Zelenna, Night Hag

Zelenna is a Night Hag that grants people their desires but twists them.
She likes to toy with people and eventually wants to create a coven of hags.

My name is Zelenna.
My first memory is playing as a little girl in the streets with some some other girls.
I remember my mother, black hair, purple skin.
She taught me how to make deals with humanoids in exchange for their souls.

If someone wanted to be a king, I made them hallucinate they were a king.
Or wishing for gold resulted in being crushed by a large golden boulder.
Wanting Knowledge gives people too much, driving them insane.
My favorites are trolls wishing for immortality, they get to spend their immortality with me as zombies.

It's fun doing so, I've amassed enough souls.
All those desperate people wanting things, while knowing rumors about me twisting them, it's fun.

I have 2 daughters, they are living with foster families.
One daughter lives in the local inn, the other on a small farm outside of town.
When they are of age, I need to perform some rituals to complete their transformation, and we'll become a coven, led by me.

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I live in a small house in a swamp-like region of the graveyard.
It's nice living here, it's moist and people have trouble getting here without me knowing.

And escaping is no option either, plowing through the swamp.
Besides, I have access to a lot of required ritual ingredients here.

I pretend to be an old human woman who advises/helps people.


I wear old leather made of human skin, have long black hair
and look quite old. My true form is a beautiful purple skinned hag.

Campaign Usage

The PCs meet her before knowing about her twisted deals and she manages to score one or more deals with them.
Another possibility is to have the PCs encounter victims of her before they finally meet her.

There is a secret exit from her shed leading underwater.
She can escape through that.

Notes on Fighting

Zelenna is powerful in a low-light environment because she has a darkness aura.
PCs should have some way to counter that, dark vision or night vision goggles.
She deals out stun and unconscious conditions, magic items that boost Will defense are advised.

PCs can't run from her small house once they're in and they risk a chained encounter.
NPCs should warn them about previous adventurers that went in and never came back.

Zelenna surrounds herself with with undead, so radiant damage and turn undead also help.

Example encounter 1

In the swamp water surrounding Zelenna's house are sodden ghouls submerged (Perception to notice). Years ago, there was a shortage of drinkable water, many thirsty people died because Zelenna promised them they would never go thirsty again.

Encounter (level 14):

• 2 Drowned Ghost (Open Grave, level up by 3) in front of the shed, hiding underwater (3 squares under water)
• 4 waves of 10 Sodden Ghouls Minions waiting under the water around the shed (1 square under water, Perception to notice something in the water, Stealth to pass them by unnoticed)

         
The ghouls pull the PCs down with a move action, Athletics or Acrobatics needed
to escape.
If pulled underwater, use aquatic combat rules & suffocation.
If more than one square underwater, the ghouls get cover and eventually complete cover.
         
The Sodden Ghouls try to drown the PCs, the Drowned Ghosts climb the shed
and shoot from there at the PCs.

Sodden Ghoul Level 11 Minion (Based on Open Grave);
Medium Undead
Initiative +11                     Senses Perception+12; Darkvision
HP 1
AC 24, Fortitude 21, Reflex 23, Will 20
Speed 8, Climb 4, Swim 8
Resist Necrotic 10, Vulnerable Radiant 5,
Immune Disease; Poison,
Claws,        +16 vs. AC,    2d6 + 5 damage, target is grabbed
Bite (grabbed), +16 vs. AC, 2d10 + 5 damage, target is dazed (save ends)

Example encounter 2

Depending on how she's approached she offers to help the PCs with twisted wish fulfillment.

The wooden shed is reinforced with the IronWood Ritual making it as hard as steel. The windows are reinforced with wood, making the hut hard to enter.
The door is protected by the Arcana Lock Ritual.
         
The inside of her shed is hidden by illusions.
It looks like a simple old woman's hut and is low-light inside (Arcana to detect and disable).

Encounter (level 14):

• Zelenna herself (Night Hag, see monster manual; a few squares from the door)
• 2 Skeletal Archer (dressed in decayed city guard outfits, stats below)
• 2 Zombie Trolls (behind the door, see monster manual, level up Troll 5 levels and give it undead traits; regeneration doesn't work after radiant damage)

Skeletal Archer level 14 Artillery
Medium Undead                     Senses Perception+12; Darkvision
Initiative +11
HP 120; Bloodied 60
AC 28, Fortitude 25, Reflex 27, Will 23
Resist Necrotic 10, Vulnerable Radiant 5
Longsword ,        +16 vs. AC,    2d8 + 7 damage
Longbow (At-will; Range 20; 2 attacks),        +16 vs. AC,    2d10 + 9 damage

Aftermath

When she dies she says "Curse you, if you want to kill so badly...".
The character which kills her is cursed, which can mean several things:
"The character is followed by a continuously revived low-level enemy"
"The character loses something precious to him/her"
Depending on the group, the curse is:

• activated once and is gone forever
• permanent and needs the remove affliction ritual to remove
• permanent and requires a quest.

She carries a heart stone which gives her immunity to disease, +2 to saving throws and her dream powers.
It is worth 1800 gp (skill check to know market value).

The hut contains a lot of alchemical items and monster parts.
There are also personal items of her victims, like strands of hair and skin.