And we really are no closer to knowing what type of object the eye might be. I have the thought that its an awareness or a wisdom. Not an artifact. How to find and remove it within 7 min. Well, I find that the most excellent question posed by this page by page slow drip suspenseful writing.
If we follow the traditional lore of Koschei the Deathless, the heart of his power is a needle. Those who hold it have power over him and can kill him, Lich style. I heard some people say that what she may be looking for is actually the eye of that needle.
Actually, we’ve got some very big clues as to what the eye is.
The mist guardian said calling it “an eye” to get past the first guardians was clever. That suggests it could be called other things, and at least some of those would have told the first guardians that she WAS after something they were supposed to protect.
But Baba Yaga says “The eye is just that, called by no other name”.
Which seems contradictory. That usually means those are important clues: the trick is to figure out how they aren’t contradictory.
My guess: the eye is a part of something else. An inseparable part, if not physically then at least with normal decency; like the eye of a living thing. Or physically, like the eye of a needle cannot be removed from the needle. So to bring “the eye”, one has to bring the whole thing, and it is the thing itself that the guardians were protecting.
I don’t think it will be Koschei’s needle.
But I do think it will be some physical object.
Perhaps it is the “at its heart” part that is the puzzle. Like one of the people 84 has met is “the heart” of this egg?
I think that what Baba Yaga means by her statement is, “The Eye is just that when it is called by no other name”. I believe the hero is looking for something that changes based on what you call it.
The eye is the eye, called nothing else.
Ergo, it is not “an eye”. Calling it that was clever, because they weren’t guarding some eye, they were guarding THE eye.
The_Rippy_One
I like the interpretation that the eye is a homophone for I, and what she’s supposed to bring back is herself, confident in her answer. I don’t think its the right answer, but I do like it.
I dunno, in most of the russian folklore stories I remember, while Baba Yaga is feared and regarded as cruel, she’s generally content to just stay in her hut and do witchy stuff and only inflicts her wrath on people who stupidly bother her.
Of course, her definition of “bother” can be a bit broad, and her responses best described as disproportionate, but she’s more likely to be the cranky and dangerous source of counsel or the irascible custodian of something the protagonist has to cajole out of her or trick her into relinquishing than the cackling maniac that’s laying waste to the countryside, disguising herself as the Czar’s beautiful wife in order to seize political power or steal riches…
I wouldn’t like to cross her, and I’d probably be pretty nervous to have her as my neighbor, but I wouldn’t sacrifice a city to keep her imprisoned.
Hey, I eventually came to the same conclusion. Just saying that this one needed a legit cost-benefits analysis, that’s all.
rmsgrey
Doesn’t seem like that tough a decision, really – Baba Yaga is harsh and unkind, but not actively evil, and locking up such a being is morally wrong without strong reason.
The only place I can see needing to think about cost-benefit here is whether getting rid of Manhattan is sufficient benefit to balance the cost in comparatively innocent human lives…
Mike
Remember, Manhattan wouldn’t be destroyed, necessarily – just turned into Veles’ “personal temple, pleasure palace, and gift shop”. So he’ll need the population for acolytes, palace custodians, cashiers, and so on. You could argue it might even be an improvement.
However, I’d trade away Veles’ “renovation” of Manhattan in a heartbeat if it meant we could see Baba Yaga drop in on Washington D.C. for a while before heading home.
Well it’s called the eye and by no other name. So the eye is the eye. Which is more complicated than it sounds because if the eye in question can be called something else then it is not the eye. Is it just me or does that go in circles?
I disagree with some of the other posts here. The “eye” is not “I”.
While I can see Veles sending someone on such a quest, I don’t see Koschei the Deathless setting up such an elaborate magical construct just so that a hero can come to some sort of self-realization.
Precisely. Only the supremely arrogant, terminally foolish or extremely desperate deliberately seek out Baba Yaga for counsel or aid if they have any alternative — and the former two will wind up in her cooking pot and/or decorating her hedge as a warning that she has little patience for fools.
But if, like the protagonist in some Russian folk tales, you are clever and cautious and above all courteous to your elders at all times… She knows a great many things, quite possibly including that which you need to know, and as I recall she doesn’t lie when she decides to give you an answer.
The eye of a needle can be called a hole.
The eye of a potato can be called a sprout.
The eye of a storm can be called the center.
