A hunched hag shuffles in layered pigeon-plumage, teal and ink-black feathers bristling around a swollen neck. Her skin is waxy and gray, eyes bright and beady, lips stained with seed and grit. Taloned fingers twitch as if pecking the air. When she moves, loose quills shed in a soft patter, and the stench of roosts and damp stone follows close behind.
Pigeon hags are vain witches who place themselves above every other being. They seek to reinforce that belief by controlling and undermining the knowledge and relationships of others. Pigeon hags often insinuate themselves into a mortal settlement and walk among the people, usually in a position to hear and spread gossip that they can twist and manipulate to their own ends.
The vanity of a pigeon hag is so overwhelming that polishing its ego can leave it flustered and briefly unable to act.
Environments:
Hags are grotesque and malevolent creatures, often seen as embodiments of evil and cruelty. These ancient beings with origins in the Feywild are the very essence of wickedness. Their appearance is grotesque, with withered faces framed by long, frayed hair, disfigured skin marked by horrid moles and warts, and long, skinny fingers ending in razor-sharp claws.
The Faces of Wickedness:
Hags are a blight upon the mortal world, their forms reflecting only the darkness in their hearts. Their simple, tattered clothes are always filthy, and they revel in their hideous appearances. They possess a wide array of magical powers and some are skilled spellcasters. These powers allow them to alter their forms, curse their foes, and even challenge the magic of the gods themselves, which they blaspheme at every opportunity.
Monstrous Motherhood:
Hags propagate their kind through the most horrifying means. They snatch human infants from their cradles or even steal them from their mother's womb, consuming the poor children. A week later, a hag gives birth to a daughter who appears human until her thirteenth birthday when she transforms into a spitting image of her hag mother. Some hags raise the daughters they spawn, creating covens, while others return the children to their grieving parents, only to watch from the shadows as the child grows up to become a horror.
Sinister Bargains:
Hags are insufferably arrogant, considering themselves the most cunning of creatures. Despite their contempt for mortals, they are open to making dark bargains with those who show proper respect and deference. Over their long lives, hags accumulate vast knowledge of local lore, dark creatures, and magic, which they are more than willing to sell. However, a bargain with a hag is always dangerous, with terms often involving the compromise of principles or the sacrifice of something dear.
Embrace of the Macabre:
Hags revel in the macabre and festoon themselves with dead things. They adorn their garments with bones, bits of flesh, and filth. They intentionally nurture blemishes and pick at wounds to produce weeping, suppurating flesh. Their love for the gruesome extends to every aspect of their lives, and they often engage in disfiguring or transforming creatures they find attractive. Hags are known to travel in unusual vehicles, such as magical giant skulls, and keep a gruesome menagerie of monsters and slaves in cages, disguised by illusions to lure unsuspecting victims close.
Dark Sisterhood:
Hags maintain contact with one another and share knowledge, forming a sinister sisterhood. They are aware of each other's existence and adhere to an ageless code of conduct among themselves. This code includes announcing their presence before entering another hag's territory, bringing gifts when visiting another hag's dwelling, and honoring oaths given to other hags. Humanoids who mistake these rules as applying to all creatures may find themselves the subject of a hag's sinister amusement.
Cursed Lairs:
Hags dwell in dark and twisted landscapes like bleak moors, storm-lashed seacoasts, gloomy swamps, and twisted woods. Over time, the very land around a hag's lair becomes tainted by their malevolence. Trees twist into monstrous forms, attacking passersby, while vines snake through the undergrowth to snare and drag off creatures one by one. Foul, stinking fogs permeate the air, concealing pools of quicksand and sinkholes that swallow unwary wanderers.
In a campaign, Hags are harbingers of dark and sinister plots. Adventurers may find themselves pitted against these vile creatures, uncovering the horrifying secrets of their propagation, or even seeking dark knowledge from them through perilous bargains. The presence of Hags brings an element of grotesque horror and malevolent magic to the tabletop world, making it a realm of dread and trepidation.