Yulia Mordova
| Name | Yulia Mordova |
| Race | Human |
| Type | Plague Witch |
| Faction | Coven of Yaga |
| Premiere | Desideratum: Blood Bonds |
| Relative(s) | Katerina Mordova |
Contents
Yulia Mordova
"I vill follow Baba Yaga to the ends of the Earth."
Biography
Pre-Desideratum: Blood Bonds
Yulia Mordova’s tale begins far from the U.S.A. She was born in a very small town named Sertolovo in Russia. Large forests and trees surround the small township, and as a child, Yulia had fun exploring the woods with the other children. She had an older sister named Katerina. Yulia was only seven when Katerina was seventeen years old, and in that year their lives changed forever. One day Yulia and some of the other kids vanished. They went into the woods and did not return. The police did a search, and some of the townsfolk volunteered to look for the missing kids, yet those children were never found. Meanwhile, Yulia and the other children were held in Baba Yaga’s magical hut. There, Yulia watched as she took a child at a time, draining them of their souls to make herself younger. At one point, Yulia managed to escape, leaping from the hut’s window and rushing through the woods, but the witch caught her and spirited Yulia back to the lair. In the struggle, Yulia lost a shoe.
Katerina, meanwhile, regardless of weather, scoured the woods relentlessly. Eventually, she found that shoe belonging to Yulia. She searched the area, and found something unbelievable. A hut stood in the nearby forest- literally stood on two legs. The large legs appeared as those of a bird, and she stumbled out of the woods up to it. Standing tall, there was no way to reach the door. Bewildered, Katerina ran back into the trees and waited. During that time, as she sat crouched in the cold, wet bushes, she tried to formulate a plan. If she went back, no one would believe her, and in her heart, she knew that Yulia was inside the impossible house. Just before nightfall, the house suddenly shifted. It took a step back with each leg and then lowered itself to the ground like a hen in a nest. A moment later, the door opened.
Katerina readied the only weapons she had- a small pocket knife and a piece of wood about the size of a baseball bat she had picked up from the forest floor. From the door emerged a beautiful woman! She had never seen so beautiful and tragic a woman in her life. Long black, silken hair, her body shapely, and her green flesh, immaculate. The woman took a few steps outside and sniffed the air, then she peered about as if she could smell Katerina. Baba Yaga knew the scent immediately- this was Yulia’s sister. The witch had consumed the life essences of all the children except for the fiery Yulia, saving the best nourishment for last, and now the girl’s sister had come. Katerina darted out from the trees towards Baba Yaga. In the fight that ensued, the witch was genuinely surprised by the speed and tenacity of the teenager. Katerina managed to dodge many different spells, and even managed to stab the witch with her knife. At that point, the angry witch decided to slay the upstart.
She unleashed a shadowbolt, and it hit Katerina in the chest, knocking her out. As Baba Yaga closed in, Yulia screamed from within the hut. She promised to do anything the witch desired, but to spare the life of her sister. The witch decided that she would corrupt the young girl, and for revenge on Katerina, she would later pit the pair against each other. Thus, she left Katerina unconscious on the forest floor and returned to the hut. Flapping its wings the impossible house took to the sky and flew away. Stumbling from the woods at dawn, she collapsed at her parent’s house. When she woke the next day, she led investigators to a clearing, and there were the desiccated bodies of children. The parents were given no bodies as the state had collected them without giving a reason.
Though her parents and authorities repeatedly inquired how Katerina found these bodies, the girl refused to say anything. Talking about witches, magic, and legged huts would have only brought her more issues. At Yulia’s funeral, several Ministry of Defence vehicles arrived. Soldiers leapt out and took Katerina away from her terrified and broken parents. Again, only she knows what they wanted or did to her. Perhaps the Russians have their own type of Bureau of Demonic Analysis. In the end, Katerina proved to be invaluable at tracking and defeating witches. Tenaciously tracking the path of the witch, Katerina did manage to find the hut and burn it to the ground. At the time, Baba Yaga and Kat’s sister, Yulia, were in a nearby hamlet poisoning the water. When the witch found the hut little more than ash and charred bone, she grew livid, but was not ready for Yulia to face off against Katerina. Now, Baba Yaga chose to go to the U.S.A. to avoid Kat’s incessant dogging.
