The Ladies Three

The Ladies Three, or Trícinnáiteanna, are three powerful creatures, believed to be archfey, who were once worshipped as goddesses across the land now known as Barovia. In certain pockets of the land, the Ladies Three are still worshipped; this has been most notable amongst the coill cailleacha and cosantóirí sliabh, but our heroes have also seen evidence of reverence among the Vistani and the Keepers of the Feather.
The first mention our heroes had of these figures was when they found a book entitled The Ladies Three in Vallaki, which they purchased and which Bodaway later read.
The second mention they had was when Arrigal told them a story of a mother, a maiden, and a crone — the mother with vast antlers, the most serious of the three; the maiden playful, slippery as an eel, and underwater even when she wasn't; the crone the wisest of the three, with a mane of black feathers in place of hair. The story seemed to be a creation myth of the land now known as Barovia, and it said that the crone favoured the Vistani, while the mother favoured the coill cailleacha, and the maiden favoured the elves.
The third clue about the Ladies Three was a vision Bodaway received from The Raven Queen:

You see three women, woven through time and the land, and you know this land is not Barovia, though it may be called that now.
One is crowned with an enormous pair of stag’s antlers, and her bearing is proud; she watches over her land and its dead with unshakeable calm.
Another has hair that floats around her in a shifting halo, as though she is perpetually underwater. She has very many teeth in her bright smile, and they look very, very sharp.
The third is tall and angular, with dark, pupilless eyes. She has no hair; instead, a great mane of black, glossy feathers trails from her head, down her back, following her like the train of a wedding gown.
They pass through the land, often unseen, occasionally speaking to a chosen few. They speak to its people — you recognize hints of the Vistani in some of them, while others tread barefoot through the woods, hair wild, skin marked with strange runes in vivid blue, and still others form small towns, unwalled but guarded by the trio’s power.
Their images begin to fade, and so does the colour from the land. The druids retreat into the woods. The towns become smaller, and then larger, as strangers arrive. You see elves patrolling the land, attacking members of an army bearing the crest of Strahd von Zarovich. You see knights bearing the sign of a dragon rising up in battle alongside the elves, trying to fight back the invading army. You see sacrifice, and loss, and death. You see altars desecrated and priestesses killed. You see a windmill, and a familiar kindly old woman, who cackles as she bakes ravens into pies.
The vision fades.

Later, our heroes saw hints of the Ladies Three at tuama beannaithe: an abandoned shrine, where three of the obelisks were carved with feathers, water, and antlers respectively; and a priestess of the forest folk — one seemingly allied with the party — wearing a headdress of antlers. They saw further evidence when they cleared out the windmill, finding another shrine — this one desecrated — behind the structure, and still more evidence near Berez, in a sanctuary first revealed to them by Arabelle, Ruslan, Shura, Atanasie and Manda, though how much the Vistani aside from Arabelle knew about the space beforehand is unknown.
In time, they grew to know more about the Ladies Three both through their repeated interactions with teaghlach cara and, later, the cosantóirí sliabh.

Amber Temple Information

The following information was gleaned by consulting with your friendly neighbourhood lich in the Amber Temple.

