Age of Giants Timeline

Thousands of years before the establishment of a Common Calendar, dozens of smaller Dwarf territories along the Snoutridge Mountains united against the encroaching threat of the Dark Dwarf, who wanted nothing more than the total extinction of their topside cousins. Details of the war have been lost to time, but it has been told to have lasted for over a century.

The territories convened under the banner of a singular High King, Diarmuid Brasshand, who was the leader of the peripheral city of Copperbreach. His tactical nous and thirst for battle was legendary among the dwarvenfolk, and after leading them to victories in dozens of battles, the duergar menace retreated back to the Underdark. The Kingdom of the Twelve Mountains was formed, a loose confederation united under Diarmuid's rule, and his house Brasshand was declared the ruling family of the mountains.

The Landing of the Ladies Three marked the arrival of three Archfey sisters of the Summer Court into the Prime Material, and the beginning of their long dominion over the Zarovich Valley. Known to mortals as The Seeker, The Weaver, and The Huntress, they did not arrive as conquerors, but did desire worship. Winds bent to the Seeker, waters answered the Weaver, and beasts were controlled at the Huntress’s will. Their influence spread through dreams, omens, and quiet bargains, and over time the Smallfolk of the valley came to see them as necessary, if dangerous, protectors. 

The nature and reasoning behind their entrapment was unknown, even to the Archfey themselves, but some believed it the result of planar workings undertaken by the Azure Paragon; already operating in the region after the construction of the Amber Temple and trapping of Dark Powers, their research into the Bloomtides and the Deepmists could potentially braid living realms together. These experiments distorted the borders between the Vivid Realms, the Material, and the Umbral Realms beyond. When the Paragon’s work collapsed inward, the sisters were caught, severed from their full Archfey splendor and anchored them to the valley. Their power in Barovia was real but diminished, bound to specific domains and to the attention of mortal worship. 

Each Lady cultivated her own cult and manner of rule. The Seeker, Lady of the Forest, granted visions and prophetic insight, teaching acolytes to turn inward and read the paths yet to come. Her followers saw meaning in dreams, the presence of Owls and Ravens, and the quiet language of the wind. The Weaver, Lady of the Swamp, traded in memory and will, forming covens that drew on the weight of the past and the binding of souls into time. Coin, endurance, and resolve were her offerings, and Spiders and Serpents marked her shrines. The Huntress, Lady of the Mountain, demanded strength and proof of dominance over the present moment. Her rites centered on totems, blood, and the mastery of the wild, and her followers worshipped Bears and Goats as sacred signs. Through these cults, the Ladies exercised control over their regions without ever ruling the valley as a whole.

The spread of their worship divided the valley’s Smallfolk into hill-folk, swamp-folk, and forest-folk. These groups differed in custom, magic, and allegiance, and conflict between them was common. Hill folk tied to the Huntress raided lowlands for strength and tribute. Swamp folk loyal to the Weaver undermined rivals through curses and Spellcraft. Forest folk who followed the Seeker relied on foresight and manipulation, rather than force. These rivalries hardened over generations and often erupted into open violence.

When the faith of the Morninglord began to take hold in the townships, the divisions deepened. Some groups turned on others in hopes of securing favor or survival, but the pressure of a rising, unified faith eventually redirected their violence. The old factions, exhausted and fearful, began to strike at the Morninglord’s followers instead, seeing them as a threat to all three Ladies and to the fragile balance that had sustained the valley.

The later fall of the Ladies and the Desecration Of The Forest Fane, Desecration Of The Swamp Fane, and Desecration Of The Mountain Fane would result in the dwindling of their powers. For hundreds of years, they were limited to the forms of mortals, until they coordinated with the Heralds of Dawn to enact the Slaying Of Strahd.