In the village bordering the Iron Woods, everyone knew better than to cross the old woman they called "Baba." When the crone took in a silent, wide-eyed elven orphan, the locals thought they were being clever. They began calling the girl Yaga, a playful nod to the old stories of the witch in the woods. To the villagers, "Baba and Yaga" were a charming local fixture—a pair of eccentric herbalists who traded poultices for goat’s milk. The joke, however, was entirely on them. Yaga didn't grow up learning lullabies; she grew up learning the precise temperature at which a leaden spoon melts in a cauldron. Her "Baba" is no mere herbalist, but a Hag of significant power wearing a skin-thin disguise. While other elven children were learning the arts of song and bow, Yaga was scrubbing blood off the floorboards of a hut that occasionally grew talons and learning that "hospitality" is the most dangerous magic of all. The girl’s education was further complicated by her mother’s social circle. On the third Tuesday of every month, the air in the hut would turn sharp with the scent of ozone and expensive perfume. These were the nights Tasha—the Witch Queen herself—would visit for tea. The Girl Between Worlds Yaga is a strange synthesis of elven grace and bog-witch grime. She carries herself with the poise of an aristocrat, a trait picked up from watching Tasha sip tea, but she keeps a jagged bone knife tucked into her boot, a gift from Baba. She is acutely aware that her name is a folk tale brought to life, and she uses that "joke" as a shield. Let the villagers think she’s just a girl playing dress-up; it makes it much easier to steal their wives when they’re busy laughing.
#Yaga is an older #OC, but I didn't like her original face enough to post this, so after revisiting it after some time, here she is in all her bogwitch splendor. #digitalArt #ocsky #dnd #wizard #artificer #AshaTheGrey
