The heavens above are a lid of lead —
You're lost within the murk instead.
Our candles die in the damp air.
— Witch's Song / Verse 1
A natural dell where the path crosses low ground. Knee-high mist pools in the
hollow and the canopy closes overhead into a flat grey ceiling. The dell is a hag
weir — a small working laid by the three Aunts to drink light and breath out of any
traveler who lingers. Every open flame guttering out is the cue. The trap is broken by
finding and unmaking the buried lead disk at the dell's center; the disk is
sitting on top of the coven's stash, which is what the party finds when they pry it up.
The Scene
A 30-ft-wide depression in the woods, ringed by leaning birches whose bark looks like wet
paper. Mist sits at knee height and does not move with the wind. The air smells faintly of
lead — old coins, gunmetal, a coffin lining. The path runs straight through the middle of
it. There is no way around without bushwhacking a quarter-mile detour through bramble (which
the Aunts have, of course, also salted).
As any creature steps into the dell, every open flame they carry — torches,
lanterns, the cleric's holy fire — guts out within one round. Cantrip light (Light,
Druidcraft sparks, dancing lights) winks out a round later. Magical light from a spell slot
still works but only as dim light, and only inside the radius of the spell.
Spotting It
The dell from outside. Passive Perception 15 notes the unnatural
stillness of the mist (it doesn't move with the wind) and the flatness of the canopy.
The smell. Anyone who sniffs the air at the dell's lip smells lead
and old smoke (auto, no roll).
The disk. Once inside, Investigation DC 14 of the leaf-mould at the
exact center turns up a corroded circle of lead the size of a manhole cover,
buried just below the surface and etched with three concentric rings of hag-runes.
What it is. Arcana DC 13 identifies the disk as a hag-coven
weir — a small working that drinks light, sound, and breath in a fixed area. It is
not a guardian; it is a fishing net.
The Press
Each round a creature spends inside the dell, they make a DC 13 Constitution
save. On a failure, they take 1d6 cold damage and are
Slowed until the start of their next turn (speed halved, no reactions,
disadvantage on attack rolls and Dex saves). On three failures in one visit
they gain one level of Exhaustion.
Spellcasting tax
Any spell with a Verbal component cast inside the dell forces a DC 13
Constitution save or the spell fails (the slot is still spent). Eleil, Seraphina,
HollyGo, and Garrick should all feel the muffling before they cast. "My faith dissolves
like salt."
DM only — pacing the dell
The dell is meant to be uncomfortable, not lethal. A party that walks straight through
takes one or two failed saves and crosses out the other side with a level of Exhaustion
on someone careless. A party that stops to fight in the dell — because the Aunts
cued an encounter on top of the weir — is in real trouble. If you want to escalate, drop
one disguised succubus scout into the mist near the disk; she gets the spellcasting tax
too (telepathy is fine), but she is dressed as a weeping lost pilgrim trying to wave the
party in.
The Lid Itself
The lead disk is 22 inches across, an inch thick, set just below the
leaf-mould at the geometric center of the dell. The hag-runes are arranged in three rings:
the outer ring drinks light, the middle drinks breath, the inner drinks
warmth. Cracking any one ring weakens the corresponding effect; cracking all three
collapses the weir entirely and the dell becomes ordinary forest within one round (mist
lifts, flames re-light, sky returns).
The Way Out — Three Solutions
Lift it. The disk is heavy and the runes resist. Two or three PCs can
chain checks: combined Strength (Athletics) DC 18, accumulating successes
on consecutive rounds. On success the disk flips clear; the weir collapses; the dell
brightens; a cavity is exposed beneath (see below). The disk itself is now inert lead —
about 60 lb of it, worth maybe 6 gp of scrap if a PC is fool enough to lug it.
Crack the runes. A heavy bludgeoning weapon striking the disk, paired
with Arcana DC 14, breaks one of the three rings per successful strike. Three strikes
unmakes the weir. Vaoker's warhammer (and a stonecunning roll if it'd help) is the right
tool. Each strike rings through the dell — see What the Aunts Hear below.
Dispel Magic at 3rd level or higher suppresses the weir for one
minute — long enough to cross safely without unmaking it. The Aunts feel the dispel like
a fly landing on a web; they do not feel the weir break. (This is the
stealth option.)
