Curse of Strahd/Fanes
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The Fanes of Barovia were old nature gods of the valley, captured by the Mist and later defeated/deconsecrated by Strahd for him to take their powers.
Titles
The Triade
The Ladies Three
The Weaver, The Huntress & The Seeker
Sources
TrustyPeacher (used most):
MandyMod (only used some):
Each Fane
The Huntress
The Forest Fane
- Domains: Forest/life/death/change
- Appearance: Young, dark haired fair skin maiden with antler crown, leather armor and plenty of flowers and leaves, carrying a large longbow and spears
- True form: Green wood spirit with large antlers
- Personality: Wild, stubborn, arrogant, a little (but now humbled) vain, vengeful, enjoys the hunt, lovemaking, danger, love, anger
- Shrine: Yester Hill
- Coven: Forest folk, mysticists
- Downfall: Betrayed by some, killed by Strahd - cursed them to be werewolves
- Became the tree on the hill - Strahd fed it undead to corrupt it and desecrate the Fane
- Werewolves worship in fear
- Wereravens stayed hidden
- Mostly forgotten - forest folk confused
- Ritual on Yester hill is to revive "Old Mother" - Strahd curious
- Reconsecrate: Yester Hill something - survive a journey through the caverns under the Gulthias Tree?
- Reward:
- Start to erode control over wolves and wildlife
- Remove Strahd's +4 AC and double Heart of Sorrow HP
- Provide Truestrike spells or summon wildlife during final battle
The Weaver
The Swamp Fane
- Domains: Mysticism/magic/wisdom/knowledge/lakes/rivers
- Appearance: Dark woman with 6 black eyes and smooth voice
- True form: Arachnid monstrosity, standing a dozen feet tall
- Personality: Curious, trading, caring, protecting
- Shrine: Berez
- Coven: 8 Witches with sub-networks
- Elizabeth Durst high ranking watched over the Village of Barovia.
- Lydia Petrovna descends from high ranking witch killed by Strahd (see below). -> pious over the years -> magic resurfaced in Victor (old witch spellbook)
- Morgantha's mother mid-ranking member? Dream Pastries is adapted from one of the Weaver’s designs.
- Affinity for spiders and things of complex design - likes human ingenuity
- Downfall: Death of Marina (first Tatyana reincarnation) - captured high-rankings - torture to leave her - hearts out - desecrate - level Berez
- Baba lysaga now owns slain witches and deathlocks
- Reconsecrate: Baba Lysaga's heart into adjacent ethereal realms - sacrifice to phase spiders
- Start to erode control over bodies of water and temperature
- Remove Strahd's Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from magical attacks and Fire, Cold, and Lightning damage
- Provide Shield or Web spells during final battle
The Seeker
The Mountain Fane
- Domains: Fate/weather/foresight/exploration/stars
- Appearance: Young woman with long, black hair and pale white skin
- True form: Gray skin, white eyes and black feathers for hair with a colden jewellery on head
- Personality: Wise, lost in thought, absent-minded, stuck in the future
- Shrine: Old Mill (middle of valley)
- Coven: Mountain folk & ravens/Wereravens
- Didn't interact directly much,. Mostly dreams.
- Friends with the roc
- Gem: Used inside Vasilika
- Reconsecrate: Offer the Symbol of Ravenkind back to the Seeker
- One menhir clears from debris and rock and show mirror obsidian
- "Choose" (beast version PC)
- Once the reflection dies, it disappears. A swarm of ravens flies down and turns into the Seeker. She holds up the Symbol of Ravenkind, which she's now received, and disappears.
- All players suddenly have pains over their hearts, and gains scar-tattoos od the amulet, one glows white (works like the amulet but can as action transfer to other PC)
- Reward:
- Answer 3 questions (with vivid illusions)
- Start to erode control over the weather
- Remove Strahd's permanent Nondetection and free Scry on anyone saying his name
My Lore
- The Ladies Three are all neutral, sometimes cruel entities who once held domain over Barovia and its people, originally worshiped by the olden Forest and Mountain folk whose descendants became the barbarians, druids, and witchs of Barovia.
- They mostly appeared to folk in their dreams or in visions, avoiding direct interaction. Worship usually involved spiritual communion, physical offerings, and occasionally sacrifices..
- Their power was shattered when Barovia was swept up until the mists, cutting them off from the realm and sealing the passages between the Feywild and Ravenloft. A vestige of their power remained in the land, severely weakened.
Downfall
- Even during this point the Ladies Three held a largely neutral stance towards Strahd, as he did not make moves against their people at that time. They viewed themselves above him and beyond his reach.
- However, Huntress was slain when her followers, the forest folk, brought Strahd to her shrine in attempt to curry his favor. Arrogant in her belief that she could best him, the Huntress faced Strahd head on, and the blood spilled during her battle with Strahd would one day feed the Gulthias Tree that blossomed from her corpse. In her dying breath she cursed her adherents who had brought him there, turning them into werewolves.
- Careful after the Huntress's death, the Weaver was diplomatic in her relations with Strahd, and he largely paid her and her covens no mind . However, that all changed when Weaver's coven was involved in the death of Strahd's beloved Mariana. Strahd's slaughtered the witches and desecrated the fane.
- Mine: Seeker did not flee but was also destroyed
In the Present
- The greatest remnant of their religion are 3 magical gemstones that were once situated in the three Fanes: The Mountain Fane atop Mt. Ghakis, the Forest Fane in Yester Hill, and the Swamp Fane in Berez. Strahd pilfered these gemstones from their Fanes, and unable to destroy them, planted them in the vineyard of one of his sycophants to provide wine to his castle.
- But the Ladies Three have not left Barovia. Their spirits are trapped in the demiplane like everyone elses. They can try and reach out to players, in the most obfuscated of ways. And if their fanes are reconsecrated, echoes of their power can bleed back into the land, reclaiming the gifts that Strahd had stolen.
Strahd's Fane powers:
- Forest Fane:
- +4 AC
- Heart of Sorrow HP is 200 instead of 100
- Control over wildlife
- Swamp Fane:
- Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from magical attacks and Fire, Cold, and Lightning damage
- Control over the weather
- Mountain Fane:
- Permanent Nondetection
- Free Scry on anyone saying his name
- Combined: waters, winds, and wildlife in the valley
- Vampyr does the magical overcast
A young mage came to Barovia long before Strahd's time and fell in love with the land. She formed a bond with the locals as well as the more nature-based tribes living in the woods (the old druid tribes) and managed to broker a peace between the two factions. Her negotiations brought a beautiful era of peace and understanding between the early settlers of the valley and the forest folk, which impressed the Ladies significantly. To help the mage settle the land and start a bountiful vineyard, they each gifted her with a gemstone to plant in her fields.