Tanta Hagara

Tanta Hagara was an evil annis who worked her way into the Blue Bear tribe of the Uthgardt.

Description
Tanta stood tall, had a muscular and wiry frame with deep blue skin, and dull greenish-yellow eyes. Her hair, teeth, and nails were all glossy black. She dressed in heavy, cowled robes that covered all her skin so as to avoid frightening her followers if caught in this form.

Whenever she appeared before members of the Blue Bear tribe she would use disguise self to take on one of two forms—a beautiful, barbaric hunter goddess with sky-blue skin or a blue-furred bear.

Activities
Tanta's greatest known goal in life was to gain access to the Uthgardt ancestral mound that laid beneath the Grandfather Tree - an ancient embodiment of the forest, reputed to hold the Hall of Mists. Dating back to the creator races, this temple was said to contain gates to other worlds, including the Abyss and the Negative Material Plane. She would often tell her Tanar'ri minions that these gates would allow them to bolster their army with more tanar'ri, creating an army large enough to conquer all of the North. Beyond the gates, she sought two artifacts that resided within the Hall of Mists - a crystal ball that projected the contents of a Book of Vile Darkness into its user's mind and a mysterious extra-planar artifact.

When not pursuing these goals she would often be found stalking the wilderness, either hunting for human prey or meeting with the demon Grintharke.

History
A servant of the demon Grintharke, Tanta corrupted the Blue Bear tribe with base rituals while posing as their shaman. This corruption developed to such an extent that the tribe began to view her as an avatar of their totemic spirit, they were driven away from the Grandfather Tree by its guardian spirits, and they were shunned by the rest of the Uthgardt tribes. Those who did not accept her as their shaman splintered off, becoming the Tree Ghost tribe.

Following Grintharke's death in 1365 DR, she acted as a servant to Hellgate Keep's new ruler, Mulvassyss.

In 1366 DR, a cambion from Hellgate Keep by the name of Kaanyr Vhok met with Tanta in the High Forest to discuss overthrowing his mother Mulvassyss. Two years later Kaanyr led Tanta and the Blue Bear tribe into the keep and slew his mother. The tribe's puppet chieftain, Hlutwig Long-throw, was trampled to death in the confusion that followed.

With the death of their chieftain, the Blue Bear tribe turned to Tanta as their new leader and Kaanyr wed her to cement their alliance. Kaanyr would control the demonic forces of Hellgate Keep, while Tanta was left to act as its figurehead "true ruler."

A year later in 1369 DR, two Harpers infiltrated the city under the guise of Blue Bear barbarians and exposed Tanta's existence as an annis, believing this would cause a riot among the tribesmen. But this did nothing to destroy their respect for her, for they viewed Tanta's transformation as a gift from Uthgar meant to cement their alliance with Hellgate Keep. And they would retaliate by attacking caravans en route to Sundabar. They also made attacks on the city of Silverymoon, but these were fended off by the magic of Alustriel.

Later that year Tanta would lead the tribe and their demon allies in an attack on the Citadel of the Mists. An alliance of Everlund, High Forest, and Harpers drove them back and ultimately killed Tanta along with a majority of the tribe's members. She met her death at the hands of the treant Turlang the Great.

Rumors & Legends
It was believed that before her death, Tanta Hagara enchanted Uthgardt burial totems to summon dead warriors of the Blue Bear tribe to defend the Stone Stand and all the hidden treasures deep underneath the ancestral mounds. Once such totem, the Wrath of the Blue Bear was stolen from the Stone Stand and found its way into a private collection in Daggerford.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Hellgate Keep
 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate &bull; Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford
 * Baldur's Gate &bull; Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford
 * Baldur's Gate &bull; Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford