Cackling Agnes, Bheur Hag

The evil winter witch is home.

## Description

An older woman with wild hair whiter than fresh snow, her skin deathly pale and slight bluish like someone who died from cold, Auntie "Cackling" Agnes radiates an aura of authority that borders on arrogance. Her grey robes are tattered and certainly not sufficient insulation from the cold of winter or mountain heights.She carries with her a staff of grey petrified wood at all times, which she uses to fly around and survey her domain.

## Roleplaying Tips

Cackle and find everything funny, until someone offends you. Never pass up a chance for an advantageous deal, if possible for an undisclosed favor in the future. You follow the terms of your deals, but do not volunteer limits on your end unless the other party is smart enough to negotiate.

## Motives

Establish a new territory. Gather allies or favors in preparation for her retaliation again Nagdan.

## History

Cackling Agnes used to lair in the mountains to the southwest of Lake Larendiel. She was "evicted" by a Frost Giant named Nagdan, who rose to prominence thanks to her help then refused to honor his part of the bargain by sending out packs of Winter and Dire Wolves after her, knowing they'd be resistant to some of her more powerful magics. Retreating along the shore of the lake with her surviving servants and crossing the river into the Deep Woods, she is now plotting her vengeance, possibly looking into offering up favors to other hags in exchange for their help, or to form a Coven.

## Player interactions

1. Kia and Rin would have been killed by a Winter Wolf and his pack of Dire Wolves if Cackling Agnes had not interrupted the fight. She stared down the Winter Wolf, threatening violence for entering "her part of the woods" without permission and hinting that she knew of its master, Nagdan the Frost Giant.
She then advised **Kia and Rin they owed her a favor**. Kia has a small **necklace** of bone and claws that she can use as a focus of sort to do a **Sending** (Weird Magic) when she wants to call in the favor.

2. In a follow up encounter, Kia and Finch met two of Agnes' Quicklings while on a hunt. The Quicklings offered their "help" in finding a prey, namely the Winter Wolf that had been sent back by Agnes. Having been banished by Nandag for failing to return with Agnes' head, the Winter Wolf was left pack-less and determined to earn back the favor of its master. Instead, it found death at Kia and Finch's hands, which was then reported to Agnes by her Quicklings.

## Allies and minions

The following creatures are currently serving Agnes:

4 indentured **Quicklings** are used as scouts on her territory. They are the ones most likely to be encountered by PCs, and the ones that will inform Agnes of anything happening.

Her 'husband', an Oni named Unar, who willingly serves her.

* 3 Crag Cats (see Storm King's Thunder) that she used to pull her lair.

## Rivalries

Nandag the Frost Giant who forced her out of her original home.

## Lair and Regional Effects

Cackling Agnes' "hut" is actually a Giant Turtle's shell inside which she had walls built. While the main door is where the hole for the head was, there are concealed exits built in all the other holes. The rooms are littered with a jumble of junk and grisly mementos.

Agnes uses her Weather Control spell to keep the area around her lair under a constant layer of snow, so that her hut doesn't appear to be anything but a small hill. If needed, she can plant her *greystaff* in the centre of her hut to cause it to become significantly lighter, allowing her Crag Cats and husband to pull it around.

As a Regional Effect (Volo's pp. 60-61), Agnes can cause all Beasts with an Intelligence of 2 or less to turn hostile against intruders. She also causes those who died of cold to appear in blocks of ice across her domain, allowing her to make them emerge as either zombies or specters as needed.