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Baba Yaga

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Baba Yaga was an enormously powerful Nosferatu methuselah, over 7000 years old. She was the famous childe of the Nosferatu Antediluvian that was not blood bound to her sire. The Little Grandmother was the upholder of the Shadow Curtain and, some believe, the progenitor of the entire modern incarnation of the Nosferatu clan. She fought a terrible war against the Garou, before being killed by the Nictuku in 1998

Biography[]

She was once a powerful witch devoted to protecting Russia. Her magic was linked to the land itself. During her life, the Nosferatu Antediluvian came to the Russian lands to hunt, clashing with the mighty witch. After temporarily driving him off, the night of the next moon, he came for her. She put up a great fight, but even her mightiest magic could not slow the night creature's march toward her. She called up the spirits of trees and streams, and the land cried with every step the vampire took. Her hands shone like the sun, burning his dead flesh. The witch thought she had won—only to see the ancient one vanish.

The very animals of the forest then turned against her. The same creatures that had helped her in the past now threw themselves against her. She turned to run, only to be captured by the Antediluvian, who gave her the Embrace.

A prisoner of the Antediluvian, Baba Yaga—now feeling the ancient power of the land abandon her—summoned powerful spirits: the Zmei, six mighty dragons, and unleashed them upon the Ancient. As powerful as they were, they were weak from their journey into this world and unwise in its ways. He created figments of himself in their minds and sent them scattering to the far corners of Russia to find her.

Once more she reached into the darkness, and this time, she brought forth all that she feared. A pact was made with Koshchei, the Talon of the Wyrm. After it was summoned by the will of Baba Yaga, Koshchei stepped forward to battle the old one, and Baba Yaga fled in fear. She ran from the maelstrom on the battlefield.

Forced into a stalemate, Koshchei and the Antediluvian struck a deal, each going their separate ways.

In choosing to fight her fate and resist the vampire, she had doomed the land. Now Koshchei, one of the Talons of the Wyrm, was free in the land. Corruption had taken hold in Russia. Baba Yaga lost her powers of magic and gained new powers instead. She knew many secrets of the land, and these would work to her advantage against many enemies in the years to come. Baba Yaga can still feel the pain of the earth, and she knows that much of this is her fault. She believes she is beyond redemption and plays the part of the ogre. If she cannot be saved, she will rule in her damnation—but deep within her soul, she cries for her loss. She would dearly love to heal her land. This is why she will never hurt a truly innocent person.

Much time later Koshchei was bounded by the heroes known as Bogatyrs. Because of her pact, she now owes Koshchei—and the Wyrm. She is working to bring him back from the spells that now bind him, spells placed by the cursed Bogatyrs of old. She is fond of children because she sees them as pure. She will not directly attack a child unless it shows some corruption (this includes rude behavior). If the child is corrupt, she will kill it before it can grow to further corruption. She kills most creatures by swallowing them whole.

She manipulated Attila the Hun into invading western Europe.

Modern Nights[]

For millennia, the Witch has manipulated the history of Russia and Eastern Europe through loyal servants such as the Tzimisce Darvag Grozny and Melitta Wallenberg, sleeping for a long period. However, one night in 1990 CE, she finally awoke—and the legends were only a pale approximation of the truth.

When Baba Yaga awoke, she refused to believe how much the world had changed. No one would question her rule over Russia. Once again, Baba Yaga summoned legions of servants. She divided them into six Armies, each led by a general.

The Army of the Night made up of vampires, led by an ancient Gangrel named Viktor; The Army of Conversion consists of spirits, Banes, and werewolves. Its most powerful and important recruits are blood-bound directly to Baba Yaga. This army is led by an Incarna named Typhon, a Totem who has recruited many werewolves to the witch's cause; The Army of War is composed of Ronin Garou, dozens of Black Spiral Dancers, Pentex First Teams, and Ghouls. They are led by a Black Spiral Ahroun named Snaps-at-Shadows; The Army of Despair is the smallest and most powerful contingent, consisting of three of the Zmei already awakened by Baba Yaga: Gregornous, Shazear, and Illyana; The Army of the Arcane includes mages she has converted and blood-bound, primarily members of the Celestial Chorus led by an Orthodox mage named Joseph Stranvitch; Finally, the Army of the Void is led by the Earthbound Bezariel.

