Baba Pogodya’s mother died in childbirth, and her father was eaten by a Troll. She was raised instead by the people of Vitkal, their wise woman, and the winds of the north. As she grew older and took on the role of wise woman, Pogodya came to regard her stanitsa and its people as her family, her children— hers and only hers. Like the mother bear, she is ready to defend them (and the old ways they practice) against everything and anything, particularly the outside world and the ways of the decadent southerners. She encouraged her people in their anger against the Ulrican friar, and when she heard that more upstarts were coming, she told no one her plan. She alone will protect her family, and she set out into the oblast to make sure the Ulricans would never reach their destination.[1a]
Baba Pogodya isn’t mad, but she is obsessed with her goal and has no compunction whatsoever in killing to achieve it. Old and withered even more than other hags—and now missing her eye and hand—she casts a terrifying and commanding presence. Those who come up against her fury and her uncompromising will are deeply shaken by the experience.[1a]
There’s no question that Baba Pogodya is a hag. She wears a long shawl that looks more like a blanket. Woven of dyed red and green yarn, the covering is knotted with bits of bone, feathers, and fur. To help her get around, she relies heavily on a gnarled cane of black wood. She carries a sling bag that holds the tools of her trade—four healing draughts, four healing poultices, koumiss, mortar and pestle and other oddities such as paws from rabbits, mummified mice, and other good luck charms.[1a][1b]
Source