A glass eye could be called a prosthetic — but it would still also be called an eye. Hm.
Speculation: Julie opens the door, and sees a huge glass container of marbles, which she has to break.
Then she needs to look for the marble that will look back. 🙂
The eye of a needle is a hole, but isn’t named as such.
An eye of a storm is at the centre; if it is circular (often the front is compressed) but is isn’t called the centre.
Agree on the others though.
Edit: Ironically, the “missing part” of the picture I had to choose for the captcha was an eye.
Baba Yaga. “The Devil’s Granny” I’ve heard her called. I think maybe Terry Pratchett was thinking of her when he wrote…. (I paraphrase very broadly here, for my memory is imperfect)
Occasionally things went wrong in the Ramtops. Occasionally things go wrong anywhere. The farmers and villagers were inclined to simply bear it, perhaps with a grumble or two, and carry on. But when things went very badly wrong, and stayed that way for a long time, someone would seek out the three ladies, making the long trek to their home high in the mountains, to ask for help. More specifically, to say, “would you please stop that?”
Giant mecha look to me like a possible rough-terrain exploration vehicle, but a total waste of engineering effort as a combat vehicle. Being more than two meters off the ground makes them huge targets in a freefire zone, the power required to move via leg motion could get more than four times that speed with wheels or treads, the high center of gravity makes balance and falling into possible issues AND slows down turning and acceleration, and concentrating that much weight on a footprint-sized chunk of ground means that many places tanks can go can’t support them.
Centipede would be a great mecha design whether it walked normal or sideways like a walking fighting wall. A swarm of bombardier Beatles would be better though.
If your imagination is that much out of sync with everyone else’s, you should probably write stories. They’d very likely be original. I know I often like reading stories that look at things from a very different slant.
105 thoughts on “2015-06-02”
Thomas
And we really are no closer to knowing what type of object the eye might be. I have the thought that its an awareness or a wisdom. Not an artifact. How to find and remove it within 7 min. Well, I find that the most excellent question posed by this page by page slow drip suspenseful writing.
Nightsbridge
If we follow the traditional lore of Koschei the Deathless, the heart of his power is a needle. Those who hold it have power over him and can kill him, Lich style. I heard some people say that what she may be looking for is actually the eye of that needle.
SpyOne
Actually, we’ve got some very big clues as to what the eye is.
The mist guardian said calling it “an eye” to get past the first guardians was clever. That suggests it could be called other things, and at least some of those would have told the first guardians that she WAS after something they were supposed to protect.
But Baba Yaga says “The eye is just that, called by no other name”.
Which seems contradictory. That usually means those are important clues: the trick is to figure out how they aren’t contradictory.
My guess: the eye is a part of something else. An inseparable part, if not physically then at least with normal decency; like the eye of a living thing. Or physically, like the eye of a needle cannot be removed from the needle. So to bring “the eye”, one has to bring the whole thing, and it is the thing itself that the guardians were protecting.
I don’t think it will be Koschei’s needle.
But I do think it will be some physical object.
Perhaps it is the “at its heart” part that is the puzzle. Like one of the people 84 has met is “the heart” of this egg?
Brainstorm
So then clearly, the thing that the guardians are protecting… is a potato.
Del
Perhaps… the “I”
?
DaGreatJL
I think that what Baba Yaga means by her statement is, “The Eye is just that when it is called by no other name”. I believe the hero is looking for something that changes based on what you call it.
Pneumonica
The eye is the eye, called nothing else.
Ergo, it is not “an eye”. Calling it that was clever, because they weren’t guarding some eye, they were guarding THE eye.
The_Rippy_One
I like the interpretation that the eye is a homophone for I, and what she’s supposed to bring back is herself, confident in her answer. I don’t think its the right answer, but I do like it.
Town Crier
‘Tis the Eye of Vecna.
Jonathan S
At least it’s not the Head of Vecna…
Steven
The Head of Vecna???? As in the one the party cut thier heads off and tried to put on?
Prairie Son
Yeah. I think the story is originally from the KODT letters page.
Baron Bruce
Yep: if Veles can’t find a suitable “Champion of Earth” to battle, he’ll make one.
Naldru
I guess it’s a good thing that super-speed is included in FISS powers.
Nobody
The stuff we’ve seen though is mostly straight-line acceleration more-so than light speed thinking or anything.
