Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga was once a pretty young girl, believe it or not. In her youth, she met a promising young elven wizard who was in a little war with some other elves. Politics weren't really her thing of course, but she did have a fondness for this wizard. She liked to live in woods as she does now and she still lived in a strange hut which would dance about on giant chicken legs. He would visit her there and they would pass the night away discussing magic, how best to kill elves, and other things best left undiscussed in polite company. They were good times. But, like all good things, that came to an end when the young man was sealed away forever by those nasty elves he was warring against.

Before his last battle, he performed a ritual with the witch, transforming himself into a powerful lich and sealing his soul within seven phylacteries. One of which was a beautiful necklace. The chain was delicately handcrafted from mythril with a large emerald hanging from it. The emerald was cut in such a perfect manor that it seemed, in the right light, that an elven skull glowed from within. It was grim, but a work of art no less. "Keep this forever and I shall never leave you," he said as he handed the necklace to the young witch.

Baba Yaga happily took the necklace and slipped it over her neck, vowing never to remove it. She was overjoyed to have found a love that would last eternity. But unfortunately for the young witch, the young elf never returned. Days passed. Then weeks. Then months, and years. Decades, even centuries have passed. It is said that over a thousand years have now passed and the young elf has never returned. Instead he has become the great and powerful Lord Ankev.

Loneliness does terrible things to the best of us, and Baba Yaga was never the best of us. Some say that she went mad waiting for her love to return and that is why she terrorizes all she meets. Others say that her apparent madness is only part of her ingenious plan to get back at the elves who had stolen her love away from her.

Whatever the reason, now, whenever she settles down in an area, she creates a wall around her hut to keep away intruders. This wall is made of enchanted wood topped with the skulls of those who once dared enter her home. The skulls keep watch around her home and make sure no one comes in. Around the wall is a thick thorn bush which slows down all who try to run away. Should you get to the hut itself, it is impossible to enter unless you know the magical words. Accounts from survivors who have entered the hut vary. Some say the hut itself simply eats those who enter. Others say that the inside is an infinitely large maze.

## Baba's Tastes

Baba Yaga is a known gourmand and can easily be distracted with a good meal. Of course what she sees a "good meal" might differ from the definition of others. She's a known cannibal and often keeps the flesh of various sentient races in her larder for consumption, including undead. Her stomach is basically able to handle anything.

## Goals

It is unclear what Baba's goals are as her actions can be extremely random and capricious at times. Despite this, she is actually an incredibly cunning and a powerful magic user. Her goals may seem random or strange, but there is always an underlying method and goal to her apparent madness

## Abilities

Baba Yaga is a powerful magic user with a wide selection of spells at her disposal. However, her preference is to shape change opponents into harmless animals which she later eats or keeps as pets. She is also an accomplished alchemist, able to brew all kinds of potions, and has control over day and night, stretching either as long or as short as she needs them to be.

As crazy as she may seem, Baba Yaga is actually extremely knowledgeable about many things and is said to be able to answer any question. However, she does not like answering questions and extracts a price for her answers in the form of years of life, which she uses to extend her own.

The chicken legged hut that she lives in is completely under her control, doing as she wishes and rearranging it's interior to fit her whims. She also possesses a massive magical mortar and pestle which she uses to get around. The mortar flies about 50 or 60 feet off the ground and forces trees that get in her way to bend aside. The pestle is capable of returning the trees back to their original position, when she wishes to cover up the path she has taken.