I need help finding a green hags lair within a swamp. The hag stole our witches familiar, and needs to die horribly. we have a 6th level cleric, a 6th level witch and a 6th level alchemist. she does have a set of elven chain that I gave her while we thought she was ally so locate object may work.
Check out empathetic link. 1-mile radius, and the master has the same connection to an item or place that her familiar does, which should mean that you know where your familiar is if it's within 1 mile of you.
Also, you can cast a personal-only spell on your familiar, no range limit. I'm sure there's some such spell that could send a signal- perhaps detonate if the familiar can survive it?
dm says she cannot sense familiar though link---maybe magic jar or something--not sure how but no contact
Survival and Knowledge: Nature in the swamp. Not just looking for tracks; get creative. Tell the GM you're looking for creatures whose behavior seems unnaturally hostile or fearful; if the Green Hag employs minions track them; if she uses poisons or has ever left specks of mud behind, see if they come from specific spots in the swamp.
Knowledge: History or Local can tell you myths and legends, like perhaps tales of children gobbled up by Granny Greenlocks or The Bloodlettings near Blackscratch Rock. These might give you a starting point.
Locate Object is a good spell for this, but don't discount others. Speak with Dead if you have one of the Green Hag's servants about; Summon Monster 3 might give you either a flyer that that can scout an area for you and report back or else use that creature to help gather other intel.
Don't underestimate a good Diplomacy roll for Gather Information. This might get you to the hag or at least an agent she has in town. Perhaps some bribes might help; alternately you can have your cleric PC pull in some favors at the church for some high-level spellcasting like a Scrying spell. Having that cast for money would run you 1450 GP; costly I know but consider what you're hunting for.
See if you can find a black or green, preferably green, dragon and negotiate the tracking of said sea hag. Greens are usually the easiest of the chromatics to do business with, so try for one.
thanks for the input guys. I cannot believe I fell for something like this. for future reference I am thinking a blood biography spell is a way to check potential allies. the gender race and role line should have given me the hags nature correct?----also does the constant pass without trace leave a magic residue to detect magic with
Detect magic will find lingering magic from dissipated spells - that is, spells that have ended. If the effect is active, you will only detect it on the creature or object the spell has been used on - in this case, the hag herself. So you can use detect magic to find the hag, as long as she is within 60 feet and not behind a foot of stone, and inch of metal, a thin sheet of lead, or three feet of dirt or wood.
GM fiat might allow you to follow a lingering trail left behind by the magic, but even then as a low-level spell the trail would only last for 1d6 rounds in any particular location. Which might be enough if you're hot on its feet chasing it through a crowd, but probably not for any other purpose.
Blood biography will work just fine, though the creature receives a saving throw to negate it. Of course, you'd be aware of the spell having been resisted, and a true ally would voluntarily fail the saving throw. But then you could learn many things about a creature from its blood - some that the creature may not want you knowing, even if it is your ally. Or you could be casting something other than blood biography altogether. So it's a good and reasonable test, though it may have allies thinking that you are paranoid, or up to something, or both.