DM only — what the Aunts hear
Every weir is connected to the eldest of the three Aunts (Nettle) the way a
trip-wire is connected to a bell. Lifting the disk: Nettle notices, but
thinks it was a deer; no narrative cost. Cracking the runes: Nettle
notices, knows it was an intruder, and from now on the hags' attitude toward the party
starts one notch worse. Dispelling: she doesn't notice. Use this to color
the riddle scene later — the Aunts know more about a "crack-the-runes" party than a
"Dispel" party.
Read aloud — when the weir breaks
The mist falls in one slow rush, like a sheet dropped from a high window. The canopy
unbraids overhead and you can see grey-green sky through it. Every flame the party still
carries flares back into life at once, as though somebody just took a hand off the wick.
The dell smells of rain and earth again. Where the disk had been, there is a small dry
cavity in the ground, and something at the bottom of it is looking up at you.
After Breaking the Weir — What's Underneath
The lead disk was sitting on a shallow earthen cavity about the size of a soup
pot, lined with old, dry moss. The Aunts buried their anchor for the weir
here — the working's payment and its eye on the dell. The cavity holds three things, plus a
small ivory casket the size of a child's fist.
DM only — the eye looks back
The moment the disk comes off, the Hag's Eye (at the bottom of the
cavity) sees whoever is leaning over it. The hag whose turn it is on the coven's
eye-rotation gets a single round of clear sight before the party reacts — long enough to
recognize the lead face, count heads, and note who is carrying what. Then the party
realizes what it is and the choice is theirs: smash it, pocket it, or leave it.
Each choice is a different leverage path with the Aunts later. Don't railroad — let the
table decide.
The Cavity Beneath the Lid
Hag's Eye(wondrous item, rare) — a polished sphere of
black obsidian the size of a child's fist, with a single yellow iris frozen at its
center. It is the coven's working eye. While it exists, any of the three Aunts can use
an Action to see and hear through it as if scrying, with no save and no roll. If the
Eye is destroyed (AC 10, HP 5, immune to psychic and poison),
every hag in the coven takes 3d10 psychic damage and is Blinded for 24 hours;
the party's surprise round at the hag hut becomes catastrophic for the Aunts. If the
party keeps it they are carrying the coven's eye into the rest of the
Lower Woods — Yrsa will notice; the succubi will too. Cannot be attuned by a non-hag.
Owlfeather Eye(wondrous item, uncommon; requires
attunement) — a smooth amber bead wound about with a single barred owl's feather
on a leather thong. While worn, the attuned creature has advantage on Wisdom
(Perception) checks that rely on sight, and gains darkvision out to
30 ft (or extends existing darkvision by an additional 30 ft). Once per long
rest, as a Bonus Action, the attuned creature can cast See Invisibility
on themselves (10 minutes, no Concentration). Flavor tell: while the Hag's Eye
is within 30 ft of the Owlfeather Eye, the amber bead warms and visibly trembles toward
the obsidian — they are old enemies. (The Owlfeather Eye was taken off the last pilgrim
who tried to break this weir. Lyn will want this. Let her have it.)
Periapt of Health(wondrous item, uncommon) — a small disc
of green-veined jade on a fine silver chain. While worn, the wearer is immune
to contracting disease, and any disease already on the wearer is suppressed
while the periapt is worn (it returns the moment the periapt comes off). Practical
callback: the Lower Woods are very, very damp, and the Aunts have a curse-disease in
their kit for the climax. This is the answer to it if anyone is wearing it.
Ivory casket — about the size of a child's fist, hinged in bone.
Inside:
24 gp in mixed coin.
34 sp, mostly clipped and old.
One sapphire, lozenge-cut, deep blue — worth 340 gp. The Aunts
used it as the weir's warmth-anchor; it is faintly cold to the touch for
the next 24 hours, then loses the chill.
Deflate / Smart Plays
Don't fight in the dell. The whole effect ends when the party
exits — if a scout flagged it from outside, just walk around (or sprint through). The
Cost is one Exhaustion at most.
Resistance to cold shrugs the press. HollyGo's Aura of Protection
(already giving +CHA mod to saves) lets the paladin and anyone within 10 ft eat the DC 13
Con saves for breakfast.
Dispel Magic at 3rd is the elegant Wizard / high-tier Druid answer:
no breakage, no Aunts-tell, no broken disk to argue over.
Stonecunning. Vaoker auto-recognizes the disk is lead, not stone,
and gets advantage on the Arcana check to identify the weir.