AuldDragon's AD&D Blog

Just in time for the spooky season of October is Cegilune, goddess of hags. She rules the night hags of the Gray Waste and conducts trade in larva with diverse dark powers, while also haunting the Prime Material Plane in search of magic and souls to turn into more larva. With her, I chose to incorporate some of the European legends about witches just as I incorporated some similar Eastern information into her potential sister, Ysshara.

EDIT: There was an issue with the PDF having blank pages, and that has now been fixed. Many apologies!

Cegilune (PDF Version)
(The Hag Goddess, the Mother of Hags, the Crone of the Wood, the Covey Mistress, the Crone Among the Stones)
Lesser Power of the Gray Waste, NE

Portfolio:                 Larvae, hags, the moon, magic, deception, curses, bargains with hidden catches
Aliases:                     None
Domain Name:           Pluton/Hagsend
Superior:                   None
Allies:                       Baba Yaga, Grolantor, Karontor
Foes:                           Belenus, Damh, the Hag Countess, Mellifleur, Olhydra, Sehanine Moonbow, Selûne, Titania, the Seelie Court, the Seldarine, the Tuatha de Danaan
Symbol:                     Cauldron
Wor. Align.:             N, CN, LE, NE, CE

Constantly tending her magical cauldron in her cavernous lair, Cegilune (SEG-ih-loon) is a forbidding presence on the Gray Waste. She represents the power the moon exerts over magic and the lives of creatures, especially in negative ways. She is a hard bargainer, known to utilize deception, curses, and hidden catches to get the better end of her deals. She is the top dealer in larvae, the currency of power in the Lower Planes, and she uses that power to effectively rule the Gray Waste.

Patron and creator of the various races of hags, Cegilune is in truth worshiped by virtually none of them. Instead, they fear her power and authority over them, and serve her out of self-preservation and the necessity of maintaining their own power. In particular, Cegilune rules the Night Hags of the Gray Waste with an iron fist; she lets them conduct their own mercantile activities as they wish, so long as they immediately respond to her desires and whims and do not undercut her deals. Luckily for the Night Hags, they are more than numerous enough to respond to her desires in such a way that it is often hundreds of years before any particular hag has to have anything to do with Cegilune, so long as they stay on her good side. The hags of the Prime Material Plane are generally better off; few will ever have to deal with an avatar of the Hag Goddess, although word of such visitations is enough to ensure that these hags also respond to her whims should she desire something of them.

Many legends and myths are told about Cegilune, both with respect to her origins and her exploits. In some myths she is said to be one of a trio of sisters, all old even upon their birth. Little is said about their parentage, but the eldest is always Cegilune. The other two sometimes vary, but the most common members of their triumvirate are Baba Yaga the Bony-Legged and Ysshara the Lorekeeper. Sometimes these three hag goddesses are connected to other trios, such as the Moirai of the Olympians and the Norns of the Aesir, or the Graeae sisters and the Weyward Sisters. Sages of the divine have been quick to conclude that the Rule of Threes is at work here, with three groups of three, or perhaps even extending to further iterations of three, noting even more trios of powerful female entities, including Shekinester and her three forms, the Vedic Trimurta, and Angharradh of the Seldarine. A few sages go even further, speculating that all or most of these female powers are in fact shards of an ancient female deity, or a trio of ancient deities; while much fodder for debate, no evidence exists for any of these theories and the truth is unlikely to ever be known.

Other widely told myths portray Cegilune as sister to Titania the Faerie Queen. However, Titania is known to have a sister, the Queen of Air and Darkness, with no connection to Cegilune. This has led sages to speculate at a more complex relationship that is misunderstood or simplified in myths. Instead of a sister, some sages speculate she is a dark mirror of the Faerie Queen, spontaneously arisen or created by some other dark entity. Whatever the true case, she is seen by fairy folk as a stalker in the darkness, a fearsome hunger that hunts them by the light of the moon. Many mortals, and even some powers, firmly believe that should one perish, so too will the other, thus constraining the actions they can take against the Covey Mistress. One thing is for sure, however: Titania and her court actively oppose Cegilune and her hags. In fact, Titania has on many an occasion lifted or altered curses the Hag Goddess has inflicted on mortals.

