The Sewn Sisters are a coven of three night hags loyal to Acererak who serve as nursemaids to the atropal and guardians of the Soulmonger. They were recruited by Acererak for their expertise in stitching soul bags—a craft they adapted to help create the Soulmonger itself. Seduced by the prospect of a near-endless supply of souls, the hags eagerly await the atropal’s apotheosis and the resulting abundance of souls to harvest when civilization falls.
The Three Hags
Widow Groat has tarnished gold coins covering her eyes and ants nesting in her skull. The ants serve as her spies and often portend her arrival. She carries a heartstone, a soul bag, and an iron ring with eight keys that unlock the shackles in area 78.
Peggy Deadbells wears a string of chattering children’s teeth and thumps about on a heavy peg leg. When she laughs, yellow gas billows from her nose and ears. She carries a heartstone in a gnome-skin pouch along with five lustrous black marbles (connected to area 81), and a soul bag tied to her rope belt.
Baggy Nanna has a squirming leather sack sewn over her head containing a cockerel, a viper, and a terrier. One animal can emerge to speak on her behalf, and the animals become smoke when she dies. She carries a heartstone, a soul bag, and three goblin fingers.
The coven shares a pool of spells as detailed in the Monster Manual’s “Hag Covens” rules. Their hag eye is carried by their manservant, Mister Threadneedle (a magically disguised scarecrow in area 74).
Lair and Activities
The Sewn Sisters operate from area 71, spying on intruders from the Border Ethereal as spectral figures. They have created three cruel dolls animated with children’s souls: Strawbundle (a straw doll with rusty pins), Clay No-Face (a faceless clay child), and Joho (a stuffed monkey with a unicycle lower body). These dolls serve as playthings and harbor the trapped souls of children.
The hags torture a degenerate clone of one of the party members, created from blood or hair obtained earlier. Through a magical link, the clone knows everything the original character knows, allowing the hags to interrogate it for information about the adventurers.
Combat Tactics
The Sewn Sisters emerge from the Border Ethereal to attack if the characters manage to open all five keyholes of the skeleton gate and possess the skeleton keys. Their goal is to seize one or more skeleton keys to prevent access to the Soulmonger. If a hag obtains a key, it cackles and returns to the Border Ethereal with it.
If two hags die, the survivor attempts to bargain for her life, offering information in exchange for an oath sworn on the characters’ mortal souls. Any character who breaks this oath contracts slimy doom (as per a failed contagion save). The surviving hag reveals limited information about the arcanaloth Ygga Raxyg, the ebon pool exit, and the deadly Red Trail.
Connection to the Soulmonger
The hags play a central role in Acererak’s plan. They helped craft the Soulmonger—a necromantic device that reaps souls from across Toril and feeds them to the atropal. They maintain a chapel (area 78) where Acererak plans to baptize the atropal in the blood of a worthy sacrifice once it has consumed enough souls. A body bag on the chapel’s altar contains an unconscious prisoner kept alive by the hags’ magic for this dark ceremony.
Spell Interactions
Characters using etherealness to enter the Border Ethereal might encounter the Sewn Sisters, as the tomb’s magical restrictions prevent moving through surfaces while ethereal but don’t prevent entry to the Border Ethereal itself.