Moe Lane
…Well, I GUESS that not having Baba Yaga around isn’t worth losing Manhattan, but I had to stop and think about it for a second.
Guest Version 3.221
This is entirely the best comment.
ThatGuy
We can Always REBUILD! We torn down a normal town and made it… THE CITY OF TOMMOROW! So why not do the same here?
Van
Look at it this way, no matter how bad it is, if it happens to Manhattan, it can only be an improvement.
Prairie Son
It would be better to have it happen to Detroit.
Shadur
I dunno, in most of the russian folklore stories I remember, while Baba Yaga is feared and regarded as cruel, she’s generally content to just stay in her hut and do witchy stuff and only inflicts her wrath on people who stupidly bother her.
Of course, her definition of “bother” can be a bit broad, and her responses best described as disproportionate, but she’s more likely to be the cranky and dangerous source of counsel or the irascible custodian of something the protagonist has to cajole out of her or trick her into relinquishing than the cackling maniac that’s laying waste to the countryside, disguising herself as the Czar’s beautiful wife in order to seize political power or steal riches…
I wouldn’t like to cross her, and I’d probably be pretty nervous to have her as my neighbor, but I wouldn’t sacrifice a city to keep her imprisoned.
Moe Lane
Hey, I eventually came to the same conclusion. Just saying that this one needed a legit cost-benefits analysis, that’s all.
rmsgrey
Doesn’t seem like that tough a decision, really – Baba Yaga is harsh and unkind, but not actively evil, and locking up such a being is morally wrong without strong reason.
The only place I can see needing to think about cost-benefit here is whether getting rid of Manhattan is sufficient benefit to balance the cost in comparatively innocent human lives…
Mike
Remember, Manhattan wouldn’t be destroyed, necessarily – just turned into Veles’ “personal temple, pleasure palace, and gift shop”. So he’ll need the population for acolytes, palace custodians, cashiers, and so on. You could argue it might even be an improvement.
However, I’d trade away Veles’ “renovation” of Manhattan in a heartbeat if it meant we could see Baba Yaga drop in on Washington D.C. for a while before heading home.
Moe Lane
I’ve logged 110+ hours of Witcher Wild Hunt at this point. I don’t trust ANYTHING from fairy tales at this point. 🙂
Van
Innocent lives and Manhattan? I just cannot fit those two together. Try again.
TxGator
@Shadur: On the brightside, her house has legs. So you probably wouldn’t have to be her neighbor for very long. 😉
jon
deliberately fail. don’t unleash babba yagga
Rens
Have you actually read up on your Russian folklore to examine who Baba Yaga is, or are you just going from her Fables interpretation here?
Pietro
Well she does have a nasty habit of disguising herself as a cave and eating lost travellers, so…
AetherialDawn
The ‘Eye’ is an ‘I’.
Unmaker
Yeah, that’s what I thought – a “find yourself” quest.
Colin
Now why didn’t I think of that?
Prairie Son
Don’t you mean ‘Why didn’t eye think of that?’
nobody
Well it’s called the eye and by no other name. So the eye is the eye. Which is more complicated than it sounds because if the eye in question can be called something else then it is not the eye. Is it just me or does that go in circles?
Nobody
Nobody agrees with you, nobody.
With Respect
Well, on the other hand.. Having Baba Yaga in your debt is..
Still a really terrible thing.
Mechwarrior
Awesomely terrible.
I mean, would you want to mess with someone who can call in that kind of favor?
GDwarf
The only thing I can think of that’s worse than having Baba Yaga in your debt is being in hers, frankly.
She doesn’t seek out people to hurt, but you certainly don’t want to have her attention.
Van
She could always decide to train Moonshadow in the use of magic.
Prairie Son
That was already tried. It sent Tyler to the infirmary repeatedly, and once wiped about a day and a half from his memory.
Van
He never learned from Baba Yaga. When she teaches you something, you learn it. And you get it right the first time.
HappyHead
Moonshadow has already learned the best way (for him anyway) to use magic – find someone who can do magic stuff, and get them to do it.
Mechwarrior
Okay Julie, look for something that can read your mind or cheat you blind.
DougJoe
Well played. Mr. Parsons says you can join the project now.
Silent_Interim
Are they even around any more?