Among the hags, as well as other races, there are many tales that purport to describe the origins of hags themselves. While the details vary wildly, the most common tale revolves around an aging rural housewife, back bowed from years of arduous work raising children, cooking, cleaning, and farming. Thrown out by her husband in preference for a younger, prettier new wife, and even turned away by her sons, the spurned woman turns to dark powers (commonly Cegilune) to get her revenge. Through dark rituals and sacrifices she gains potent magical powers to alter her appearance and charm her former family. She then proceeds to kill and eat her husband, and then marry her sons, only to kill and eat them as well, one by one. Most stories portray her as becoming pregnant by her sons, and her daughters become the first true hags. In some stories, she transferred the pregnancies to captured humanoid females, with the different humanoids leading to different hags, while other stories say that it was the professions of her sons that resulted in hag diversity. A few stories instead describe her as consorting with humanoids before eating her sons, and these unholy unions are the origins of the different hags. Some tribes of ogres tell a different story; they trace the origins of hags back to their own race and an ancient queen who foresaw the downfall of her race’s empire. In consorting with dark powers as a means of trying to avoid this fate, she instead caused it, and her children became the first hags.

Sages in the planar city of Sigil speculate on another origin of the hag races. The night hags, being that they are native to the Covey Mistress’s home plane of the Gray Waste are often considered to be the first hags; a few sages even call them the true hags. These creatures were said to be created or birthed by Cegilune with no father at all and are the closest to her in temperament and character. Following the creation of these hags, the Covey Mistress is said to have had dalliances with many other fell powers, leading to the various subraces of hags. In this view, the annis find their origin in a dalliance with Vaprak, while greenhags and sea hags were the result of dalliances with Nomog-Geaya and Panzuriel, respectively. A more cynical view proposes that each of these hags were the result of Prime Material forays from night hags coupling with ogres, hobgoblins, and koalinths (or merrow). Cegilune is widely believed to have had dalliances with these powers, as well as the giantish powers Grolantor and Karontor; while no known hags were the result of these latter unions, it is widely held that they are partially responsible for the degeneracy of their mortal followers. If her relations are responsible for the various hag races, sages further put the hannya at the feet of a hitherto-unknown union with Merrshaulk and responsibility for the bhuer lie with Kostchtchie or Thrym. The outlier among all of these are the desert-dwelling silats. These hags cohabitate and breed exclusively with ogre magi, and unlike their sisters, they can produce male young. It is often thought that they are what happen to the other hag races if they were to choose a male species to mate with exclusively. However, given that not all silats are evil, there is also some speculation that they may not be fully under the influence of Cegilune. Finally, there is one firm exception: The bruja. These kindly hags are believed to have once been greenhags, cursed by the Covey Mistress for some unknown affront. In an act of mercy, Titania altered the curse to be less onerous since she was unable to lift it entirely; as a consequence these hags have become beneficent towards others in their sylvan lands in thanks for the Faerie Queen’s kindness.

Cegilune maintains almost no permanent alliances, preferring entirely transactional arrangements with other powers. She will deal with anyone who wishes to acquire her larvae or knowledge, although she is stingy and begrudges each larva or morsel of information she trades away. The Covey Mistress has had extensive contacts with various Abyssal Lords, the Circle of Eight, the Lords of the Nine of Baator; in fact, rumor has it the Dark Eight are actively purchasing an unprecedented number of larvae in what is sure to be a very profitable venture for the Cegilune and her night hag cronies. The exception among the Lords of the Nine is the Lord of the Sixth, the Hag Countess. Cegilune feels that this vile devil treads too much on her own territory, and refuses to deal with her directly, necessitating intermediaries. It is said that the Lichlord Mellifleur once attempted, or at least planned, to attack the Covey Mistress in her lair on the Gray Waste, but her considerable defenses of hidden soul gems with elaborate chain contingencies dissuaded him or turned back his forces. Despite this, the Hag Goddess still deals larvae to many liches, even those in service to the Lichlord; even a little thing like an invasion won’t stop her trade and profit. The Archomental of Evil Water has also earned her ire for accepting a rogue covey of sea hags into her service, and Olhydra has further attempted to gain followers among Prime Material sea hags; any such sea hags that Cegilune encounters on her forays to the Prime are disciplined harshly. Finally, despite her transactional relationships, she is said to be able to call upon Grolantor or Karontor for service; whether these are true alliances or just long-term arrangements is unknown, but many sages suspect she has simply duped the pair into believing her to be allied to them. She also seems to still have a positive relationship with Baba Yaga, having been spotted visiting her sister’s chicken-legged hut if rumors are to be believed. It is just as likely that some nefarious deal is being worked out between the pair of crone-sisters, however.

