Baba Yaga and the Waters of Life and Death

GM: Erik Hanson

Players:

Beth Bartley: Liliana Scarpelli: 15 year old Genoese noble seeking to marry into the Sforza family of Florence.

Joshua Kronengold: Ipolitto Sforza, a 12 year old noble

Lisa Padol: Roggerio, a musician and ex-diabolist, in Ipolitto's service

David Siegel: Jebril, Moorish architect and geomancer, in service to the Sforzas

Matt Stevens: Rafael Marancini, Jewish Cabalist and advisor to Ipolitto

Not present were Rachael Tang, playing the midwife Bella Ziani, or Lee Painton, playing the self-important Venitian nobleman Vincent di Giovanni.

Duke Sebastiano Sforza greeted his youngest nephew and entourage on their return to Florence. They had returned with the second of three ingredients needed to counteract an addictive wine that killed if one stopped drinking it for more than a couple of days. The third ingredient was in the keeping of Baba Yaga. It was either the water of life or the water of death. No one was sure which.

However, before Our Heroes could set out for Russia, they had two pieces of disturbing news to contend with. First, in obtaining griffin feathers, they had paid a visit to the son Sebastiano never knew he had. Or possibly Ipolitto was the son and the supposed son was the nephew. The only one who might have known was the old nurse Nona, who had been nearly blind at the time, dozed at odd intervals, and woke confused and disoriented. While she was sure she was guarding Sebastiano's son, Roggerio had his doubts. And, as she had died shortly after the Italians had left the monastery in Spain where she and the boy were staying, this seemed a matter that would never be resolved.

However, Sebastiano had received a letter from Duke Ferdinand Coranzon VIII of Spain, stating that Nona had, in fact, been dead before Our Heroes had ever arrived at the monastery or spoken to her. And a group of diabolists, of which Roggerio had once been a member, had been taking great interest in Our Heroes' recent travels. One of these diabolists, Giannetta, was able to change her appearance with magic. Perhaps she had been Nona?

Roggerio indignantly denied this, sure that she would never take the appearance of an old, unattractive woman. And if she had, he would surely have known. She would never have been able to resist either trying to seduce or trying to kill him!

Ipolitto: Roggerio, I think you overestimate your importance.

I assured Erik that I had no problem believing this; Roggerio was simply being thick. It did feel like a retcon, given how Erik had played Nona when she appeared, but none of us had a problem with that. I did note that it meant that none of what Nona / Giannetta had said about Sebastiano's son and the circumstances surrounding his birth could be trusted, at least without the appearance of further evidence at some point. Erik said in email:

Regarding the "retconnish" feel, I'll confess that I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted to have the serious doubt over who the actual heir was, but I also wanted the side aspect of the diabolists following you to every location, hence knowing how you were doing, and netting an item of use on the side.

So, why had Gianetta wanted to impersonate Nona? She did not seem to have done anything to the boy in her care, and Duke Coranzon had removed him to the Duke's own castle for greater safety. And why had other diabolists been so helpful to Our Heroes when they were prisoners of the faerie Grinky?

The answer to this lay in the second piece of disturbing news: Rafael had been having ominous dreams. He had dreamed that the end of the world would begin in Florence. And he dreamed of an egg bound with a golden thread.

While Rafael pondered the significance and symbolism of this, his teacher and the Sforza household thought that the obvious literal meaning was the correct one. Sebastiano's son had joined the Italians in the hunt for griffin feathers, and had ridden a female griffin to her nest. It would have been no hard task for Giannetta, posing as Nona, to get the whole story of his adventure, including the location of the nest, which might well contain unhatched eggs, particularly as the female griffin had just mated.

And the faerie Grinky had golden hair which was strong enough that it could be used to trip him. Perhaps a lock of that hair was used to bind the griffin egg. But to what purpose?

Rafael's teacher explained that what the diabolists were doing was the equivalent of making holes in a container of water. At first, only a little would seep out, but eventually, everything would drain. And they had now succeeded in making two holes by gaining griffin egg and hair. As Rafael was forewarned, he should prevent an additional breach.

Liliana spun spare griffin feathers into a string which she used to perform divination by playing Cat's Cradle with Sebastiano. They learned that Leo Dorvinian's plan to control the nobility of Italy with his addictive wine was not as great a threat as what the diabolists were planning. However, the diabolists were aware that their plans might be discovered, and they had a contingency plan. They, too, were heading for Russia and Baba Yaga.

Our Heroes bid Sebastiano farewell, and set off for Russia, accompanied by Ilya Ilyanovich, Russian hero in the Sforza's service. Ilya carried the sword of Ivan, Son of the Bull, which currently held not only Ivan's spirit, but also the essence of an angel and the essence of a demon. As important, he also spoke Russian fluently.

