Better Baba Lysaga

Two women gave life to Strahd von Zarovich. The first was Queen Ravenovia van Roeyen, Strahd’s biological mother. The second was the queen’s midwife, a devout follower of Mother Night named Baba Lysaga. Although it was the former who raised Strahd and enabled him to follow in his father’s footsteps, it was the latter who sensed a potential for greatness and darkness in Strahd surpassing that of any other mortal. Lysaga believed then, as she believes now, that she is Strahd’s true mother.

Other Mother. When Strahd was still a baby in his crib, Baba Lysaga cast protective spells on him and crept into his nursery on stormy nights to sing magical rhymes to him. She also placed the “spark of magic” in him, ensuring that he would become a spellcaster.

Baba Lysaga’s unhealthy attachment to the baby Strahd did not go unnoticed. After she received several disturbing reports, Queen Ravenovia was forced to banish the midwife from the kingdom. Lysaga never saw Strahd again, but she has succeeded in staying alive to witness the triumphs of her beloved boy, who, in her mind, is eternally blessed. Despite the horrors Strahd has wrought, Lysaga still envisions him as the perfect child she delivered into the world. Strahd is the only thing in her life that matters to her.

Mother Nearest. During her exile, Baba Lysaga made countless sacrifices to Mother Night, pleading with the goddess to afflict Queen Ravenovia with ill health and visit death upon her. Lysaga eventually got her wish, and after Strahd settled in the valley of Barovia, Lysaga moved as close to him as she dared to.

In the filth-ridden depths of her heart, Lysaga knows that Strahd would never accept her as his true mother, nor could she bear his rejection. As a result, she has never confronted him. She would rather exist in perpetual denial, whiling away the days, months, and years practicing fell magic and looking for ways to help her “son.”

Raven Bane. Baba Lysaga has allies in Castle Ravenloft—a coven of witches. Through the aid of these witches, Lysaga recently uncovered a potential threat to Strahd: a secret society of wereravens called the Keepers of the Feather, a group that uses ordinary ravens as their spies.

Strahd doesn’t consider the wereravens a serious threat, but Lysaga has chosen to make them the bane of her existence. After much searching and scrying, she discovered a wereraven refuge at the Wizard of Wines winery, and she has begun to wage war against it. In addition, she has forged an alliance with the mad druids that haunt Yester Hill, convincing them that she gave birth to Strahd, whom the druids consider a god. With the druids on her side, she expects to rid Barovia of its wereraven menace.

Gifts of Mother Night. The goddess Mother Night has bestowed magical gifts on Baba Lysaga as rewards for her ceaseless devotion to Strahd. Her skin has the resilience of stone, she is resistant to harmful magic, and she is shielded against divination magic. Mother Night has also imparted to Lysaga the secret of longevity, which requires her to bathe in the blood of beasts on nights of the new moon. Failure to do so causes Lysaga to age rapidly, becoming mere dust and bones in a matter of seconds.

Baba Lysaga’s Traits

Ideal. “No love is greater than a mother’s love for her son.”

Bond. “I am the mother of Strahd. Anyone who disputes this fact can rot.”

Flaw. “I will not rest until the last of my son’s enemies are destroyed.”

Baba Lysaga dwells in the ruins of Berez on the frayed edge of civilization. Her swamp is littered with the bones of previous adventurers and the fly-ridden carcasses of fresh kills, watched over by crumbling statues and the hollowed-out shells of old homes. Centipedes, stinging flies, and snakes infest the marsh, which is filled with the stench of death and decay. Deep pools of murky water hide crocodiles and giant constrictor snakes waiting to ambush prey. The entire swamp is Baba Lysaga's lair.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Baba Lysaga takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; she can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• Pools of water that Baba Lysaga can see within 120 feet of her surge outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a pool must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone.
• A cloud of stinging flies fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point Baba Lysaga chooses within 120 feet of her. The cloud spreads around corners and remains until she dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The cloud is lightly obscured. Any creature in the cloud when it appears must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d10) piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature that ends its turn in the cloud takes 10 (3d10) piercing damage.
• Magical darkness spreads from a point Baba Lysaga chooses within 60 feet of her, filling a 15-foot-radius sphere until she dismisses it as an action, uses this lair action again, or dies. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can’t see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can’t illuminate it. If any of the effect’s area overlaps with an area of light created by a spell of 2nd level or lower, the spell that created the light is dispelled.
• Baba Lysaga chooses a point on the ground she can see within 120 feet of her. A 20-foot-radius, 20-foot-high cylinder of watery filth centered on that point erupts from the ground until initiative count 20 on the next round. Each creature in the cylinder when it appears or that ends its turn there must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The cylinder is difficult terrain.
• Tendrils of roiling muck extend from the swamp to grasp up to three creatures of Baba Lysaga's choice that she can see. A targeted creature must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be restrained until initiative count 20 on the next round. (Use this and the previous lair action to keep PCs within 60 feet of the hut).
• A bubble of swamp gas erupts in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point Baba Lysaga can see. Each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Regional Effects

Baba Lysaga's swamp is warped by her magic, which creates the following effects:

• The swamp takes twice as long as normal to traverse, since the plants grow thick and twisted, and the marsh is thick with reeking mud.
• Water sources in the swamp are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of Baba Lysaga that drink such water regurgitate it within minutes.
• Fog lightly obscures the swamp, preventing a creature from seeing any other creature or object more than 120 feet away from it.
• Whenever enemies of Baba Lysaga take a short or long rest in the marsh, even if they barricade themselves in a ruined building, they are accosted by 1d4 swarms of hungry flies (use the swarm of insects (wasps) stat block).

If Baba Lysaga dies, vegetation remains as it has grown, but other effects fade over 1d10 days.