Cegilune’s avatars make frequent visits to the Prime Material Plane. Like her night hags, these trips often revolve around capturing evil souls in order to transform them into larvae to increase her stocks. She also visits powerful hag coveys to acquire information and treasure; mortal hags despise her for these activities, but they are too frightened of her power to refuse. On these trips, the Covey Mistress enjoys feasting on swanmays she has hunted with her entourage. When such prey is unavailable, she still gains delight from using her iron-hard claws to tear into powerful fighters. In acts that have earned her the ire of Belenus and the Tuatha de Danaan, Cegilune occasionally conducts dark rituals under the full moon and within stone circles sacred to those powers, tapping into the great sylvan magic they contain. What the results the rituals produce is unknown, but most of them involve the sacrifice of powerful woodland defenders, such as rangers, swanmays, and druids gained through hunts conducted by night hags prior to the rituals. In any case, such rituals darkly taint the stone circles, requiring great effort to cleanse them before they can be used for rituals by the priests of the Tuatha de Danaan.

Cegilune’s Avatar (Illusionist 28, Cleric 28, Fighter 14)
Cegilune appears as an ugly old hag with warty, wrinkled, and mottled yellow-brown skin and a mouth full sharp, blackened teeth that are clearly visible in her cruel smile. She has a bent nose, and her rheumy eyes are a sickly yellow; despite their unhealthy appearance they are sharp and show both intelligence and malevolence. Her lank pale hair constantly flakes away from her alopecial scalp in disgusting clumps. She normally wears filthy, tattered robes of rough cloth crawling with insects. She frequently takes other forms to fool those she encounters, favoring the forms of a young human or elven female or a homely elderly woman; on rare occasions she has been known to take the form of a scruffy goblinoid as well. No matter her form, she can be recognized by the small iron pot she always carries. She draws her spells from all schools save invocation/evocation and all spheres save chaos, law, and war, and she only uses the reversed forms of spells from the spheres of healing, necromantic, and sun.

AC −1; MV 18, Fl 60 (A); HP 112; THAC0 2; #AT 3
Dmg 1d8+9 ×2 (claws, +9 Str) / 4d4 (bite)
MR 65%; SZ L (10 feet)
Str 21, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 17, Wis 18, Cha 1
Spells P: 11/11/10/10/9/9/6, W: 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 5; BW 5; Sp 4

Special Att/Def: While she prefers to use her magic in most situations, Cegilune enjoys using her iron-hard claws and teeth to rend the flesh of powerful sylvan or good creatures. She does not do so wantonly unless her victims have been rendered powerless against her, however.

The Covey Mistress can change self at will, and once per week she can wail as a banshee. Further, four times per day she can cast forcecage, and twice per day she can turn a death gaze against a single creature within 120 feet; such a creature must make a saving throw versus spell with a −4 penalty or be slain. Cegilune can reach into her iron pot to produce, once per day each, 1d8+8 poisonous snakes (as the sticks to snakes spell), a vial of Class D poison that she uses to coat her claws (the poison evaporates after an hour or three successful attacks), a web spell that she can throw up to 60 feet, and project a screen spell. Furthermore, she always carries with her a small, beaded bag filled with 2d10 hag eyes (as detailed in the Monstrous Manual entry for hags). These small gem-like objects are the shriveled and preserved eyes of her victims and are magically treated to allow her to see through them as she wills, up to a distance of 10 miles. She carefully conceals them throughout the perimeter of an area she plans to be active in, but should they be discovered, their destruction causes her to suffer 1d12 points of damage.

The Covey Mistress is immune to all illusion/phantasm and mind-controlling spells, death magic, and poison, as well as weapons below +3 enchantment. She suffers only half damage from acid and cold attacks. However, she makes saves at a −2 penalty against petrification attacks. During the day before, on, and after a full moon, Cegilune gains an additional 10% to her magic resistance, and any saving throws versus her spells are penalized by 2, which is cumulative with any other penalties that may apply. On the night of a full moon, she may cast a moonbeam spell which also affects those within the area as a symbol of insanity (normal saves apply). During the day before, on, and after a new moon, she is unable to utilize her death gaze and loses 10% from her magic resistance. If a world she visits has more than one moon, these effects follow the moon with the shortest phase period, unless another moon is specifically associated with evil.

