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One of the kenku waves in your direction as if telling you
to remain where you are. "What a deal! Patience is a vir-
tue! Can't keep the boss waiting!" He runs off into one of
the trash structures.
Moments later he returns, leading a tall creature wear-
ing a long, tattered shift covered in mud, blood, mold,
and worse. The hag's eyes seem to move independently
of each other as she approaches, her straggly brown hair
hanging in front of them. Resting on each shoulder are
red-eyed ravens that scrutinize your group. Behind her, a
hulking creature built of disparate fiendish parts trudges,
moaning and hopping as it walks.
Then both of the hag's eyes focus keenly on your
group, and on Lulu specifically. "My goodness!" the hag
croaks, spittle dribbling from her mouth. "Where did you
fi nd such a treasure?"The characters can explain their predicament, and Mad
Maggie can offer to unlock Lulu's memories, joyfully
telling the characters about Lulu's possible relationship
to Zariel. Before she does that, however, Mad Maggie
tells the characters she needs to gather supplies for the
ritual of memory unlocking. This gives the characters a
chance to interact with the other members of Mad Mag-
gie's gang and maybe earn some good will with them as
mentioned under their individual descriptions below.
CHAPTER 3 I AVERNUSMAD MAGGIE
ANO MtCKEVMAD MAGGIE
While Zariel's attention is focused on the Blood War.
power-hungry warlords of the Avernian wastes cobble
together heavily armed gangs and lead packs of infernal
war machines in brutal combat, carving out vicious fief-
doms for themselves. Mad Maggie is one such warlord.
Mad Maggie is a night hag with the demeanor of a
kindly grandmother, but her warm smile masks a cruel
cunning. In addition to her heartstone, the hag carries a
black soul bag (see the "'Night Hag" entry in the Monster
Manual for more information on this magic items. The
bag contains nine soul coins (see page 94), which
Mad Maggie uses to power her infernal war machines.
Years ago, a thirst to experience the ultimate misery
brought the night hag to the first layer of the Nine Hells.
Followed to Avernus by scores of bloodthirsty redcaps,
Maggie found pieces of a beautiful tapestry that chron-
icled the fall of Zariel. It recounted the angel's descent
into Avernus, her betrayal at the hands of the Hell rid-
ers, and her submission to Asmodeus, which led to her
becoming an archdevil worthy to rule Avernus. Mad
Maggie is obsessed with Zariel's cataclysmic saga and
scours the wastelands of Avernus for more such relics.
In the crucible of the Avernian wastelands, Mad Maggie
has risen to become a respected warlord.
MAGGIE'S GOALSDriven by her lust for misery and her delight in the
corruption of the valiant, Mad Maggie seeks to collect
more artifacts tied to Zariel's fall from grace. When
she becomes aware of Lulu's relationship to Zariel, the
night hag tries to dig up Lulu's lose memories, believing
they might hold the most exquisite emotional records
of Zariel's descent. As the characters assist Maggie
in this endeavor, they gain favor with- and leverage
over- the hag.
MAGGIE'S OFFERS
Maggie has the means to unlock the memories Lulu
struggles to remember. Once the memories are re-
trieved, the characters learn the destination of the next
step of their journey.
Maggie also can furnish the characters
with one or more infernal war machines,
which would make their trip across the
wastelands more manageable. Additionally,
if the characters have no means of creating
provisions, Maggie can supply them with
food and water as well. Maggie could also
offer information about the dangers the
characters might face in the wasteland, in-
cluding ocher gangs, if the characters gain
enough leverage and delight Maggie with
their offerings.
THE KNUCKLEBONES GANG
Maggie's band consists of Chukka, Clonk, a
fiendish flesh golem named Mickey, a pair of
conniving imps, a Aameskull, and a host of g
murderous fey creatures. g