Isharnai

Isharnai the Prism Sage is a hag who lives alone among the Cyrios Mountain woods north of the Bromkiln Hills. She wields strange magics, weaving boons and hexes for those who make the journey to find her, and demands high prices for her deeds, sometimes beyond mere coin. As an NPC, Isharnai is played by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
Nott's memory of Isharnai was of a humanoid woman with elongated features, very high and prominent cheekbones, jowls sunk very deep and hanging below, and dull green eyes. Jester's later Scry revealed a woman with gnarled clumps of oily black hair drifting out from the sides of her robe, tangled and knotted into large rats' nests, and wrapped in heavy, tattered robes with long ratty gold twine wrapped around from shoulder to side, holding it on in a very unique, ready-to-travel pattern. On the Mighty Nein's visit to Isharnai's lair, they specifically see that she has a long, pointed jaw, her cheekbones are so high as to be like exaggerated elvish features, and her eyes are almost glowing. Above the dark robes, her cloak is gray-brown and stained.

Isharnai's body is curved backward in an S-formation where the front of the torso pulls back like a serpent, and then the shoulders slouch forward with the head emerging from the shoulders in the center in a very heavy hunch. Even hunched, she stands about six-and-a-half feet tall. If she were to stand straight, she would be closer to seven-and-a-half feet tall. Her arms are long, appearing to have two elbows each, and she has extended fingers reminiscent of Keona the Keen. She moves with unnaturally graceful, sweeping gestures and sudden rapid grasps and snatchings. Her walk has "long, lumbering strides" and her arms sway unnaturally.

When Yasha threatened her, Isharnai's shoulders pulled back and her body momentarily began to swell and cause shadows to grow across the walls.

Personality
Matt describes Isharnai as a "very intelligent and conniving individual that has made their living feeding off the misery of other people that she's tricked them into." However, she did not approach Beau's father nor the Mighty Nein; they came to her. The willingness of the person to make the deal is important to her.

Isharnai is extremely old, claiming to have seen many lifetimes. She is unsurprisingly cautious. When the Mighty Nein appeared at her lair, she watched them invisibly from atop her house to observe them. Though they told her they wished to converse peacefully, she tried not to leave her back exposed, and only met with them one at a time inside her windowless house, where she can open and close the one door at will and perhaps see through the walls.

Isharnai has a habit of sniffing loudly when she gets close to people; she tells Beau that can smell her misery, and Beau's scent is "familiar" because they are already somehow tethered, but Isharnai does not immediately recognize it's through her father.

The party realized that the mysterious woman that transformed Nott into a goblin, and the soothsayer that foretold Beau's father Thoreau Lionett's business success were possibly the same, which Caduceus confirmed with Commune. Researching at The Cobalt Soul, they discovered she was likely Isharnai the Prism Sage. Nott used Disguise Self to show the others her memory of the woman, and Jester cast Scrying on her, successfully seeing her in her home casting runes. However, Isharnai looked up and saw the scry focus, saying, "Hello. Who's this I see? My curiosity is piqued. I hope this means I’m having visitors." She then crushed the focus between her hands.

The invisible Isharnai perched unseen on top of her hut when the party reached it after traversing mountains, a swamp, and a bramble forest. Fjord was able to see her when he cast See Invisiblity, and greeted her. Insharnai invited them inside one at a time to bargain with her, offering to lift the curse on Nott in return for a new source of the misery upon which to feed. Beau offered to walk away from her family, the Mighty Nein, and her position with the Cobalt Soul. Nott offered to sabotage the upcoming peace negotiations between the Empire and the Dynasty, and Yasha offered her book of collected flowers. Jester convinced Isharnai to believe she is about to agree to sacrifice her hands to have Nott's curse lifted, but actually sprinkled her Dust of Deliciousness on a leftover blueberry cupcake, which she shared with Isharnai. The Dust of Deliciousness lowered Isharnai's ability to save against charm effects, and Jester took advantage of this to then successfully cast Modify Memory on her. Jester made Isharnai believe that they had such a good visit that Isharnai promised to lift the curse just to please Jester. Jester then left the somewhat confused and distracted Isharnai and went outside to the others, urging them to hurry away.

Jester sent a dozen black moss cupcakes to Isharnai via a summoned quickling. Isharnai confirmed receiving them via Jester's Sending spell in, although from her response it was unclear whether she was still under the influence of Jester's Modify Memory or had dispelled/removed it in the meantime.

Abilities

 * Can see invisible objects
 * Invisibility
 * Reincarnate or similar spell or magical ability used on Nott
 * Magic Resistance

Home
Isharnai lives in a bramble forest among dark, dangerous woods and rocky mountainside cliffs. Her home is small, about 15 to 20-feet in size, and has a large porch in front. It has no windows and no back door. At its base, heavy roots emerge almost as if the house itself was rooted into the ground. The cabin appears to have been put together from numerous thin, tall trees. There are hooks hanging from its edge from chains and ropes, and a wooden rack off to the side of the porch that contains stretched-out leathers. The roof is heavy-thatched and green with moss, mold, and other natural growth that has taken root in it.

Inside, her house is small, dense, and cluttered, but in an organized way. There are many collected books, papers, broken lanterns and pieces, elements of animal bone, and a large collection of jars and vials holding various alchemical and magical supplies. In the corner lies a collection of stones arranged in a pattern. It is both warm and muggy, the smell intensely reminiscent of strong mildew and herbs. In the middle of the room is a table bearing a single glowing lantern. Along the ceiling on the inside, between where the wooden boards hold up the thatch, cages of varying sizes holding small animals hang from chains, rope, and twine.

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign Two

Quotations

 * Isharnai: "I’ve seen many lifetimes. And I enjoy being tethered to misery. It feeds me. And your friend has been a delicious drip. [...] Existing misery is paltry. New misery... that is lasting."

Trivia

 * The name "Isharnai" is an anagram of "I, Raishan".
 * Matthew Mercer imagines Isharnai, who is no longer under the effects of Modify Memory, has some respect for having been outmaneuvered, but will cross paths with Jester again.