Other Manifestations
While Cegilune does little to aid her followers, she is apt to offer bargains to those who call upon her. Any woman who feels wronged and calls for aid or vengeance under the light of the full moon may draw the Hag Goddess’s attention, prompting her to make a simple bargain: Power in exchange for the sacrifice of those the petitioner wishes vengeance upon. These sacrifices always become larvae in the Covey Mistress’s herd, as does the petitioner whenever she dies. The powers Cegilune offers tend towards spells such as change self, polymorph self, charm person, and bestow curse, although a wide variety of spells may be offered in many different combinations, depending on need. These spells often carry a heavy toll on the user, such as reducing their Charisma by 1 point every time they are used or aging the user by one year with each use. On rare occasions, Cegilune may turn the petitioner into a true hag if she senses a desire to continue their depraved acts once their vengeance is complete.

The Covey Mistress is served primarily by larvae, night hags, and nightmares, as well as annis hags, bats, black cats, bhuer hags, crones of chaos, crows, greater sea hags, greenhags, hell hounds, hordlings, imps, incarnates of covetousness, quasits, sea hags, shadow hounds, silats, toads, yeth hounds, and various yugoloth altroloths. Cegilune has never been known to display her favor to her faithful, but her displeasure can be quite clear in the form of boiling pots that suddenly crack open, spilling their hot contents everywhere or the sudden attack by a group of small animals such as rats, bats, or cats. In more extreme circumstances, she may afflict a wayward follower with a curse or similar magical condition that can only be removed by completing some task for her.

The Church
Clergy:                      Clerics, specialty priests, mystics, wizards
Clergy’s Align.:      LE, NE, CE
Turn Undead:           C: No, SP: No, Mys: No, W: No
Cmnd. Undead:         C: Yes, SP: Yes, Mys: No, W: No

All clerics, specialty priests, and mystics of Cegilune receive religion (Cegilune) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.

Cegilune’s hags are well known and greatly feared by faerie folk and goodly residents of sylvan lands, although true cults dedicated to her are quite rare. Those that do form are more often created by rural women looking for power or revenge and rarely involve hags at all, although they may attempt to mimic their covey structure. Even more rarely, men may join or form such cults; in every case, power is their motivation. All such cults maintain secrecy, for the penalty applied to their activities is typically very harsh by their societies, and especially paranoid religious leaders may attempt to create inquisitions to root cults of Cegilune out. While still rare, cults dedicated to the Hag Goddess may also be found among ogrish and goblinkin tribes, especially those with friendly relations with a hag covey. Such cults are more likely to be positively received, but this is not guaranteed.

Temples dedicated to Cegilune are nonexistent. Hags build none, and no cult among other races has been known to get large enough or powerful enough to be open in their own society. Personal shrines dedicated to the Covey Mistress are small circles of stones or decorated iron pots hung in an alcove rather than over a cooking fire, although using them for cooking up herbal potions and the like is accepted. Places of potent magic in sylvan lands are sacred to followers of Cegilune, especially those that contain henges or other sorts of stone circles. Using such sites is typically done surreptitiously as they are sacred to a variety of other faiths who consider the usage by Cegilune’s followers to be acts of extreme blasphemy. The Hag Goddess’s faithful never build such structures themselves.

A variety of terms are used to label novices in the service of Cegilune, but the most common is the Unchanged. Similarly, full priests of the Hag Goddess are most commonly called Sisters Under the Moon; fellow priests always address each other as Sister, regardless of position within the cult. Males within the clergy have no common terminology. No formal titles are used in the cult hierarchy, but all cults are considered to have a hierarchy of a circle, with one prime leader and all other full priests nominally equal under that leader, although seniority based on time spent within the cult often serves as an informal mark of hierarchical order. Specialty priests of Cegilune are called haegtesses. The majority of the Hag Goddess’s clergy is composed of humans (63%), with the remainder being ogres (including ogre magi and merrow, 12%), goblins and hobgoblins (9%), other goblinoids (bugbears, koalinths, orcs, etc., 8%), demihumans (3%), hags of all sorts (annis, greenhags, sea hags, greater sea hags, bhuer, silats, etc. 3%), sylvan races (1%), and other races such as giants (1%). Specialty priests (46%) and clerics (46%) dominate the cults, with smaller numbers of wizards (10%) and mystics (8%) filling out the ranks; cults are typically composed of uniform classes. Finally, the priesthood is almost exclusively female (93%), with males (7%) making up only a tiny component of the whole.

