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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7198822" data-attributes="member: 6801286">In my own campaign I had a trio of hags abduct children, for their own cruel entertainment. They lived in a sewer lair underneath the city, and they would play cruel pranks on the citizens. They turned the son of a local blacksmith into a cat. He would see the cat every day, and have no idea it was his son. And every day the son would forget more about what it was like to be a human, until only the cat remained. The hags also trapped people in paintings, and then made sure the paintings fell into the hands of their family, so they could watch them slowly get older and die. They would poison the drinking water, and do everything in their power to make the lives of the citizens worse. They even had a ship in a bottle, which was an actual ship which had been shrunken, along with its crew. Occasionally the witches would shake the bottle, just for fun, to watch the miniature crew roll across the deck and some of them drown. I took inspiration from Roald Dahl's The Witches. [video=youtube;oiC54FkzlHU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiC54FkzlHU[/video]The hags occasionally roam the streets at night, often in the guise of a normal human. They also use these deceptive tricks to fool the players. They have a few safe houses all over the city, which are secret entrances into their sewer lair. The hags fester underneath the city, like vermin. They enjoy the suffering of others, akin to a little kid frying ants with a magnifying glass. They want to watch people squirm and die. In the center of their lair they have a large scrying pool, where they can spy on their victims and enjoy their suffering every day. It's like basic cable for a trio of evil hags. They have a large furnace to heat their massive magical cauldron (because of course they would have that), and they force children to feed coals into the oven day and night, or they will soon join the coals themselves. The hags are vulnerable to daylight and silver, since it shines brightly like sunrise. They hate all things that are shiny, especially gems. At midnight they are the strongest, but in the light their joints become feeble, and they require the life force of others to replenish their own energy. They practice necromancy, but mostly use cruel curses on their victims. Especially in the poor districts, vagrants will share stories of the strange curses that have befallen their friends and family. The hags are physically very strong, and dangerous. Plus they radiate an aura of fear.The sewersTo find the hag lair, the players first have to search the sewers. There is a secret entrance into the sewers underneath an old bridge, leading straight into the kitchens. On the map the secret tunnel is not drawn, because I show this map to my players and cover pieces of it up that they have not visited yet. The bridge entrance also happens to be the last location of one of the victims. But there are also a few other secret entrances in old abandoned houses in the city, that the hags use to enter the sewers. It would be easy to have the players discover one of these entrances to put them on the right path. Optionally the players could also figure out a way to destroy the rusty metal grating that blocks the normal sewer entrance.[ATTACH]87388[/ATTACH]Hall of Paintings This hall is filled with magical paintings. Each painting seems to have someone trapped inside, except for one. The paintings are as follows: -A man dead on a bench in front of a farm. -A woman dead in a corn field. -An empty painting of a rack, waiting for a victim. -A young man hanging from a noose in a room. -An old woman outside a tavern, begging for food (still alive). -A young girl ripped apart in a maze, with a hungry beast. -An empty prison cell in a prison tower. -An old sailor floating in the sea, with a sinking ship in the background, and a sea monster. Egg chamber This room is filled with eggs to breed more of the guardian monsters that the hags are using to defend their lair. The players can destroy the chamber as a bonus objective. Depending on what monsters you want to use as minions for the hags, you can also swap out this room for something more appropriate.The lairThe hag lair is constantly patrolled by the stupid minions of the hags, while the hags themselves also randomly wander around. Stealth is essential, because the players want to weaken and separate the hags first, before fighting them. When confronted in the cauldron room the hags are stronger, and if all  three of them are together, they are even stronger. So the players want to sneak around the lair first, and take out their sources of power. It is important to foreshadow the power of the hags when they are together.Drains are marked on the map, because there is an optional scenario where a magical trap actually shrinks the players, and they need to use the miniature ship in the living