Auntie Ethel is a side character in Baldur's Gate 3, but her vulgarity and cruelty leave their mark on every player that crosses her path. Ethel is a hag who uses her magic to fulfill the requests of others, usually in nefarious and deceitful ways that bring about their death. Much like some stories about genies or the monkey's paw, Ethel grants magical boons that technically meet the requirements of what someone asked for, but ultimately leave them far worse off.

The player character can try to deal with her to get their mind flayer parasite removed, and in doing so, will come across a few others who Ethel has tricked into fates worse than death. The main person players will meet involved in a deal with Ethel is Mayrina, a woman who wants to exchange her unborn child for her husband's life being returned. But she's not the only person Ethel has taken advantage of; in her hut in Act One and her lair in Act Three, players come across many people cursed by the hag, and can even save a few of them.

Saving Mayrina And The Anti-Hag Group

A Multi-Act Job That Requires Some Searching

Mayrina is first encountered in Ethel's hut in Act One, held hostage by Ethel and waiting to have her child so she can trade them. Players can investigate Ethel's hut and attempt to rescue Mayrina, eventually finding her in a cage in the basement. Here, fighting Ethel opens up the choice to either "kill" the hag to free Mayrina, let Ethel keep her, or a charisma check to let Ethel go, save Mayrina, and collect a powerful item.

Mayrina won't be thrilled that her deal to resurrect her husband fell through, but of course, Ethel never meant to play fair. She intended to raise Mayrina's husband, Connor, as a zombie, which the party can still do in an attempt to be helpful. Whether Connor is resurrected or not, Mayrina heads from here to Baldur's Gate (potentially with her zombie husband in tow) and forms an anti-hag group there. Mayrina's group includes several others, all wronged by hags, and it exists to protect them from future harm.

The anti-hag group includes the hobgoblin Kled, the cleric Adrielle, Mayrina, and a dragonborn named Jatlo (who is really a spy for Ethel). In addition, a character named Hydrangea Wubb will show up here if saved in Act One.

Unfortunately for Mayrina, Ethel wasn't done with her. Even if players "killed" Ethel in Act One, she returns in Act Three to send one of her redcap cronies into the group and turn Mayrina into a sheep with a cursed doll. Seeking out the group in Old Garlow's Place, finding the doll, and cleansing it with a remove curse spell will spur one of Ethel's cronies to summon a cast of crabs to kill the group. If the party manages to kill triumph in the encounter, Mayrina and the other of the group will be safe.

Saving The Mask Wearers

Lifting The Veil Off These Tortured Souls

The other large group of folks that need saving are the Whispering Mask wearers, charmed thralls of Ethel who guard her hideouts. There are four in Act One and four more beneath the Blushing Mermaid in Act Three, where Ethel makes her new home. They consist of different groups of people that made deals with Ethel, each hoping to free themselves of some affliction or gain something, only to end up in eternal servitude to the hag.

In each location, the mask wearers are called the masks of servitude, vengeance, and terror, with thematically relevant powers to match. In the first encounter, there is also a mask of regret, and in the second, there is Blushing Mermaid proprietor Captain Grisly, still referred to by name. Each of these thralls will be compelled to attack the party, unless they succeed on wisdom saving throws each turn. The important trick to saving these characters is to not kill them in their fights, but to knock them out instead.

Knocking these characters out will let the party loot them and remove their masks, but it is important not to do this until Ethel is dead/gone or removing the mask will kill the wearer. Simply use non-lethal attacks to neutralize these guards, defeat Ethel, then return to take the masks off. Most of these characters have experienced too much mental trauma to return to their lives, save for two: the mask of regret in Act One and Captain Grisly in Act Three. Both will thank the party for freeing them, and the former will even the anti-hag group.

Two Easy-To-Miss Characters That Can Be Helped

Victims Trapped, By Stone And Mirrors

Two easier characters to miss are Efrin and Lorin, who are both found in an almost museum-like exhibition of Ethel's victims in her basement in Act One. Each came to Ethel with requests that ultimately got them trapped in her clutches. Efrin had a disease, called Ladueger's Bite, that he wanted to be halted, and Lorin was nervous about the future and wished to see what lied ahead. Ethel turned the first to stone, petrifying him, while she cursed the second to see people (including himself) as they would eventually be, mainly as decaying corpses.

Unlike most of Ethel's victims, though, these two are still alive, and both can be helped after Ethel is gone from her hut. Lorin is easy; all the party has to do is return and speak to him after defeating Ethel. He will express gratitude at having been saved, and proceed to leave. With Efrin, players must be more careful, following a process delineated by Reddit found in the Blighted Village and the Underdark.

However, if the party didn't "kill" Ethel during their first fight but instead let her leave, freeing Efrin will cause him to immediately die. It's only if Ethel is "dead" that he can be saved. This is because it turns out he was never sick; rather, his disease was a curse itself, inflicted by the hag. Unpetrifying the dwarf after killing Ethel will free him and allow him to leave alive.

Rescuing Vanra, Ethel's Last Victim

Saving A Child From A Hag's Clutches

Finally, there's Vanra, a child who has been eaten by Ethel at the start of Act Three. Vanra has been eaten, but she's not dead, because Ethel plans to turn Vanra into a hag by swallowing her and infusing her with her power. Vanra's mother will clue the player in as to her disappearance, and the anti-hag group will offer help to save the child. This comes in the form of a poison, called Hag's Bane, that will make a hag retch up a person they've ingested.

This poison isn't actually necessary to save Vanra, but it's helpful, and the group must be saved first to get it. From there, the party must venture into the Blushing Mermaid, confront Ethel (who is disguised as Captain Grisly, the proprietor) and chase her into her basement lair. After defeating her masked guards, the party fights Ethel a final time. To save Vanra, they must either throw the Hag's Bane potion at Ethel to get it on her or knock Ethel out with non-lethal damage. This allows them to cut the hag open and let Vanra out.

The fight isn't actually over until Ethel is dead, which can only be accomplished if the party destroys the pearlspore mushrooms around her lair that can revive her. Either way, once Vanra is cut out, she will flee the scene and return to her mother. Vanra is certainly traumatized, but as long as players don't kill Ethel before freeing Vanra in Baldur's Gate 3, she will ultimately come out alive.

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