Dogma: Power and revenge can be had through magic and dark bargains with the Mother of Hags. Search out hidden places of power to conduct rituals and give yourself over to the power of the Crone Among the Stones. She will bless you with her rewards and bring down curses upon your enemies. Revel in the light of the moon, and sacrifice blood and souls to gain still more power in exchange.

Day-to-Day Activities: Most cults dedicated to the Hag Goddess operate in secret and may only meet once a month. In the meantime, followers of Cegilune attempt to maintain a veneer of respectability while also typing to subtly bring down those who have wronged them.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: Every full moon is sacred to the faithful of the Covey Mistress. On these days, they are required to perform a sacrifice of blood; for new cults and young members, this may be minor as a few drops of their own blood or a small rodent, but powerful priests and old cults are expected to sacrifice a captured person or sylvan creatures at least once per year. These monthly ceremonies have no formal name but are informally referred to as The Bargaining.

Major Centers of Worship: Any stone circle or henge is sacred to the clergy of Cegilune. And they prefer to hold their rituals in such locations over any other. In areas where their cult is suspected of existing and followers of other faiths who built such circles exist, younger members of the cults may be tasked with leading guards away on merry chases so their elders may perform the necessary monthly ceremonies.

Affiliated Orders: No affiliated orders exist attached to the cult of Cegilune, but every circle attempts to locate and befriend nearby hags in hopes of learning their ways and magic.

Priestly Vestments: Robes or dresses in dark, somber shades always compose the formal garb of the Covey Mistress’s human cults. Blacks, greys, dark browns, and very deep purples are most common. Robes are often hooded, and masks may also be worn when the cults meet; of those cults that eschew hoods, about half wear wide-brimmed peaked hats in the same shades as their robes, while rest keep their heads bare. Males may utilize hoods, but never these hats; if they are part of a cult that wears such hats, they will be bareheaded. All males are required to wear a beard once they become full priests. Similar clothing is worn by other races, but the style and cut of the robes fit each society. The holy symbol used by the clergy is a small model of an iron cauldron on a necklace. These cauldrons are typically no larger than a thimble.

Adventuring Garb: Members of Cegilune’s cults rarely travel far from their homes; when they do travel, they either wear traveling clothing and equipment common to their society or they appear as innocuous women, especially one of significant age. Staves are the favored weapons of such priests, and only armor that can be concealed is worn.

Specialty Priests (Haegtesses)
Requirements:          Intelligence 12, Wisdom 12
Prime Req.:                Intelligence, Wisdom
Alignment:                LE, NE, CE
Weapons:                   Club, dagger, dart, hand axe, knife, sling, staff
Armor:                       None
Major Spheres:         All, astral, charm, creation, divination, elemental (earth, water), necromantic, summoning, sun (see below), weather
Minor Spheres:         Healing, protection, travelers, wards
Magical Items:         Same as clerics and wizards
Req. Profs:                Cooking
Bonus Profs:             Herbalism

