Crown of Feasting Ravens

Crown of Feasting Ravens

(Magic item)

Affiliation

Blackearth Clan
Jaalika

Source: The Worldwound, pg(s). 31 (1E)
Rival Academies, pg(s). 17 (2E)

The Crown of Feasting Ravens is a relic of the Sarkorian Blackearth Clan that commemorated their victory at the Battle of Two Sisters Hill over the Willowgrasp Clan. For generations, the Crown bound the spirit of each ruler of the clan to itself upon their passing, allowing them to continue to advise and protect future rulers.

However, it now rests on the brow of Jaalika, a seraptis demon and nascent demon lord, who has used it for more than two decades to retain control over the Blackearth Clan's ancestral burial site of Blackearth Cairn.

History

The last ruler bound to the Crown was Arkilan Blackearth II, who died by suicide after being widowed in 4303 AR and was buried with the artifact in Blackearth Cairn. The clan's rule passed to a distant cousin and the Crown was soon forgotten.

When the Worldwound opened in 4606 AR, the spirits within the Crown activated in the presence of invading demons and rose as wights and wraiths to defend the cairn. They succeeded for decades, repelling all demonic assaults with such confidence that they eventually opened the cairn's doors as a taunt. The demons eventually learned to avoid the cairn after enough of them succumbed to the spirits' provocations and were slaughtered.

However, scholars theorize that it was Arkilan Blackearth II's suicide that ultimately allowed Jaalika and cultists of Sifkesh—all demons affiliated with suicide—to infiltrate the cairn and seize the Crown in 4704 AR. Upon doing so, she gained control of its spirits and proceeded to toy with them and put them to work for her as she renovated the cairn into a temple to Sifkesh.

Recent history

The Fifth Mendevian Crusade closed the Worldwound in 4718 AR, but Jaalika has only solidified her control over the cairn and Crown since as a nascent demon lord. The Reclaimers of Sarkoris wish to clear the cairn and retrieve the Crown's lost knowledge, but many of their number have been lost in their attempts.