Hag Countess
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In the the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, the Hag Countess, also known as Malagard, is the former ruler of Malbolge, the Sixth Layer of the Nine Hells of Baator. Her name can also be spelled Malagarde.
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[edit] Description
The Hag Countess was a gruesome night hag. Her bruise-coloured skin, covered in pimples and varicose veins, constantly seeped with foul blood. Her horrid, gaunt face sported a nearly toothless mouth that smelled of carrion. She also has two large black feathery wings. Despite her decrepit form, the Hag Countess was actually very powerful.
[edit] History
The Hag Countess was an exception among the Dukes of Hell. She was no devil but an unusually powerful night hag from Hades, the neutral evil plane of the Dungeons & Dragons cosmogony. Thus, her original alignment was also different from any other devil residing in Hell. She's said to have been one of the oldest inhabitants of Baator.
More recently, Malagard was the leman of Moloch, Baalzebul's former viceroy who ruled Malbolge at that time. She wasn't his actual consort (Lilith bore that title) but she was highly regarded as his personal advisor. Upon the Reckoning of Hell, she advised Moloch to stand defiant of Asmodeus. Moloch acted accordingly and was eventually bannished from Baator. Afterwards, Asmodeus granted the rulership of Malbolge to Malagard. Once in charge, the Hag let in annises, night hags, green hags, and other neutral evil creatures into the Nine Hells, much to the other arch-lords' annoyance.
Malagard's reign was short-lived, however, as she was deposed by Glasya, Asmodeus's daughter. As of Fiendish Codex II, Glasya used the Hag Countess's body to form a brand new layer of Hell, one that would be her own. Thus, the Sixth plane of Baator is in fact nothing else than the Hag Countess's innards and bones. The countess is technically dead, though her life essence still remains on Malbolge.
The reason why Asmodeus placed her in control of Malbolge is said to be because he wanted to stop bickering with his daughter and finally grant her the place she deserved: being an arch-Duchess. However, in order to do so, they had to come to an understanding. The Hag Countess was the perfect decoy, as the other arch-lords focused on her and her dubious ascension while Asmodeus and Glasya were able to parley in peace. Once both had a deal, Malagard was no use to them anymore and they quickly disposed of her.
[edit] Vassals
Before being deposed, the following beings served the Hag Countess, some of them being former servants to Moloch:
- Bethage, pit fiend - 9 companies of cornugons
- Herobaal, pit fiend - 16 companies of osyluths
- Lel - daughter (BoVD) - 6 companies of erinnyes
- Tartach - Moloch's Legate (DR76) later reined in by Baalzebul and now serving Glasya
[edit] Apocrypha
According to 3rd party material produced by Green Ronin, the Hag Countess and Lilith are one and the same, a unique being who has changed her name through the ages. Her other aliases may be Batna, Malegarde, Lile, Zefonith etcetera.
[edit] References
- Cook, Monte. Book of Vile Darkness (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).
- Greenwood, Ed. "The Nine Hells Part II." Dragon #76 (TSR, 1983).
- Laws, Robin D., and Robert J Schwalb. Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (Wizards of the Coast, 2006).
