The Ladies Three

''This page is about the mysterious trio of women that keeps coming up everywhere our heroes go. For the book read by Bodaway, see here.''

The Ladies Three, for lack of a better name, are three mythological figures who have repeatedly come up in our heroes' adventures.

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.

Most recently, our heroes have seen hints of the Ladies Three at Yester Hill: 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.

Who these figures truly are, and what their relationship is to Strahd von Zarovich, remains to be seen.