Baba Yaga

**Baba Yaga** is an Unseelie classless fae who joined the Coalition of the Classless during *The Court of Five Thrones*. She is also venerated by the city of Dharnam, particularly during the festival of Evale.

## Appearance

Gwyn ap Nudd describes Baba Yaga as terrifying upon initially seeing her. She is further described as 'aged, bent and crooked, wisdom and malevolence and a calculating intelligence shining from black eyes.' Her voice is chthonic and shakes the room when she speaks.

## Personality

Baba Yaga has a straightforward manner of speaking, and though she prefers to stay out of the affairs of fae, she will nonetheless act if the situation is dire enough. She is not intimidated by shows of force, bluntly warning Albion not to push her or the other classless and even threatening him. Gwyn describes her as showing wisdom, malevolence, and intelligence.

Yborza notes that Baba Yaga likes the 'unexpected, and in service of a greater good. She is never entirely what you expect.'

## Life

Baba Yaga is considered to be an almost-goddess and is as ancient as the Nain Rouge, or possibly even older.

It's unknown if she was alive before Olphix and Davix created the classless as batteries, in order to gather power over time that the Mages would later take for themselves at their leisure.

Since Gwyn ap Nudd requests the Nain Rouge's help to ask for representatives from the Unseelie classless fae as part of the Coalition of the Classless, it's likely the Nain Rouge reaches out to Baba Yaga as an attendee. Baba Yaga later appears at the Coalition as one of the Unseelie representatives. The Coalition imposes sanctions on both Courts to end Albion's war with the Unseelie Court, stopping them from sending their militaries against each other, outside of territorial disputes, for a decade. Albion is to stop bothering inter-alignment communities, and Gwyn is to stop assassinating Seelie Courtiers and calling in his life debts to disrupt Seelie politics. When Albion protests at being managed by someone else, as he is a demigod, Baba Yaga interrupts to say, 'You are not the only one who has been called god, Albion of the Atlantic. And those of us who choose to remain behind, agree to stay out of the affairs of the fae as much as possible. But you, recalcitrant child, force our hands. Do not push us. Even the sea can be conquered.'

The Coalition also assigns two members of the Coalition to serve as observers at the opposing alignment's Court, to make sure they are following through with the sanctions, though the Spider Queen serves as the Unseelie representative to the Seelie Court.

When Olphix steals the powers of the Classless during the ice plague, he takes Baba Yaga's power over the underworlds, though her fate is otherwise unknown.

## Special Abilities

She has power over the underworlds and is known to be able to call death to just about anyone she desires.

## Quotations

* Gwyn: 'I am not someone who regularly practices wishful thinking, but I have met Baba Yaga, and out of respect to her, and during the festival of Evale, I wish for a quieter Season, one where our realm flourishes in peacetime.’

## Trivia

* There's a rumor that Baba Yaga has a door that opens into the Bridge.

## Folklore/Mythology

'In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga (/ˌbɑːbə ˈjɑːɡə/; Russian: Баба-Яга, tr. *Bába-Jagá*, IPA: [ˈbabə jɪˈɡa] (listen)) is a supernatural being (or a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed or ferocious-looking old woman. In Slavic culture, Baba Yaga lived in a hut usually described as standing on chicken legs.

Baba Yaga may help or hinder those that encounter her or seek her out. She may play a maternal role and has associations with forest wildlife.

. . . As noted by Lithuanian scholar Marija Gimbutas, the character of Baba Yaga shows considerable ambiguity: she is described as a witch with cannibalistic tendencies, with preference for children in some accounts, while in others she is a wise prophetess who gives guidance to heroes.

. . . As one of the most famous witches, Baba Yaga has appeared in hundreds if not thousands of folktales in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus predating the eighteenth century. The first clear reference to Baba Yaga (*Iaga baba*) occurs in 1755; Mikhail V. Lomonosov's *Rossiiskaia grammatika* ('Russian grammar'). In Lomonosov's grammar, Baba Yaga is mentioned twice among other figures largely from Slavic tradition. The second of the two mentions occurs within a list of Slavic gods and beings next to their presumed equivalence in Roman mythology (the Slavic god Perun, for example, appears equated with the Roman god Jupiter). Baba Yaga, however, appears in a third section without an equivalence, attesting to perception of her uniqueness even in this first known attestation. However, it is noticeable that, like *Hecate*, Baba Yaga presides-over a wide, diverse array of domains and functions.'

Baba Yaga also appears in the tale *Vasilisa the Beautiful*, and both Vasilissa and Baba Yaga serve as members of the Coalition of the Classless in *Fae Tales*.

## References

1. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 7 August 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10279800. Chapter 55: Refuge.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 14 August 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10409742. Chapter 56: Islands.
3. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 12 May 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/97400118. Chapter 32: Our Better Natures.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 September 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/37093806. Chapter 28: Like Batteries.
5. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 February 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/7205945. Chapter 29: Classless.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 14 August 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10409742. Chapter 56: Islands.
7. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 26 May 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/98170593. Chapter 33: Soul Crying.
8. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 18 November 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2101316. Chapter 27: Compulsion.
9. ↑ "Baba Yaga". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba\_Yaga. Accessed 25 May 2021.