Coven of Crow Maidens
To the people of Eroch, the Crow Maidens are many things: troublesome meddlers, dangerous witches, an unseen threat, among many more things. What no one in the clans realise is that these women, despised by their own people, are protectors standing between them and threats they are not even aware of.
Structure
The Coven of Crow Maidens are paradoxically a loose organization and a strict hierarchy. Their role in the coven is determined by their seniority within the organization. More experienced witches are above the less experienced ones in authority.
No one knows exactly how new witches are recruited or taught. Many Erochan women have left into the forest to find them. Some return as Crow Maidens, but most are never seen again. In truth, this is due to the danger of the Erochan wilderness more than anything else.
In actuality, new recruits are found through both divination magic and simple word of mouth. These recruits are then apprenticed to a witch much the same as any other mage. Then, at a point determined by the elder witch, the apprentice graduates in a ceremony at dawn. Her hair changes to black and, as a sign of her abandonment of her former life, her clan name is changed to "Crow".
Only women are Crow Maidens. Most believe this is because they only accept female recruits, but rumor states that they do accept male recruits as well. These men are then turned into women by the same ritual that colors their hair black. As soon as this rumor is spoken, jokes about the hypothetical recruit's manhood are sure to follow.
The new Crow Maiden's first task is to find a guardian from among the clans. This person is a warrior dedicated to the protection of the witch. To refuse such an offer is falsely believed to bring doom upon the one who refuses. It is also believed that this guardian is bewitched into service, but this is strictly forbidden by the coven. The guardian's clan name also changes to "Crow", and their clan colors are replaced with black.
Who or what, if anything leads the coven is a mystery, even to the group's members.
Public Agenda
The purpose behind the coven is simple, to protect Eroch from supernatural dangers. As a magic-fearing people, the Erochans are poorly equipped to deal with such things. This is why the duties of the Crow Maidens are so important.
Of course, that very fear of magic means that the Erochans fear the Crow Maidens as well. This, combined with their secretive nature means that they are often seen by others as bringers of woe. The witches do not care about correcting this misconception.
History
As with all other details of the Crow Maidens, the story of their founding is a mystery, even to the coven's members. The reason for their founding is much more clear-cut. For millennia, the women of Eroch were treated terribly. The only way some of them could escape their situation was by harnessing that which the men feared: magic.
Since the founding of the coven, the group has watched from the shadows, and occasionally put a corrective hand on the very unstable Erochan history. Their most well-known intervention was during the invasion of Ansarien Ill'conter. They sided with the forces of Eldain Mal'atre, and a few witches even joined the fledgling Order of the Arcane Eye.
As with all the rest of Eroch's history, very little has changed in the lives of the Coven of Crow Maidens.
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