Hag
The monstrous female figures of the woods, eater of children, wielder of strange magics, and granters of boons to the most desperate, hags are malicious Fae (or sometimes infernal) spirits that delight in mortal suffering. Long lived they delight in subtly causing pain to generations of mortals though elaborate plans that have no greater goal than making mortals miserable. A twisted maternal figure, hags often gather the more monstrous of humanoids to them, which through fear, oppression, or manipulation they use to further enact their plans. Hags generally avoid direct confrontation, and are fond of sacrificing their minions or "children" when a serious threat arises.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Hags do not reproduce in any observable biological method. Instead they create new hags normally via kidnapping and consuming a mortal child and then birthing its Hagborn duplicate. Hags notoriously hate children, even their own, and prefer to return the the changling to its mortal parents to raise. The inevitable suffering that the hagborne will cuase the mortals only sweetens the deal for the hag.
Growth Rate & Stages
Though there appears to be no exact logic to it -- as is often the case with fae influenced creatures -- hags are born from hagborne. Not every hagborn becomes a hag, in fact, few do, but all feel the influence of the hag that spawned them.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Hags feed on only two things, the suffering and misery of mortals, which they crave to the point it becomes thier primary motivation. Hags are only known to consume mortal materials on two occasions, when its lose would cause suffering, or when seeking to reproduce by consuming a mortal child. Folklore tradition tell that hags prefer the taste of misbehaving children and those with low morals, but the source tales are cautionary rather than documentary.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Though it varies highly based on the hag, hags are universally unpleasant for mortals to behold in some way. Even the more comely, those that could pass for normal mortals, have something uncannily wrong with their features.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Hags are notorious for three things: making deals with mortals, magically concealing/altering their physical appearance, and possessing a form of magic that is powerful, primal, and not well understood. Hags use seemingly mundane objects in odd rituals that produce magical effects in a way that modern mages not only fail to replicate, but to understand. A hag's curse might be formed by throwing a dried lizard into a boiling pot, speaking words, and making strange gestures. A mage repeating the process will end up with nothing but a boiled newt.
Civilization and Culture
Historical Figures
- Bergatha, the Hag - a hag that terrorized the town of Ardrest
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The major source of mortal/hag interaction is through the exchange of deals. It is said that a hag is unable to refuse an offered deal and will always use its magic on behalf of a mortal that requests it, but these creatures are by no means benevolent. While not demanding a mortal's soul as a Devil or demon would, hag's are ultimately malicious in their dealings and their price will eventually be suffering for the mortal or its kin.
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