Baba Yaga
| Baba Yaga | |
 |
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| Baba Yaga, as depicted in Dragon #83 (1984). | |
| Title: | Mother of All Witches |
|---|---|
| Alias(es): | Baba Jaga, Jaga Baba, Baba Roga |
| Home plane: | Murkendraw, in the Feywild |
| Power level: | Quasi-deity or Archfey |
| Gender: | Female |
| Class: | Wizard 25/Illusionist 15/Druid 14[1] |
| Alignment: | Neutral Evil |
Baba Yaga (ba-ba YA-guh)[2]is a "truly ancient and terrifying hag"[3] and archfey. She is most notable in the World of Greyhawk setting for being the adoptive mother of Iggwilv.
She is inspired by the real-world Baba Yaga, a cannibalistic hag in Slavic legend. She cooks children, causes storms, and traverses the country with Death at her side. Some say she is a spirit of the forest. Some say she protects the waters of life. She flies through the sky in a mortar and pestle, carrying a club that turns men to stone. She lives in a hut with chicken legs.
Description[edit | edit source]
The 5ft-tall sorceress is said to be of godlike intelligence and very physically ugly. She has a long warty nose, a skeletal frame, and thin white hair.[4][5] She has sharp, iron-like teeth and fingers that curve into claws. On occasion she has a rather plump frame. It was uncertain whether her changing frame was due to having recently eaten or simply on a whim of preference.[6]
Baba Yaga appears as a hideous, old, human-like woman, some five feet tall. She walks crouched over, and her limbs are almost skeletal.[1] Her skin is grayish brown and tattooed with magical runes. She has a protruding chin, a long nose covered in warts, and ice-cold black eyes framed by stringy white hair. Her fingers end in sharp iron claws, her stony teeth are filed to sharp points, and two large, tusk-like teeth protrude from her jaw.[1]
Personality[edit | edit source]
She was known to have a fickle nature, being dangerously unpredictable, equally as likely to eat her worshipers as she was to aid them.[6] Politeness would not guarantee her favor, nor would rudeness ensure incurring her wrath.[7]
She was willing to offer people some of her secrets in return for another. The bargains she offered people were also far more dangerously worded than those of any fey.[8]
Relationships[edit | edit source]
Baba Yaga is the foster mother of Iggwilv,[9][10] originally known as Natasha the Dark, and by extension, the grandmother of Iuz and Drelnza. She has another foster daughter named Elena the Fair. "Skabatha Nightshade, Bavlorna Blightstraw, and Endelyn Moongrave are [natural] daughters of Baba Yaga."[11][12]
Baba Yaga is also responsible for providing Kostchtchie the means to become a demon lord.
Worshippers[edit | edit source]
As a quasi-deity,[1] Baba Yaga has few true worshippers, but she is known to make pacts with warlocks.[13]
Realm[edit | edit source]
Baba Yaga's home is her hut, which wanders between planes of existence. She is known to frequent the feywild in the massive Murkendraw swamp, where she still resides in her hut.
Baba Yaga is closely associated with the land of Russia on the world of Earth and is referred to as having been to both Oerth and Earth.[1]
Artifacts[edit | edit source]
- Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut—Baba Yaga lives in a mobile hut which travels via a pair of massive chicken legs jutting from its bottom. The hut is far larger on the inside than its exterior size would indicate, due to the fact that it has been built around a tesseract. It is able to plane shift.
- Baba Yaga’s Mortar and Pestle—The mortar and pestle are normal apothecary's tools, but can enlarge to hold a creature who can then command the mortar to fly or shift planes by using the pestle.
Publishing history[edit | edit source]
Baba Yaga was first mentioned in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the 1979 Dungeon Master's Guide, where her hut appears as an artifact.[14] Baba Yaga herself would appear briefly in Dragon Magazine #53, and in much greater detail in The Dancing Hut, a 1984 adventure in Dragon magazine #83.[15] An AD&D gamebook, Nightmare Realm of Baba Yaga appeared in 1986. In 1988, Baba Yaga had a brief cameo in Castle Greyhawk where she is in pursuit of Professor Why..[16] Baba Yaga's hut was once more described in 1993's Book of Artifacts.[17] A full-length adventure, The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga, was released in 1995.[18]
In Dragon #290, author Paul Leach said, "the origin of Baba Yaga (who does not necessarily represent just one witch) is likely to be the Death Crone, a common figure in most pagan mythologies." Leach described the Death Crone in more detail in the same issue.[19][20] Baba Yaga was mentioned further in two articles in Dragon (2005 and 2006), and an adventure in Dungeon (2007).
In the fourth edition Manual of the Planes (2008), Baba Yaga was re-imagined as a hag and an arch fey of the Feywild disguising herself as an old woman in the Murkendraw swamp and still living in her bird-legged hut. She and her hut were described in the Dungeon #196 article Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut (2011).[21]
In fifth edition, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021) confirmed previous lore and brought a little more detail to Baba Yaga, through the lore about Tasha.[12]
References[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
Citations[edit | edit source]
- ↑ a b c d e Dragon #83 (Mar 1984), p.50.
