Hags
The Hag cauldron boiled an ichor of lime green slime taken from a Sea Troll's nostrils, Cloaker flesh, crystals foamed in the Plane never spoken of, and the poison of a fire snake, as she dropped in pieces of a giant-sized purple worm. Her crackling filled the dimly lit cavern.
Hags are expected to be old, ugly women with evil powers. Although many of them can change appearance to seem less threatening.
Much like all witches, crones, and banshees, hags are usually a type of Fey. Hags are thought of, in simplest of terms, as horrible witches, of wicked intent and ancient origin. They are dark Fey tied to primal forces, draw some magic from The Plane of Void or use other Types of Magic to achieve their goals.
They are known to use magic for foul, mischievous, and mysterious malevolence. They are evil, unpredictable and enjoy bargaining with foolish people. They haunt myths, fairytales and nightmares. Equal parts hideous and heinous, Hags embodied what it means to be ugly inside and out - often taking on the forms of unsightly elderly women.
They are the darkest side of The Feywild Realm natives, for they are warped reflections of civilized beings that epitomized nature at its most repugnant.
Hags tolerate little disrespect in regards to mortals - all possess at least one crippling weakness, that being their arrogance. Hags treat almost all other beings, particularly humaniods, as inferiors, believing themselves to be the most cunning of all beings. This natural sense of superiority is, in some cases, unwarranted, and while they are extremely clever with strong magic, their confidence can lead them to accidentally reveal something during conversation that the more cautious creature would not let slip.
Subraces
Annis Hags
FeyThe most physically powerful and feared of the hags, strongly connected to The Plane of Void. Annis Hags are ferocious savages with nails and teeth like iron. They are egotistical brutes who see strength as virtue and appeal to simple-minded beings like children or primitives.
Bheur Hags
FeyThe unrivaled masters of winter witchcraft, connected to the Shadowfell. Bheur Hags are blue-skinned beldames that make cold seasons even harsher than normal. They are cold-hearted crones who revele in the greed that bad conditions brought out.
Bog Hags
FeyA variety of hags that dwell in swamps, and are connected to The Plane of Water. Bog Hags are predators that hid behind a familiar face. After lying in wait below the water and killing their victims, the sinister body snatchers steal their skin, and sometimes their identities.
Crimson Hags
FeyThe pyromaniacal witches are enraptured with flame, destruction, and chaos. Crimson hags are the most likely of any kind of hag to consort with Elementals, as well as likely to try to consort with demons. They will summon fire Elementals or demons just to cause chaos and destruction - cackling wildly as they do.
Crimson hags are among the most spellcasting-focused of all hags, and defense against flame goes a long way when facing one. While some hags are impossible to charm, these hags are impossible to frighten — they’ve seen too many terrifying things in their visions already.
Desert Hag
FeyThese lowly CR2 hags make for perfect desert encounters for lower-level player characters, especially as travel encounters - where they can make the most of their disguise and mirage spells. These hags pair well with desert spiders, scorpions, vultures, and other desert creatures - in some settings they can even be used along with sand worms. The jerky they carry may be tempting for hungry desert travelers who are not familiar with a hag’s diet - however those who know of its humanoid origins may choose to steer clear.
Ember Hags
FeyThese hags with boils, burns and scars all over their bodies, are connected to The Plane of Fire. Ember Hags like to cook people to eat them. They gain youth from eating children, constitution from eating teenagers, and strength or intelligence from eating young adults.
Green Hags
FeyThe most duplicitous and hateful hags, are connected to The Plane of Earth. Green Hags use illusions and temptation to lead others to destruction and tragedy. The forest femme fatales seek to poison that which is pure and drag down the civilized world into barbarism.
Howling Hag
FeyHowling hags are notable compared to other hags for not only their ability to fly, but also the fact that they are so often found in urban areas. Watch out for their hugs — both claws together allow the hag to do devastating amounts of damage to a target. Howling hags, besides their ability to fly, can become invisible and even see other invisible things, allowing them to go as undetected as the wind itself.
Night Hags
FiendThe most vile and nightmarish of the hags, are connected to the nightmare part of The Dream Realm. Night Hags are Fey turned fiends, so vile even compared to the rest of their kind that they are unable to enter The Feywild Realm. These fiendish degenerates are soulmongers who traded in The Shadowfell and The Hells for power and wealth.
Sea Hags
FeyThe indisputably ugliest of the hags, are connected to The Plane of Water. Sea Hags are decrepit piscine women of such hideousness that one can die from looking at them. The aquatic hags sought to defile and invert all that is beautiful - against all Sune stands for.
