Legacy
Part 8 – The Coven
Details
Part 3: The Moors
The northern end of the Lake was transformed into a swamp when the old river diverted farther south a couple miles. In the hundred years since, all manner of outcasts and roaming creatures have made this area their new home. Locals avoid the Moors but every so often a few brave adventuring group heads there to explore. Many never return, but the ones who do report tribes of Swamp Giants, dangerous Crocodiles, a few odd abandoned hermit shacks and strange glowing lights in the distance that often lead to perilous quicksand or pockets of deadly swamp gasses. A few people even recounted chanting in a strange language followed by raspy growls.
For the past decade, the Moors have been the home of a clan of swamp giants and their pet deinonychuses. The giants’ encampments range along the borders of the swamp, each one entrusted to a fearsome sub-chieftain. The giants use their pets to hunt and patrol, which now often includes forays outside of the Moors for better food sources. They try to stay away from the human and dwarf settlement, but the nearby forests are a rich hunting ground of animal and humanoid flesh alike.
When the hags arrived, they spent several days gaining the giants’ trust via enchantment magic and eventually Inveigling the chieftain of the clan. Now the subchiefs are required to bring all prisoners to the main camp so the hags can be notified.
The coven of hags arrived about 5 years ago and count on the reputation of the dangers of the Moors to keep the curious away. But every so often, when a small group or a lone hunter attempts to enter, they take advantage of the fresh soul. In more desperate times, the hags will invade the dreams of visitors to the Keep to subtly guide them to an adventure in the Moors. One of the hags is often in disguise walking the streets of Blackcross to keep an eye out for new arrivals.
While in the Moors, the travel is a little slower (3/4 movement unless a successful DC24 Survival check each hour). Visibility is limited to 60’ due to the thick fog and vines. The depth of the water varies from 2-6’ deep and is considered difficult terrain to medium creatures and small creatures must swim.
Entering the Moors
When the party gets the idea for investigating the Moors, they can enter from the west, east, Lake or north. If they enter from the Lake (unlikely) they will encounter the Giant Croc. Any other direction, they will have the following run-ins:
The party opted to enter the swamp from the east road and work their way west. They ran into a pack of hunting raptors, a minor camp of giants and the main giants’ camp.
Raptor Pack – a group of escaped/wild deinonychuses will pick up the party’s scent and organize a pack hunt. The party will hear strange ‘yips’ and trilling coming from one direction, then another. It will be obvious that they are becoming surrounded by many creatures. Make each group of 3 appear one at a time in combat. If anyone breaks away from the group, the hunters will gang up on that one as the most vulnerable. Otherwise, they will gang up on the smallest of the group. Flashy magic will cause them to flee for 1 round. Once the creatures are defeated (>1/2 are dead) the party will find that a few of them wear crude collars with a small chunk of braided twine broken off at about a foot long.
Giant Camps – the marsh giants are uneasy allies of the hags with specific directives; keep all interlopers out and if they encounter the changeling (they’ve been given a good description), bring her to the main camp and notify the hags via a magic sending gem.
The giants’ camps are comprised of a number of crude huts made of wood, wet thatch and mud. Small groups of raptors are tied to stakes around the camp to serve as guards and an early warning system. Each raptor has a 40’ braided rope tied to a collar and obey the giants’ commands. Each camp is led by a subchief (3 in total) who usually stays near camp with small 3-4 person hunting/patrol parties ranging within a ¼ mile of the camp.
When the party sees the camp, they find that 3 giants are carousing, singing (poorly) and feasting on a recently killed giant crocodile and drinking the remains of 2 large casks of wine. The subchief is relaxing on his ‘throne’ in the hut and is mostly sauced on stolen booze. He will not help even if he hears combat right outside his hut. The raptors are interested in the fresh kill and every so often, one of the giants tosses a piece of meat to them, so the camp is not very alert at this time. If anyone approaches, they will need to make a DC20 Stealth roll to avoid notice.
The giants have captured a pair of humans from the road nearby 3 days ago and are considering whether they should eat them or give them to the chief as a gift. Every time they look into the hut where they are kept, the two scream and faint. The giants think this is great fun and do it over and over each hour. The captives are exhausted, filthy and near unconsciousness from lack of food and water. They may have overheard some of the plans, but the giants mostly speak on Jotun and the only info they have is that they witnessed another captive being led away alive and bound just as they arrived.
If the party defeats the camp, they will find a few odds and ends on the giants, but also a large sack in the sub-chief’s hut containing 39gp, 130sp, a hand crossbow, a jeweled dagger worth 40gp and an unremarkable silver ring that is actually magic, but its nature is to provide non-detection via Veil of Privacy, so it requires a higher than normal roll to detect as magic (counteracts at rank 5 and tends to scatter detect magic spells on a failure.
