![[WidowGroatPathfinder.webp]] # Widow Groat _Night Hag Coven Leader | [[Sewn Sisters]] | [[Chult]]_ ## Summary The calculating leader of the [[Sewn Sisters]] coven, a master of corruption whose cracked skull hosts a writhing colony of ants. She treats suffering as a commodity to be harvested. Since the destruction of the [[Nightmare Loom]], she has personally overseen the [[Soulmonger Machine]]'s operation. %% ## Now Personally oversees the [[Soulmonger Machine]]'s operation in [[Chult]], harvesting despair to feed the network. ## Appearance A hunched crone with mottled gray-green skin and tarnished gold coins covering her empty eye sockets. A colony of ants nests within her cracked skull, occasionally crawling down her neck; she tilts her head as if listening to their whispers. ## Personality Views suffering as both art form and resource. Methodical and patient in her corruption, she treats despair as a commodity to be harvested and speaks with absolute certainty, as though each statement is immutable truth. ## Quote _"Such lovely despair you carry... I can hear it whispering in your bones. The ants hear it too."_ ## Connections **[[Acererak]]** — gained his attention through her mastery of soul bag creation; serves his design. ## Background **The Eldest:** The eldest of the [[Sewn Sisters]], she first gained [[Acererak]]'s attention through her mastery of soul bag creation and her ability to corrupt innocence. **The Ant Network:** Her ant colony serves as a spy network across multiple planes. **Her Craft:** Her particular talent lies in identifying the specific despair that creates the most effective [[Soulmongers]] — the kind born of lost hope and shattered innocence. ## Secret Maintains a separate pact with [[Dendar]] that could conflict with [[Acererak]]'s goals. ## Stats *Medium Fey, Neutral Evil — eldest of the [[Sewn Sisters]]. Base: [[Night Hag, Elder]].* **AC** 17 (natural armor) | **HP** 207 (26d8 + 90) | **Speed** 30 ft. **CR** 14 (11,500 XP) | **Proficiency Bonus** +5 | STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA | |:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| | 18 (+4) | 15 (+2) | 17 (+3) | 18 (+4) | 18 (+4) | 20 (+5) | **Saving Throws** Int +9, Wis +9, Cha +10 **Skills** Deception +10, Insight +14, Perception +14, Stealth +7 **Damage Resistances** Cold, Fire; Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing (from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered) **Condition Immunities** Charmed, Blinded **Senses** Blindsight 30 ft. (ant colony), Darkvision 120 ft.; Passive Perception 24 **Languages** Abyssal, Common, Infernal, Primordial; telepathy 120 ft. (through the swarm) ### Traits **Magic Resistance.** Advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects. **Sewn Sisters Coven.** While at least two Sewn Sisters are alive within 30 feet of each other, each Sister can cast these *coven spells* (Cha, save DC 18), sharing one daily use of each across the coven: *bestow curse*, *counterspell*, *dream*, *eyebite*, *hold monster*, *lightning bolt*, *phantasmal killer*, *polymorph*, *scrying*. While the coven is intact each Sister has Legendary Resistance (1/Day); when one Sister drops to 0 HP, the others regain 20 hit points. The coven shares one **soul bag** (carried by Widow Groat) — destroying it frees the trapped souls and ends the coven's shared casting and this healing. **Ant-Ridden Skull.** Widow Groat can't be surprised, senses everything within 30 feet regardless of sight or Invisibility, and knows the direction of any creature that has lied within 30 feet in the last minute. **Spellcasting.** Widow Groat casts using Charisma (save DC 18): *eldritch blast* (at will); *fireball* and *finger of death* (1/day each). ### Actions **Multiattack.** Widow Groat makes one *Claws* attack and casts one spell or uses *Swarm of Ants*. **Claws.** *Melee Attack Roll:* +9, reach 5 ft. *Hit:* 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. **Swarm of Ants (Recharge 5–6).** *Constitution Saving Throw:* DC 18, each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere within 60 feet. *Failure:* 22 (4d10) piercing damage, and the target has Disadvantage on Concentration saves and can't take Reactions until the start of its next turn. *Success:* Half damage. The area is Difficult Terrain until initiative count 20 next round. **Change Shape.** Polymorphs into a Small or Medium female Humanoid, or back; stats unchanged, equipment doesn't transform, reverts on death. **Etherealness.** Enters or leaves the Ethereal Plane (requires her heartstone). ### Bonus Actions **Spend a Soul.** Widow Groat expends one trapped soul from the coven's soul bag to do one of: regain an expended spell slot (5th level or lower); heal 20 hit points; or add 11 (2d10) necrotic damage to her next hit this turn. ### Legendary Actions Widow Groat can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from below. Only one at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn; regained at the start of her turn. **Cantrip.** Casts a cantrip. **Bite of the Swarm.** One creature within 30 feet takes 9 (2d8) piercing damage as ants pour over it. **Direct the Coven (Costs 2 Actions).** One other Sewn Sister within 60 feet uses its Reaction to move up to its Speed or make one attack. ### Notes **Design target (CR 14):** benchmarks AC 18 / HP 225 / DC 18 / attack +11. She sits slightly under on AC/HP/attack, offset by the ant senses, Spend a Soul economy, and coven support — the fight's brain, not its muscle. She opens with *Swarm of Ants* on the cluster, feeds slots/heals off the soul bag, and uses *Direct the Coven* to make Peggy or Baggy act off-turn. **Secret:** her private pact with [[Dendar]] can be played as a wildcard mid-fight. **Weakness (three-clue):** the soul bag is the coven's engine — take it and the shared casting, the drop-heal, and her Spend a Soul economy all collapse. %%