Avenge the Hag Survivors

Ethel reveals herself.

Avenge the Hag Survivors is a Quest in Act Three of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with Mayrina or the other hag survivors in Old Garlow's Place.

Objectives

Search for the hag.

• 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.

Confront Auntie Ethel.

• We learned that Captain Grisly is none other than Auntie Ethel. She fled to the cellar - time to end this.

Fulfill the deal with Auntie Ethel.

• 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.

Kill the hag once and for all.

• We shattered our alliance with the hag by attacking her.
• Hunting the hag into her lair, we stand face to face. In order to prevent Ethel from resurrecting we must burn her pearlspore bells using fire. This hag's 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.

Tell the survivors the good news.

• 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.

Quest Complete

• 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

Entrance to the hag's door.

After Help the Hag Survivors has been completed, Mayrina explains that she is in Baldur's Gate hunting a hag. A hag was the one who cursed her to become a sheep, because she 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 implores the party to help. If the party agrees, they start by speaking to the girl's mother, initiating 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 is directed to investigate the Blushing Mermaid and speak to Captain Grisly. If Lora has not been spoken to, then Grisly will not speak to the party and says she is too hungover to talk. Speaking to Grisly about Vanra's disappearance, she claims that Lora has gone mad and is dangerous, threatening her customers. She states that Vanra isn't real, and is a delusion that Lora cooked up. Believing Lora to be a threat, she intends to put a hit out on her, and offers 3000 gold to the party if they are willing to take her out. If, after being given Grisly's offer, the party chooses "Absolutely not - I refuse to do your dirty work." then "Grisly" drops the act and reveals herself to be Auntie Ethel, a hag.

Grisly'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 Grisly X: -123 Y: -93. Afterwards, the party can confront Grisly on the note they found and she instantly drops the act.

Dealing with the Hag

After Ethel's identity has been revealed, she tells 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 while she is "pregnant" - demanding they instead 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 tells them not to mess with her and that Vanra will die if they do, while she will simply resurrect again. Then, she disappears to her lair and the entire bar transforms into hostile redcaps. If the party agrees to walk away, Ethel disappears, but the bar does not turn hostile. If the party attempts to deal with Ethel by stating "make me an offer," then Ethel only deals with the party if they didn't kill her during Save Mayrina. Otherwise, she says they lost that privilege when they killed her.

If the party killed Lora and agrees to stay out of Ethel's business, she agrees to fight alongside the party in the final battle and is added to Gather Your Allies. She also provides 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

Hag Basement map.

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 Grisly was wandering. Jumping up on top of the alcohol barrels and moving towards the small passage starts an Investigation check. Succeeding reveals 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.

The wooden wall door.

To the south of the double doors are several explosive traps, as well as four masked victims that instantly become hostile if they detect the party. After fighting the Masks (or after fighting Ethel), the party can find a buried chest at X: -2354 Y: -145. If instead moving east towards a door in the wooden wall (DC20), then it can be avoided to fight these victims. Above the cages near the door is a wooded platform that has a Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen next to a Gnarly Cauldron, some Worg Fangs, and a trapped Heavy Chest (DC 20 to disarm) that use's Ethel's Key to unlock. There are plenty of Peculiar Flower traps in this room so watch out.

Continuing past the wooden wall, the party encounters Ethel, if her identity was revealed. She becomes hostile and tells the party to die. If Ethel did not reveal herself, then this area is empty, allowing the party time to investigate. In this instance, Ethel does 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. It requires one Essence of any kind and the Ashes of Dried Fey Flower found in the safe during Help the Hag Survivors. When fighting against Ethel, throwing the Hag's Bane at her gives her the condition Nauseous and she throws up Vanra. Using the potion must be done before Ethel is defeated, otherwise Vanra dies.

Ethel can be killed in the same turn after she vomits Vanra even if all the Pearlspore Bells aren't destroyed. If this happens, the quest remains uncompleted. Grisly and the other mask wearers remain hostile and won't be freed even if they were knocked unconscious during the fight.^{[Needs Verification]}

Pearlspore Bells

The pearlspore bells that must be destroyed.

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 continues to resurrect herself. The Bells also heal themselves during their turn, if they are not destroyed before that. Contrary to the quest description, they can be destroyed by damage types other than fire. As suggested in A Hunter's Guide to Hags, the  Burning condition will block the Healing Pearl restoration. Using an Arrow of Ilmater or inflicting  Bone Chilled is also effective.

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 (97 HP in Tactician Mode).

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. Avoid double attacks (such as  Flurry of Blows) and damage riders (such as Caustic Band, Strange Conduit Ring, or Callous Glow Ring), as these can kill Ethel after knocking her out. After Ethel is knocked out, there is an option to cut Vanra free of the hag.

Using the Hag's Bane or cutting out Vanra results in Save Vanra being successfully completed.

Saving Grisly

Grisly will recount her experience with Ethel if she is saved.

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 Grisly. Grisly, like the other servants, is forced to attack the party if they fight with Ethel. However, if Grisly is left alive, then she is freed from Ethel's influence and removes her mask. Speaking to her, she is immensely grateful to the party for liberating her, and states that the "Maid's as much as the party's home as hers."

Quest Rewards

Defeating Ethel

• Fey Semblance Amulet

Siding with Ethel

• Gain Ethel's aid for Gather Your Allies