- ↑ Mentzer, Frank. "Ay pronunseeAY shun gyd" Dragon #93 (TSR, 1985)
- ↑ The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021), p.125.
- ↑ "The Dancing Hut". Dragon #83 (Mar 1984), p.31-52.
- ↑ S5 The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga (1995), p.61.
- ↑ a b "Court of Stars: Baba Yaga". Dungeon #196 (Nov 2011), p.3
- ↑ "Court of Stars: Baba Yaga". Dungeon #196 (Nov 2011), p.2
- ↑ Manual of the Planes (2008), p.45.
- ↑ The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021), p.25.
- ↑ The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021), p.171.
- ↑ The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021), p.161.
- ↑ a b The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021), p.215.
- ↑ The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (2021), p.112-113, 158.
- ↑ Gygax, Gary (1979) Dungeon Master's Guide, TSR
- ↑ Moore, Roger E (1984). "The Dancing Hut". Dragon (83). TSR.
- ↑ Breault, Mike (1988) Castle Greyhawk, Lake Geneva, WI⧼colon⧽ TSR, p. 60
- ↑ Cook, David (1993) Book of Artifacts, TSR
- ↑ Smedman, Lisa (1995) The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga, TSR
- ↑ Leach, Paul. "Red Sails Fell and Forlorn Bestiary: Monsters of Eastern Europe." Dragon #290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001
- ↑ Leach, Paul. "Red Sails: Bright Sun, Mother Earth." Dragon #290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001
- ↑ Campbell, Craig (2011). "Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut". Dungeon (196). Wizards of the Coast.
Bibliography[edit | edit source]
- Baur, Wolfgang. "Enemies of my Enemy." Dungeon #149. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2007.
- Breault, Mike, and Jon Pickens. Castle Greyhawk. Lake Geneva: WI: TSR, 1988.
- Bulmahn, Jason, James Jacobs, and Erik Mona. Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007.
- Cook, David. Book of Artifacts. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.
- Gygax, Gary. Dungeon Master's Guide. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1979.
- Jacobs, James. "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Kostchtchie." Dragon #345. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2006.
- Leach, Paul. "Red Sails Fell and Forlorn Bestiary: Monsters of Eastern Europe." Dragon #290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
- ———. "Red Sails: Bright Sun, Mother Earth." Dragon #290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
- Mona, Erik, ed. "Unsolved Mysteries of D&D." Dragon #359. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2006.
- Moore, Roger E. "The Dancing Hut." Dragon #83. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1984.
- Nalle, David. "Larger Than Life." Dragon #53. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
- Perkins, Christopher (lead designer), Stacey Allan, Will Doyle, Ari Levitch. The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2021. Item code WTCC92760000. ISBN 9780786967278
- Smedman, Lisa. The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1995.
- Stephens, Owen K.C., and Gary Holian. "Spellcraft: The Demonomicon of Iggwilv." Dragon #336. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.
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Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Index is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, and his work as continued and updated by Eric Johnson, Richard DiIoia, Jason "PupickDad" Jacobson, a French fan group, and numerous other fans over the years. The wiki page for the EGI has a list of sources, full product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Book of Artifacts, AD&D 2e | 21-23 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Dragon magazine #053 | 32 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Dragon magazine #083 | 50-52 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Dragon magazine #290 | 54, 55 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Dragon magazine #336 | 77 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Dragon magazine #345 | 21 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Dungeon magazine #149 | 45 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Dungeon magazine #196 | 7-11, 53-107 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Encyclopedia Magica - Volume II | 604-606 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk (3.5e) | 172 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Monster Manual 1, D&D 5e | 36 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Manual of the Planes, D&D 4e | 36, 45 |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Nightmare Realm of Baba Yaga | All |
| Baba Yaga {Mother of All Witches, Little Grandmother} | Non-player character | Female, Ogre, [Ftr12/Mu20/Ill15/Drd10], | Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting, Pathfinder 1e | 35, 80-81, 174 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Artifacts and Legends, Pathfinder 1e | 20-23 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Book of Artifacts, AD&D 2e | 21-23 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Dragon magazine #083 | 31-52 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Dragon magazine #299 | 101 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Dungeon magazine #196 | 7, 9, 10, 53-107 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Encyclopedia Magica - Volume II | 604-606 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Manual of the Planes, D&D 4e | 45 |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Artifact, | Nightmare Realm of Baba Yaga | All |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Dungeon Masters Guide 1st Edition | 124, 156 | |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Dragon magazine #299 | 101 | |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Eldritch Wizardry | 44 | |
| Baba Yaga, The Dancing Hut of | Item | Return of the Eight | 43 | |
| The Dancing hut of Baba Yaga (ART3, Campaign set) | Adventure | Adventure - | To be determined |