Great Mother

The Great Mother, (birth name unknown,) is the matriarch of the Myrkviðr hag coven, the largest congregation of hags known to Engelain, all of whom descend from her. Her age is uncertain, though most modest estimates suggest that she's been around for centuries, given documentation discussing the haunting of Myrkviðr. Outside of the Free Kingdoms, it could be argued that the Great Mother is one of the most prominent entities in Western Engelain, as her wide expanse of forested lands presents a shadow on the easternmost state of Gaules, and her coven has grown so large that the nearby nations have never dared to launch an assault upon it.

Much of The Great Mother's past is shrouded in mystery, as is typical for a being living in such a reclusive and externally-hostile environment. It is known that Myrkviðr has been considered haunted for at least eight hundred years, though it was only considered hostile to outside forces roughly four centuries ago, leading some to theorise that the Great Mother usurped her title from another hagmother that had resided there, one perhaps more benevolent than she. Others argue that this seeming 'peace time' was instead due to the Great Mother having not amassed as many true-born children as one would like before becoming outwardly dangerous, and does not hint at benevolence in the same way that not being mauled to death by a wolf cub does not mean it won't hunt you down in later life.

As most of Western Engelain was preoccupied with the continuous expansion of the Tyrannian Empire, the hag coven of Myrkviðr was allowed to flourish mostly unchecked, especially when High King Dwail Shadowfoot declared the independence of the Free Kingdoms of Engelain. After those wars were waged, after the various kingdoms settled into their borders through various internal disputes, after all of the chaos of forming new realms, after the dust had finally settled down it was already too late. Once the Free Kingdoms began looking outwards again, they found that the dangers of Myrkviðr had grown exponentially, and as the kingdoms were prone to warfare between one-another, none wished to take the first step against the hags and therefore leave their own kingdom under defended.

At some stage, The Great Mother managed to summon the Hagfather, as evidenced by her many children. She has also had countless hagspawn over the centuries, who themselves have had many children and grandchildren of their own, leading to the incredible numbers displayed in Myrkviðr, (though it is presumed that when the hag genes become too distilled in descendants, they stop being slaves and instead become experiments.)

Most recently, it appears that the Great Mother is once again attempting to summon the Hagfather- an unprecedented event. It is rare that a hag can even gain the power to summon the Hagfather the first time, and having done so brings a lot of negative attention to the hag. The development of a hag coven indicates the gathering presence of imminent danger, so often a coven is prone to external attacks. However the Free Kingdoms have been slacking in this regard, and so once again the Great Mother has worked up the capability to summon the Hagfather, though what will occur after she is successful is up for much speculation, for never before has such an event taken place in history.

The Great Mother's fourth daughter, Ethyl, is known to have recently left the coven in order to join forces with Soahc, whom the hags call Bloodgift. If the Great Mother is troubled by this, there has been no outward indication that has been perceived by the general population of humans in the areas surrounding Myrkviðr.