Intro

Babay, Babai, Babayka, Babayko, Bobo, Babok, Bebok, Torbalan is a night spirit (Bogeyman) in Slavic folklore. According to beliefs, he abducts children who do not sleep at night or behave badly. The term babay, alongside its synonym, baba, is most likely of Turkic origin. It is translated as "grandfather", "old man" from the Tatar language.

The main attribute of this monster is its bag, or rather - its sack, and its other characteristics often remain unclear and left to the imagination of children, for whom it could also be an acquaintance or unknown beggar or wanderer but sometimes a mythological or fairy-tale creature, with evil or questionable intentions or simply - with an appetite for human meat. It is believed that he lives in the forest, in a swamp or in a garden. At night, he wanders through the streets and puts into his bag those who meet him on the way. Walking near houses, Babay stands close to the windows and watches the children. If they are awake, he starts to make scary noises, such as rustling, gritting and knocking on the window. Also, Babay can sometimes hide under the child's bed, and he may take them if they're sleeping or get up.

Abilities and Inspiration available on post images

Gameplay

Babay is intended to be played either as a Support in duo lane, or as a Solo laner. He’s a heavily-melee god, who excels in bullying a single target, isolating and limiting what they can do. I wanted him to be able to stick to that target, with his abilities providing only limited AoE potential. Babay would excel at smaller scale fights, such as 2v2s with his ADC or jungler, where he can stack his CC and chain debilitating effects onto enemies. He’s meant to be hard to kill, with his extended survival allowing him to gain enough benefit from his ultimate’s unique enemy cooldowns and then eventually picking up an ally.

My other Slavic god concepts:

Zorya - The Aurora

Koliada - The Newborn Winter Sun 

Mat Zemlya - Mother Earth

Živa - The Avatar of Life

Yarilo - The Green Groom

Svetovit - The Warlord

Vampir - The Bloodfiend

Kikimora - The Chambermaid

Moryana - Daughter of the Depths

Stribog - Master of Winds

Orisnitsy - The Fates

Rod - The Creator

Mokosh - Spinner of Fate

Dazhbog - The Luminary

Vila Samodiva - The Woodland Nymph

Devana and Leshy - The Wildlings

Perun - King of the Gods

Veles - Lord of the Under Earth

Svarog - The Forgemaster

Vesna - The Herald of Spring

Morana - The Lady of Winter

Lada - The Beloved

Belobog - The Bright one

Chernobog - The Dark one

Sources:

Jeff McAteer - The Boogeyman; Goya's ''Que viene el coco ("Here Comes Babay / Babay is Coming"), c. 1797; Andréa Boloch - 32 Henri Crochet inktober2020 bonus; Milagrose - Boogeyman; Andréa Boloch Andréa Boloch - 10 la Bérane Inktober2020; Oleg Rotar - Babay; Gustavo Rinaldi - Papa-Figo (Liver Eater); Javier González - Babadook; Khalid EL Morabethi - NPC; Luca Van Dort - The Babadook

Intro

Zorya ("Dawn", “Aurora”, “Daybreak”, “Morning Star”), Zarya, Zaria, Zorza, Zirnytsia, Zaranitsa, Zoryushka is a figure in Slavic folklore, a feminine personification of dawn, possibly goddess. Depending on tradition, she may appear as a singular entity, or two or three sisters at once (the Auroras).

There are many myths surrounding Zorya and her many names. She is mentioned in songs, stories and prayers, sometimes prayed to for good harvests and health, invoked as protectress and to dispel nightmares and sleeplessness, and also patronized marriages, as manifested by her frequent appearance in wedding songs, and arranged marriages between the gods. Sometimes the three Zorya sisters also function as Rozhanitsy.

She is often depicted as the sister of the Sun, the Moon, and Danica, the Morning Star with which she is sometimes identified. She lives in the Palace of the Sun, opens the gate for him in the morning so that he can set off on a journey through the sky and guards his white horses.

Abilities and Inspiration available on post images

Gameplay

Zorya is designed to be played as an ADC in the duo lane, relying on correct spacing and positioning to fulfill her role in a fight. She’s meant to be a slow- but hard-hitting adc, who cannot gain attack speed but still reaps benefits from on-hit items. Essentially, I want her to charge up a basic attack in her sniper stance and for every basic attack she would have cast during that duration, all the on-hit effects that would have been applied are meant to be combined into that 1 basic attack. She’s meant to be hard to play, with the decision of when to go into sniper-stance and when to switch to normal basic attacks being crucial (especially as she gets benefits for her only movement ability during sniper stance). Spacing, zoning enemies and utilising her gravity well seemed like a fun thing to play around.

