Night Hag

As discussed previously when we went over the Green Hag, the Night Hag is brimming with narrative possibilities. What sets this sagacious sister from her counterparts is the very straightforward night-themed abilities. Between the hag's very powerful set of occult spells, and the added strangeness that is Dream Haunting, there are quite a few ways you can use a night hag in your game. 

I don't think the opportunity will often be presented, but I think any reason you can conceive of that allows the use of Dream Haunting is a good one—particularly if your players are somewhere where they aren't supposed to be. A hag haunting your dreams as you attempt to get to the heart of an ancient and malevolent forest is both pulpy and fun to play though—lean into these themes as much or as little as needed.

Presenting an opportunity to potentially steal a night hag's heartstone could be a very interesting narrative option as well. Instead of needing to outright kill a night hag, bargaining with the hag from a place of power because you stole her heartstone could provide compelling narrative options as well.

This does bring us to the final narrative theme for the night hag—soul bargaining. Being both thieves and merchants of mortal souls can be a very compelling reason to interact with a night hag without killing her. In the event that you cannot bring back a friend from the other side, a visit to a night hag could yield interesting results and provide vitally useful information...

- Reece

Hook 1 (Max) - Congregation of Dreams

The wife of the late baron now rules his fief with an iron fist. Rumor has it he met her on the road and was immediately enamored with her, marrying her just a few days after their first encounter. Those who've seen her weave great tales of her beauty, unable to forget the sight of her fair countenance.

Unfortunately, it is not just the baroness' tyrannical rule that ails the people—many in the demesne are plagued by nightmares that grow worse and worse by the day, yet the lady refuses to acknowledge anything strange happening—at least until recently. A week or so back, a group of women arrived in the keep, apparently old acquaintances of the lady. They now all sit at the top of the castle's tower performing what they claim is a "sacred ritual to purge the evil from the land."

They no doubt speak the truth.

Hook 2 (Nemanja) - The Dreaming Dragon

Caragyoz the Cruel is an ancient dragon that has made a name for himself over several realms of existence—he is widely considered to be the finest procurer and merchant of souls in the multiverse. It just so happens that, shortly before going for his bimillennial hundred-year nap, the dragon procured the soul of a Paladin's father, unjustly taken.

The Paladin finds herself with an unlikely ally when a night hag approaches her, proposing a temporary alliance to take down Caragyoz. While the dragon is protected on all sides by legions of wyvern-riding acolytes in the material plane, his sleep makes him accessible through the Dreaming—a realm that the hag has intimate knowledge of and power over. The hag, whose kind once ruled the soul-trading market, claims to simply wish to end Caragyoz's monopoly—though she refuses to make guarantees for any soul other than the Paladin's father's...

Hook 3 (Reece) - Rider of the Night

Rider on the midnight wind

would thee show me how thee sinned?

Rider of the darkest way

bring thy shadows here to stay

Tread the market, walk the path

doth thou know the sin of wrath

Trader on the corner still

dost thou have the need to kill?

Hast thee seen the milky eye?

Hast thou found the need to lie?

Come thee crone and draw mine sigh

and draw upon thine evil eye

Know thy want and know thy need

for when thou tastes the sin of greed

thou plow the dirt and plant the seed

and call the grave with mighty speed

Shadows dance and shadows sing

Among the nobles and the king

Pride upon thy bloody ring

draws thy soul upon a string

Rider in the market square

find the barter, prices fair

for the lost, say a prayer

and for the rider, gift a glare

- Collected from a children's rhyme ten leagues outside of the city. Were it not for other factors we would find this insignificant, though given present circumstances it is particularly alarming.