General

• “The Ladies Three” (Barovian: Три Dамы; Druidic: Trícinnáiteeanna; Elvish: Arakeryn [tree guardians]; Vistani: Vechii Gardieni [the old guardians]) are a group of three archfey traditionally worshipped by the Muintir na Gleann Abhainn [MWUH-tir na GLAN OW-en], or People of the River Valley, later referred to as the coill cailleacha, or “wood witches,” colloquially referred to by later settlers as “the forest folk.”
• Whether the Ladies Three were considered goddesses when their worship first began, or if their true nature was known at the time, is unclear. However, as the faith developed and the years wore on, they attained a status both among na Gleann and other groups in the area that bordered on divinity, with a worship to rival the favoured gods of settler communities later on.
• The exact date at which the Ladies Three began to settle in this area is unknown, but stories and depictions of them date their connection to the land going back as far as -2900 DR.
  • For context, when they were taken from Waterdeep the year was 1492 DR, so this is about 4400 years ago.
  • Assuming the current year in Barovia, 735, is also DR, that means it’s a bit over 3600 years ago here
• The origin of the Ladies Three is unknown, but their ties have been to the area once known as Gleann Grianmhar [GLAN gree-AHN-wir], now called Barovia, with worship of the ladies not extending far past its borders.
• The Ladies, though known by many names by the different groups that worshipped them over time, are most commonly known as the Huntress, the Seeker, and the Weaver.
• Each of the Ladies Three was connected to a Fane, leading to them sometimes being known as the Three Fanes, though this is something of a misnomer — the Fanes are the temples or shrines of the Ladies Three, where their connection to the land is the strongest, and where historically all significant rituals connected to each of the Ladies Three would be conducted.
• The Huntress of the Mountain Fane has her Fane on the top of tuama beannaithe, or “blessed burial mound,” later known as Yester Hill, with an accompanying shrine at its base. A sacred grove has historically grown to the south of the central Fane, where a yew tree was maintained in a place of prominence. To be buried at tuama beannaithe was a great honour, bestowed only on those deemed worthy among the people of na Gleann and, later on, those few outsiders who distinguished themselves within the faith of the Ladies Three, while enemies of na Gleann would be lashed to the boulders surrounding the Forest Fane, their bodies left to the elements to rot in open air, considered a great dishonour to one’s remains and soul Some have theorised that the worship of the yew is connected to Yggdrasil, the World Ash, but any connections between the two have never been proven. However, it is believed that within the body of the yew lies a path to the Huntress’s realm, one only her most distinguished worshippers ever dared to tread, in a spiritual pilgrimage that some estimate claimed half the lives of those who made the attempt. The exact nature of this ritual is a closely guarded secret even now, as those who undertake it have historically sworn an oath of secrecy, believing that what is experienced beneath the sacred yew is between only the Huntress and those strong enough to withstand her trial.
• The Seeker of the Forest Fane has her Fane on a promontory in central Barovia, the closest of any of the Fanes to what would one day become Castle Ravenloft. Though it is not so storied as the Trial of the Mountain Fane, there is a lesser known rite of passage undertaken by worshippers of the Ladies Three known as The Reflection, where the faithful would gather and meditate on the paths both behind and ahead of them, forced to face their own darkest ambitions and deepest fears. Only by confronting the worst of what they might become, the legends say, could pilgrims leave the Forest Fane with the Seeker’s blessing.
• The Weaver of the Swamp Fane has her Fane by the Luna River, in southern Barovia. Like the other two, stories of a ritual undertaken by her faithful linger, though this one is said to have claimed precious few lives compared to the others. It is said that by presenting an offering to the Swamp Fane and sitting in meditation, one could gaze into the past, unravelling its mysteries. Pilgrims would bring questions or topics to the Weaver, and be granted a series of visions in return, though these visions were often not of the nature they anticipated.
• Though initially na Gleann enjoyed a peaceful relationship with other groups in the area — the dusk elves, who rarely worshipped the Ladies Three as they did their own pantheon, but paid tribute out of respect of their stewardship of the land; and the Vistani, who travel through many lands with many customs, only rarely coming into ideological conflict with them — as various waves of settlers arrived, they brought their own deities with them, and often forbade the discussion or worship of the Ladies Three.
• The Derluskans, who first arrived in the year 200, brought with them the worship of Lathander, the Morninglord, which lingered in the area long after the Derluskan empire crumbled.
• The Tverdzavians, though they had no avowed deities of their own, had habitually made no effort to suppress local forms of worship when absorbing new territories, and often would help restore any local churches in an effort to ingratiate themselves to local authorities and help smooth over the transition. As such, though there is no indication Strahd von Zarovich was ever a worshipper of the Morninglord himself, worship of Lathander flourished once his armies had finished their conquest of the area. Though the chapel at Castle Ravenloft is not dedicated to any one deity, it was consecrated with the Icon of Ravenloft, constructed by Archpriest Ciril Romulich, a close ally of the von Zaroviches and worshipper of Lathander himself. It is said that the Icon of Ravenloft has great power against the undead, in keeping with Lathander’s hatred of such beings.
• The Ladies Three, however, did not find themselves treated so well under von Zarovich’s rule. Though diminished, worship of the Ladies Three was still active during Tverdzavian colonisation, and the faith of na Gleann and their allies bolstered their courage and resistance against Strahd’s occupation of the land. Crushing the worship of the Ladies and desecrating their sacred spaces was a key aspect of von Zarovich’s consolidation of power in the land he named Barovia. In the years since, the Ladies Three have passed largely into myth, forgotten by most of those who live within their realm.