Storm Hag
Fey
Storm hags are the most powerful hags - storm hags fulfill a unique role as lawful hags - reside in both The Plane of Air and The Plane of Water. They take their contracts and deals seriously, and unlike other hags will not simply lie, instead must trick their victims with fine print or unintended consequences in the same way as a devil.
Timber Hags
FeyThese usual hags, can look to be small Treant, are connected to The Plane of Wood. Timber Hags are known to pierce a creature with growing claws and turn an internal organ to wood with their touch.
Zephyr Hags
FeyThese are quite dangerous hags, that can become invisible and have high stealth - connected to The Plane of Air. Zephyr Hags are known to bargain for voices and steal air from a person to give themselves longer life.
It is believed by most people that Hags remained the kind they were - a misconception. The fact is Hags are able to undergo a metamorphosis so as to change into other subraces of hags. There is a theory for why it might be true - that by changing into every type of Hag they could become something greater by the end. There are also several ways for a hag to gain access to this transformation. Some hags simply living long enough to do it through force of will over time, and others using certain resources and Types of Magic - perhaps by a ritual or strong coven, to speed the process up.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Hags are quite unique in their exact forms and mannerisms, but there are typically common physical traits between all Hags. Generally, Hags look like crooked crones, wrinkled and withered women of unsightly appearance with blotchy skin marred by warts and moles. Most are Fey creatures - only Night Hags are considered Fiend. Their long, skinny fingers are tipped by talon-like nails as tough as steel and as sharp as blades, and their mouths are filled with sharp, blackened teeth and noxious breath. Long, frayed hair rings their creased faces - their faces are heavy from their malice. Even when in disguise as younger and more homely looking women, the glimmer of sly villainy can still be seen in their eyes.
Biological Traits
The true lifespan of Hags remains unknown, and if not literally immortal they are effectively so for many races. At minimum they live for several centuries and at maximum many millennia, with lifespans comparable to Wyverns and Dragons.
Hags tend to live longer within The Feywild Realm, than those in Esau. Hags that have grown very old became known as Aunties, although they can also achieve that respectable title by adopting or birthing several children, joining a powerful coven or placing themselves directly under an even older hag. The eldest of the hags, as well as the most wise and powerful, are referred to as "Grandmothers" by their sisters - some of which have strength rivaling that of the archfey.
Hags tend to live longer within The Feywild Realm, than those in Esau. Hags that have grown very old became known as Aunties, although they can also achieve that respectable title by adopting or birthing several children, joining a powerful coven or placing themselves directly under an even older hag. The eldest of the hags, as well as the most wise and powerful, are referred to as "Grandmothers" by their sisters - some of which have strength rivaling that of the archfey.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
COVENS
Hags typically shudder at the thought of having to share their homes and under ordinary circumstances these Fey and Fiend will never do such a thing. However, if something requires Hags to put forth a unified front, either a common goal or threat which cannot be completed or defeated alone, then they will combine their efforts to form one of the infamous hag covens or coveys.This is only done as a necessity since it required the bickering beldames, who in fairness are often too like-minded to some degree, to both deal with the inconvenience of living with other hags and have to suppress their instinctual selfishness to treat each other as equals, just to get the goal achieved.
Though they behave with some semblance of civility, coven hags still want to increase their own personal power, and so the third coven mate serves to deal with disputes when the other two inevitably start arguing. Three is the typical number of members in hag covens (always uneven in numbers) - most commonly with each hag being a different type. Any grouping of hags larger than the standard three, the maximum in a single coven ever heard of being thirteen, historically has usually ended in catastrophe.
Beauty Ideals
Some Hags wear simple clothing like those of female Humaniod peasants, if more ragged and dirty - they do not do so for a lack of interest in their appearance. In fact, most Hags are very concerned with their appearance, taking steps to ensure they are at their worst by rubbing filth onto their clothes and accessorizing their gross garb with gruesome decorations. They will modify their clothes with bits of gore and refuse, wear bits of skin and bone, spin cloth from innards and put all manner of litter in their hair, and those are only the things they would wear. They are also known to augment their actual bodies, such as by sharpening their teeth to make themselves more fearsome, picking at scabs producing weeping sores, and otherwise exacerbating their deformities with nurturing attentiveness.
However, if a Hag needs to not invoke utter disgust, or be in disguise, they can magically disguise themselves - the exact limits of their illusions is specific to different types of Hags. Almost all types can take on the forms of regular old ladies, but some could appear to be attractive Humaniod youths, diminutive Giants (who they often try to bargain with), and even animals of certain types, like bears, lions and tigers. Regardless of what guise they don or how they act, such impersonation will always be superficial. Often their eyes will give them away to insightful people. The physical forms of all Hags are merely reflections, the twisted moldings of the ugliness in their own hearts.
