Company of the Raven

The Company of the Raven was an adventuring company formed in 586 CY. The group is no longer together, but several of its members continue to lead the adventuring lifestyle.

Goals
The goals of the Company of the Raven were unclear; however, the group's leader, a priest of Vatun named Olaf, made most of his decisions based on signs that he interpreted as omens from his god--signs which often involved ravens. The fact that most of the group's members were exiles or on the run, led many to believe that its primary goal was survival.

History
The Company of the Raven was born out of a vision Olaf Pathwander had after his village near the Griff Mountains was destroyed by orcs in late 585 CY-to rebuild a "tribe" of his own. His first recruit was the dwarven battlerager, Durlauf Dragonhyde, who helped him slay the orcs who destroyed his village. A few weeks later, the pair were joined by the mute assassin, Rook, in the Bone March.

A Local Legend
The Company of the Raven's first notable victory took place several days later, on Sunsebb 6th, 595 CY, in the village of Trellmont, in the Flinty Hills in northern Nyrond, where they succeeded in destroying a demonic spirit that had been terrorizing the place once every nine years for decades (see "A Local Legend," Dungeon #31, 1991).

The next day, on Sunsebb 7th, 585 CY, while the three were dining at the local inn (quite crowded due to the presence of a merchant caravan passing though), a group of eight Pholtine witch hunters from the neighboring nation of the Theocracy of the Pale entered the place, seeking a witch. Their leader, Elijiah Stone, found his quarry in a young elven woman who had arrived earlier that day. Rook started a brawl with these men, and his companions quickly joined, as did the elven witch and her unarmed pugilist companion, as well as a human priest of Fharlanghn who had arrived with the caravan. When the dust cleared, two witch hunters lay dead at Durlauf's feet, with another knocked unconscious by the pugilist, and the remaining five (including Stone) fleeing. The witch introduced herself as Jaikenda, and noted that she had been fleeing Stone and his men for weeks. The human pugilist was named Marcus, who had arrived with the caravan, and had hired on as the elf's bodyguard just that morning. The Fharlangist priest called himself Gunther Pathstrayer, and claimed to be on the run from a nagging wife. The six quickly agreed to leave Trellmont, as they felt Stone would soon be back with reinforcements. The unconscious Pholtine they took prisoner, in hopes of learning how many men Stone actually had at his disposal.

Necropolis
Traveling west, the party (consisting of Olaf, Durlauf, Rook, Jaikenda, Marcus, and Gunther) reached the outskirts of the Nyrondese village of Wargrave on Sunsebb 14th. As the prisoner yielded no useful information, Olaf sent Rook into the woods to dispatch him, while the rest proceeded into the village. Shortly thereafter, Rook caught up with them to say he'd been unsuccessful; apparently, the witch hunters were still on their trail, and a number of them had surprised Rook before he could eliminate the prisoner. Rook was able to escape, informing the group that Stone and his men seemed more interested in recovering their comrade than anything else. Gunther theorizing that perhaps the government operatives from the Pale did not want to draw too much attention to themselves in a foreign land.

Wargrave was having troubles of its own. the villagers hired the Company of the Raven to destroy Balfas the Betrayed, a local general who had died over two centuries before, during Nyrond's attempt to subjugate the Pale in 359 CY, and had now arisen from the dead. The six entered the barrow that evening, where they found the freshly slain body of Tegger. Using speak with dead, the party learned that the thief had set up camp in the tomb in a ruse to extort the villagers for gold by impersonating Balfas. All went awry when Balfas actually did arise and slew Tegger for impugning his good name. They soon encountered the undead general and his skeletal troops. Balfas informed them of his plan to draft the villagers and continue the war against the Pale. As the party felt that an undead invasion force, even against the Pale, wouldn't turn out well for the living, they drew their weapons and returned Balfas to the grave. The party collected their reward from the villagers and left Wargrave the next morning, on Sunsebb 15th. (Dungeon #16, 1989)

Hard Times in Womtham
One day later (Sunsebb 16th), the Company arrived in the overcrowded north Nyrondese city of Womtham, still overflowing with refugees from the Greyhawk Wars (582-584 CY). There, the Company parted ways with Gunther and Jaikenda, who each claimed business elsewhere in Nyrond. The remaining party members decided to stay in the city for a few days and spend some of their hard-earned gold.

Two days after their arrival, Rook advised leaving the city. He had spotted some of the witch hunters early that evening, apparently searching for their group. After gathering their belongings, Olaf, Durlauf, Rook, and Marcus prepared to leave the city at nightfall. As they left the inn, they heard a loud explosion--which they would later learn came from the local school of magic. Half the magic school was apparently destroyed in the blast, the cause unknown. Along the way to the city gates, they were joined by a young Rhennee girl named Maiya, who was fleeing the city watch. After about an hour of pushing their way through the panicked city, the five made their way to the crowded city gates, which they found were blocked by guards looking for potential suspects trying to escape the city. Just as it seemed as if the guards were going to let them pass, a young half-elven mage nearby panicked and slew the guard questioning him with a magic missile. A riot erupted and the guards were overwhelmed and the gates breached, allowing the Company and many others to escape the city. The group quickly noticed that the half-elf had attached himself to them. Upon questioning the mage, they learned his name was Feregus, and he claimed responsibility for destroying Womtham's magic school, though he swore it was an accident. The five agreed that a mage might be useful should the witch hunters catch up to them, and decided to let Feregus come along. At that point, Rook caught an elven woman hiding in the shadows, trying to spy on them. She introduced herself as Luna, a mage-priestess of Sehanine Moonbow, who had been following Feregus, more out of curiosity than anything else. The Company agreed to allow her to come along as well. Thus, on Sunsebb 18th, 595 CY, under a moonlit sky, the seven fled Womtham across the snow-covered plains of Nyrond.

Members

 * Angus MacDonald/Duncan McConnell (Duncan McConnell)
 * Durlauf Dragonhyde (Joe Jaggers)
 * Feregus (Jason Huffines)
 * Gunther Pathstrayer (Duncan McConnell, Butch Sparks)
 * Jaikenda (Diane ?)
 * Luna (Kim Maynard)
 * Maiya (Tammy Jaggers)
 * Marcus (David Farmer)
 * Olaf Pathwander (Bob Richardson)
 * Rook (Shawn Vest)

Published adventure chronology

 * "A Local Legend" (Dungeon #31)
 * "Necropolis" (Dungeon #16)
 * "The Fountain of Health" (Dungeon #39)
 * "Secrets of the Towers" (Dungeon #10, towers #1 and #2 only)
 * "Citadel by the Sea" (Dragon #78)
 * "Slavers by Midnight" (From the Ashes adventure card)
 * "Minding the Store" (The City of Greyhawk adventure card #12)
 * "Irongard" (Dungeon #18)
 * "Through the Night" (Dungeon #29)

DM notes
This 2E campaign took place in New Albany, IN, about the early to mid-1990s.