There was a brief stop in Constantinople, where Erik said each of us could retcon something we picked up related to what we said we were doing. Ipolitto was shopping for cloth and other fine things, and did wind up with a ball of hashish, although that was not what we used later. Jebril picked up books on arithmetic. Roggerio pursued wine, women, and song. Liliana looked for fine threads and cloths. Rafael made contact with the Jews of Constantinople, learning what he could about Baba Yaga, and how to address her politely.

This led to a brief digression about the Great Jewish Network of the Middle Ages, and how Richard the Lionhearted was freed because a famous Jew, whose name I forget, wrote a letter which a knight carried to a famous Turk, whose name I also forget, excusing him from his debt. Of course, this often worked against the Jews, as important people with debt decided that killing all of the Jews, including the moneylenders, would solve their problem, and this happened to the Jew who wrote the letter a couple of years later. We also noted that the Russian secret police came into existence around now.

The group reached Russia and began traveling across land in the chilly Russian spring. They encountered an old man being set upon by bandits, and came to his aid. Erik decided that, given the size and skills of the group, he could rule by fiat that the bandits were either killed or driven off. The old man was very grateful for his rescue, as he had a satchel of herbs that he needed to take home to his mistress.

When Ipolitto suggested that the group escort him to his mistress, he grew very fearful, and said that this would be a poor return for the kindness shown to him. Our Heroes guessed that this meant his mistress was none other than Baba Yaga herself, and pressed him to guide them to her. The man avoided saying her name, but when Roggerio accidentally let slip "Baba -" before catching himself, he realized that the group had business with her. He agreed to bring them to her hut, and gave them what advice he could.

While the old stories described Baba Yaga's occasional kindness to children, many who had heard such stories attempted to take advantage of this, and Baba Yaga quickly caught on. However, if the group showed up and asked for work, insisting until they were given work, and if they then managed to complete their tasks, they would received payment. If they failed, their skulls would join those already on stakes around the hut.

When they reached the hut, its legs were not visible, but the skulls on stakes were. And Baba Yaga herself came out of the hut, carrying a huge log which she sharpened on her tusks and jammed into the ground. She then pulled a skull from her clothes and set it atop the newest stake. Turning to the newcomers, she asked why they had come.

They asked for work, but she said she had all the help she needed, especially since she had hired two new servants but this morning, probably the diabolists. As they insisted, she asked what they wanted from her.

The group had discussed this before, and settled on three things. They wanted to know what Leo Dorvinian had received from Baba Yaga, the water of life or the water of death. Second, they wanted the -other- water, so that they could use it to counteract his wine. Third, they wanted to know what the diabolists were up to, so that they might thwart them.

Baba Yaga was delighted. She had been angry when Leo Dorvinian succeeded, and agreed that for the first task, she would tell the group not only what Leo Dorvinian had received, but how he had gotten it. For the second, she would indeed give them what they needed to counteract it. As for the diabolists, she had no idea of what they might be planning, but she agreed to give the group something to counteract it, should they succeed in the third task, again delighted that she was getting labor from one group to counteract the success achieved by the reward she gave for labor from another.

Baba Yaga led everyone into her hut. They stood in a room with many doors. Lilana and Rafael were taken through one of them to a nursery and told to entertain Baba Yaga's two children, a giant, blissful baby, and a tiny, scaled, clawed, and fanged monstrosity. And the children were not to break anything belonging to the room.

Jebril and Ilya were led to the garden and told to move a heavy boulder and turn it into something that made the garden more attractive. The strong Ilya and the rock shaping Jebril moved the boulder easily, but were immediately sprayed by water which began flooding the garden.

Ipolitto and Roggerio were taken to the stables and told to care for the horses of three brothers who would be arriving according to the instructions they received. First came a man wearing white and riding a white horse, then one wearing red and riding a red horse, and then one wearing black and riding a black horse. Each horseman instructed the Italians to give his own horse better care than the horses of his brothers. And it was clear that the brothers planned to compare notes.

Jebril: We will soon be longing for the good days in Grinkyville.

In the nursery, the small baby decided to throw things. Rafael tried to catch them, and wound up getting knocked back, but saving the thrown items from breaking. Liliana handed the child something she had embroidered, and he shredded it. As this was not something belonging to the room, that was fine, but she could not create items as fast as the baby could destroy them. It went back to throwing things at Rafael, drawing serious blood. Meanwhile, the large baby picked up Liliana and began tossing her into the air, as Erik found yet another way to play with her fear of heights. I am astonished at how he keeps coming up with these things. It hasn't gotten old yet, probably because Beth knew what she was getting into when she took it as a disadvantage.

Roggerio and Ipolitto examined the horses. They agreed that the fiery red horse was full of energy, and that one way to give it better treatment would be to give it exercise. Ipolitto asked if the horse wanted that, and it seemed to like the idea. Roggerio suggested Ipolitto put the red cloth he'd picked up from Constantinople on the horse. Ipolitto protested that the extra redness would offend the horse, and put on a more tasteful green cloth. He got on the horse and rode.

