Raven
Background
Ravens are a bird commonly found across The Forests of The Wilds where they are often seen flying across the treetops. They are sometimes confused with crows, which are more commonly found in the North West area of the Known World occupied by The Towns. However, ravens are distinct because they are substantially larger.About
Biology
Ravens are medium to large predominantly black birds with a wingspan between 40 and 80 inches depending on the sub-species. They are a passerine bird, which means they are capable of perching due to the arrangement of their toes, three pointing forwards one pointing back.
Clutches, laid by the female, generally contain between three and seven pale bluish-green, brown-blotched eggs and take upto 21 days to incubate by both parents. After hatching they take between 40 and 50 days to fledge and stay with their parents for an additional six months after that.
Egg laying generally begins towards the end of the year according to the Seasons of Known World, but have been known to happen in the first month of the new year. Ravens are omnivorous and highly opportunistic, their diet varying based on location, season and what they happen upon.
Locations
Grey-Headed Raven
Many different species of raven call the Forests of the Wilds their home. There is said to be a different type of raven for every type of tree which grows. While that cannot be verified, there are certainly different ravens in each of the different forests.
For example, the Black-Winged Raven, distinct for its onyx-dark underwings, is native to the Lost Forest. Whereas, the aptly named Grey-Headed Ravens call the Endless Forest home.
Wise Birds
Ravens are extremely popular with the Nomads who travel through the forests. They see the ravens as often more intelligent than other birds, or if not smarter then at least more willing to perform tasks in exchange for a reward.
They have been shown to have the ability to be able to associate a person with a name which makes them very useful as messengers. Where as other birds can be trained to return to a specific location, a well-trained raven may scout across hundreds of miles of forests to locate the person they have been sent to deliver a message to.
Birds of Lore
Due to their intelligence and usefulness, Ravens play a large part in Nomad culture and appear in their songs, stories, poems and popular phrases.
They are most commonly used for sending urgent messages, and as such are often connected with the arrival of big or bad news. As a result, they are often connected with fate and messages from the Gods.
Their cry (which varies between subspecies) is used in the epic poem 'To The Shadows' to foreshadow each of the deaths of the major characters.
"The distinct croak of a black-winged raven heralded news... Good news, as Hilda would say, walks proudly on all fours, but bad news flies."
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