My other Slavic god concepts:

Babay - The Bogeyman

Koliada - The Newborn Winter Sun 

Mat Zemlya - Mother Earth

Živa - The Avatar of Life

Yarilo - The Green Groom

Svetovit - The Warlord

Vampir - The Bloodfiend

Kikimora - The Chambermaid

Moryana - Daughter of the Depths

Stribog - Master of Winds

Orisnitsy - The Fates

Rod - The Creator

Mokosh - Spinner of Fate

Dazhbog - The Luminary

Vila Samodiva - The Woodland Nymph

Devana and Leshy - The Wildlings

Perun - King of the Gods

Veles - Lord of the Under Earth

Svarog - The Forgemaster

Vesna - The Herald of Spring

Morana - The Lady of Winter

Lada - The Beloved

Belobog - The Bright one

Chernobog - The Dark one

Sources:

Star Goddess by XQ Xue; Zvezda - Andrey Shishkin; Julia Khoroshikh - Zorya Goddess of Dawn; irina-plachkova-phantomrin-the-star-small; Sara Cuervo - Nyx creating a star; cosmic nova sarah carmody; worldheart manipulator roy schramm; Cosmic Missile Concept - Sarah Carmody; Style Exploration - Sarah Carmody; The Voidweaver - Jarl_Vraal; Animated missile concepts (2018-08) - Sarah Carmody; Rafał Górniak - Astral mage

Intro

Koliada or Koleda is a Slavic pseudo-deity, a personification of the newborn winter Sun and symbol of the New Year's cycle. The figure of Koliada is connected with the solar cycle, passing through the four seasons and from one substantial condition into another.

Koliada is the traditional Slavic name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, for Slavic Christmas-related rituals, some dating to pre-Christian times. It represents a festival or holiday, celebrated at the end of December to honor the sun during the Northern-hemisphere winter solstice. In the different Slavic countries at the kolyada winter festival people performed rituals with games and songs in honour of the deity, such as the koleduvane. In some regions of Russia the ritual gifts (usually buns) for the koledari are also called kolyada. 

I’ve decided to include Koliada as a Slavic deity, as I thought a Santa-like god would be a funny addition to Smite, with his design reflecting both the pre-Christian elements of the holiday, as well as some modern aspects of Christmas.

Abilities and Inspiration available on post images

Gameplay

Koliada is designed to be an enchanter-style support, providing buffs and shields to his ADC and backliners, while CC-ing enemies, which engage on them. He’s meant to be pretty hard to kill but pretty weak on his own. His RNG-style gift mechanic, which can benefit both allies and enemies, makes for a fun decision-making moment for enemies, where they’re not sure if his presents will help or hinder them. In addition, a simplified Guitar Hero-style rhythm game is included as his ultimate’s main mechanic, which is something that could be fun in Smite and also incorporates elements of the tradition of koleduvane, where singers (Koliadari or koliadnyky) walk around neighbourhoods and visit homes during the winter holidays, singing songs and receiving gifts in return.

My other Slavic god concepts:

Mat Zemlya - Mother Earth

Živa - The Avatar of Life

Yarilo - The Green Groom

Svetovit - The Warlord

Vampir - The Bloodfiend

Kikimora - The Chambermaid

Moryana - Daughter of the Depths

Stribog - Master of Winds

Orisnitsy - The Fates

Rod - The Creator

Mokosh - Spinner of Fate

Dazhbog - The Luminary

Vila Samodiva - The Woodland Nymph

Devana and Leshy - The Wildlings

Perun - King of the Gods

Veles - Lord of the Under Earth

Svarog - The Forgemaster

Vesna - The Herald of Spring

Morana - The Lady of Winter

Lada - The Beloved

Belobog - The Bright one

Chernobog - The Dark one

Sources:

Kolyada by Andrey Shishkin; God Koliada by Andrey Mazin; Kolyada Slavic God Statue, Hand-Carved Figurine by Slagovir; Zato Technoir - Sun God Staff; Atomhawk - Happy Holidays 2022; Louis LAURENT - Vision Interactive - Icy Emerald; Andy Aslamov - Tales of Adventure