Mestama

The Mother of Witches
CE female demon lord of cruelty, deception, and hags

Cult

Unholy Symbol: human eye balanced atop three sharp stones
Domains: Chaos, Evil, Trickery, Magic
Favored Weapon: None
Temple: Abandoned buildings (particularly churches or schools), old houses, swampy islands
Worshipers: Annis hags, banshees, green hags, sea hags, spurned lovers, vengeful widows, witches
Obedience: Perform an act of cruelty upon a nonbeliever of Mestama after spending an hour observing the nonbeliever— preferably from a vantage unknown by the vicitm. This act must, at the very least, incite the victim to tears or anger. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saves against illusions. May cast disguise self 3/day, misdirection 2/day, or bestow curse 1/day as a cleric of your character level.

Patron of hags, witches, and vengeful widows, Mestama takes great delight in murdering young women on the night before their wedding day so she can take their form and wed their husbands-to-be, only to return to her true form (that of a fanged crone with sunken black eyes, talons, raven wings, and a donkey’s tail) at the height of the wedding’s consummation that evening, at which point she castrates the husband and vanishes. Those who survive often receive visits decades later from twisted and hideous half-fiends—their sons or daughters, sent by Mestama to finish off the job and murder their fathers.

Mestama’s cult is a hateful one, composed entirely of eunuchs or women who live for the spread of cruelty through deception. Her cultists generally regard competing faiths with jealous anger. The Mother of Witches dwells in an Abyssal realm called the Barren Wood, a vexing forest of dead and dying pine and fir trees. Decrepit houses serve witches and hags as dens or traps, and darker creatures haunt the more desolate reaches of the wood. Certain remote forests in Jossia, Boreal, and Kuskar are said to connect to the Barren Wood—those who unknowingly wander too deeply into these areas can become lost forever.