Hag
Hags are malevolent and horrible crones.
Type
There are several types of hag, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. However, they also have many features in common.- Annis hag, the most physically powerful
- Blood hag, or soucouyant
- Green hag, the most stealthy and devious
- Night hag, extraplanar hag
- Sea hag, the most hideous of all the hags
Origin
Hags originated in the Feywild and later migrated into the Material plane, with the exception of night hags, who were exiled from the Feywild and relocated to Abaddon, from where they later spread to all the Lower planes.Ecology
All hags are female. They are able to breed with males of most humanoid and monstrous humanoid races, and even some fey. Some degenerate races willingly breed with hags, but in most cases hags must resort to trickery, illusion, or force in order to mate. Hag babies are usually female. Any male children are normally sterile and are normal members of the father's race, apart from possibly appearing "wrong" in some subtle way. However, in most cases this is a moot point, as hags generally eat their male offspring. A hag secretly swaps its newborn female child for another baby of its father's race. The changeling grows up as a normal child, whilst the stolen baby is usually eaten by the hag. The changeling may have strange physical features, or traits of cruelty, or both. When it reaches adulthood, it develops into its hag heritage.Habitat
Hags lair in wild areas on the edge of civilisation far enough away for security, but close enough to enable them to manipulate, corrupt and maybe eat the civilised races. They prefer sites that were once attractive, but have now succumbed to decay. They are normally solitary, attempting to drive away any other hags who enter their territory. However, sometimes, they gather together in covens of three hags of any type (including, on rare occasions, night hags). These covens often employ ogres and other giants as minions.Society
Hags have a reverse view of beauty. To them, all that is beautiful and pretty is conceived as horrible and foul. Whilst all that is ugly and disgusting is fair and pretty. The hierarchy of the hags is based on age, and as hags get more powerful with age it is also based on power. You can tell the age of an hag by the prefix to its name, where most hags are known as aunty and the oldest and most powerful hags are known as granny. Hags are not known for their piety, but some follow the demon lord Baba Yaga. Some may worship Calistria, Lamashtu, and Zon-Kuthon.Ability
The different types of hags all have their individual abilities as well as weird magic. When they gather together as a coven, the hags gain additional spell-like abilities which vary from coven to coven. All covens have the ability to create hag eyes.
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