Baba Manzana

At the fringes of Small Thicket, beyond the mossy reaches and fields of sedges, is an old craggy apple tree. A singular tree at the border of a forest thick with undergrowth. It's been there as long as anyone can remember, and much before that. Baba says trees don't measure time the same way we do so don't ask them.

With a first glance at the tree our human eyes may slip over the small windows and ignore the line of clothes baying in the spring breeze and mistake it for a collection of misplaced junk among the mire of twigs, weeds, and roots. This is just how the fairies like it. To live between the skips of mundane eyes and edges of vision. It's less complicated that way, says Baba.

Her smile, though small, is beaming with might. She smiles with the entirety of her face. Baba Manzana is the clever wise woman of the village of Small Thicket. You need medicine, eyeglasses, advice, a recipe… go see Baba. Every village, every community, starts with someone. Our Beginning here is Baba Manzana.

At best guess Baba Manzana is likely over 400 years old though she won't tell. Even the tree she lives within won't give her away as she keeps that apple tree nourished and happy with her magic. Some say Baba was born from the apple tree itself and grew from a blossom in place of a fruit. Others say she planted the tree and used her magics to help it grow up quickly. Whatever the case is Baba is old and full of secrets. She says worldly. More like impish.

Baba Manzana keeps a library of human artifacts and material culture within her home. A sprawling series of tunnels and rooms with various stores of pantry foods, hand bound books, and boxes and tons full of artifacts. The locations of which is really only known to Baba herself and her occasional student. Step, hop, or flutter carefully, she advises.

Other than students Baba has a constant companion in a field mouse named Pepita, who is equally happy tagging along on foraging adventures as she is curled up in her nest near Baba's feet in front of the hearth. She wears a small calico kerchief around her neck which makes simple work of telling the difference between Pepita and any regular field mouse.