Main Camp – In the center of the sub-camps is a main camp where the chieftain lives with a larger contingent of giants and raptors. It is defended similarly but the chieftain has a necklace with a wrapped gem in the center. By grasping the gem and thinking clearly, a hag will hear a small Sending message (25 words max).
Chieftain Aaganosh is the offspring of a marsh giant shaman and her affair with a brutish troll warrior. He is more astute than his brethren and has some spell casting abilities from his mother’s blood. Although the hags were able to Inveigle him long ago, he has since come to respect their abilities and really does not need the mind control to be allies. His camp does not have the need for the raptor guards since he assumes his safety in the center of his subchiefs. But he has built a large shrine to Uck where he performs fake rituals to keep his followers in line.
Shrine to Uck – a big ugly mud-fashioned statue of Uck, who Aaganosh grew up worshipping from his troll ancestors represents an amphibious monstrosity that the other giants from all the camps as well as some independent swamp-dwellers bring gifts of respect and appeasement. The party can try to make a Society, Religion or Occultism roll to know about this creature, but since it is an old local troll-figure, it would take a DC40 roll to have heard of this thing at all.
Prisoner – An adventurer named Adam Mada (S8) was captured by the swamp giants a few days ago while exploring the swamp (he tracked the hags from Blackcross around the Lake and toward the Moors) and since he seemed more competent than the typical road traveler, they brought him to the Chieftain for delivery to the Hags in hopes of reward or at least keeping good standing. He is tired, weak from lack of food, but is fed/watered at least once per day.
Traps – The hags are expecting that Selarea may be drawn to the Moors to seek the source of the dreams they have been sending her and are hoping that she will find her way to the giants’ camp. They have carefully laid out traps in the form of complicated arrangements of bones, moss and blood. The traps are specifically tuned to cause a changeling to be teleported to the awaiting room they have appointed in their treetop homes. If examined, the traps can be found again with a DC26 Per roll. The traps act like a Rune Trap ritual cast at level 5 (DC20 to identify). If successfully analyzed, they will recognize the magical trap, its trigger spell – a heightened Translocate (modified to be useable on others) and its targeting to one specific ancestry (changeling) using hair or blood. Its target must be within 1 mile.
One member of the party set off one of the teleport traps (Selarea) and the rest used them as well after determining their purpose.
Wire-wrapped Amber Talisman
The Chief carries a small trinket in a pouch at his waist. This item is a magical device that can be used to summon the hags when they have captured a valuable prisoner such as Selarea. If examined, the talisman detects as magic and needs to be held and concentrated upon. The item allows a Sending spell to reach the mind of one of the Hags to give them notice that there is someone to retrieve. The Sending spell can contain 25 words and the hags are expecting the Chief’s message, so anyone using it for anything else will alert the Hags that he group is near.
There are two situations for encountering the hags:
1 – the hags are not aware of the party’s visit or
2 – the hags know in advance that they are going to have visitors
Visiting the Hags
In the morning, one of the hags who had been stationed in town has word that the group is one the move again. She knows that they are suspicious of her and when she is pointed out, she escapes the Keep with a heightened Translocate spell. This gives her a 1 mile head start to return to the huts after using a sending to warn them. They were expecting Selarea to come (from her dream), but now know that the whole group is heading their way. They are confident, however, that the giants will be able to stop the party and delver the changeling to them soon. So when the party arrives at their huts later, they are a little perturbed at the inconvenience.
When Selarea triggers the teleport trap and appears in the well-appointed hut, it will set off a silent alarm to alert the Hags of her arrival. The room is comfortable and well-appointed with two locked doors (4xDC25) and no windows. In 2 rounds, one of the Hags, Naleema in the guise of the blonde woman from her dreams, will knock gently and then enter her chamber.
Naleema will welcome her to their home and tries to keep Selarea calm and non-confrontational. The other Hags are listening in via Clairaudience and will intervene if Naleema is attacked. The Hag will make small talk, but will eventually come to the point:
“We have been searching for a long time for someone like yourself. You may think your mixed heritage is a curse, but it is not – it is a great advantage. You are already so well trained and disciplined. I will come right to the point, my sisters and I would like you to join our coven.”
There is a slight deception here because Naleema and Rheema, really do want a new coven member, but they are done with the outsider, Ishdor. They want Selarea to eventually replace the nasty Grave-hag. Ishdor is not a fool and is well aware of why they are courting Selarea, so she is more apt to pit the changeling against her sisters instead.
Eventually, Naleema will introduce her sisters to Selarea and tell her their story, which will take a while and give the party a chance to find them.
