Raven Tales

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Item

Image
Description	Although Midgard has used ravens as mascots for a few teams over the years, you think this book's authors are referencing the raven's role in horror or mythology than it's local political meaning.
Type	Offhand
Use	See notes
Effects	+3 Etheric Power +3 Evasion Power

Notes

When using this item you get the message:

You flip to a random story, getting a waft of aged paper as you do.

And, the first time you use the book:

A trapper made his way outside his village on a chilly fall day, hoping to get the last few hides before the worst of winter set in. But among the bare trees and fallen leaves, he found something he did not expect: a girl from the village, covered in blood.

He rushed her back to his home, the hides forgotten, reheating a bowl of soup and asking her what might have happened.

Or, subsequent times:

Every story seems to start the same way: a child found in the woods outside her village, covered in blood. The trapper takes her in, asking what could have happened.

Followed by one of:

She'd found a cold, dark pool in the woods. Nothing reflected in the pool, not sun or sky or even her face.

Something reached out of the pool, a scaled hand, dragging her down forever and ever. The air left her, then her consciousness.

She woke up on the shore of the pool, soaked in blood with a strange song in her ears.

She'd found a cold, dark pool in the woods. Nothing reflected in the pool, not sun or sky or even her face.

But it looked cool, so she dove in. Somewhere in the depths, something grabbed her leg, pulling her under the surface until she couldn't tell up from down.

She escaped, but bloodied by the rocks and the thing she left lurking in that dark pool.

In the dark places of the forest, where even the trapper feared to tread, she'd found a graveyard.

Ravens sat on the tombstones, speaking in their language. She liked to imagine she could understand them, their dark stories and ancient memories. She explained it to the trapper, along with her fall on the way back.

He saw through her lies, however, taking the witch child to the inquisitor. She was burned and left for the ravens that served her dark magics.

In the dark places of the forest, where even the trapper feared to tread, she'd found a graveyard.

Beneath the graveyard, she found a vast hollow. Hairless people in the hollow accepted her into their number, sharing their food with her and showering her with their gifts.

She would have stayed among those people, her new friends, and built a life there, but a terrible presence emerged from the depths… lights in the shadows that twisted the minds of her friends against her.

Her friends tried to overwhelm her, but she fought, killing one with a stone, and running back into the lonely sunlit world.

She found a wounded dog in the woods, its leg bent at an awful angle. She tried to carry it home, but it bit her and limped away.

As she cried for the dog and tried to rinse its blood from her dress, the trapper scowled down at her. Deprived his prey, he pushed her into the trap instead.

She found a wounded dog in the woods, its leg bent at an awful angle. She tried to carry it home, but it bit her and limped away.

The trapper took her in for the night, but the dog must have returned. The trapper was torn to pieces. And where she had rested, there was nothing but a patch of blood.

It's said on cold nights, you can still hear it howling near the trapper's house.

She'd run through the forest with her brother, searching for mushrooms in the damp ground. But a roll of thunder caught both of them offguard.

But there were no clouds, only an old woman with a mortar and pestle. The old woman grabbed him, pulling him into the mortar and grinding him, blood and bone.

The girl watched aghast, the blood raining down on her from the cloudless sky. She ran, hiding in their home while the old woman tore open the cabinets.

The woman went through the contents of every drawer, counting quietly in her raspy voice. The girl slunk away from the distracted woman, losing herself in the woods, rather than wait to face the crone's judgement.

She'd run through the forest with her brother, searching for mushrooms in the damp ground. But a roll of thunder caught both of them offguard.

Water pounded down from the clouds, rushing through the gulleys and stream beds. In a moment, her brother disappeared under the muddy water.

She threw herself on the rocks, reaching for his hand. But he disappeared into the churn, a life gone in a senseless moment.

A man in the forest had invited her into his workshop, showing her how to take apart animals and put them back together. He asked her to join in his experiments and she was eager to help.

But she couldn't go home, not covered in blood. She didn't even want to stay with the trapper. He begged her to stay rather than going back into the forest.

They could never determine who had stabbed the trapper or how a fox had gotten into his house to scratch out his eyes.

A man in the forest had invited her into his workshop, showing her how to take apart animals and put them back together. So on her way home, she'd stopped to practice and gotten herself dirty.

She was too worried to go home, too worried that her mother would lock her in the closet for getting her dress dirty. So she stayed in the woods to build a new family.

But the squirrels and the foxes and the deer couldn't be stitched into a new family, even with the skills she'd learned.

She met a woman in the woods, someone the trapper once knew who had left the village to find work. The woman was different than the trapper remembered, cold and distant.

The woman led her to an shining tower. At the top of the tower, she saw the woman's servants slaving away.

As she watched one of the servants tortured in the fields, she ran, tumbling down the stairs in her haste. As she looked back at the tower, it faded with age and verdigris.

She met a woman in the woods, someone the trapper once knew who had left the village to find work. The woman was different than the trapper remembered, cold and distant.

The woman led her to an shining tower and tucked her in to a glorious silk bed.

In the morning, she woke to the sun blazing down through the trees. The pile of leaves beneath her crinkled uncomfortably and stuck to her blood-slick skin.