Zilly Redwood

Zilly Redwood was a green hag that occupied the woods outside of the village of Triel for much of the 15th century, until she was slain in 1497 by the Lost Star Detectives.

History

At some point before the mid-15th century CR, Zilly Redwood moved into the forest outside of the village of Triel. Seeking to hide her hut, Zilly settled in cavern under the ground, accessible only by moving aside trees to locate the passageways down. Zilly spent years enchanting the forest so that it would move and dance at her whim. A decently powerful hag, she did not interfere overtly with the villagers, but she did place curses on children that wandered foolishly into her woods and was, at other times, approached by townsfolk who were in desperate need for help, often extracting from them a great toll.
In 1476, a young Arcus Miursa, a local of Triel, wandered into the woods alone where he met Zilly, who was taking the form of a small child. Arcus, unaware of the danger, told Zilly he was looking for toads, and Zilly offered to trade him a toad for his voice. Arcus agreed and was rendered mute, and in exchange was given the pink toad Dipper, which would magically follow Arcus no matter where he went and, if killed, would reform when Acus wasn't looking within 24 hours. Unbeknowst to Arcus was that Dipper was a tool that allowed Zilly to keep an eye on Arcus.
While Arcus and his family moved from Triel to Elturel, Zilly continued to live near Triel, preying on other children who occasionally would find their way to her.
In 1491, Arcus again drew Zilly's attention when his time spent gardening with his mother Callista resulted in him pursuing a career as a professional gardener. However, finding his place in life would have been Arcus obtaining his metaphorical "voice," and the day before Arcus was set to present his work, Zilly used Dipper to capture Callista, teleporting her to Zilly's underground hut to deprive Arcus of the his chance to discover himself and leaving the Miursas to assume Callista had died. To ensure Callista could not leave, Zilly used her magic to artificially trap Callista in the body of a feeble old woman, using her newly acquired help as slave labor, tending to her garden or keeping her hut clean.
In 1497, Arcus joined the Lost Star Detectives in their attempt to end the Damnation of Elturel. Arcus, who had become a paladin devoted to destroying or ending the harm of all extraplanar creatures began to again find his place in the world as a protector of humanoids and the Material Plane. A slightly exaggerated retelling of the Detectives exploits to the storytellers Envy and Ian Eightstrings was the tipping point, and Zilly again used Dipper to teleport the storytellers to her to prevent words of Arcus' deeds from spreading. However, Envy, believing the magic was being cast by the Detectives, released his own spell, binding his fate to theirs and subsequently teleporting all of the Detectives, save for Lulu and Whisk to just outside Triel.
Zilly imprisoned Envy, the only one of the group she had managed to capture, and the Detectives approached her forest that night. However, Zilly's childlike apparition manage to chase away the Detectives, who were harrassed by the trees of the forest on their way out and were unable to find her lair. They returned the next day, discovering the underground passage. Zilly was then contacted by the archdevil Gargauth, who had a special hatred for Arcus, and offered her a deal to protect herself. Desperate and knowing she was far weaker than the Detectives, Zilly agreed, and was given enough magic power to greatly enlarge Dipper to fight the party, though the toad was soon slain.
The Detectives then found Zilly who was hiding in her basement and begging Gargauth, who she was communing with through a mirror, for help. Arcus rushed forward and smashed the mirror while Katya Sinaran killed Zilly.

Species

Hag

Date of Death

28th of Marpenoth

Year of Death

1497 CR

Circumstances of Death

Killed by Katya Sinaran

Place of Death

The basemunt of her hut

Hair

White

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Green