The Story of the Hags
In the heart of a vast, shadowy swamp, hidden from the eyes of most travelers, there came three ancient witches: Rheema, Naleema, and Ishdor. Each of them was older than the trees that twisted their roots deep into the murky water, and their magic was as dark and ancient as the swamp itself. For decades, they had ruled this desolate marshland, weaving enchantments over it, ensuring that few dared to enter and enthralling those that made this place their home.
But the witches had a problem. They needed a fourth sister.
Their power was tied to their coven, and though the three were formidable, the magic of their sisterhood was incomplete. Long ago, they had been four, but their youngest member had been lured away by dreams of freedom and love, only to perish at the hands of foolish humans. Her death had weakened them and for years they had been searching for a suitable replacement.
One evening, as the fog clung to the surface of the swamp like a second skin, Rheema, the eldest and most cunning, spoke to her sisters. “The time has come. The signs are clear. We must find a new sister before the next full moon or our power will dwindle beyond repair.”
“But where?” asked Ishdor, her figure shifting as she stirred a pot of foul-smelling brew. “No soul dares enter our domain anymore.”
Naleema, the most secretive of the three, let out a slow smile. “Not true, dear sister. There’s a newly bustling keep that has grown too close to our swamp and they have some sort of special gathering bringing in all sorts of new visitors from many different lands. They will send their brave and adventurous to the edges of our home. One of them will be the one we seek.”
And so the witches set their plan in motion. They began to work subtle magic on the keep, sending whispers through the trees and illusions into the minds of the visitors. Dreams of dark forests, mysterious powers, and ancient promises began to plague the women who lived or visited there, especially the youngest and most impressionable.
In the keep, a young woman arrived just recently, whose life had always been marked by a sense of otherness. She had never fit in with the other villagers, who shunned her for her strange habits and the way darkness and shadow seemed to follow her wherever she went. She was drawn to the edge of the swamp – drawn to its mystery despite the warnings of her friends.
One night, as the moon hung low and full over the swamp, the young woman felt an irresistible pull. She dreamed of a blonde woman—ancient, powerful, and knowing—who beckoned her to come into the swamp. She awoke with the vision seared into her mind and, without hesitation, slipped out of her home and made her way toward the dark, twisted trees.
The swamp was alive with the sound of creatures stirring, as if the whole land was anticipating her arrival. The mist swirled around her feet, guiding her deeper into the marsh. She felt no fear, only a strange sense of destiny. Eventually, the witches’ magic opened an invitation to meet the sisters and reveal her destiny of knowledge, mastery of her art and the power of the coven.
You also are aware that they are using the term “witches” instead of what they really are; Hags.
Naleema will then address her directly. “You have been chosen. Chosen to join us, to become one of us.”
“You have always felt different, haven’t you? That is because you are. This place calls to you and we are its voice.”
Ishdor, her gnarled fingers tracing patterns in the air, mutters, “The power you crave, the belonging you seek, is here. With us. Forever.”
If asked about what she would need to do –
“You must let go of your human life,” Rheema whispers. “Abandon the keep, its people, and all the trappings of the world you know. In return, we will give you power beyond your imagining.”
“Will you accept?” Naleema asks.
If Selarea accepts this before the party arrives, continue –
The three witches cackle in unison, their voices echoing through the swamp as they draw Selarea into their circle. Together, they began the dark ritual to bind her to them, to make her one of the coven. The swamp stirs with their magic, the trees bending as if to witness the birth of a new sister.
By the time the sun rises, Selarea is no longer the young woman from the keep. She is now something older, darker, and far more powerful. The coven was complete once more, and the swamp hums with their magic, stronger than ever before.
But in the village, whispers began to spread. Women disappeared into the woods more often, and strange shadows were seen moving in the fog at dusk. The villagers grew fearful, but they never dared venture into the swamp, for they knew a coven of hags had claimed it—and now, they had a new sister to protect their domain.
The Hags’ Huts
When the hags arrived in the Moors, over 30 years ago, the Keep was not yet built, but was a simple fort manned by some humans and some dwarves. They kept their distance from the Moors since dangerous creatures were reported to live there and only the most brave or foolish adventurer or hunter dared enter, but usually did not return.
When the hags arrived they surveyed the Moors and gathered up several old buildings that were created by long forgotten hermits or maybe even other defeated hags. They moved them up into the trees for protection and began setting up the rooms for their own living quarters and personal purposes. When they started their quest to find a 4th member, they converted one of the unused into a comfortable room that met civilized human aesthetics.
Start here for 11/19/24
The party is currently split, one party just defeated the giants in their camp and Selarea has met the hags and is getting their sales pitch.