The Huntress

• Worshippers of the Huntress were typically dour and somewhat isolationist, preoccupied with the rites of the dead. Though they were sometimes spoken of with a sense of unease, they still merited a great deal of respect, as it was universally understood among worshippers of the Ladies Three that the power of each fed into the power of the other two.
• The Huntress was often depicted as ruthless and pragmatic, making the culture of na Gleann one where resurrection rituals were rare, and only attempted if high priestesses of the Huntress were given approval by the Huntress herself to do so. Successful resurrections were even rarer.
• Despite this, in some tales of the Ladies Three, she is referred to as the mother, when the three are depicted in the mother-maiden-crone figure prevalent in so many cultures. Her ruthlessness never enters the realm of cruelty; instead, it is depicted as a matter-of-fact acceptance of the harsher aspects of life, in a land where na Gleann faced many challenges, from wolves and bears to rocs and demons. Through her stories, na Gleann emphasised their belief that the only people who could be depended on to save them was they themselves, and that loss and death are inevitable, no matter how much we may wish otherwise. As such, though worship of the Ladies Three and Lathander was different in many ways, these conflicting faiths held a mutual disdain for the undead.

The Seeker

• The Seeker is typically depicted as the least accessible of the Ladies Three, even when compared to the aloof Huntress. Tales of the Seeker are rife with the perils of trying to learn one’s future before it comes to pass, with the usual tales of hapless protagonists bringing about the prophecies they most fear by the actions they take to avoid them.
• Among the Seeker’s most faithful were many seers, making it somewhat unsurprising that of the three, it was the Seeker who the Vistani, with their love of fortune-telling and divination through the use of tarokka, most commonly engaged with.
• Aside from the Seeker’s Fane, there were many isolated shrines around Barovia where her priestesses would accept petitioners asking for the Seeker’s guidance. Though some Vistani with a connection to the Seeker may use the tarokka to connect with her, traditionally among na Gleann and other worshippers, the use of mind-altering herbs, mushrooms, decoctions, and smokes was employed to grant the priestess visions.
• Most often, the prophecies offered to petitioners by the Seeker’s priestesses were vague and offered only minor guidance. Greater prophecies were rare, and regarded as a mixed blessing, as they usually only came in relation to some significant misfortune.
• Though the Seeker had many priestesses across Barovia, only her High Priestess had the right to carry her symbol, known as the Symbol of Ravenkind. For any others to so much as touch it was regarded as the most profane blasphemy.

The Weaver

• There are far more tales of average people interacting with the Weaver of the Swamp Fane than either of her sisters. From the lake once known as Loch Cuimhne (LOCH KUV-nyuh), later renamed Lake Zarovich, all the way down the Luna River to Luna Lake (formerly an Gealach [GA-la] and Loch Gealach, respectively), petitioners might go to the waters and beg an audience with or sign from the Weaver.
• The Weaver’s reputation as a trickster was widely known, and the help petitioners received would often not be of the nature they anticipated — requests would be taken too literally, or the Weaver would provide not the help that was requested, but the solution she decided the petitioner truly required — but there are tales of clever petitioners earning the Weaver’s respect through their own cunning, and like her dour death-aligned counterpart, the Weaver only rarely veered into cruelty, and even then only in circumstances where most would view the cruelty as warranted (when a request was made out of greed or malice rather than genuine need, for instance).
• Compared to the Huntress and the Seeker, the Weaver had relatively few priestesses, and was something of an anomaly in her affinity for priests as well. Among the Vistani, the clergy of the Weaver earned the name “Vulpi de Mlaștină” [VUL-pee deh MLAHSHT-ina], or simply “Vulpi” (Common: Swamp Foxes, or simply Foxes) thanks to their wily nature.