Characters > Antagonists > Bone Mother
The Bone Mother
Known by countless epitaphs, the Archfae of Witchcraft takes pride in the fear they all spawn. Called the Bone Mother, the Old Witch, the Lady of the Woods, the Great Grandmother, the First Hag, the Queen of Hexes, Elder Irontooth, the names of the deceptive and cruel Baba Yaga are regarded with some degree of dread when spoken aloud. From the earliest days of the Fae, even her own people have hesitated to make dealings with this ancient spellcaster, her reputation one of trickery and malice, yet also power and influence.
Among mortals her tales are told with even more variation, as Baba Yaga has sometimes acted as a nurturing— if cold and aloof— figure, who has helped those who bring her offerings of magical items, secrets, favors, or temporary servitude. On the offhand, she’s also known to lie to those who offer her too little or annoy her, but she still upholds her deals to the letter and the best of her ability. She makes a habit of twisting words and meanings to gain more than she gives, or shifting the goalposts if the demand is too difficult for even her to complete.
Those who she takes as servants are often diverse and dangerous, some holding great infamy. Her closest agents are her three riders. White Day, Red Noon, and Black Night, domesticated Twisted that have possessed debtors and act as three horsemen dressed in armors associated with the color they’re granted. These Twisted dwell within objects when they do not have a host, in order to preserve their souls. Another servant is her adopted vampiric daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful, a fledgling witch, and one of Baba Yaga’s current favorites. Possibly her most potent servant is Koschei, a former king who wanted immortality, and in response she made him into a lich, keeping his phylactery to ensure he’d obey her. She also keeps a cat named Diablo, whom is a corpse possessed by a lesser demon’s spirit.
Along with these she holds close, through unknown means she’s been able to maintain contact with Kerios, gathering the Fae that were loyal to the Gloaming Court and created a small but powerful group known as the Blood Circle. The Bone Mother uses this group to expand her influence within Kerios, and often leaves them to their own devices when she has no need of them. They are dangerous and act as a piece in a bigger game that the First Hag seems intent to play.
Among the Fae, most hags are loyal to the Old Witch, but the most zealous are the ancient Grandmothers, highly accomplished and experienced faerie spellcasters. Currently there are but three Grandmothers. Grandmother Withergreen, the Illusionist and the Slavemaker, creating dark magical constructs filled with false life, stuffed creatures of straw and rough fabrics, or stitched together monstrosities of flesh and bone. Withergreen is a swamp dwelling mad woman with numerous cauldrons and strange concoctions, eerie mists drifting from her house and enveloping the lands around her home. Grandmother Nightfoul is a demonologist who has a home made of bone tied to the back of a giant fiendish spider. She spends time obsessing over the powers of the most hated enemies of the fae, all for the purpose of power, souls, and curiosity. Nightfoul is an opportunist who loves to travel through the Endless Abyss, emerging into the mortal world only to stir trouble. Lastly is Grandmother Rimeheart, the cold witch of the mountains; this hag believes in the superiority of strength, ruthlessness, and hatred. She enjoys devouring raw flesh, and experimenting with magic by tormenting the growing seasons of crops and wreaking havoc on villages foolish enough to build near her labyrinthine mountain lair. She enjoys necromancy and torture even more than her sisters, and is the strongest among them in terms of raw power.
Baba Yaga herself dwells within her chicken-legged hut, the shelves lined with slimes, and skulls, mummified feet, human teeth, and jars of eyes, boxes filled with screams, and frogs that roar like lions. This hut is a dark place indeed, and invokes a kind of supernatural dread wherever it strides, carrying Baba Yaga between worlds, and to and from meetings with her peers in the Gloaming Court. The Bone Mother respects only knowledge, power, and consequences, but she has no patience for honor or generosity. She enjoys seeing those who cross her or who catch her ire from afar suffer for their foolishness.
The Great Grandmother has a hand in many dark plots across the planes, yet few know the full extent of her own hateful plans. She works from the shadows, a boogieman that children are told to beware, a apparition appearing to make a deal, and then leaving without a trace, a manipulator who blackmails, extorts, deceives, and coordinates multiple threads simultaneously to unknowable ends. She is favored by the God of Madness, the Lord of Skulls, and the Demon King for her studious and cruel machinations. Tread carefully when you hear the creak of floorboards and the stomping of scaly feet in the midnight forests, either great fortune or great sorrow awaits.