Thus the war for Russia began. Thanks to her powers, she erected the Shadow Curtain, mystically isolating Russia from the rest of the world. After that, she began destroying her enemies. The Brujah Council that once ruled Russia was directly destroyed by the witch. Five Technocratic Constructs in the Umbra were obliterated the moment the Shadow Curtain was raised. Her armies then unleashed their fury upon the werewolves, destroying and draining multiple Caerns and Septs.

Baba Yaga's wanted to eliminate all opposition, free the last Zmei still imprisoned, and ultimately release Koshchei from the prison in which the Bogatyrs had sealed him millennia ago. In a short time, Russia became one of the largest fronts in the Garou Nation's war anywhere in the world.

The War against Baba Yaga was one of the fiercest conflicts in the modern history of the Garou and the supernatural world. In the early years, the Garou suffered terrible losses, unable to present a united front due to centuries-old rivalries. After years of defeats and intrigue, they finally managed to unite. In 1997, the Garou launched a series of brutal counterattacks that culminated in the epic Battle of Kursk, where the bulk of the Witch’s forces — led by the Zmei Gregornous — were defeated, changing the course of the war.

Throughout 1998 the Garou were dismantling Baba Yaga’s grandiose power structure brick by brick. Indeed, it is likely that her preoccupation with destroying the werewolves left her open to attack by her Leech enemies. In that year, unleashed by her sire, Niktuku Vasilisa managed with the help of a vampire coterie to track down the witch's hut. There the ancient hunter killed the Hag, bringin her reign to an end.

Appearance[]

Picture the most hideous hag imaginable, and you might be able to imagine Baba Yaga. She is an eight-foot-tall monstrosity with four-inch iron claws, sharklike iron fangs, stringy hair, grey, scarred flesh covered in pustules, rheumy eyes thick with cataracts, and a long, crooked nose marred by numerous hairy warts and moles. What the legends don’t explain is that she is capable of changing her form, and this immense guise is only her most famous mask. Her “true” form is much less impressive. The Little Mother is exactly that, little. Her face and skin retain their pale, grayish hue, but aren’t quite as warty and bloated as the legends say. She is still a Nosferatu, though, and suitably monstrous. Her back is twisted and humped, her left arm is noticeably longer than her right, and she is covered in large, gray wrinkled fl aps of skin. In her true form she wears a long shawl, just as decayed and wretched as she is.

Character Sheet[]

† A World of Darkness applicable stats
‡ Rage Across Russia applicable stats

Image: the most hideous hag imaginable - 8 feet tall; four-inch iron claws; sharklike iron fangs; stringy hair; gnarled, boil-covered grey flesh; cataract-laced eyes; foot-long (slight exageration) warty nose.
Roleplaying Notes: You are the most powerful sorceress on Earth and the absolute ruler of the Motherland. Men. and other Kindred. are cattle to assuage your ravenous hunger. And you are so hungry.... You are generally coarse and crotchety, but you hide a terrible cunning within, and enjoy playing with your prey like a cat with a mouse. You respect politeness, and if a lesser being can stand to gaze upon the abomination that is your face and humbly refer to you as "Little Grandmother," you might spare them... and then again you might not.
‡ Haven: Baba Yaga lives in a magical hut, her "chicken hut". This peasant hovel has two giant chicken legs for walking through the woods, moving anywhere Baba Yaga likes. The inside of this hut is much larger than the outside. Who knows how many rooms it has inside?
‡ Mortar and Pestle: Baba Yaga flies about the skies in a large mortar, which she steers with a giant pestle

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Baba Yaga is listed as a Niktuku in Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages, Frankfurt bei Nacht, and Beckett's Jyhad Diary
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