room to sail their way through the lair.On the map various sewer pipes are drawn only as entrances, but if they face each other, they are actually connected. Further more, the ceiling passage at the bottom of the map actually connects to a secret door behind a bookcase in Calibri's shrine. (again I did not draw these passages connected entirely, as not to give away the secret passage to my players)[ATTACH]87389[/ATTACH]Cells Behind a thick steel door, are small cages with dried corpses. The life is completely drained out of them, but one prisoner is still alive. His name is Carl Vinyard, a stable boy of 20 years old. He knows that the Hags all carry a hag eye, which allows them to open the special eye doors to their sanctums. He also knows they use a central scrying pool to plan their crimes. Freeing him is a bonus objective. Kettle room A large kettle is suspended above a burning fire. The concoction has a horrid rotting smell, and if players inspect it, they find human bones. The green carpet is a magical trap that entangles players. The chest in the room is a mimic. There is a secret door behind a bookcase to the north, that leads to the staircase room at the top of the map. Living Room Inside this Living Room, the players find the cat named The Baron. He wears a bracelet with a strange stone in it, which is one of the hag eyes. The hags can spy through it. There’s also a model ship in a bottle, on the mantle of the fireplace. This is actually a real ship that was shrunken in size. There’s several mini sailors on the ship, feasting on a chunk of cheese. The Baron is actually a transformed 10 year old boy named Luke Valette, son of Lucien (the local blacksmith) and Lora Valette (his wife). Kitchen – Upper An ogre is preparing food in the kitchen, and appears neutral. He’ll happily chat with the players and does them no harm. He is however actually Shaatannelle, the Hag of Rivers. If possible, she’ll keep an eye on the players, and surprise them when she can.  Kitchen - Lower The Kitchen is stocked with mostly human flesh, and some cheese. Scrying Pool This room is filled by a giant whirling pool of water. The magic from the three shrines enchants the water, and allows the hags to spy all over the city. The furnaces keep the water boiling hot, and it is clear that the hags also use this water to make sacrifices. Disabling the scrying pool in some way, is a bonus objective. The magical doors to the scrying pool will not open, unless the players possess a hag eye, or they sneak after one of the hags. Library This room is not only filled with countless bookshelves, but it also has a statue of a ragged looking man in it. The statue looks very live-like, and it looks as if the man was in the process of grabbing a book. The victim is in fact a creature called Dirt-Bag. Dirt-Bag is a loyal servant of the hags, but they grew tired of him, and one of the hags turned him to stone. He has no idea that any time has passed since his petrification. The rug is trapped, and triggers an entangle spell. Shrines The shrines boost the powers of the hags. Destroying all three shrines is a bonus objective. Furnace In the circular hallway is a rusty ladder down to the tiny furnace room below. There’s an old furnace here that runs on coal, and is used to keep the water in the scrying room boiling hot. As long as the fire is burning, and the water is not tempered with, the hags receive a power boost. Anti-magic Chamber This room automatically nullifies spell effects, such as curses and active spells. Magical items are temporarily disabled while in this room. The room looks like a large round room with lines carved into the floor, that run towards a central arcane symbol for nullification. Strange lights twinkle in the air. This rooms nullifies the effects of any shrink spell, and it frees victims from the magical paintings.  Sewer pipes A system of stone sewer pipes, connect throughout the lair. They are dirty and smell terrible. If the player goes underwater, he must save against disease.Shaatanelle shrineThere's a secret door into this shrine behind a bookcase.Each hag has her own theme and appropriately themed private quarters. Shaatannelle, Hag of Rivers. She created the security and magical doors of the lair. Calibri, Hag of Swamps (and Fonts). She has a bit of a temper, and accidentally turned one of her servants to stone. Now she complains about having to fuel the furnace herself. Ashtasha,  Hag of the Seas. She created the guardian monsters of the lair, and often complains about their stupidity. The movement of the hags can be decided randomly with a dice roll, as long as the hags aren't busy doing something.1: Busy in current room for 1 round2: Leave room and take first left3: Leave room and take first right4: Head to scrying pool and stay there for 1 round5: Head to nearest friendly and get status update for 1 round6: Head to nearby point of interest and interact for 1 round</blockquote>

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