Night Hag's Lair Layout:

Part 1: Journey from the Village to the Darkwood Grove

1. Village Preparation:

• NPC - Thaddeus: Provides information about the Night Hag Xyra and the cursed
Darkwood Grove. Offers potions and supplies.

2. Travel through the Darkwood Forest:

DC Checks:

• Nature (DC 15): The druid can sense disturbances in the forest, noticing signs of
corruption and distress among the wildlife.
• Perception (DC 18): Rogue spots hidden paths or traps set by the hag to hinder intruders.
• Bardic Lore (DC 15): Gathers rumors from the forest folk, learning about the hag's
weakness to silver or ancient relics.

Encounters:

• Ambush by Corrupted Creatures: Minor fiends or corrupted animals attack the party
on the outskirts of the grove (CR 3).

3. Arrival at the Edge of the Darkwood Grove:

NPC - Old Willow (Dryad): Protects the grove but distrusts outsiders due to the hag's influence.
Requires convincing or assistance in dealing with Xyra's presence.

Part 2: Navigating the Darkwood Grove and the Hag's Lair

1. The Whispering Glen:

DC Checks:

• Nature (DC 18): Druid senses the true path through the illusions.
• Performance (DC 15): Bard’s soothing music counters the unsettling whispers.
• Disable Device (DC 20): Rogue disables hidden traps among the illusions.

Encounters:

• Animated Vines Guarding Entrance (CR 4): DC 20 Disable Device required to

bypass.
Trap Explanation:

• Vined Alarm (DC 18 Disable Device): Triggered by tripwires at the entrance, alerting
nearby minions upon failure.
• Vine Net (DC 20 Disable Device): Drops from the ceiling, restraining those caught upon
failure.
• Illusory Bridge (DC 18 Perception or Investigation): Fools perception, causing falling
damage upon failure.
• Hall of Shadows (DC 22 Perception or Investigation): Shadows animate until a hidden
source is disabled.

NPC Interaction - Old Willow:

• Assists by revealing the lair's general layout but requires the party to deal with nearby
corrupted creatures threatening the grove.

Part 3: Confrontation with Xyra (Night Hag)

Monster Stats - Xyra (Night Hag):

1. Entrance:

• Trap: Vined Alarm (DC 18 Disable Device): Thick vines are connected to tripwires
surrounding the entrance. Failure triggers a magical alarm, alerting nearby minions.
• Failure Consequence: Nearby creatures (e.g., animated vines or minor fiends) are
alerted and converge on the entrance.

2. Main Chamber:

• Trap: Vine Net (DC 20 Disable Device): Triggered upon entering. Vines drop from the
ceiling, requiring quick action from the rogue.
• Failure Consequence: Ensnared party members are restrained for 1d4 rounds,
vulnerable to attacks.
• Puzzle: Glyphs and Symbols (DC 20 Knowledge: Arcana or Religion): Carved
symbols on walls offer insight into the Night Hag's weaknesses.
 • Failure Consequence: Misinterpretation results in a false understanding, potentially
leading to disadvantage in the final battle.

3. Secondary Chambers:

• Chamber of Reflection: No traps, but illusions confuse party members.

• Consequence: Failed attempts to discern true reflections result in temporary confusion
(Wisdom save DC 15 to overcome) for 1 round.
• Trap: Illusory Bridge (DC 18 Perception or Investigation): Detecting the illusion
prevents falling.
• Failure Consequence: Party members fall into a 20-ft deep pit (1d6 falling damage)
filled with spectral creatures.

4. Inner Sanctum:

• Trap: Hall of Shadows (DC 22 Perception or Investigation): Shadows animate from

specific sources.
• Failure Consequence: Attacked by shadow creatures (CR 1) until the source is found
and disabled (Disable Device DC 20).
•
• Final Confrontation with Xyra (Night Hag):
o Night Hag Stats: AC 17, HP 75, Speed 30 ft, Attacks: Claws (+6 to hit, 2d6+2
slashing), Innate Spellcasting (DC 14): Charm, Sleep, Magic Missile.

Lair Actions: Throughout the battle, Xyra summons illusions and casts spells like Mirror Image
or Darkness.

Holy cow. Take a look at those coven spells. Unless I'm mistaking it, these spells are at will.

Animate Dead, Baleful Polymorph, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Forcecage, Mirage Arcana,

Reincarnate....

-The coven always knows what your party is doing with Clairvoyance/Claiaudience. ALWAYS.

-They can use Control Weather to alter between the aforementioned fog and heavy storms (roll
some Endurance checks! Too bad about that fatigue...)

-Total concealment beyond thirty feet? The coven casts as 9th level, so 'close' range spells have a
45 ft range. That means they can slap Baleful Polymorph or Forcecage on a random party
member without ever showing themselves. Since they can cast at will, this could lead to total
party capture, given the difficulty in locating the coven in the fog.

-Using Mirage Arcana, project the image of a normal clearing (not nice-looking, just normal)
over a pool of quicksand. Or put the image over a tomb/cemetery, where the undead the coven
Animated earlier are resting. Or over a fire ant mound. Or....you get the idea.
-Charm Monster is obviously a pretty open-ended one. Just about anything that could be living in
the forest and would fail a Will save could be under their control. Heck, while the party is
blundering around in the woods, have the hags go convert an entire logging camp. Then the party
gets to slaughter innocent civilians! Hooray!

-If that doesn't work, the hags slaughter them all and Animate them. Zombies! Hooray!

Mechanics and Rewards:

• Xyra's Influence: The hag's magic alters the environment during the encounter, affecting
illusions and hazards. The bard's performances temporarily disrupt these effects.
• Success Rewarded: Successfully decoding glyphs grants advantage on attacks against
Xyra for two rounds.
• Failure Impact: Misinterpretation of clues might lead to disadvantage on saving throws
against the hag's spells during the battle.