Baba Yaga
| Baba Yaga |
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Slavic Sorceress, Hater of Lies, Baba Yaga. She first appeared in episode 21, Baba Yaga a.k.a. Are You Gonna Break That Dagger's Neck?.
Description
Baba Yaga is from Slavic folklore and is described as a supernatural being who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman.
Her name comes from Old Russian where Baba translates to "midwife," "sorceress," or "fortune teller." Yaga is much more complicated where it could mean any of the following words in as many different languages: "horror," "shudder," "chill," "anger," "witch," "legendary evil female being," "wicked wood nymph," "dryad," "evil woman," "fury," "disease," "illness," "to abuse (continuously)," "to belittle," "to exploit," "doubt," "worry," or "pain."
She is sometimes depicted as one of three sisters who all go by the same name (Baba Yaga). The odd thing about this one is that you never see the three sisters in the same place at the same time. Many mythologans believe she would use this as an excuse to get out of paying IOUs, claiming it was one of her sisters that owed money, not her.
Baba Yaga flies around in a mortar, wielding a pestle, which apparently can be used as a weapon if you try hard enough. She also sometimes has a mop or broom, which was the inspiration for witches flying on brooms, even though she would never use it for flying purposes. Usually she used it to clean up messes after she ate someone. She has the abilities of shape-changing and prophesy. She is often depicted as the Slavic personification of Death.
Perhaps most relatably, Baba Yaga never wears pants within her dwelling, showing off her bony legs. Do to not having much fat, she would get cold easily, and often she would stretch over the wood burning stove to warm up. She lives in a hut, which is usually described as standing on chicken legs, in the forest (yes, not a forest, THE forest, for which there is a lot of debate on which forest is the forest).
Depending on her mood, which is ever changing, Baba Yaga can be helpful or a hindrance to those who run across her, whether accidentally or purposefully. She also has the ability to smell the "Russian scent" of her visitors if they have one. We on the podcast are unsure of what this smells like, but believe it could be described as stale vodka or sadness and fire. She cannot smell any other nationality as distinctly. She also enjoys eating people she doesn't like.
Those that are not instantly eaten or killed by some other awful curse must succeed at horrifying and awful trials given by Baba Yaga in order to receive her gift of wisdom. She creates a fence from the bones of those who failed her trials. The trials are used by Baba Yaga to get the visitor's true motivations and character out of them, and she favors those who are virtuous. Those who fail are eaten.
One visitor of Baba Yaga had described her as the following in a Yelp review:
"...one of the most memorable and distinctive figures in eastern European folklore."
Abilities
She is a sorceress, able to cast spells and curses that no normal person could even fathom. She is able to shape-change and prophesize the future, so it is hard to surprise her.
Tale
This is the story of Vasilisa and her visit to Baba Yaga. Vasalisa was given a doll by her mother who was ill and dying. Her mother told Vasilisa that she need only ask the doll for help and it will show the way. Then the mother died.
Vasilisa's father remarried several years later to a woman who had two daughters. in a very Cinderella-esque way, Vasilisa's new stepmother and stepsisters are absolute bitches and abuse her constantly when her father isn't looking.
One day, while Vasilisa's father is out, the stepmother accidentally lets the fire go out, which is basically a death sentence because they have no way to relight it. So the stepmother requests that Vasilisa go to Baba Yaga to get a flame to relight theirs. This was the only way, apparently.
Vasilisa agrees to go, and takes her mother's doll and leaves. After she's gone, the step family cackles, sure that Baba Yaga will kill the young Vasilisa, and get her out of their way. It is unclear if they have a different way to relight the fire so they don't also die, however.
Vasilisa consults her mother's doll, which tells her how to get to Baba Yaga's hut. When she arrives, she sees the horrifying bone fence and the chicken-legged hut. Then a horrifying old woman, flying in a not so horrifying mortar, approaches her, demanding to know what the young girl wants.
Vasilisa tells Baba Yaga that she is here for fire, and Baba Yaga asks why she should give it to her. Vasilisa, not sure how to answer, asks her doll for advice. She follows that advice and responds with "Because I ask it." This surprises Baba Yaga, being the correct answer. Baba Yaga invites Vasilisa into the hut and tells her that in order to get fire, she must complete the tasks ahead of her. If she fails, Baba Yaga will eat her.
Days go by as Vasilisa completes each challenge as they grow more and more difficult, the doll helping her along the way. Baba Yaga allows Vasilisa to ask any questions, warning her that too much wisdom will make her old. She asks one or two questions, receiving great and wise answers to them. When she tries to ask another, the doll stops her, so Vasilisa declines any more answers, saying that they'd only make her old.
Baba Yaga is pleased with how things have gone and gives the girl a flaming skull and sends her off. Vasilisa was terrified of this skull, even with its comforting comments of how everything will be fine, and so she rushed home with it, arriving to a shocked step family who believed her dead.
That night the skull watches closely the way the step family abuses Vasilisa, and when they all go to bed, the skull burns the stepmother and stepsisters to ash before the morning's light.
Statistics
Basic human in solid physical and mental form represents about a 3 in the numbered stats.
| Strength (1-10) | 3 |
|---|---|
| Speed (1-10) | 4 |
| Intelligence (1-10) | 7 |
| Durability (1-10) | 6 |
| Vulnerabilities | Correct Answers |
| Special | Sorcery, Shape-changing, Prophesy |
Fight Club Results
| Battle | Result | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| vs. Striga | Win | 21 |