The horse ran through the nursery, fortunately not breaking anything, and through the garden, surprising Ilya and Jebril. Ipolitto's first thought, as he was sprayed with the water from the garden, was "Why is it raining?" His second was: "Why is the sun green?"

Jebril tried to create a pool around the water, with no success, and Ilya tried to beat the water aside with his sword. To both men's surprise, the sword began sucking the water up. They realized that the boulder had imprisoned a water elemental. Jebril was able to make an empty pool with various rocks from the garden, but it was very ugly without the water. Ilya and Jebril remonstrated with Ilya's sword in the suddenly green light of day.

Happily oblivious, Roggerio brushed and cleaned the white horse, a tranquil, calm beast, planning to make it the calmest of the three, something he doubted the red or black horsemen would object to. As he did so, the red horseman entered the stable and demanded to know where his beast was.

Roggerio explained, and the horseman approved, asking which door the horse had gone out. Roggerio pointed, and the horseman opened the door, which led to the nursery. Seeing the chaos there, Roggerio reached for his lute to calm the children, but the horseman grabbed him and spun him around, slamming the door. He explained that Ipolitto would ride the horse throughout the hut, but probably no harm would come of that. But something seemed odd. What else had been done?

Meanwhile, in the nursery, the small baby screamed in jealousy as Liliana was tossed higher and higher, and just screamed. Rafael tried to toss the little baby, but couldn't get it high enough to please it. As Liliana went airborn again, Rafael held the small baby up to the large one. Distracted, it took the small baby and tossed him up in the air. Liliana's fall was broken by Rafael, and the two babies kept each other amused, and did not break anything.

Ilya reached a compromise with his sword. It would keep the elemental, but release the water into the pool that Jebril had created. Meanwhile, Roggerio explained to the red horseman that Ipolitto had put his finest green cloth on the horse.

Horseman (outraged): Do you see a scrap of green on me? I am the -red- horseman!

Roggerio: I knew it! I told him to put the red cloth on, but he said its redness would offend the horse!

Horseman: I trust you will teach him better. Is the sun red?

Ipolitto dismounted from the red horse, and led him back through the nursery, making some crack or other that caused Liliana to throw a giant alphabet block at him. Fortunately, it neither broke nor distracted the babies.

Roggerio now thought he knew the riddle of the horses, that the red one was the sun, the white the moon, and the black the sky. He promised that the cloth would be changed.

Horseman: I want my horse to be redder than the white horse is white or the black horse black.

Roggerio promised, realizing how foolish that had been an instant later. Ipolitto was not pleased with this when he returned, but immediately set his mind to finding a way out. He changed the cloth on the red horse, and noted that, as long as they didn't speak with the other two horsemen, they could choose any way to make the other two horses best, as long as it didn't involve whiteness or blackness.

Ipolitto took out his magical seeing glass and realized that Roggerio had not guessed correctly. The white horse was Dawn, the red Day, and the black Night. Roggerio continued to groom and sing to the white horse, making him ever calmer and more tranquil.

Erik noted that this might have a real effect, making the dawn calmer and the day more raging. I thought perhaps the calm dawn might couteract the raging day. The white horse would be calmer than the red was passionate. But what to do about the black horse? Roggerio thought that night was secretive and mysterious.

Erik agreed that this would work, and as it was now getting late, suggested that perhaps Roggerio had a thin black cloth from a paramour in Constantinople. Josh added that if the cloth blended into the horse so it couldn't be seen, not only would that be mysterious and secret, but it would also not make the horse any blacker. We all agreed, and the night became ever more mysterious and full of secrets.

Erik: And thus, the Russian Secret Police is born.

Lisa: That was a joke, right? Right?

Baba Yaga was surprised that her tasks had been completed, but not displeased. She gave the group an as yet unspecified item to counteract whatever she had given the diabolists, and she explained to them the story of Leo Dorvinian. He had come to her seeking his choice of the waters of life and death. She had fetched some of each in buckets, spilling the excess on the ground. She then told Dorvinian that he could have his choice of one of them -- provided he then drank the other. He drank the water of death, but to Baba Yaga's extreme annoyance, did not die.

This is because Leo Dorvinian is effectively a vampire, although the PCs don't know the word. They are aware that he possesses a terrible kind of immortality. He used the waters of life to create the addictive Dorvinian wine. These waters can revive one who is dying, but given to one who is alive, they through the body's humors out of balance. Once tasted, the imbiber can only survive by continuing to take the water at regular intervals. Or, as the group realized, until it was counteracted by the waters of death.

Thus Our Heroes now had the final item needed to create an antidote to at least one of the addictive Dorvinian wines. Hopefully, their alchemists could figure out how to counteract other varieties as well. And the group had something to counteract what the diabolists received from Baba Yaga, but still only an imperfect idea of what the diabolists were planning to do and whether that one item would thwart the entire plan.