The Raven

Created by Acturus Albani_{who should be sleeping}.

• High Executioner of
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  The Wing's Shadow

• Lady Death

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Arcana

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Brightsong

(a.k.a. The Shadow of Rhûn)

The mysterious figure known only as The Raven is an assassin currently under the employment of the organization called The Wing's Shadow. A lithe and attractive elf, she has been known to use a wide array of skills and weapons to murder her targets. If a client of this organization is looking for The Raven's services, it's because they really want that person dead.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Fit, lithe, agile, invisible tattoos.

Identifying Characteristics

When the mark branded by The Eagle is activated for whatever reason, her eyes shine red and a mess of scarlet tattoos spreads across her skin like a rash.

Physical quirks

When extremely annoyed, she's prone to growl.

Special abilities

• Limited ability to change physical appearance and voice tone. Able to move slightly faster than most mortals.

• The Raven is a Chosen Being of the Higher Mysteries of Ar'Nuhûn, and, as such, can use a wide yet unexplored arrange of abilities conferred to her by ancient beings that inhabit on Æthera , the largest of the three moons. These powers include increased durability and a nearly endless supply of magic.

Apparel & Accessories

The Raven usually sticks to blacks in the form of satin or silk, although she does have dresses and gowns for situations where she might need them.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

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The Raven, born as Arcana Brightsong, came to the world under the dark eclipses of 507 BE, passed down in history as The Bleeding Moons, which coincided with one of the bloodiest battles ever fought in Ar'Nuhûnian soil, The Mirror Field. Young Arcana's people, the moon elves, were always being hunted by numerous factions for different reasons, but it was the forces ushered in by the gods that would prove to be their undoing.

Or so Arcana thought for the longest time.

In the northern fringes of present-day Crendameth existed one of the last remaining bastions of the once proud moon elves, a city high on the Snowspire called Mooncrest, the highest inhabited settlement in the world at the time. One fateful midnight, swarms of fiends appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and began to murder, devour and use people for their own desires. Arcana, a witness to her entire family's butchering, ran as fast as she could, remembering that the summit would be the safest place to retreat to in the case of a pursuer invasion.

So began her tortuous ascent up the increasingly vertical mountain. Days went on and on, food and game became scarce and water was a dream long left behind. The very air seemed to want to kill her, daggers forming every time she took breath. But finally, after what seemed like months, she arrived at the mountaintop, and was horrified to see that her younger sister Sila was being held hostage by a hulking demon who appeared to be waiting for her. It wanted to strike a bargain: should young Arcana lead the demon to a legendary temple built into the Snowspire's core, Sila would live. This, of course, was folly. Both the demon and Arcæna knew this, but still she pleaded. Sila cried and whimpered throughout the exchange, and finally succumbed to her wounds. It was then that the moons flashed bloodred once more and Sila was beheaded and devoured by the demon.

Consumed by grief, confusion, shock, anguish and above all else rage and hatred, she uttered a scream which threatened to rend her throat. She vowed to take revenge on those who had made the elves suffer that night, repaying them in the same coin. The demon laughed, discarded Sila's remains and started moving towards her, fire springing forth.

A voice then rang out in the night, speaking a language ancient and forgotten, but the demon was far too interested on his next meal and Arcana's world was reduced to the figure heading towards her, and how she would rip it to shreds. As if on command, a gleaming sword materialized in her hand, and she seemed to glow with silvery light. After a blink of an eye, the demon was roaring in pain, its left arm writhing on the stone they stood on and with renewed bloodlust it lunged for her. The moment the claws were and inch from her face, however, everything was forgotten save for the memory of her, Silas and their parents happily singing under a whisperwood tree. Arcana closed her eyes, praying to any god that heard her to be reunited with her family in whatever afterlife exists.

The pain never came, but she stood still. Slowly and with little belief, she opened her eyes and saw the demon that had murdered her sister sprawled on the floor, a mess of guts and brain matter. It was then she noticed that she was covered head to tow in the thing's blood, and that there was no sword in evidence. Before her stood a proud figure, one with the head of a man and the body of a lion.

