#59 The Crone's Claw

Age: Since the Birth of Magic

Hidden or Lost?: Only Visible By the Light of the Kid Moon

History: None can say whether the spindly crags of the towering Crone’s Claw are the petrified remains of a giant creature or the work of some sinister craftsperson. What is certain is that this cursed fortress is a stronghold of dark magic, the home of the Witch Throne, and possibly the source of power for all Sisters of Shadow across the lands.

The Crone's Claw only appears in the material realm after the lunar phenomenon known as the Kid Moon is instigated via the ritual bleeding of a widowed goat. However once it materializes in the barren canyon where it stands, the five narrow fingers of the fortress reach almost to the top of the cliff walls. Made of a black amber that thrums with eldritch power, the surface of the Claw shines with a dull orange intensity fed by the moonglow.

The Claw’s central gate is located in the wrist and twisting paths have been carved, leading up into the palm and on into the stony fingers, each one dedicated to a singular purpose. The thumb is a hub of cursed divining, seers’ orbs, rattling knucklebones, shrieking entrails, and anything else that can auger forbidden knowledge. The pointer finger is home to the terrible grimoires and cruel spell books that make up the keep’s cruel libraries. The middle finger is dedicated to the creation and collection of arcane artifacts like Widows’ Coins, Bone Wands, and enchanted Caul Masks. The ring finger is known as the Tower of Poison and Dust, and holds chambers and laboratories dedicated to innovating deadly versions of both. Finally, the pinky contains the Familiar Cells, a prison complex where beasts and trespassers are held for use as experiment subjects or companions. Those sentenced to death are placed in the Phase Gibbets that hang from the tip of that tower’s nail, and when the Claw materializes or disappears, the victims are painfully scattered between realms.

But most importantly, there in the center of the palm is the Witch Throne, the seat of the reigning Prima Haxan. An immensely powerful artifact in its own right, it is said that if one can sit the Witch’s Throne, they can commune with every Shadow Sister in existence, although the experience may destroy them.

Those who look to summon the Crone’s Claw are either desperate for power, or their own demise.

1. Crow’s Eye Gate

2. The Judging Eye

3. Tower of Dark Augury

4. The Bent Libraries

5. Nightvault

6. Tower of Poison and Dust

7. The Familiar Cells

8. Spellquill Workshop

9. Cauldronsmiths

10. The Maze of Thorns

11. Amulet Bank

12. The Prick-In-the-Palm

13. Phase Gibbets

14. Hold of the First Grimoire

15. Room of Cursed Reagents

16. The Witch Throne