, otherwise exactly
the same.
On a hit, the target deals only half damage with weapon attacks that use Strength, but
at the end of each of the target's turns, it can make a Constitution saving throw against
the spell.
On a success, the spell ends.
Note this does not confer immunity to that Diakk's further use of this power, or any
other diakka.
OK so the carcenes are also known as “broad diakka”, as they are the squatter and more
muscular of the two species.
Carcenes are smaller and slower than their varath cousins, but are stronger and more
magically gifted.
The feather colours of all diakka are weird and garish, orcs love them by the way, some
mustard or pea green coloured feathers?
You have to be familiar with Orcish culture of course, but trust me, these fetch a very
fine price as long as you don't tell any other orc except for the one with all the money,
that these feathers will make whoever wears on for a while to become lazy, sad, stupid
and weak... which they do without any basic diabolic ward... the perfect gift for a rival
orc.
But I digress.
The Carcene diakk have more muted, dull feathers than the varath diakk, mostly browm, black
and grey.
Their faces have large wattles and pouches of naked skin in more garish colors, however.
They have a variety of bird-like features, and there are carcenes that resemble pelicans,
cassowaries, turkeys, vultures, and combinations thereof.
Carcenes are more ambitious than their varath cousins, and a diakka clan with a large numbers
of carcenes may become especially ambitious and dangerous.
They hate daemons, but know that they would lose direct conflicts with many of their number.
They therefore work on sabotaging their activities, slaying petitioners and visitors to deny the
daemons the pleasure, and otherwise act as irritants and disruptions, they know what
magic items are and snatch them whenever they encounter them, but mostly have no idea how
to use them, so they just fight over the pretty thing endlessly and you never know where it
will end up, probably part of some trophy pile or shrine from some dominant flock, seeking
to declare their supremecy for the ages in a land where nobody could care less.
Carcene diakk stand around 5 feet tall and weigh a good two hundred pounds, so, quite
the Halloween megaturkey dinner there.
Now the varath are also known as “tall diakka” are dim-witted and weaker than their carcene
cousins, but are much faster, the speed in that 5e Stat block would apply to the Varath
diakk, the carcene are no faster than a running human, but can jump a lot better.
Varath are always subordinate to superior numbers of Carcene, but will turn the tables
if they can, with glee, often to the detriment of all the Diakka because they are in the
middle of combat and they just noticed they now outnumber the Carcene and decide to turn
on them, which can be highly confusing for whatever they are fighting, until the hordlings
show up and everyone makes a run for it.
Their avian features cause them to resemble cranes, herons, storks, ibis and combinations
thereof.
Their beaks have tooth-like, jagged structures and can spread supernaturally intense pain.
They have relatively few magical talents, but use them in combat appropriately—using
enfeeblement to weaken heavily armored foes and minor illusion to create sound as a distraction
are favorite tactics.
Varaths are faster than a horse and are exceptional acrobats, and gladly use hit and run tactics
to wear foes down before finishing them off.
They are likely to use their dance of weakness only if in a protected position where enemies
have a hard time reaching them.
Most varaths are stupid, cruel and somewhat gullible creatures with an inflated opinion
of their own savviness—many are the varaths that serve as guards or mercenaries for a
daemon or night hag, only to be murdered by their master when it has no further use for
them.
They are clannish among their groups of diakka—when two flocks meet, they typically exchange threats
and insults at a distance.
A varath stands about eight feet tall and weighs three hundred pounds, they have hollow
bird bones and their flesh is tough, oily and tastes like a few day old discarded turkey
meat, warmed gently by the feral humidity existing within the confines of a decomposing
corpse, lets not forget that the first layer of Hades is like the birth place of all diseases,
it's practically the happy afterlife of all past plagues and the birthing pit of all future
microbial horrors yet to infest the flesh of the living and dead alike, if you are not
totally immune to disease, eating diakka meat is going to kill you in a very nasty and random
way, I assure you.
Some folks wonder why the hags came to thrive in the grim eternity of hades, but it is simple
really, anyone who has been travelling from one place to another and they have to pass
through a terminally boring, miserable stretch of just, nothing, a blur of unremarkable sameness
that you really would only stop at in order to relieve your bowels of waste... that is
hades, it connects via the river styx and naturally occuring giant metalic portals to
other lower planes, you can simply walk or float from hades to Arborea, Ysgard, Olympus,
Carceri and any number of lesser known astral domains of the lower planes, but much more
on Hades in future vids in this little mini series.
Finally, the Sarcox, a homebrew creation of Nicholas Herold from the Creature Codex on
Tumblr. and I quote.
"The Sarcox diakka is a much larger bird-like creature, they are solitary and aloof, if
one ever gets a rare glimpse of the true extent of Hades past the every present mist and fog,
the Sarcox can be seen perched on high places, watching over things below them, always somewhere
past a few hundred feed away.
They have a featherless head with a weird fleshy beak filled with jagged fangs and its
body is covered in a coat of greasy gray feathers, and instead of wings it has long arms that
drag nearly to the ground.
They are also known as the "giant diakk" and is both stronger and more intelligent than
other diakka.
Sarcox are patient and voyeuristic creatures, obsessed with observing as much as they can.
Most of a sarcox’s life is spent invisibly perched, watching the comings and goings of
its denizens and cataloguing a list of potential blackmail targets or valuable intelligence.
Sarcoxes are mercenary with their information, selling it to the highest bidder.
Although they are resentful of daemons, they will happily deal with them, preferring to
encourage them to battle with each other to waste their time and resources.
In combat, a sarcox’s gaze can sap the strength from mortal muscles, leaving a battlefield
full of twitching, helpless foes for the diakk to murder at its leisure.
Its bite is charged with negative energy, and they wield more powerful spells than their
kin.
Most sarcoxes view other types of diakka with derision, but are more than happy to use them
for their own purposes, fighting from within a mass of allies to absorb blows and split
enemy attention.
A sarcox stands about twenty feet tall.
Their lightweight bones and lean frames give them a weight of about a ton and it is rare
to actually fight one unless it is pretty certain you are hopelessly outnumbered and
already just about dead... such is the nature of Hades.. things can always get worse there.
Next up, exploring Hades night markets and the machinations of the Night Hags.
My name is AJ Pickett, thanks for tuning into another monster ecology lore video, I have
plenty more, hundreds of them, feel free to explore and if you do choose to support me
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To quote Isaak Asimov when asked what he would do if he found out he only had months to live...
i would just write faster.
Thanks for listening, as always, I will be back with more for you, very soon.
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