"And so, the proud eagle saved the little raven from being prey", it said to her, its eyes glowing a frigid blue. Confused and dazed, she asked who it was. And to this day, there exists a blank space in Arcana's memory as to what was said at the mountaintop. What she does remember, however, is that the figure had offered to help see her vow through on one condition. Not wondering why it even knew about this vow, she asked what the condition was. It said that she'd have to be at its side forevermore. Not knowing what she was getting herself into, she accepted.

Thus began a hunt for the demons, now trapped in the material plane. One by one, they fell to the might of the sphinx, with Arcana reveling in the hunt and the kill, until the last means was brutally killed. It had been years after the slaughter, but Arcana was ready to fulfill her half of the bargain. When she turned around, smiling, a single claw rested on her forehead, and in that instant, she was flooded with all the pain she'd inflicted on every single demon they'd hunted. A brand appeared there, and a swirl of red writing crawling on her skin as she writhed in pain. In the back of her head, she heard the sphinx speak about how foolish she'd been, and that she would be at its service until death took her.

When the pain finally subsided, she was lying on a bed, staring at a ceiling she didn't recognize. Slowly she moved towards a window, and her eyes widened when she saw a white city full of life and festivities. As she explored the seemingly vacant building, one thing became perfectly clear to her: she wasn't getting out of there. When she crossed a mirror, she stopped dead in her tracks. Here eyes were the same color as the moons had been on the summit. Everything came rushing back to her, and immediately she shattered the mirror and took one of the falling shards, attempting to stab herself in the neck. Darkness took her, but not for long.

Upon waking, she was before the sphinx in a dark, cold room. It now referred to her as 'Raven' and to itself as 'Eagle'. Those gelid eyes pinned her to the spot, and in her mind, she heard a voice that explained, with no remorse or emotion, that she would now be its executioner and assassin. When she refused, it laughed, saying she'd already begun. Those demons she'd hunted? All humanoids. All targets. All dead because of her and potent illusion magic. Her technique needed refinement, it said, but it was a promising start.

Arcana fell to her knees, vomiting and crying. Her mind was a blind maelstrom of emotions tearing into her sanity and, for the longest time, she would not get up. Eventually, she was forced to by the sphinx's magical might, and that would be the first of many training sessions.

But whether she liked it or not, Arcana died on that cold stone floor. She would never return to that name.

She rose as the High Executioner. As the last thing many would see before embracing the death she was denied.

She was The Raven.

Sexuality

Irrelevant. She uses her body to get what she wishes if necessary.

Education

Trained under The Eagle to be a master assassin, brutally so. Her final lesson was to kill her master, a legend in The Wing's Shadow known as The Scarlet Cloak. Little did she know that, even when The Scarlet Cloak fell and her blade clanged to the floor, the real teacher would always be pain.

Employment

The Raven was forcefully employed by Show Spoiler

The Eagle

to work as a right-hand assassin and High Executioner for Show Spoiler

The Wing's Shadow

. This happened from a bargain she struck with Show Spoiler

The Eagle

, where, in return for her life, he would help her avenge her people. Little did she know it was Show Spoiler

The Eagle

who orchestrated the fall of the snow elves, and that, through a twist in her words, she'd sworn her life away, meaning it was only his to end. She's been 'employed' since the human equivalent to her late teens.

Accomplishments & Achievements

• Successfully assassinated high-ranking remnants of The Voildlord's reign without ever being detected during the attempt.

• Has completed over three hundred contracts with little to no inconveniences during their execution.

• Killed Blaine Shadz in single combat.

• Single-handedly held her own against the remaining members of The Onyx Roses.

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• Responsible for both The Sacking of Magna and The Fall of Calmgrove.

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• Instigated Vonlir Vil Vexinor to murder innocents in The Calmgrove Massacre.

• Was part of the defense of Show Spoiler

  Nevermore
  against an onslaught of assassins and thugs from other organizations.

