Avenge the Hag Survivors is a quest in Chapter Three of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with Mayrina or the other hag survivors in Old Barlow's Place.
 | Spoiler warning: The following content contains unhidden spoilers. Read at your own risk. |
Objectives
- We disposed of a hag spy named Jatlo. Cold comfort for the hag's victims, who believe her to be in the city, and who want her gone.
- We disposed of a hag spy named Jatlo. The hag's victims are led by a determined woman, Mayrina. Mayrina told us of her suspicion that this very same hag is likely to be found in Baldur's Gate, that her people won't know peace until she's destroyed.
- We learned that Captain Grisly is none other than Auntie Ethel. She fled to the cellar - time to end this.
- We learned that the woman named Quenora was merely a disguise for Auntie Ethel, the swamp hag. Rather than cross her, we agreed to an alliance. We stay out of her business, and in return she lends us her aid in our final conflict with the Absolute.
- We shattered our alliance with the hag by attacking her.
- Hunting the hag into her lair, we stand face to face. Her power has grown. So has ours. Time to show her that.
- We learned that Auntie Ethel can resurrect by being close to mushrooms called pearlspore bells. We'll need to burn those mushrooms, reducing them to embers if we're to have any hope of defeating the hag.
- Auntie Ethel is unconscious. This matter is unresolved; a hag's memory is long, and she'll hunt us like some crazed hound if we don't kill her now.
- We defeated Auntie Ethel. We ought to give her victims the good news - this time of fear and doubt is at an end.
- We came across an abandoned house. Lot of squatters there, kindly people gripped by despair. Evidently they're the victims of Auntie Ethel's many cruel plots and plans.
- The hag victims couldn't forgive us for hurting their leader Mayrina - now we share the same resentment they reserved for the hag.
- Rare to see such good cheer from a group of people so down on their luck. Still, good cheer is what we received in abundance when we told them of Ethel's defeat at our hands.
- The squatters in the abandoned house have gone.
- We left the Lower City before telling the hag's victims about our success. Still, they're free of her torment now, it may just take them time to realise that, and longer to accept it.
- We left the Lower City, and cannot return to put a stop to Auntie Ethel's designs.
- We left the Lower City behind. No way of ending Ethel once and for all now. However, we kept our end of the deal with Auntie Ethel, and the swampy old schemer will join us in our final battle with the Absolute.
Walkthrough
Locating the Hag
After Help the Hag Survivors has been completed, Mayrina will explain that she is in Baldur's Gate hunting a hag. A hag was the one who cursed her to become a sheep, because it knew that she was onto her. She had found the hag through the case of a missing girl, who she believed the hag kidnapped. She will implore the party to help. If the party agrees, they will start by speaking to the girl's mother, starting Save Vanra. If Save Vanra has already been started, then the party can simply mention they have heard of Vanra.
After the party starts Save Vanra and speaks to Lora, Vanra's mother, then the party will be directed to investigate the Blushing Mermaid and speak to Captain Grizzly. If Lora has not been spoken to, then Grizzly will not speak to the party and will say she is too hungover to talk. Speaking to Grizzly about Vanra's disappearance, she will claim that Lora has gone mad and is dangerous, threatening her customers. She will state that Vanra isn't real, and is a delusion that Lora cooked up. Believing Lora to be a threat, she will state that she intends to put a hit out on her, and will offer 3000 gold to the party if they are willing to take her out. If, after being given Grizzly's offer, the party chooses "Absolutely not - I refuse to do your dirty work." then "Grizzly" will drop the act and reveal herself to be Ethel.
Grizzly's true identity can also be exposed by finding a note in the Blushing Mermaid which contains a report on Old Garlow's, using terms like "Auntie." The note is inside a rosewood desk in the same room as Grizzly (X:-123, Y:-93). Afterwards, the party can confront Grizzly on the note they found and she will instantly drop the act.
