Baba Lysaga's Diaries

Baba Lysaga’s personal journal is quite old, and in several places the dampness of the swamps have infiltrated the pages, melding them together with a dank mold that has obliterated the contents. The oldest legible sections seem to have been written when she was living in much nicer circumstances as a wet nurse to the Von Drovis Royal Family. Between sections of petty court gossip, a few sections stand out:

>
> *Queen Ravenonia is finally with child, and that boastful boar of a man King Barov couldn’t be more full of himself. I’ve consulted the auguries of Mother Night for six midnights, and all signs point towards a manchild. Barov will have his heir, but tonight the Black Mother will reveal to me her final revelation. This child seems of great importance to her… and my calling will be finally put to use.*
>
>
> *Ravenonia proved a determined though weak sow of a mother. She followed my direction dutifully and delivered the boy into my arms, though she collapsed in exhaustion soon after. Left to my own devices, the child’s health is far more valuable, but the priests soon intervened and stabalized the old bird. So be it, the child will be shared. For now.*
>
>
> *The naming ceremony yesterday bestowed upon the child the name Bannoch. They may have their pallid parties and celebrate their petty lineage. I have already baptised the child in the milky night. The Black Mother whispers to me, this child they call Bannoch is destined for so much more. Even as he weans, I ensure his steady diet of blessings so that one day, the seed of magic flourishes within his breast.*
>
>
>
>

A bit further past a section of pages glued together with a thick blackish green substance that oozes slowly as you attempt to separate the pages:

>
> *Curses upon this wretched Queen. Ravenonia sinks her claws deeper into my blessed boy and draws him closer to her bosom. The pathetic chambermaid I have under my charms resorts to me that she schemes to replace me, entreating King Barov that a wet nurse is no longer needed in Castle Von Drovis! I will ensure my tenure and stoke the passions of the old Boar. His sow will soon be with child again. She dare not send me away knowing how frail her loins shall bear the labors of a second child.*
>
>
>
>

And further still…

>
> *I will no longer bear the raven bitch’s scheming. Her grasp on Bannoch grows ever tighter around her finger even as she dotes upon her newest son. His martial training and promise of glory continue, and he drifts even further from my cares. These traveling Wizards that arrive last night, Mother Night sends me visions of the strange yellow sigil they wear. I will entreat them for a curse… or a slow poison, yes. Ravenonia will wither and either frail or mad, Bannoch will turn to me, his true mother.*
>
>
> *Foulest ethers of the night be upon this house! I have been framed! This fey priest of Lathander has detected my charms and turned the family against me. I am to leave Laerenhold tomorrow. And my dearest Bannoch away from the capitol, I will have no change to say good bye, and implant any final calling to keep him close. I will travel South. Report say that my beaming boy has driven the horse lords from the Svallich and sendings from the Fang Wizards tell that he visits their strongholds. I will join them there and lay in wait to be re-united with my charge.*
>
>
>
>

Then much further into the journal it becomes clear that Baba Lysaga had taken up residence in the Town of Vallaki. Word of his exile reached Bannoch, and though he was nearby, consulting with the Fangs of the Veil, she kept herself hidden from him. Content to be nearby, yet fearful he would reject her. But the rambling paranoia of her journals deepened in this period:

>
> *Emissaries of Mother NIght be praised! May their corpulence grow fat upon my offerings. The superstitions of these Barovians is ripe for the picking and their spirits fall easily to the song of the night. Yet  I pray for understanding the augury of the entrails is as murky as these peasants wretched mead. My Black Mother of Mothers sends me conflicted signals. These yellow wizards grow more powerful and closer still to Bannoch every day, yet Mother Night is not pleased. His power grows, yet her blank eyes stare back at me in dismay. And the visions of ravens persist, in my reverie she pushes me to their embrace, yet in the day I hear the rumors that Bannoch has sent for his bitch Queen Ravenonia to join him in this new castle in the Svallich. I cannot have her here. All these years in waiting… bathing in the blood and milk of the night, the years have peeled off me. Bannoch will scarce recognize his old wet nurse, but to see me as re-born and clearly beyond the reproach of the gossip that exiled me. If Ravenonia is here, his distraction will be tantamount. I must prevent it. Yet the Black Mother seems to say otherwise…. “Seek the Raven Queen” the midnight whispers tell me. “Beseach her powers to wrap Bannoch in her dark wings before it is too late”... I cannot untangle these omens.*
>
>
>
>

Deeper still into the foul pages…

>
> *Let the rejoicing be heard through the night like the howls of wolves! Ravenonia is dead. And my boy Bannoch is here with me forever more. He rails against the walls of this misty prison, and I know he is forever changed. But he is here with me, and his power grows mightily. With that bitch Ravenonia out of the way I can watch my boy grow into his destiny. The yellow wizards gone, and their amber temple grown dark, I can concentrate on removing obstacles for my beautiful boy. These ravens must go. Every last one of them be damned. Every soul in this damn valley may be cursed to be reborn here in yet another pale husk of flesh, but Ravenonia she will never come back. I will see to it. Every black feathered vessel of her namesake shall be snuffed out, and her soul shall remain sealed in that crypt beneath the castle where it belongs.*
>
>
>
>