Post by Baba Yaga on Feb 19, 2023 14:29:28 GMT -5
A witch. A mountain dweller. Inconceivable evil. In the years - decades, centuries - since the advent of the legend of Baba Yaga, these images have been shared by word of mouth and spread like fire. The wilds, being unknown and desolate, have always contained horrors, both the real and imagined varieties. Sightings of creatures on all continents have been commonplace: Yeti in Asia, Bigfoot in North America, Chupacabra in Latin America. Baba Yaga in the Russian wilderness. While many have been firm in their reports of an old witch occupying a dilapidated mountain house that stands high above the trees on the legs of a chicken, they’ve been swiftly dismissed by skeptics and those who refuse to believe the inconvenient. Those who have played unfortunate witness to the legendary witch and have lived to restate their declarations want nothing more than for the world to believe their eyes are honest. And now that Yaga has exited the shadows and entered the light, those who lived to tell the tale of encountering her in the dark have to grapple with the knowledge that they were right all along, that Yaga is real, and that from this day forward, the only thing to be skeptical of will be the idea that anyone is safe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On February 1, 1959, nine college students took a break from their studies and opted to climb the Ural Mountains in search of new frontiers to ski and explore. The oldest of the group, 38-year old Sasha, took on a de facto leadership role within the collection of his 20-something peers, and with the sun setting, he established the night’s plan. “We set up camp here. Set up the tents. Get a fire burning. Sleep here until morning. Then we climb on.” As others in the group surveyed the setting sun, they agreed. None of them wanted to continue up the mountain in the night. At the start of the trip, they’d heard stories from the locals that put a bit of sneaking fear into the back of their minds. This mountain was the supposed home of a witch, and she did not like having her territory disrespected by outsiders. 22-year-old Zinaida figured that if the legends held even partly true, that a dangerous woman roamed the mountainside, the group would much rather encounter her in the light of day than the dark of the night. “Yes, let’s camp.” Unfortunately for the students, collective wisdom is often collected ignorance. Not one of the nine climbers would make it off the mountain that night. When the students were by a search party, their tents had been ripped open and their bodies had been strewn across the mountainside in various conditions. Six of the students - those who arguably got off light - had succumbed to hypothermia, and for the other three, it was as if some malevolent force had ripped them apart: missing tongues, skull fractures, chest cavities caved in. Even the most grizzled members of the search party found enough to mentally destroy them for years to come. In 2019, the Russian government finally undertook an active investigation into the night’s events which had since become known as the “Dyatlov Pass Incident.” Their conclusion? An avalanche. Simply put, it was less controversial for these students to have died due to their own mistakes and lack of preparation than it was for the government of Russia to admit that these students were victims of the famed mountain witch, Baba Yaga. But facts and reality are often inconvenient, aren’t they? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Baba Yaga is real, and she is here. Gone are the days of questions and skepticism. Gone are the comforts of mystery. Gone. All of it. Because she is here, and hell comes with her. |