At the Giants’ Camp
As the main party is recovering from their combat, Adam Mada has wriggled his way out of his bindings and wandered over to the group (if they don’t seek him out first). He is not in good shape and had been captured two days ago snooping around the camp. Before he was captured, his Detect Magic discovered the inconspicuous traps set all around and after examining them, found them to be unconventional teleport traps triggered by one unique person. As the group is pondering how to find their missing companion, Adam will suggest tweaking the traps to work for them instead.
At the Hags’ Huts
Meanwhile at the Hag Huts, Selarea is being given a tour and is shown Naleema’s hut where she lives, performs her own rituals and alchemical experiments. There are a few questionable things in here including small cages and a table with restraints. If asked, she tells her that she has been working on perfecting Cursed Metamorphosis (Baleful Polymorph) spells.
Naleema is trying to coax Selarea to see her point of view as an opportunity to explore her connection to her patron and his purpose for her – whether it introduces life or death or somewhere in between. She even mentions that the goddess called Pharasma deals in both life and death equally and impartially. Her offer is to join their coven, gain the benefits of the coven (new spells, powered by her fellow coven members, learn new rituals and have equal status with the other three sisters.
Selarea is then led through the room where she arrived and into the next room with the Eye of the Cosmos. If the party follows Adam’s lead, they will reappear just as the tour leads to the next room where the dead bodies and the other two sisters wait nearby for the moment of truth.
Hag Tactics:
Prep – The hags will have used Disguise to look like various old women, they also have Detect Alignment going (constant)
Once combat ensues, the sisters will try to incapacitate the party, but will flee if they appear to be losing. Once the hags leave, they will not return for a long time and the party will have a chance to find the Heartstones. If the party recovers the Heartstones and discovers what they are, they can be used by the priests to raise dead or at least send them on to their final reward.
Ishdor – Mirror Image, Cloudkill, Paralyze, Rip the Spirit, Abyssal Plague
Rheema/Naleema – Sleep, Paralyze, Charm, Dominate, Baleful Polymorph
- Naleema’s room – specializing in potions and alchemy, Naleema has a full lab with cages containing small animals and a large table with straps for retraining humanoids that she wishes to test out her concoctions. She has a brewing cauldron with her latest experiment, a baleful polymorph potion into the shape of a giant swamp rat. There is also a magic circle on the ground that serves as protection for her most powerful secrets. The circle acts as an invisible Wall of Force. A book hangs in the air with a sparkling energy above it. The book is blank and the spark acts as an Alarm if touched. The whole thing is a setup to lure her untrustworthy sisters as her real secret book is in a lead-lined box under a false floorboard under the cauldron (DC30 to find). The reagents in here are worth 1200gp and there are 6 Potions that will cause a Cursed Metamorphosis on the imbiber.
- New Room – this room is well appointed with fresh linens, writing paper and pens, exotic perfumes and makeup as well as a wardrobe with robes, pants, shirts, boots, hats, scarves, capes and cloaks or various colors and designs, all very expensive and tasteful. The clothes are worth 850gp, perfumes worth 2350gp and makeup 130gp. The doors are locked by simple lock that each Hag carries and requires 4 DC 25 Thievery checks to open.
- The Eye of the Cosmos – this huge floating translucent eye is controlled by the cooperation of three Hags and can be used to scry across great distances and even into other Planes. The floor below the device changes to match the look of the area it is scrying. At the moment, the Eye hangs in space between two planets in the solar system. There are clues to its use in the book on the pedestal, but the Hags are very secretive to its use and do not write these down. It requires a coven ritual to use, but would be worth at least 25000 gp to the right buyer. Under a false floorboard (DC30 to find) is a small cloth-lined box with 17 small purple gems. These are the hags’ extra Heartstones from their most recent kills including the souls of the adventurers who could not be resurrected the previous day.
- Ishdor’s room gives away the undead nature of the Hag. Grave dirt coves the floor and her room looks more like a tomb than a place to live. In her cauldron, she is brewing the remains of a recently slain human to remove the flesh from the bones. The brew is highly caustic. She does not really have any worldly belongings, but she does have several small permanent prying eyes stashed throughout the room to do her spying for her.
- A large cage is on a pulley system for carting up animals and humanoids that they do not want to carry or teleport up. The cage is currently up at the house level.
- Rheema’s quarters are where the Hag does her necromancy experiments. She is an expert at reanimating all kinds of creatures but she does not like to do the actual act in her room since it can get messy and violent.
Hag Tactics:
Prep – The hags will have used Disguise to look like various old women, they also have Detect Alignment going (constant)
The text of the adventure ends here. In the end, Selarea decided to still stay true to her morals, but spared the party possible death by joining the coven. She gave the party the Heartstones of the victims who could not Raised, so the priests at the Keep could bring them back successfully. The party went on their way and returned to the keep to claim their victory in the competition and tell a cautionary tale about avoiding the swamp!