• Murdered Singorn Crendameth, last Crendameth in power before Elmeyon, prompting the family's escape and subsequent exile.

• Fought Show Spoiler

  Magnus Grimm
  to a standstill at the Oakenheart Mannor in 56 BE.

Failures & Embarrassments

• Her first ever job as an assassin. She was far too young for it, but allowed herself to be pressured into it because she thought it could mean her death. Of course, Show Spoiler

  The Eagle
  had anticipated this. Once her presence was known and the target was alerted, she grimly accepted her fate. Little did she know that her body was about to be used like a puppet. Once she died, skewered by spears and swords of the target's entourage, Show Spoiler
  The Eagle
  channeled into her dead body and slaughtered everyone. When she came to, everything around her was completely destroyed, corpses strewn everywhere and her hands bathed in blood.

• In her combat against Show Spoiler

  Magnus Grimm
  , she obtained a scar in her back that could never be healed. It is the only time in her career as an assassin to ever receive a hit she could not recover from.

Mental Trauma

• The extinction of her people before her very eyes by an unwilling accident has taken its toll over the years. Being subjugated to Show Spoiler
  The Eagle
  and being branded subsequently.

• Her first death and being brought back by the brand. She's still scarred from the experience, especially because she was still very young when it happened, and since then has always planned miles ahead.

Intellectual Characteristics

Logical and socially adept with very elevated spatial and geographical awareness.

Morality & Philosophy

"If they are to die, let them die. If they are to be killed, let me kill them quickly. If you are to stop me, allow me to demonstrate why that is unwise."

Taboos

Speaking about her past or her family.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Before, she wanted to destroy everyone who had wronged the moon elves. After being enslaved by The Eagle's promises, she only wants to die.

Social

Contacts & Relations

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• The Eagle: Employer and owner of life.

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• The Murder: Contract givers and regulators of life.

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• The Half-Mad: Regular contract giver.

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• Ulfgar Silveraxe: Regular contract giver and client.

Family Ties

All of her family is dead. All of her species is dead.

Religious Views

In her mind, all gods claiming to be good only pretend to be so, and all gods claiming to be evil are worthless. There is only her, and her ability.

Social Aptitude

Flirtatious and taciturn with targets, frigid otherwise. Knows she's attractive and uses it to her advantage, but mostly keeps to herself unless the situation requires it otherwise.

Mannerisms

If it's a target, she'll get close to them, seduce them and take them out when they aren't looking. Otherwise, she's reserved, quiet and almost glacial when talking to others.

Hobbies & Pets

The closest thing The Raven has to hobbies are knife sharpening, stargazing on the guild's top floors among the whisperwoods and writing in a desperate attempt to escape from that which haunts her.

Speech

The Raven speaks in a very soft, almost velvety voice, with a refined form of speaking. She isn't a stranger to insults and curse words. Quite creative with the way she slights people.

Wealth & Financial state

The Raven lives in relative comfort, yet has absolutely no desire for money or monetary gain. As such, she only needs the coin to buy her one food of the day, never more than that. Everything else, from lodging to taxes (administered by The Murder and The Eagle via ghost enterprising) is taken care for by others.

Alignment

Unwilling Neutral Evil

Current Location

Arc - Tus

Honorary & Occupational Titles

High Executioner for The Wing's Shadow

Year of Birth

507 BE/ASE 533 Years old

Circumstances of Birth

Born under the Bleeding Moons of 507 BE.

Birthplace

Unknown

Current Residence

None

Gender

Female

Eyes

Large, bright red.

Hair

Long, wavy, jet-black.

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale white.

Height

1.73 m

Weight

52.4 kg

Aligned Organization

The Wing's Shadow

Other Affiliations

• The Wing's Shadow

Known Languages

The Raven knows a smattering of mundane all languages, but is highly proficient in Common, Elvish, Thieve's Cant and Undercommon. She's never had to learn any exotic ones.

Character Prototype

Physically similar to Lust from Full Metal Alchemist.