• Haegtesses may be of any humanoid race capable of becoming priests, although most haegtesses are humans, ogres, hags, or goblinoids.
• Haegtesses must be female.
• Haegtesses are not allowed to multiclass.
• Haegtesses may select nonweapon proficiencies from the wizard and priest groups without penalty.
• Haegtesses gain access to the sun sphere, but only those that are related to the moon, stars, night, darkness, and general light.
• Haegtesses can cast find familiar (as the 1st-level wizard spell) once per year, so long as they have no familiar already. The normal material components are not needed, although a bit of food favored by the preferred familiar may be used to increase the likelihood of getting such a creature. This amounts to either a +1 or −1 as necessary to shift the die roll towards the favored creature. Only animals with a sinister reputation can be gained as a familiar, such as black cats, toads, ravens, crows, bats, and rats. Dogs, cats of colors other than black, hawks, mice, etc. are never called by this power. An imp or quasit may be summoned with this power, but only once the haegtess has reached 5th level and only on a natural 20.
• Once per day, haegtesses can cast change self or charm person (as the 1st-level wizard spells).
• At 3rd level, haegtesses can cast animal spy (as the 2nd-level priest spell) or sleep (as the 1st-level wizard spell) once per day.
• At 5th level, haegtesses suffer a permanent −1 penalty to Charisma. Lost Charisma cannot be recovered by any means short of a wish spell and doing so would cause a haegtesse to lose favor with Cegilune.
• At 5th level, haegtesses can cast bestow minor curse (as the 3rd-level priest spell) once per day.
• At 7th level, haegtesses can cast charm monster or wizard eye (as the 4th-level wizard spells) once per day.
• At 10th level, haegtesses suffer a further permanent −1 penalty to Charisma (−2 total). Lost Charisma cannot be recovered by any means short of a wish spell and doing so would cause a haegtesse to lose favor with Cegilune.
• At 10th level, haegtesses can cast false seeing (as the reverse of the 5th-level priest spell true seeing) or nightmare (as the reverse of the 5th-level wizard spell dream).
• At 15th level, haegtesses suffer a further permanent −1 penalty to Charisma (−3 total). Lost Charisma cannot be recovered by any means short of a wish spell and doing so would cause a haegtesse to lose favor with Cegilune.
• At 15th level, haegtesses can shapechange as a druid once per day into any animal form commonly found as a wizard’s familiar, as well as a large black cat (as a mountain lion).
• At 20th level, haegtesses can cast summon night hag (as the 7th-level priest spell) once per month without need of the hag’s true name.

Cegilunan Spells
3rd Level
Broom of Flying (Pr 3; Alteration)
Sphere:                    Travelers
Range:                     Touch
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 1 turn/level
Casting Time:          6
Area of Effect:         1 broom
Saving Throw:        None

By means of this spell, the caster temporally enchants a broom with the ability to fly. The broom has the same movement speed, carrying capacity, and ability to come to the caster on command, using a word set during the casting, as a broom of flying magic item. The only ability this enchanted broom lacks compared to the standard magic item is the ability to fly on its own to any location designated by the caster.

If this spell is cast with an added material component of a diamond worth 100 gp, it can instead be enchanted to act as a broom of animated attack.

The material components for this spell are the priest’s holy symbol, a broom (which vanishes at the expiration of the spell), and a wing from any sort of faerie creature.

4th Level
Wall of Gingerbread (Pr 4; Conjuration/Summoning)
Sphere:                    Summoning
Range:                     80 yds.
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 Permanent
Casting Time:          7
Area of Effect:         Special
Saving Throw:        Special

When this spell is cast, the priest causes a vertical wall of crisp gingerbread to come into being. This wall is ¼ inch thick per casting level of the priest, with a surface area covering a 10-foot square per caster level. The wall can be oriented vertically, horizontally, or at an angle, but unless anchored along two opposite edges, it will fall and shatter into hundreds of small pieces. At the caster’s option, the area of the wall of gingerbread can be halved and the thickness can be doubled. The wall is easy to smash through, but any creature doing so suffers 1 point of damage per inch of thickness. This damage is caused by sharp edges of crisp gingerbread and is thus modified as if it were a slashing or piercing weapon; creatures that take half damage from such weapons take half damage from bursting through this wall while those immune to such weapons take just one point due to the magic of the wall.

If the wall is horizontal or diagonal, it can support 50 pounds of weight per inch of thickness. Any fall against it will shatter the wall of gingerbread as above, however. If the wall is oriented vertically but unanchored, it has a 50% chance to fall in either direction; this can be controlled by a simple push from any creature. Those unable to escape the falling wall (with a successful saving throw versus breath weapon, modified by dexterity) suffer damage as above for bursting through the wall.

The wall can be used as a source of food; however, any creature other than the caster or a hag who eats it must make a saving throw versus spell or be afflicted by a minor curse (as the spell bestow minor curse in the Priest’s Spell Compendium) in 1d4 days. Unless additional magic is used to preserve the freshness of the wall, however, it loses its efficacy as food and as a means of cursing within one week.

The caster can add certain spell components to the casting to alter the properties of the wall of gingerbread. If the caster includes a pound of potash in the casting, the wall created will be soft and spongey, and an inch thick per level of the caster. If created horizontally, it can support no weight, but halves the falling damage of any creatures who land on it. If created vertically, no damage is incurred by creatures who burst through it, nor is any damage dealt to those it falls upon, but any creature of Large size or smaller must make a successful Strength check to escape the heavy, spongey wall. Eating a portion of the wall incurs the same effects as above. If the caster includes a pound of sugar or molasses in the casting, the wall of gingerbread is covered in icing and candies. Any creature other than the caster or a hag who spots the wall is affected as if by a suggestion spell directing them to take a nibble. If they do so, their saving throw against the curse effect is made with a −2 penalty.

