Hags inBaldur’s Gate 3are dangerous, disturbing, and very powerful. Players can learn this first-hand during Act One, thanks to Auntie Ethel, and while Act Two has other monsters to worry about, the hags come back in Act Three thanks to the quest"Help the Hag Survivors."
Players who complete that quest will immediately start into the follow-up quest, “Avenge the Hag Survivors.” This is the name of the quest, even if none of the hag survivors died in the previous quest. This time, the party must help a woman named Lora get her kidnapped child back, and by the end of it,Baldur’s Gate 3players will reunite with another familiar character from Act One.
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Where to Find Lora
The hag survivors will point players to the Flaming Fist garrison, which is where Lora went to try and get help with finding her missing daughter Vanra. The garrison is north of the Basilisk Gate waypoint, and Lora is inside the room on the east side of the training yard.
The person Lora is speaking to is Blaze Liara Portyr, a member of the garrison who said she had a lead on what happened to Vanra before but currently seems to be having memory issues. If the active speaker passes an Arcana check, they can sense something off with Liara, andif they then pass an active DC 18 Arcana check, they can realize that someone deliberately tampered with Liara’s memory. However, while this information is useful, Liara herself isn’t.
Instead, players must speak to Lora directly and promise to help. Lora will explain that she last saw Vanra when the two of them went to the Blushing Mermaid tavern. According to her, Lora’s drinking buddies were too drunk to notice what happened, and both the bartender, Bosun Gannet, and the owner, Captain Grisly, refused to help.
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Investigating the Blushing Mermaid
The Blushing Mermaid is north of the docks and easy to find: it’sthe only building in the Lower Citywith half of a ship attached to the front door. Bosun Gannet is behind the bar to the right of the entrance, but he’s no help at all. He remembers Lora pulling a knife on him when she got desperate, but not much more. Another Arcana check will reveal that he, too, has tampered memories.
The more useful person to talk to is Captain Grisly, who’s nursing a hangover in her private room. This room is just to the right, past the stairs. According to Grisly, Lora is a former pirate who went crazy and only imagined the existence of Vanra. She’s tired of Lora’s antics andwill pay the party 3,000 goldto get rid of her permanently.
If players accept this deal, they can go to Lora’s home (which has a marker on the map) and attack her. Lora isn’t a pushover, but she shouldn’t be a serious threat to an Act Three party. Once the party returns, Grisly will be amazed that they fell for her trick and reveal herself to be Auntie Ethel, the green hag from Act One. This would happen even ifthe party killed her in her lair and saved Mayrina. Ethel will also reveal herself if players refuse to kill Lora.
As a side note, one way for players to notice something’s up is from Captain Grisly’s name. While in disguise, Ethel spells her name as “Captain Grizly.”
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As it turns out, Ethel ate Vanra, an act that will slowly turn the girl into another hag. If that wasn’t enough, Vanra will die if Ethel dies. After saying as much, Ethel will demand that the party leave her alone. If players leave Ethel alone in Act One, she’ll even offerto help the party during the finaleas part of the “Gather Your Allies” quest. In exchange, however, the party must stay away from her until then.
The party can also get this deal (along with 3,000 gold) if they kill Lora, even if they kill Ethel in Act One. However, if the party killed her then and refuses to play along now, they’ll only get the ultimatum.
If the party threatens to go after Ethel, she’ll teleport away, and six crewmates in the tavern will reveal themselves to be redcaps who attack the party immediately. The redcaps aren’t much more dangerous than they were in Act One, but they’ll last long enough to cover Ethel’s escape. Players can then speak to Bosun Gannet about the fight, but he’s still too deep under the hag’s enchantment to help.
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Where to Find Auntie Ethel
To continue the quest, players must enter the basement of the Blushing Mermaid. The party can do so through a door at the bottom of a staircase in Captain Grisly’s room or through a door next to Bosun Gannet’s bar. Both doors lead into the same room.
In the basement, players may notice a break in the wall filled with explosive barrels. Go ahead and blow them up, but don’t expect the wall to break. Instead, this is a way to get back outside from the boss arena.
The actual way forward is an illusory wall above the barrels. Jump onto the barrels and walk over to the roots, and someone with a decent Perception check will spot the illusion. Climb down the ladder on the far side to enter a natural cave full of mushrooms and four humanoids wearing masks.Like in Ethel’s swamp lair, these individuals are enchanted by Ethel and are hostile to the party if they approach. They must fail a Wisdom save to act in combat, but they’ll almost always fail.
The masked enemies are a barbarian, a bard, a monk, and the real Captain Grisly.The three mask wearers are too far gone, but it’s possible to save Grisly by killing Ethel first. Players who want to do so should try to take the captain down with a nonlethal attack.
Alternatively, players can avoid fighting the mask wearers entirely by staying away from them. The door to Ethel’s lair is just to the left of the entrance, so the party can head straight there (while avoiding all the traps). On the other hand, Ethel will summon her living minions when the boss fight begins, so the best option is to deal with them early.
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How to Beat Auntie Ethel
Auntie Ethel isn’t much tougherthan she was back in Act One, but she has a lot more tricks up her sleeve this time.
First is Vanra’s situation. Ethel wasn’t lying earlier, and if she dies while Vanra is inside her, the girl will die with her. There are two ways to get around this problem:
The next issue is Ethel’s clones. In this fight, she can create up to five copies of herself at once, and each of them will use a modified version of Ray of Sickness and then turn invisible. On the bright side, dealing any damage to a copy will make it disappear, and players can use the initiative tracker to tell which Ethel is the real one.
Of course, the biggest problem with this fight is the Pearlspore Bell. These three mushroom clusters will resurrect Ethel with all her hit points if she dies, and they regain all their own hit points at the end of each round. The mushrooms takefull damage from every source except Poison and Psychic, and they’re impossible to miss, but players must have their party members focus on destroying each one in turn if they want to end Ethel’s life for good. The cantripChill Touchis also useful since it prevents all healing for one full round.
Once Ethel goes down for good, players can geta Potion of Angelic Slumber,Corellon’s Grace(a quarterstaff for monks), theRing of Feywild Sparks(a ring for sorcerers), aTarnished Charm(makes death saving throws easier), and several slime bombs. If they’re alive, Vanra will run to find her mother, Captain Grisly will thank the party for sparing her life, and the mask wearers will become catatonic.
The quest ends when the party goes back to Lora’s house. If Vanra is alive, the party will get theAmulet of Windrider(which has a unique level three spell)and the Duelist’s Prerogative(a powerful +3 rapier with several special abilities). Players can also go visit the hag survivors to tell them the good news.
Baldur’s Gate 3is available now on macOS, PC, and PS5.
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