Near Portland, Oregon, she settled into Forest National Park. She began polluting the forest with her dark magicks and when confronted by the dryad, Draeope, the witch chased her away. Draeope finally called upon the forces of nature, and the magical creatures of the wood assembled to wage war on the witch.
Desideratum: Blood Bonds
In Desideratum: Blood Bonds, Yulia is seen in the Forest hunt. The dryad Draeope summoned Sani Lightfoot of the Night Stalkers to purge the forest of Baba Yaga's corruption. Katerina had tracked Baba Yaga to the area, but had no exact location for her, but Sani informed Kat, and the woman could not leave fast enough to face the witch and avenge her sister who she thought was dead. Seeing the two rushing away from Sanctuary piqued the interest of Absinthe Van Gothen, and she followed the others to Forest National Park. Baba Yaga had not been idle either, and had forced the local ogres to aid her in battle. She also called upon the Unseelie Court of Fairies and the battle lines were drawn along the Columbia River.
Draeope blew the battle horn and the two sides met. The plague witches proved incredibly powerful, especially with hordes of ogres and dark fae and other creatures at their command. They pushed further across the river and destroyed a large swath of forestland, but with Sani and Kat’s help, the battle shifted, and the remnants of Baba Yaga’s army retreated across the river. Draeope’s own forces were diminished greatly, her remaining defenders fanning out in search of any more witches on their side of the river. These defenders discovered Absinthe and she was forced, several times, to fight and destroy these spirits of the forest, eventually making her way to Draeope, Lightfoot, and Mordova. Katerina could wait no longer for revenge for her sister Yulia Mordova, and she chased after the witch. Sani stood against Absinthe, still believing the Blood Suit to be a threat, yet Absinthe defeated him.
Draeope then assaulted the Van Gothen woman, and the pair fought a vicious battle, but in the end, Draeope again found herself defeated. Expecting to be killed by Absinthe, the dryad was completely shocked when she was spared. She watched Absinthe hurry across the bridge onto the corrupted Baba Yaga side of the forest. As Absinthe had been fighting Sani and Draeope, Katerina had rushed to Baba Yaga’s hut. The witch had cursed a tree, using it as a guard, and Kat ignored the warnings that it gave, leaping over the walls around the cottage and facing off with Baba Yaga- this time expecting to kill her. However, as the pair fought, Baba Yaga used Kat’s emotions about Yulia to throw the girl’s attacks off long enough to gain the upper hand. She then used mesmerization magic and enthralled Katerina’s mind. The witch knew that Absinthe had also come and she intended to use Kat to defeat her own ally. The witch imbued Kat’s daggers with shadow magic and gave the girl the power to turn invisible at will- that will currently shackled to the witch herself.
Absinthe managed to gain the favor of the guardian by obtaining glowing stones from the dwarf, Virvir, and destroying the evil forces of the witch in the area. As Abby rushed to meet the witch, Baba Yaga willed Kat to attack. Absinthe soundly defeated Katerina and turned her sights on Baba Yaga, but as ever, the ancient witch knew that she would be victorious. However, to her absolute shock, Absinthe turned out to be something beyond the normal heroes that she had ever faced. The woman appeared powerful beyond compared and the witch died at her hands. This removed the control over Katerina’s mind, and they left together. However, Baba Yaga had always been wily, and she had a contingency plan for this. As, unknown to the pair, Yulia watched them go and already began research on how to bring her mistress back from the Outer Darkness. She hates her sister with all her black, corrupted heart and after reviving her mistress, she plans on ending Katerina’s life.
Appearance
Yulia is a young human woman. She has the usual green skin and black hair of other Coven of Yaga members.
Abilities
Notes and Trivia
In the Forest Hunt, Yulia is seen watching Absinthe and Katerina walk away after Baba Yaga had been disposed.