Opus the Poet
Mr. Parsons still is. the group split in 1990.
russellmz
the eye or the “I”? as 84 comes out as her self actualized evolved self and is thus the worthy opponent?
IonOtter
Aaron never fails to amaze and impress with his characters. This is *truly* Baba Yaga Kostianaya Noga!
evileeyore
The eye of a needle isn’t called anything else… in English anyway.
IonOtter
Ха! Кто-то знает, старые легенды.
gershom
Totally agree IonOtter, and there are a lot of legends about Baba Yaga but even in Russian the eye of a needle only has a single name…
Pangaea
Eye m guessing there will be a mirror in there.
DanielLC
Maybe it’s not the eye. Maybe it’s the I.
The Dood
Well, shucks, you stole my thunder.
Have this night lightning to go with it.
–Odin
Ceronomus
I was just thinking the same thing.
TxGator
I disagree with some of the other posts here. The “eye” is not “I”.
While I can see Veles sending someone on such a quest, I don’t see Koschei the Deathless setting up such an elaborate magical construct just so that a hero can come to some sort of self-realization.
Opus the Poet
Plus this is a pun only in English and would make no sense at all in any of the Slavic languages that were Veles’ origin.
JDunk1971
Wasn’t it said that if you treated Baba Yaga with respect, she would treat you with respect in return?
Rens
Respect, no. Cranky, grudging courtesy, yes.
Wanderer
Sort of. It’s more accurate to say that if you treat her with respect she *may* help you. If you do not treat her with respect, she *will* hurt you.
Shadur
Precisely. Only the supremely arrogant, terminally foolish or extremely desperate deliberately seek out Baba Yaga for counsel or aid if they have any alternative — and the former two will wind up in her cooking pot and/or decorating her hedge as a warning that she has little patience for fools.
But if, like the protagonist in some Russian folk tales, you are clever and cautious and above all courteous to your elders at all times… She knows a great many things, quite possibly including that which you need to know, and as I recall she doesn’t lie when she decides to give you an answer.
Nerdly Nerds R Us
Just musing a bit . . .
The eye of a needle can be called a hole.
The eye of a potato can be called a sprout.
The eye of a storm can be called the center.
A glass eye could be called a prosthetic — but it would still also be called an eye. Hm.
Speculation: Julie opens the door, and sees a huge glass container of marbles, which she has to break.
Then she needs to look for the marble that will look back. 🙂
Baldrickk
The eye of a needle is a hole, but isn’t named as such.
An eye of a storm is at the centre; if it is circular (often the front is compressed) but is isn’t called the centre.
Agree on the others though.
Edit: Ironically, the “missing part” of the picture I had to choose for the captcha was an eye.
bear
Baba Yaga. “The Devil’s Granny” I’ve heard her called. I think maybe Terry Pratchett was thinking of her when he wrote…. (I paraphrase very broadly here, for my memory is imperfect)
Occasionally things went wrong in the Ramtops. Occasionally things go wrong anywhere. The farmers and villagers were inclined to simply bear it, perhaps with a grumble or two, and carry on. But when things went very badly wrong, and stayed that way for a long time, someone would seek out the three ladies, making the long trek to their home high in the mountains, to ask for help. More specifically, to say, “would you please stop that?”
bear
You know, when I read those stories, about the house on chicken legs, I imagined thousands of chicken legs, but of a more ordinary size.
But everyone who’s drawn it has given it two legs from a really gigantic chicken instead.
Wonder why my imagination is so out of sync with everyone else’s?
Prairie Son
Depends. What’s your opinion of giant mecha? Also, do you like centipedes?
bear
Giant mecha look to me like a possible rough-terrain exploration vehicle, but a total waste of engineering effort as a combat vehicle. Being more than two meters off the ground makes them huge targets in a freefire zone, the power required to move via leg motion could get more than four times that speed with wheels or treads, the high center of gravity makes balance and falling into possible issues AND slows down turning and acceleration, and concentrating that much weight on a footprint-sized chunk of ground means that many places tanks can go can’t support them.
I hate centipedes. Those bites hurt like crazy!
Faust
Centipede would be a great mecha design whether it walked normal or sideways like a walking fighting wall. A swarm of bombardier Beatles would be better though.
Mike
If your imagination is that much out of sync with everyone else’s, you should probably write stories. They’d very likely be original. I know I often like reading stories that look at things from a very different slant.