Immortal and unpredictable, arch-hags hoard secrets and strike magical bargains, altering fate to indulge their fickle whims. These timeless schemers pursue the secrets of the multiverse and work strange magic in pursuit of their inscrutable goals.
Arch-hags are unpredictable, self-interested, and greedy, with bizarre fascinations and affectations. Nevertheless, they often make deals to further their plots. These hags are fonts of secret knowledge, particularly lore regarding forbidden magic and multiversal secrets. They might share their knowledge, but their secrets always have a price. In trade for their secrets, arch-hags might request peculiar errands, valuable magic items, or preternatural currency, like one’s memories, a year of one’s life, or the ability to cry.
Most arch-hags avoid battle, but if forced to fight, they unleash dangerous magic, such as spectral claws, arcing lightning, and mind-bending spells. An arch-hag can curse other magic-users, confounding the spellcasters’ incantations and forcing the spellcasters to say the opposite of what they mean. Even if an arch-hag is brought low, its preparations allow it to magically slip away and begin plotting its revenge.
Every arch-hag has a unique weakness tied to a fateful encounter the hag had in the past or something that embodies the antithesis of the hag’s magic. A hag goes out of its way to keep this vulnerability secret. Although an arch-hag isn’t physically harmed by its weakness, it can be destroyed only while its weakness is nearby. Roll on or choose a result from the Arch-hag Anathemas table to inspire an arch-hag’s weakness.
A quote from Baba Yaga, Mother of Witches
Heh! People who know too much grow old before their time. Ask me your questions, but be certain that every secret has its cost.
Arch-hag Anathemas
dice: 1d10
The Arch-hag’s Weakness Is…
1
The bones of the arch-hag’s first love.
2
A devil’s tear.
3
An egg with a miniature castle inside.
4
A flower that blooms only when time stops.
5
A gift from the hag’s twin.
6
The multiverse’s worst pun.
7
One of the hag’s missing teeth.
8
Snow from the top of Mount Celestia.
9
A star pulled from the sky.
10
A thread from the Lady of Pain’s robes.
^arch-hag-anathemas
Arch-hag Lairs
Each arch-hag creates a magical home, such as a hidden demiplane, a mansion atop a storm cloud, or—in the case of the arch-hag Baba Yaga—a hut atop giant chicken legs. The interiors of these lairs frequently change or exhibit bewildering features.
