karin's identity--her clothing is EXTREMELY familiar (spoilers; guesses)

[i am the muffin]

she's basically wearing the same outfit as vasilisa the beautiful from the famous illustration by ivan bilibin. is she a dark version of vasilisa?

could that mean that MC is koschei the deathless? that chicken bone in the floor is already a pretty strong suggestion that we're in baba yaga's hut.

[i am the muffin]

p.s. is mariah's last name morevna? :D

[SpookyBro]

I just looked it up and yea it looks almost the exact same. I don't know about Russian folklore/fairytales but I bet knowing about them is a key part to knowing the lore. Is it cool if I ask why you think the MC is koschei the deathless and that Mariah's last name is Morevna? I'm kinda curious.

[i am the muffin]

Hi Spooky, sorry to get back to you so late!

I wish I could tell you exactly why I felt like the MC is Koschei, it's a gut feeling more than anything rooted in a specific story. One of the things that struck me is that in many of the tales, Koschei is set up as a romantic antagonist, so that makes him a perfect MC right there, maybe? Koschei is often the
rival to either Prince Ivan or Igor (Gregor?) fighting for the love of a fair maiden. Koschei is also well known for hiding his souls (sometimes called his 'death') inside of many other different objects, in order to stay alive. Is it possible that Potato is one of many holding a part of Koschei's soul? The other Chompettes certainly seem to be the spirits of past victims, but Potato is not much like the rest of them in terms of personality.

Given that the location of the action is (I think) Baba Yaga's hut, my sense was that these people are all, in some way, related to or even the protagonists of the folktales I know. Marya Morevna is famous for the story 'The Death of Koschei the Deathless'. In the game, she is the one who starts everything rolling by offering to go out. In the story, she's a warrior princess--there's a dungeon (basement?) water features prominently (Mariah must go swimming) and in the beginning, Koschei is starving. Like I said, there's nothing that's a perfect match, but there are many similarities and occurrences that crop up in both the game and in the stories.

If you do a Google for either her name, or the name of the stories above, you'll see some different and interesting versions, all of them have a feeling that makes the game seem really, really familiar. Check out Vasilisa the Beautiful too, maybe you'll figure out something.

Anyhow, I'm mostly just thinking out loud and having fun with it, the game is so strange and neat that it sets you off on a path. It really lends itself to puzzling over pictures and old fairytale. I would love to hear everyone's else's thoughts, too!

[BearBee]

Nice catch! I also really appreciated how the game gives you stuff to go on for doing research to understand it in better depth.

[Oh God Spiders No]

I haven't seen much discussion about this note:

Dearest (the name is smudged out),
I know you're still upset about Ivan.
I'm asking the impossible, but please: forgive me and let's end this madness.
We're different. To lose track of time.
To let feuds rot inside of us, undying, while the rest of the world moves on.
This isn't healthy. It took me ages to learn this.
I'm asking you, PLEASE, to let this one die.
Sincerely,
-(the name is illegible)

You find this at the end of the Abyss ending after traveling the world with Potato for several years bringing a storm to every town. It says that reading it used to always make you smile, but after all this time you're now just ready to eat.


This certainly lends credence to MC being Koschei, because it mentions a feud with Ivan. It even uses the word "undying" which strikes me as a deliberate nudge toward "Koschei the Undying"

But who wrote the letter? Is Prince Igor/Gregor a third person in this feud or is that an alternate name for Prince Ivan?

[Ice Bear.]

I love all the cultural references in this game

[STFU NOOB]

I just want to keep this thread alive for posterity. What an interesting series of observations... I would never have found this without this thread, that's for sure.

[i am the muffin]

It's so cool! I'm glad people are still enjoying and adding to the thread.

[MasterofPun]

I am just starting to seek out the lore of this game. Thank you for opening me up to all this.