## Kondie Hag The guileful kondie hags are quite different from their sisters. They make their homes in idyllic glens alongside tranquil brooks that flow with sweet, clear water. The daylight is their dearest friend and they keep woodland creatures like deer and bunny rabbits on hand. The average kondie hag isn't even that ugly in her true form. While they are hideously disproportionate and blemished, their skin colors usually range among the human spectrum and they lack the noted deformities that define other hags. They're often soft-spoken and humble, quick to compliment their guests. A fool might even mistake the kondie hags for most personable of their kindred. **Peddlers of Excess.** In truth, kondie hags are just as nasty as any other. They've just learned to appreciate a unique kind of misery. They delight in the disgusting nausea that follows overindulgence. They love to ruin good things by drowning people in so much of it the very thought of more becomes painful. Melted chocolate smeared on greasy skin, sticky clumps of fairy floss covered with spittle and dirt, and overeating-induced vomit. These things bring a kondie hag unending amusement. ***Candy Craft.*** Almost everything a kondie hag owns is made from candy or pastries. They have an ample supply of building material, as their very blood is syrupy and rich with enchanted sugars. These creations are bolstered with enchantments that set them well above standard food. Clothing and cookware are the few exceptions to this obsession. Kondie hags pursue these edible possessions even when perfectly serviceable alternatives exist. They will even tear down or modify existing structures to feel more at home within them. Having her own blood woven into the walls offers comfort and a degree of awareness to the goings-on within the lair. * **Raw Blood.** Any food prepared with a drop of the hag's blood becomes incredibly durable, hard as stone unless bitten, and utterly immune to rot or the elements. Most animals seem to have no interest in eating the hag's home, but humanoids are inexorably drawn to it. When a creature eats a kondie hag's food, they must make a DC14 Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by the hag for one minute. Successive bites prolong the effect, and if a full meal is eaten, the creature is charmed for up to one day. A creature can attempt to make a saving throw to end the charm whenever damaged, otherwise making the roll to end the effect at the end of a long rest. * **Tempered Blood.** When presented to an open flame or other great source of heat, such as lightning, the hag's blood mutates and gains a limited form of self-awareness. This blood manifests as a sugar ooze as outlined in the hag's stat block. When her tempered blood is used in recipes, the resulting food becomes an animated construct. ***Cannibal Appetites.*** In an ironic twist, kondie hags are viciously allergic to ingested sugars. Even a small taste will put them out of commission. Vegetables, fish, and beer are all considered intolerable. Their only hunger is for red meat. Luckily, humanoids not only eat the hag's candy, but grow fat and delicious from it! Though she'll take her time wringing the misery from her prey, she will eventually devour most of her house guests. It's always a happy day when the crackling of her oven is accompanied by the screams of her next meal. ***Polite Society.*** A well behaved kondie hag might earn an alliance with suitably evil humanoids. After all, their tempting treats may make a useful resource. Occasionally, a politician may commission the hag to prepare baked goods laced with magical poisons that will only kill cause madness. The hags accept payment in the form of whatever corpses the conspiracy might yield, or rare ingredients that can be used in further baking. ### Lairs The lair of a kondie hag is an especially homey nightmare. These deceptively welcoming dens are erected from sturdier foodstuffs. Gingerbread cottages are an obvious favorite, but some hags may favor art nouveau architecture braced with pretzels or mansions of hardened chocolate panels. #### The Oven The centerpiece in any kondie hag's domicile is the oven. This is one of the few non-food objects she will keep in her possession. The settlement of a new lair begins by shaping a massive oven that could comfortably fit an entire draft horse. She uses her magic to conjure and portion raw ingredients such as flour and spices to prepare for construction. Frosting mortar is churned out in massive barrels for use in masonry. Steel cooking sheets and baking stones are laid within the oven. Once the hag is ready, she spends a week summoning a fire elemental from another plane. The conjured being is then chained inside the oven to keep it eternally lit. Though the elemental is