Fanes of Barovia

Brief Note

This post both aims to expand upon the backstory of Barovia, Strahd, and the druids and warrior tribes that inhabit it. It also aims to give DMs additional end-game content following acquisition of one or more artifacts and preceding forays into the Amber Temple or Castle Ravenloft. Finally, it also (I hope) ties together some of the dangling plot points and factions of Barovia, molding the module into a slightly more coherent whole. Incidentally, if this sidequest is not completed, it also has the incidental effect of buffing Strahd’s stat block - not to anything silly like CR 27, but probably a respectable 17 or 18. (reddit)

With that said, let’s start at the beginning - with a history textbook. (reddit)

A History of the Fanes

When Strahd von Zarovich, the Horned Devil of Zaroven, conquered Barovia, then called the Kingdom of Delmor, he discovered the countryside to be much older than its current inhabitants. The small nation’s farmers, knights, and lordlings were long preceded by the ancient forces that inhabited it. These forces were known by their followers as the Rozana - a trio of ancient fey creatures worshipped by the druids and warrior-tribes of Barovia as goddesses. (reddit)

Before the Delmoreans brought worship of the Morninglord and Mother Night to the Barovian valley, the druids of the land made sacrifices to the Rozana, seeking omens and fortune in the entrails of beasts and mortals alike. The Rozana, known informally as the Ladies Three, or simply the Ladies, wielded powerful magic, bringing good fortune to those that followed their ways. Only their most devout priests knew the Ladies’ names; to all others, they were known as the Weaver, the Huntress, and the Seeker. (reddit)

For as long as they ruled the land, known in those days as Cerrunos, the Ladies acted as its sovereigns, making their will known through auguries and omens. Through intermediaries, they wielded powerful magic, but one different from that of mages. They drew power from water and earth, and were bound to the ancient valley in which they lived. It was said that the Ladies could hear everything that happened in their woods, predict the future, twist the threads of human lives and bring blessings as well as curses. (reddit)

When the men of Delmor first invaded Cerunnos, the druids and berserkers fought bravely in defense of their ancient land. Even so, the technology of iron and steel drove the native warriors back to the mountains and wild places, where they hid from the wrath of the Delmoreans. Worship of the Ladies continued, but more weakly than before. Many amongst the tribes believed their failure to be punishment for their failure to serve the Ladies; in their oral histories, this became known as the Second Betrayal. (reddit)

The Invasion of Zarovich

Two hundred years later, a haughty warlord named Strahd von Zarovich invaded the fledgling kingdom of Delmor. Weakened by inner conflict and more powerful neighbors, Delmor’s armies fought bravely, but were routed and slaughtered by Zarovich’s superior tactics and arcane magicks. (reddit)

Fearful, yet optimistic that Zarovich could yet be their savior, the druids of the forest approached him soon after his coronation. They offered him secrets - hidden knowledge that would bind his power to the land, if only he would promise them patronage and safety. Strahd, his interest piqued, accepted. (reddit)

Thrice did the druids of old Cerunnos guide Strahd von Zarovich, mortal that he was, to the Fanes of the Ladies Three. As he stood in these sanctums and felt their primal, ancient magic, Strahd became determined that these, too, must be conquered. In the Swamp Fane, temple of the reclusive Weaver; in the Forest Fane, home of the wise Huntress; and in the Mountain Fane, home of the mystic Seeker, Strahd re-consecrated each stone altar to his own image, sealing rites of blood and powerful magic that bound his soul to the magic of the Ladies - and so became the Land. (reddit)

The druids, desperate for a protector, were silent in the face of this profane desecration; the warrior tribes, however, saw it as blasphemy, and separated from the company of the druids in disgust. This became known as the Third Betrayal. (reddit)

When the Curse of the Dark Powers fell over Strahd’s soul, so too did darkness roll over and corrupt the land of Barovia. The conscious essences of the Ladies were driven to dormancy beneath the shroud of the Shadowfell, and the Land was bound completely to Strahd’s will. Now, the three Fanes lie empty and forgotten, and the druids have given themselves to madness under the influence of Strahd’s dark patronage. (reddit)

Remnants of the Ancients

The secrets of the Fanes and the Ladies Three are now lost to time and mist. Even before the citizens of Barovia arrived in the wake of Strahd’s armies, the Delmoreans had already largely forgotten the “savage, primitive” ways of the peoples that preceded them. Only the warrior tribes of the southern mountains, the creatures that guard them, and Strahd himself, who recorded his victories in the Tome of Strahd, still recall the Fanes of Cerunnos. (reddit)

Only an ancient spirit of wind and sky, a creature named Stribog that once served the Ladies of Cerunnos, still seeks to re-consecrate the Fanes. Stribog is sorrowed by the melancholy that has struck the warrior tribes, the people that he has sworn to watch over; and despises Strahd for the corruption that the curse has wrought upon the druidic people. (reddit)

Generations past, when a small shrine to the Weaver was threatened by a pack of werewolves, a family of humble farmers defended it. Stribog rewarded these Barovians with the gift of lycanthropy, allowing them and their line to assume the same raven’s form that he took when travelling through Barovia. Under his guidance, the descendants of these farmers - the line of the Martikovs - have come to form the Order of the Feather, a secret society dedicated to keeping the people of Barovia safe from Strahd’s dark hand. (reddit)

Restoring the Fanes

Dark creatures, tainted by shadow and death, guard these ancient places in Strahd’s name. In the highlands of the Svalich Wood, the hags of Old Bonegrinder desecrate the Forest Fane in the name of the wicked archfey they worship, Ceithlenn of the Crooked Teeth. In the swamps of old Berez, the ancient hag Baba Lysaga watches over the stone circle that once honored the Weaver. Finally, upon the mists of Yester Hill, a of maddened druids nourish and tend to the Gulthias Tree whose roots have infested the forgotten chamber of the Mountain Fane.(reddit)

So long as each Fane is dedicated to Strahd’s fell personage, the vampire is granted magical benefits in accordance with each location’s patron. From the Forest Fane, Strahd is granted the protection of a nondetection spell. From the Swamp Fane, Strahd gains elemental resistance to fire, cold, and lightning damage. Finally, the Mountain Fane grants Strahd a +4 bonus to his Armor Class. The magic of the three combined, moreover, provides Strahd with a deep bond to the land of Barovia, allowing him to exert his will over its waters, winds, and wildlife.(reddit)

These Fanes, however, can be re-consecrated, severing Strahd’s connection to their ancient magicks. To do so, each Fane’s guardian must be defeated or driven off, and the Fane itself - a small stone shrine concealed beneath the stone circle that marks it - must be sanctified through a certain ritual. The Huntress’ altar must receive the sacrifice of a predator beast, its organs removed and sealed in stone jars. The Weaver must be provided an offering of fruits and berries, with a mixture of honey and goat’s milk smeared across its altar. Finally, the Seeker also requires blood - but it must be the lifeblood of a mortal, willingly given.(reddit)

These consecration rites are shown in carvings set upon the stone walls of each Fane’s chamber. Additionally, Stribog bears a fondness for the Martikov line, and may provide this information to the characters if he believes them to be capable warriors with good hearts. Finally, Baba Lysaga, Morgantha’s coven, and the berserker tribes know the secrets of the Fanes.(reddit)

A creature that re-consecrates these Fanes receives a boon of the Ladies. Not only do the wild beasts of Barovia refrain from harming or hunting them, but the consecrators cannot become lost while ranging in the wilderness, and treat natural difficult terrain as normal terrain for as long as they remain in Barovia. (reddit)