The Ladies Three

As you were leaving Barovia, you came across an older vistani man who was carving a wooden figurine, of a woman with deer antlers, to leave at a small abadoned shrine nearby. He told you about a set of old deities, no longer prayed to and barely remembered in barovia, called the Ladies Three.

Where is my lady, the maiden fair
With eyes like stars and raven hair
There she stands in a ring of stone
Where she waits for me and me alone

Through forest and glade and wood so deep
Where truths are known and secrets keep
She begs a gift, and give I do
For never was there one so true

Where is my lady, the cunning and bold
Whose wit does bite like winters cold
There she stands in a ring of stone
Where she waits for me and me alone

Through hill and mountain and highest peak
Where storms rule strong and life is bleak
She begs a trial, and try I do
For never was there one so true

Where is my lady, playful and sly
With a laugh that’s light and a step that’s spry
There she stands in a ring of stone
Where she waits for me and me alone

Through swamp and marsh and lonely bog
Where death comes slow as a creeping fog
She begs my heart, and die I do
For never was there one so true

Deer (hunter), Spider (weaver), Raven (seeker)

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Once known as the Ladies Three, the Fanes of Barovia are forgotten spirits of this realm. Their power was ripped from them by Strahd, their shrines desecrated and their history remembered by few. Though they are not gods, they have a history of being worshipped by the Vistani, the Druids of Yester Hill, the Druids of the Swamp and the Mountain Folk. They are most often associated with the bountiful life in the valley, said to flow from their sacred shrines.
However, before Strahd von Zarovich came the Hellborn Knight Dostron, who claimed the land and named it Delmor. He conquered the valley through the might of his army and his swift ruthlessness. The Vistani were barred from villages and towns and became travellers, the Druids and the Mountain Warriors fought against the armies but were decimated and ultimately went into hiding. Hundreds of years later, the armies of Strahd came and a war broke out against Delmor. Hoping to end the hunt against them, the Druids of Yester Hill approached Strahd for his protection, and in exchange they gave up the locations of the shrines of the Ladies Three.

Seeing the potential magic locked in these locations, Strahd desecrated these shrines, twisting the magic of the Ladies Three and binding it to himself and gained control of the Land itself. The Druids of Yester Hill, desperate for the end of their oppression under the Delmor, said nothing in the face of this desecration. The Mountain Folk, unable to side with these Druids and too small in number to fight Strahd and his army, went into hiding past Tsolenka Pass, never to be heard from again. The Druids themselves fractured, the faithless now servants of Strahd, became corrupted and twisted with the years spent in his shadow. The Druids of the Swamp, those steadfast in their beliefs, are said to be in hiding much like the Mountain Folk.

The Vistani never settled in one place again, and just as they were unwelcome in Delmorean settlements, they continued to be unwelcomed in Barovian settlements. Their history is too muddled, their looks too different, their magic too unsettling.

Each of the ladies three has their own moniker and folk rhyme.

The Seeker, The Forest Fane
Her hair is a coat of raven feathers and her skin as black as night. Her blind eyes see all paths through the winding She is known to all ravens.

My lady watches for the weather
she knows the road and where it wends
She knows the stars and those they tether
All beginnings and all their ends

The Weaver, The Swamp Fane
She is sweet and girlish until she bares her shark-like teeth. Her nature is tricky and fickle. She is known to all spiders.

My lady’s true, but rarely kind
Keep your word and keep your mind
Whispered words and silken thread
will bind the swift and raise the dead

The Hunter, The Mountain Fane
She bears the heart of a warrior and the aura of a predator. She is known to all wolves.

Where is my lady? High on the hill
Dead on her feet but tireless still
A dress of hide and a crown of bone
And where she walks, she walks alone

More on the histories of the Ladies Three, and their associated rituals is known only to the most devout of their followers.