The Black Ravens Tribe

Leader: Croesis female human wizard (tribal necromancer)

Races: Human, elf, half-elf, gnoll

History: The Black Ravens began as a mystic society within the Gray Fangs so named because ravens were thought to know all secrets of the world. They were keenly interested in learning how to fight the Dark Entity and its many minions. By plumbing the depths of some Lemurian ruins, a Black Raven named Croesis discovered the secrets of a powerful style of necromancy. This style of necromancy empowered any creature raised by it with incredible powers when fighting demons and devils. Croesis told the others in the Black Ravens and they began to experiment with raising their own undead army. Croesis reasoned that they could eventually raise an army capable of destroying the Dark Entity. After all, their undead servants never aged. Furthermore, these undead would be immune to the Dark Entity’s corruption. Croesis confronted the Gray Fangs leaders and told them of her bold plan to destroy the Dark Entity. The elders were horrified by her actions and exiled her from the tribe. Many went with her and they formed a new tribe and even took in a clan of gnolls to complement their numbers. For the first several years, there was an uneasy peace between the two tribes but the Black Ravens quickly built a large army of undead warriors. Some in the Gray Fangs worried that the Black Ravens would test their army on them.

While the Black Ravens had a huge army of undead, they found that they could not maneuver well with such a ponderous force. The Gray Fangs summoned elemental beings to complement their numbers and called down great storms. The tribes seldom met in huge numbers, but their battles were bloody and frequent. The Black Ravens learned how to fight alongside their undead servants while the Gray Fangs pioneered new forms of elemental magic. After several decades of open conflict, the pace of the war has slowed down considerably. Now, each tribe is content to just raid the other, with border skirmishes happening nearly every week. The Black Ravens set aside a certain percentage of the undead they raise and set them to harass the Gray Fangs without any instruction from a living tribal warrior or necromancer. The Gray Fangs have set many traps near their territory to ward off the Black Ravens. It’s become a stalemate.

Beliefs: The Black Ravens believe that necromancy and undead are not inherently evil, but are tools molded by their wielder. Thus, an army of immortal, untiring warriors who are immune to the Dark Entity’s corrupting nature are the ultimate weapon against it. They believe it is immoral to not use every weapon available to fight the Dark Entity. However, they also believe that building permanent stone structures is arrogant and too reminiscent of the Lemurians for comfort.