The material components for this spell are a pinch of ginger and a pinch of sugar or molasses.

5th Level
Enchant Gingerbread Man (Pr 5; Alteration)
Sphere:                    Charm
Range:                     5 yds.
Components:           V, M
Duration:                 1 hr./level
Casting Time:          3
Area of Effect:         1 creature
Saving Throw:        Neg.

This spell transforms one gingerbread cookie in the shape of a humanoid figure into a man-sized creature of sweet death. Only one gingerbread cookie can be animated per casting, and no matter what the size of the original cookie, it enlarges to become five feet tall. The cookie must be made of crisp gingerbread and cooked by the caster themselves and decorated with raisins or similar small, dried fruit. A cooking proficiency check is required to complete the cookie properly, for it must be made to exacting specifications and cannot be burned or undercooked. High quality ingredients must be used in the cookie process, costing 50 gp to procure, although this makes a dozen such cookies. These cookies must be enchanted within 1 day per three levels of the caster or they will become stale and unsuited for use in this spell. Any cookies that are not enchanted can be eaten normally, and they are quite delicious.

Rumors persist that there is a method that creates a full-sized cookie that can be animated as a golem, but these are unconfirmed. If true, it is likely that they could only be completed by a 12th level priest after the expenditure of 10,000 gp and a crafting period of 1 month.

The material component for this spell is the cookie as listed above. At the expiration of the spell, the cookie is destroyed.

6th Level
Summon Nightmare (Pr 6; Conjuration/Summoning)
Sphere:                    Summoning
Range:                     10 yds.
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 72 hrs.
Casting Time:          1 turn
Area of Effect:         1 nightmare
Saving Throw:        None

By means of this spell, the caster summons a nightmare from the Gray Waste to serve as a mount for 72 hours. When summoned, a bank of dense fog (as a wall of fog) appears before the caster, filling an area 40 feet wide, 20 feet deep, and 20 feet high. On the round following, the sound of hooves echoes through the fog as a nightmare gallops forth. The caster must then offer the nightmare oat-like flakes of platinum worth 200 gp; if the nightmare accepts and eats the flakes, it is bound to the caster’s service. The nightmare will not fight for the caster, although it will defend itself and allow the caster to ride it into combat; if it believes the caster is putting it in unnecessary danger, it will attempt to buck and free itself to return to its home plane; a successful land-based riding proficiency is necessary at a -1 penalty for the caster to keep their seat and bring the mount under control. For the 72 hours the nightmare serves, it must be well-treated and fed raw flesh regularly or the service will end, and it will leave the Prime Material Plane in a burst of acrid smoke.

The material components for this spell are the platinum oat flakes that must be offered to the nightmare, as well as the caster’s holy symbol.

7th Level
Summon Night Hag (Pr 7; Wiz 8; Conjuration/Summoning, Necromancy)
Sphere:                    Charm
Range:                     5 yds.
Components:           V, M
Duration:                 1 hr./level
Casting Time:          3
Area of Effect:         1 creature
Saving Throw:        Neg.

To use this spell, the caster must inscribe a magic circle on a black granite floor with an iron chisel that was tempered by plunging it into the stomach of a living humanoid being. The victim of this phase of the spell must die for the spell to continue. The caster must also know the true name of the night hag being called. If the caster fails to use the hag’s true name in the summoning, the hag is free to leave the circle and attack the caster, if she wishes.

At the completion of the ritual, a night hag appears in the circle. The caster must give the night hag a living, whole, complete, bound, and trussed human, elf, or similar intelligent humanoid creature. When the hag accepts the payment, the caster then gives the hag a personal item belonging to the true victim of this spell. The hag uses this item to track down and haunt the victim, per the description of events outlined under the “night hag” entry in the Monstrous Compendium tome.

The caster can bargain for other services, such as spell information and item recovery, but sending the night hag after hapless victim is the most common use.

Under most circumstances, casting this spell is considered an evil act and should have alignment consequences for good and neutral spellcasters.

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