However, if a Hag needs to not invoke utter disgust, or be in disguise, they can magically disguise themselves - the exact limits of their illusions is specific to different types of Hags. Almost all types can take on the forms of regular old ladies, but some could appear to be attractive Humaniod youths, diminutive Giants (who they often try to bargain with), and even animals of certain types, like bears, lions and tigers. Regardless of what guise they don or how they act, such impersonation will always be superficial. Often their eyes will give them away to insightful people. The physical forms of all Hags are merely reflections, the twisted moldings of the ugliness in their own hearts.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Hags are said to have their own incredibly ancient Fey language, however also speak languages such as Common, Giant, Draconic, Sylvan, and often various other languages.
History
It was the influence of a large coven of Hags that corrupted Hecate Darkmoon to the darker magic.
The Hags became aware of a certain phases of the moons within the Prime Material Plane of Esau that would increase their power. It was The Enchantress Ezmia who managed to organise such a large Coven to use this timing to entrapped Hecate Darkmoon, so they could feed on her and then revive Hecate with the element from The Plane of Void. Changing her alignment and powers.
The Hags became aware of a certain phases of the moons within the Prime Material Plane of Esau that would increase their power. It was The Enchantress Ezmia who managed to organise such a large Coven to use this timing to entrapped Hecate Darkmoon, so they could feed on her and then revive Hecate with the element from The Plane of Void. Changing her alignment and powers.
Historical Figures
THE VIOLET VIXEN
The most infamious Hag on Esau is The Violet Vixen - whose known alliances with The Enchantress Ezmia and Lolth, The Spider Queen.BABA YAGA
Baba Yaga and her one-legged hut has been sighted in Malnax. Born in The Feywild Realm - the daughter of one of the oldest hags and an archfey. Previously only seen on Kutloc in the Feywild Expanse.Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Despite their myriad of flaws and varvious Types of Magic, Hags are not just willing, but seek to make bargains with others - although not out of any sense of genuine generosity.
The baleful busybodies enjoy sticking their noses in other people's business, especially within Esau, offering deals that require one to either compromise their values, or to do something to makes the deal ultimately not worth it. For a Hag, the bargain is the most delicious way to ruin a mortal because they will be complicit in their own corruption, making it much more enjoyable for the Hag, than blatant violence or straight forward tyranny.
In terms of bargaining behavior, Hags can be compared to fiends (which Night Hags are), both of which use their many resources to make deals with mortals in order to corrupt them. However, there is a fundamental difference between the two. Whether devil or demon, fiends typically make deals with mortals ultimately to obtain the soul, a powerful and versatile commodity that will grant them greater status, with the mortal's induction to a particular vile ethos being the means of obtaining it. The emotional state of their marks by the end is not necessarily a relevant factor to the fiendish corrupter.
Unlike fiends, Hags approach the bargain from the perspective of a hobbyist, corrupting mortals for the fun of making others miserable and not caring about their particular cosmic fate. Obviously such a dichotomy does not always apply - fiends generally enjoy torture and torment, and Hags are known to make deals for purely pragmatic reasons, even if doing so does not actively ruin anyone's lives. A person doubting their own decisions and worth can be enough for a Hag's delight.
The baleful busybodies enjoy sticking their noses in other people's business, especially within Esau, offering deals that require one to either compromise their values, or to do something to makes the deal ultimately not worth it. For a Hag, the bargain is the most delicious way to ruin a mortal because they will be complicit in their own corruption, making it much more enjoyable for the Hag, than blatant violence or straight forward tyranny.
In terms of bargaining behavior, Hags can be compared to fiends (which Night Hags are), both of which use their many resources to make deals with mortals in order to corrupt them. However, there is a fundamental difference between the two. Whether devil or demon, fiends typically make deals with mortals ultimately to obtain the soul, a powerful and versatile commodity that will grant them greater status, with the mortal's induction to a particular vile ethos being the means of obtaining it. The emotional state of their marks by the end is not necessarily a relevant factor to the fiendish corrupter.
Unlike fiends, Hags approach the bargain from the perspective of a hobbyist, corrupting mortals for the fun of making others miserable and not caring about their particular cosmic fate. Obviously such a dichotomy does not always apply - fiends generally enjoy torture and torment, and Hags are known to make deals for purely pragmatic reasons, even if doing so does not actively ruin anyone's lives. A person doubting their own decisions and worth can be enough for a Hag's delight.
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