I wish! Turns out a couple of sentences would have been more succinct than Google searches and videos to confirm it is indeed a loaded expression. Better to write longer careful sentences that can be read as is.
(Pandirna is that Tiefling in the storehouse who can't walk.)
Yeah that 'first darkness' is probably just Gandrel reciting his folklore, nothing much in it. The MM says hags originate from Feywild. 5E lore is solid for backwards compatibility so likely matches FR hag origins.
Sometimes in the Grove, Shadowheart or Lae'zel warn against confiding in Ethel. Astarion beautifully delivers dreadful advice, which is warning too (do the opposite!).
****
Back to OP's post. The game really ought to switch to turn-based when a character is dying. Let the player stay in or switch out thereafter, that's fair choice.
