Hags: General Lore

Buckle up, everyone. This is gonna be a freaky one. Some of this shit is genuinely fucked up, dudes.

If ever there was an embodiment of all that is evil, hags would be it. These immortal fey monsters take forms that reflect their wicked natures. Born of the Feywild, they live in the mortal realm, using their magic to cause chaos.

Hags reproduce by kidnapping and devouring human children (yup, it’s that kind of monster). A week after consumption, the hag will give birth to a little girl who looks human. Upon her thirteenth birthday, however, the child transforms into the spitting image of her mother. Some hags raise their spawn. Others return them to their parents to watch the horror unfold.

Due to their magic powers and their cunning, hags have a tendency to be arrogant. Yet they’re still willing to make a deal, so long as the mortals they’re dealing with show proper deference. They’re willing to trade lore, magic, or dark creatures. All in exchange for something valuable to them, such as their principles or loved ones. Especially if that given diminishes that which is gained.

Foul by nature, hags will decorate their clothing with filth and corpses of small animals. They’ll pick at their own scabs to keep them open. Anything of beauty is viewed as disgusting to these creatures. They may elect to ‘help’ these creatures by horribly disfiguring their bodies in some disturbing way.

They are like this in all manners of their lives. They might travel in the bones of giant creatures, which they enchant to fly and hang on tree tops to mark their passing. Another may travel with other monsters and collect slaves. They will enact all manners of horrors that would turn the stomachs of any good person, all with a gleeful smile on their face.

Despite what you may think, hags maintain contact with each other to share information. Their network is so interconnected that it’s reasonable to assume that every hag knows every other hag in existence. They may not like each other, but they abide by an ancient, unspoken pact. They’ll announce themselves when visiting another hags land, usually with gifts in hand. They’ll even keep their promises to each other… so long as they make said promises without crossing their fingers. Some creatures think that conduct applies to all creatures. Unfortunately for them, the hags take great time and joy in proving them wrong.

This is some of the freakiest lore we have ever discussed in Best of the Bestiary. And I freaking love it! There is so much you can do with this! Stick the players in the middle of a deal between hags! Make them try to escape a hag’s bargain! There is so much story-telling potential here! You can freak your players out so badly with just one of these witches!

And to think! We’ve got four flavors to choose from!