Annis

An annis was the most physically powerful of the hags.

Description
Annis hags were the most physically imposing of their race, standing at minimum  and sometimes towering over  in height. Defying the stereotype of the withered crone, they were covered in musculature, although the nature of their builds varied. Some were described as lean and quick with long, lanky limbs but others were more akin to ogresses with gnarled muscles and jutting bones comprising their hulking frames. Such annis hags, even with their hunched backs and humped shoulders, were still massive, known to weigh around. Their stretched skin was covered in scars and blemishes and had a blue-black complexion like that of a deep bruise.

An annis hag's nails were not simply as sharp as blades but were actually made of iron that magically grew like the keratin nails of normal humanoids. Normally they were long but often stylized by annis hags into long spirals that could inflict unnerving, circular wounds. They were naturally a glossy shade of black but like ordinary steel would oxidize over time, turning their shiny nails into rusted corkscrews. Their sharpened teeth were also metallic and their filthy hair had a similar luster. Above an annis's dull, greenish-yellow eyes were a pair of black, upward-arching horns barely longer than a human's thumbs. The nubs were seemingly vestigial, neither long enough to reach enemies or hardy enough to pierce them.

Prone to bodily modification, annis hags were known to deeply scar themselves and use grafts in order to augment their already grotesque features to make themselves even more terrifying. One was said to have chewed through their cheeks to etch a gangrenous grin on their faces and there rumors of an annis that stitched the members of her coven onto her back, trapping her flailing sisters in a semi-conscious state. Normally they wore disheveled peasant's clothes but when needed they could use their illusory abilities to blend into other societies in a variety of ways. Their guises could range from wizened woman to beautiful amazons in the form of tall humans, small giantesses, or ogres, and even animals such as bears.

Personality
While just as intelligent as the sly, seductive green hags, annis hags outmatched them and other hags in terms of both physical prowess and unwieldy egotism. By far the most conceited of hags, annis were also the most easily bribed with offers of magic and living prey. The source of their narcissism was their size and strength which to their twisted minds were to be considered virtues. They loved receiving recognition for such traits and so dominated powerful races of humanoid brutes, the stronger the better, who might hold similarly savage mentalities. They were also fiercely territorial, and might tear through entire settlements to destroy even minor threats to their reign.

Just as annis hags were eager to subjugate the strong they delighted in dominating the weak, particularly other hags and striking fear into them. Killing was a favorite activity alongside sowing suspicion and confusion and so they left signs of their terrifying activities on the outskirts of their territories. Nothing brought an annis more joy than spreading dread and worried anger to a once healthy community, and leaving sinister signs wasn't their only method. One particularly vile tactic was to approach children unseen as kindly crones and slowly warp their sense of morality. What might start as vandalism and wandering off could turn into arson and reckless actions like pushing someone down stairs, until a frightened community was unenviably compelled to punish or exile them.

Abilities
The flesh of an annis hag was comparable to leather armor with plate-mail durability, which combined with an annis's magical resistance, made them difficult to assail. Cutting and piercing the skin was ineffective but as a result of their brittle bones, bludgeoning them was relatively easy. In terms of offense, annis hags were reliant on their monstrous strength to crush their victims or their iron teeth and claws to rip and rend them.

An annis's teeth and nails were also inherently magical, and if pulled out could be fashioned into small, iron tokens such as coins, rings or small mirrors. Afterwards, if within 10 miles of each other, her and the recipient could conduct whispered conversations only they could hear, a useful item for corrupting children. An annis could detect the approximate location of tokens but could only have three active at any one time, although she could near-instantly disable them from any distance and render them magically inert.

Aside from her nails, the only inherent magical abilities of annis hags were those of disguise and the power to conjure cold clouds of dense fog.

Combat
Those who would dismiss the strength-obsessed annis as simple savages would be making a fatal assumption. Despite being powerful and proud of it, annis hags shunned simple assaults, instead dividing and disorienting their enemies before battle in order to defeat otherwise dangerous opponents. Before battle they disguised themselves as commoners to lower their victim's guard or used the mist to sneak up on their targets. They also used the fog clouds to bewilder resisting foes or delay dangerous attacks.

In battle, an annis hag favored closing in and grappling, using the unbelievable strength behind their talons and teeth to sink into their victims and continuing to do so until they were dead. The spiraling of their nails was neither a detriment or boon during combat but it was nonetheless disconcerting to see the deep wounds they left. While they might train as barbarians or fighters they might also try to improve their natural magical talent as sorceresses.

Lair
An annis made her lair in a dark cave, burrow, or ruin, where she stalked and fed upon the unwary. Of all the hags, an annis delighted in tearing her victims to shreds with her bare hands, all while relishing in the screams of pain and terror.

Notable annis hags

 * Gremma, a powerful annis hag who controlled a group of ogres, and owned a magical cauldron.
 * Tanta Hagara, an annis who acted as a shaman and leader for the Blue Bear tribe in 1358 DR who sought to find the ancestral mound beneath the Grandfather Tree.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
 * Nymph's Reward
 * Novels:
 * Bladesinger