technically a slave to the hag, they share a close relationship. The hag keeps her fire well fed, and the fire burns with reliable heat in turn. Brief and scandalous romances between hag and elemental aren't unheard of. These are some of the rare cases of genuine affection between the hag and another creature. Even in desperate situations, the hag is hesitant to release her fire elemental. Should the spirit be freed, she will use its fury as cover so she may escape or prepare further contingencies. This is inarguably the last resort, because if it goes wrong the kondie hag loses her most precious resource and closest confidant. If the hag believes there is no other option, she will stand beside her fire and fight to the death alongside it. \pagebreak #### Bleeding Walls The raw blood used in the construction of the hag's home endures regardless of the form it takes. Just like the hag herself, the walls can be changed into sugar oozes if exposed to substantial heat. The sugar and flour burn away to reveal glowing amber globules seeping from the construction. For every five foot by five foot panel of the home that is damaged in this way, a fully formed sugar ooze manifests. If the entire house burns down, there may be dozens of oozes loosed in a malignant tide of sugar that will wash over the surrounding countryside, burning and eating everything in sight. #### Apiary Bee-keeping is a favorite hobby for candymakers, as their fresh honey can be a delicious natural material. Kondie hags don't like bees, finding their short-lived stings borderline useless. but the need for honey in their desserts is still prominent. In the place of the more typical honeybee, the hag will attract wasps in massive number by smearing her blood on apiaries crafted from gingerbread in her backyard. When released, swarming bugs seek out and slaughter the foes of their hag, as they are kept obedient by her sweetened blood. There are 1d10 giant wasps and 1d10 swarms of wasps in the apiary at any time. #### Cockatrice Coop Infamously rare, the cockatrice is a living trove of reagents essential to the hag's work. She takes great care to protect them and keep them happy. She is not immune to their paralyzing bite, and they are immune to the charms she uses to domesticate other minions, so she keeps her distance and leaves their care to animated soldiers that act on her behalf. The coop is overseen by three comestible golems, two based on *white wolf* stat block and one based on a *veteran* stat block. There are 1d4 enclosures, each containing 1d4+1 cockatrices. As an action, the veteran can release the cockatrices from their cage. They will assist the guardians in battle, but flee if the situation turns against them. #### Other Minions Like their sister species, kondie hags prefer to live alone wherever possible. They keep a carefully curated list of underlings whose presence they can tolerate. **Comestible Golems.** The kondie hag's minion of choice is an animated creature known as the comestible golem. These constructs are, of course, built using food made from the hag's own blood. They are cobbled together from multiple treats, often with gingerbread armor and flesh of creamy nougats. They resemble existing creatures with a challenge rating of up to 5, with the following changes. * Their creature type is construct instead of the original type. * Their Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are that of a sugar ooze. * They gain the *immutable form* trait that grants them immunity to any effect that would change their shape. **Vile Fey.** Wicked fey creatures have no love for kondie hags, but still curry favor with them for convenience. A kondie hag's territory makes for an ideal stomping ground on the mortal plane. The fey that congregate around a kondie hag are especially devious and glad to play along with the false image of happiness that serves as a trap for gullible mortals. These lingering fairies fear their hostess and harbor some resentment for her power and authority, so enterprising rivals might be able to bargain with these underlings in an effort to remove their master. However, the kondie hag is well aware of this fact, and places little trust in the lesser fey for that exact reason. Malignant fey are dark mirrors of good-aligned fey, sharing the statistics of their counterparts save alignment, which is often neutral evil. They use their powers to seek their own pleasure, often at the cost of misery for others. **Skittering and Ensorcelled Beasts.** Most animals have an instinctual awareness of how dangerous the hag is, but the hag can make useful minions of them yet. Insects in particular lack the fear that persists in warm-blooded animals. These insects are domesticated and hidden away, while the mammals are groomed for beauty and docile temperament. This is likely due to the fact that the hags only enjoy red meat, so bugs are seldom on the menu. Starving mammals might be lured into hag's land and force-fed sugary treats, burying them in a permanent charm. Should this control ever lapse, the beasts are not freed, but sent into a blood-thirsty rampage until they die or find relief via *lesser restoration* or greater effect. #### Symbiotic Dwelling As her home is built from her own blood, the kondie hag is acutely aware of whatever happens within it. When things are broken or damaged, she feels a twinge of discomfort. Should someone be wandering about uninvited, their presence will nag on her mind like an invasive thought. This is a limited awareness and she cannot make out details such as where an intruder might be or what race they are. A lucky intruder may even slip past detection, but all rolls made to hide or sneak while in the domain are made at disadvantage. > **Magics of the Hearth.** For the most part, hags collect powers with obscure origins. In this case, the kondie hags are not truly the originator of their confectionery charms. Their vile influence has perverted a homey spellcasting school lost to history, lacing the treats that once gave comfort with debilitating curses. Perhaps, in time, a more pure version (wizard subclass) may be rediscovered ><br><br> > **Hag's Cookbook.** A great number of alternative effects may come out of the hag's kitchen if certain ingredients are used. I did not have the time to flesh out detailed effects, but consider indefinitte paralysis on three failed saves if the food is prepared with a cockatrice, or any number of poison effects if wasp's honey is used. \pagebreak ## Appendix: Stat Blocks ___ ___ > ## Kondie Hag >*Large fey, neutral evil* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 16 (Natural Armor) > - **Hit Points** 119 (13d10+42) > - **Speed** 35 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|19 (+4)| 13 (+1)|16 (+3)|16 (+3)| 15 (+2)|15 (+2)| >___ > - **Saving Throws** Con +6 > - **Skills** Athletics +7, Deception +5, Perception +5 > - **Danage Resistances** poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks > - **Damage Immunities** fire > - **Condition Immunities** Charmed > - **Senses** Darkvision 120 ft., passive perception 15 > - **Languages** Common, Sylvan, Primordial > - **Challenge** 6 (2,300 XP) > ___ > > > ***Innate Spellcasting.*** The hag’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). She can innately cast the following spells requiring no material components: > > At Will: *create food and water, detect magic, grease, infestation, fire bolt, ray of frost* > > 2/day each: *web, flaming sphere, animate objects (can only be cast on food)* > > ### Actions > ***Multiattack.*** The hag makes two claw attacks. > > ***Claws.*** (Hag Form Only). *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 13 (2d8+3) slashing damage > > ***Change Shape.*** The hag magically polymorphs into a Small or Medium female humanoid, or back into her true form. Her statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies. > > ### Reactions > > ***Blood of Molten Sugar.*** Whenever subjected to fire or lightning damage, the hag's blood congeals into a sugar ooze with hit points equal to the damage taken. As part of this reaction, the hag can fling the new ooze up to 30 feet, making a ranged weapon attack (+7 to hit). On a hit, the target is grappled by the sugar ooze and immediately subject to the ooze's broiling surface. ___ ___ > ## Sugar Ooze >*Medium ooze, unaligned* > ___ > - **Armor Class** 8 > - **Hit Points** 22 (3d8+9) > - **Speed** 10 ft., climb 10 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|12 (+1)|6 (-2)|16 (+3)|1 (-5)|6 (-2)|2 (-4)| >___ > - **Damage Vulnerabilities** cold > - **Damage Immunities** fire > - **Condition Immunities** Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Exhaustion, Frightened, Prone > - **Senses** Blindsight 60 Ft. (Blind Beyond This Radius), passive Perception 8 > - **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) > ___ > > **Amorphous.** The ooze can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing. > > **Broiling Surface.** A creature that touches the ooze or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 4 (1d8) fire damage. > > **Cooling Form.** If the ooze takes 10 or more cold damage in a single turn, its speed is reduced to 5 feet, it loses its broiling surface, and it gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. It returns to its true form after taking fire damage or going one round without taking cold damage. > > ### Actions > ***Peusodopod.*** *Attack Style:* +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 4 (1d4 +1) bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d4) fire damage.