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 Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:36 pm
The Culture
Raven Lord is the name for individuals descended from a herd that was powerful a long, long time ago. They now rarely form groups outside of family units, and most wander from place to place with their raven companions.
The mask is a sign of honour and skill which can be granted to the Raven Lord by anyone they hold in high esteem. It may not be made for one's self, nor can it be granted for no reason. A Raven Lord who wears a false mask is committing the worst offence still honoured by all Raven Lords.
Flightless Raven Lords are a thing to be pitted as they can't soar with the partners that give them their names. For this reason it's rare that a Raven Lord would breed with a wingless partner. Should this happen, any flightless children born of the union will still be honoured with the title, but will almost never obtain a mask of their own.
Ravens are believed to have been the first creatures to be blessed by the spirits. Thus receiving higher intelligence and cunning than any other animal. Those who partner with them are above all others, even if they are not members of the Raven Lord line.
Names given to Raven Lords by their parents reflect what the strengths they hope their children will have. These are often not literal, and names can have more than one meaning behind them. Names can be metaphorical or even just include sounds which carry some meaning to the parent.
Foals only become Raven Lords if they are raised by the Raven Lord parent. If a foal is born to a Raven Lord then is raised by anyone outside of the culture then they lose their birthright and will only ever have access to it again if they formed a permanent mateship with a fully realized Raven Lord. An individual from the Raven Lord line may choose to adopt a foal, and raise it as a full blooded Raven Lord so long as this child was adopted as an infant (basket stage).
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:06 pm
The Classes
Raven Speaker - This class is made up of two types of Raven Lords. They are not looked down upon by their peers, but they are individuals who for one reason or another failed to form a tight knit bond with their primary raven. Most often Raven Speakers are individuals who weren't born to a Raven Lord line but instead formed a permanent mateship with a Raven Lord. The second type consists of those individuals who were born into a Raven Lord line, but were unable to form any close bond with their raven. This is most likely to happen to individuals trying for the Conspiracy class or the Dread class as these types focus heavily on things besides one's own Raven. Dedicated and Primordial classes are not immune to this, but they may still fail to bond with their companions.
Dedicated Class - Most Raven Lords choose to follow the path of the Dedicated Class. This class allows them more freedom to explore and wander. Allide is a dedicated raven lord. She forms a tight bond with a single bird. Dedicated types grow to know their companions so well that they can accurately predict what their companion will do most of the time. Currently Allide and Anzu's daughters.
Primordial Class - A Primordial Raven lord has only one raven, but also has some form of magic. Suti and Uni mixes will most likely be Primordial. The main difference between a Primordial Raven Lord and a Dedicated Raven lord is that the Primordial can't focus all of their attention on their raven as they also need to spend time learning to use their powers.
Conspiracy Class - Any raven lord that gathers together a large flock of ravens. They achive this by bonding with an alpha raven and by helping their bonded companion build him or herself a flock. If a flock member bonds to a soquili they leave their parent flock.
This class is usually chosen by dominant types who wish to hold large territories, which is necessary to maintain the large number of ravens in a Conspiracy Class' flock. The most common strategy for this class is to either put emphasis on sheer strength and overwhelm any opponent with numbers.
Anzu is currently the only example of the Conspiracy Class.
Dread Class - This is a restricted class. Do not choose this class without first talking to one over three. Dread Raven Lords are the herd leaders of Raven Lord society. Rather than focusing on a bond with a raven, Dread Raven Lords focus on leading other Raven Lords. Just being the head of a group of Raven Lords is not enough here. Their primary concern (and the primary concern of their raven familiar if they have one) is the Raven Lords who follow them.
A Dread Raven Lord may start out as any of the three above classes (Dedicated, Conspiracy, or Primordial). This is the only class where having a raven companion is optional.
Abhorrent Class - Some Raven Lords may eventually choose to seek out corpse powder and form and join as one with their partner raven. Individuals who succeed are seen as simultaneously perfect, yet also loathsome. Reasons to seek this class differ vastly, but some may be seeking to hold onto a deathly sick partner, others may have gone insane long before starting their quest. The one thing they all have in common is that both Raven and Raven lord go on the quest together.
Resplendent Class - Abhorrent Raven Lords who have received an angeni charm can become Resplendent. This is not an automatic title and it has to be earned. The ideal Resplendent Raven Lord is one who has been cursed, then was able to regain their original personality, or better yet a personality that is a mix of their original self, and their raven companion. This fusion does not need to be moral or good. So long as the curse doesn't dominate their personality then they are often considered Resplendent.
The Awaited - Ravens and Raven Lords who's partner has passed away. Often Awaited ravens will most often seek out a Conspiracy Class Raven Lord and join their flock. Awaited Raven Lords will most likely either seek out a Dread Lord and join them, or seek somewhere quiet to raise chicks for future generations in peace.
Lords of the Depths - When the first branch broke off to breed with kelpies the new children began to realize that their ravens were unhappy spending too much time at sea. While the first kelpi Raven Lords still bound themselves to birds, later generations adopted octopuses as their companion of choice. Eventually the octopuses came to be recognized as fit companions by the herd at large. Even so long after the original herd has broken down Raven Lords across the world still recognize their underwater kin as true and equal Lords. These days kelpies and mer who are born to the tradition always use octopuses as their companion. A Lord of the Depths can be any class that a land based Raven Lord could be.
The Ophidian Sect -The Ophidian Sect consists of individuals who were born into the tradition but are land dwelling and lack wings. As they are ill suited for raven or octopus companions they have chosen instead to pair with serpents. Seeking to prove their worth despite the fact that they've shunned the traditional roll of Speaker, they've taken to caves and caverns far beneath the earth where octopods and ravens can't go.
While they are not currently accepted as Lords by their peers they are staying true to their path and one day may earn the respect they deserve.
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