Dealing with the Hag
After Ethel's identity has been revealed, she will tell the party that she ate Vanra, and the girl sits in her belly, slowly transforming into a new hag. She tells the party that she would fight them, but she doesn't want to exert herself will she is "pregnant" - telling them instead to walk away and let her make a new hag. The party can tell her off, or tell her to make a better offer, or simply walk away as she asks.
If the party tells her off, she will tell them not to mess with her and that Vanra will die if they do, while she will simply resurrect again. Then, she will disappear to her lair and the entire bar will become redcaps and become hostile. If the party agrees to walk away, Ethel will disappear, but the bar will not turn hostile. If the party attempts to deal with Ethel by stating "make me an offer," then Ethel will only deal with the party if they didn't kill her during Save Mayrina. Otherwise, she will say they lost that privilege when they killed her.
If the party killed Lora and agrees to stay out of Ethel's business, she will agree to fight alongside the party in the final battle and be added to Gather Your Allies. She will also provide 6000 gold for "her favorite mommy-killer." She states that this deal is only in place if the party stays away and doesn't go after her.
The Hag's Basement
The Hag's basement can be found by entering either the old oak door near the entrance to the Blushing Mermaid or the cellar door down the stairs in the same room Grizzly was wandering. Jumping up on top of the alcohol barrels and moving towards the small passage will start an Investigation check. Succeeding will reveal that the wall is an illusion that the party can simply walk through, climb down a ladder, and through a set of double doors that can be unlocked with Auntie Ethel's Lair Key or by lockpicking the door.
To the north of the double doors are several explosive traps, as well as four masked victims that will instantly become hostile if they detect the party. If the party instead moves west towards a door in the wooden wall (DC20), they can avoid fighting these victims. Continuing past the wooden wall, the party will encounter Ethel, if her identity was revealed. She will instantly become hostile and tell the party to die. If Ethel did not reveal herself, then this area will be empty, allowing the party time to investigate. In this instance, Ethel will not appear unless the party attacks and destroys one of her Pearlspore Bells.
Using Hag's Bane
Hag's Bane can be crafted using Alchemy by created using one Essence, which requires either three Sylvan Stone or three Timmask Spores. This can be combined with the Ashes of Dried Fey Flower[Needs Verification] found in the safe during Help the Hag Survivors. When fighting against Ethel, throwing the Hag's Bane at her will give her the condition Nauseous and she will throw up Vanra. Using the potion must be done before Ethel is defeated, otherwise Vanra will be dead.
Pearlspore Bells
Within the Hag's basement, there are three Pearlspore Bells. These bells are the source of Ethel's life force, and keep her from permanently dying. Unless all three Bells are destroyed, Ethel will continue to resurrect herself. The Bells will also heal themselves during their turn, if they are not destroyed before that.
There are three Pearlspore Bells:
- On a cliff near the southeast corner of the room (X:-2307, Y:-116)
- In the northeastern corner of the room (X:-2320, Y:-92)
- On a cliff in the northwestern corner of the room, north of the gilded chest (X:-2351, Y:-96)
Each of them has the "Healing Pearl" status and 55 HP.
Cutting Out Vanra
If Hag's Bane has not been crafted, then it is still possible to save Vanra by cutting her out of Ethel's stomach. This is achieved by toggling non-lethal damage and defeating Ethel with fists or melee weapons. After Ethel is knocked out, there will be an option to cut Vanra free of the hag.
Using the Hag's Bane or cutting out Vanra will result in Save Vanra being successfully completed.
Saving Grizzly
The same as her last hag den, Ethel has a number of enthralled humans trapped with their masks. Most of these individuals are too far gone to properly save, and will simply mutter about their curses if Ethel is slain. However, there is one person who is able to be properly saved from the hag - the real Captain Grizzly. Grizzly, like the other servants, will be forced to attack the party if they fight with Ethel. However, if Grizzly is left alive, then she will be freed from Ethel's influence and will remove her mask. Speaking to her, she will be immensely grateful to the party for liberating her, and state that the 'Maid's as much as the party's home as hers.
