Lore:Raven's Hand

Witch Raven's Hand
Race	Reachman	Gender	Female
Resided in		Karthwasten, The Reach

"The town remained in Reach hands for almost a year until Ulgar Stonebeard, a decorated Nord reaver, met a powerful Reach-witch known only as the Raven's Hand. It is said that Ulgar and the Raven's Hand first met on the battlefield, yet neither could best the other. After a two-day conflict, they ceased their combat and broke bread. Ulgar then learned the Raven's Hand was no friend of the clan of reckless werewolf warriors in Karthwasten, and Ulgar, his warriors say, made a dark deal with this diabolical diva." —Cassia Volcatia

Raven's Hand was a figure from the oral tradition of the Reachfolk. She was a witch of Reach origins known for her remarkable power. The tale of The Seeping Sickness of Karthwasten, spoke of her involvement in a massacre in Karthwasten, resulting in many deaths among both the Nords and the Reachfolk.

History

Karthwasten ca. 2E 582

Very little is known about the past of Raven's Hand. According to Scary Tales of the Druadach by Cassia Volcatia, sometime during or shortly before the Sixth Century of the Second Era, she encountered Ulgar Stonebeard, a famous Nord reaver. By that time, Raven's Hand had already earned a reputation as a powerful witch. The story claims that their first meeting occurred on the battlefield, where neither was able to defeat the other. This encounter took place roughly a year after a Reachfolk clan of werewolves violently reclaimed the town from Nordic settlers.

After two days of battle, the two ceased fighting and shared a meal. Ulgar soon learned that, though Raven's Hand was also of Reachfolk descent, she was no ally of the werewolf clan from Karthwasten. According to the tale, Ulgar struck a dark bargain with her. Protected by Ulgar's warriors, Raven's Hand approached the gates of the settlement and performed ritual sacrifices. As she uttered both foul and fair incantations, she conjured a storm of pitch-black rain that enveloped the town and its structures. Shortly after, the screams erupted, and the bodies of her victims were consumed by the searing pitch. Ulgar, reportedly thrilled by the destruction, commanded his soldiers to storm the town and eliminate the remaining Reachfolk survivors. However, the Nord warriors refused to fight, terrified of the storm. Raven's Hand assured Ulgar that the pitch would only harm the Reachfolk, but only Ulgar had the courage to enter the town. Yet she deceived him, and Ulgar was tricked. A drop of pitch formed on Ulgar's helmet, growing like a living thing, spreading and enveloping his head like a shroud. Soon, his entire body was coated in pitch, and he turned, as the Nords claimed, to reveal a smile as black as death itself. Upon realizing the treachery, the Nords turned on Raven's Hand, hoping to avenge their commander. But the witch merely laughed as their axes struck nothing but air, and a swarm of ravens filled the sky with their shrill caws. The Nords, now faced with their pitch-covered commander, who advanced with a sickness dripping from his seeping axe, fled the battlefield.

Legacy

Ard Caddach of Markarth

At a certain point, during or shortly before the reign of Ard Caddach, an Imperial scholar and storyteller Cassia Volcatia embarked on a journey to compile a collection of stories titled Scary Tales of the Druadach. Among them was the tale of The Seeping Sickness of Karthwasten, which recounts the story of Raven's Hand and Ulgar. According to her, while tales of treachery from Karthwasten were all too common, this particular one overshadowed them all. Tales of those who had seen a massive pitch-covered warrior prowling the shadows of the Druadach Mountains, grinning from ear to ear and hacking apart all who crossed his path with a dripping axe that melted both flesh and steel, still echoed at the time of the publication, with the laughter of Raven's Hand following in his wake.

These literary works garnered sufficient acclaim to draw the notice of Ard Caddach, the leader of the Reachfolk. He extended an invitation to Cassia Volcatia, beckoning her to the capital city of Markarth, sometime after 2E 577. In Markarth, the scholar published a follow-up series of stories, with the intention of rectifying any misconceptions about the Reachfolk that may have been present in her earlier works.

By 2E 582, the settlement of Karthwasten was inhabited by the Crow-Eye Clan, who had reclaimed the land from the Nordic colonizers at an unknown point in the past. Their connection to the events of the Raven's Hand story, if any, was unclear.

Notes

• 1.

  The exact date of Raven's Hand's actions is unclear. In her Scary Tales of the Druadach, Cassia Volcatia stated that the Reachfolk reclaimed the settlement of Karthwasten around twenty years prior, and that roughly a year passed before Ulgar and Raven's Hand met. While the precise date of the publication is unknown, the text garnered the attention of Ard Caddach (who began using this title in 2E 577), who later invited Volcatia to Markarth so that her subsequent works on the Reachfolk could be free of the misconceptions present in her earlier writings. The original compilation was published at the earliest sometime before 2E 577, and at the latest in 2E 582, by which time it, along with its follow-up compilation Scary Tales of the Deep Folk written in Markarth, was already widely available.

See Also

Books

• Scary Tales of the Druadach, Book 2 by Cassia Volcatia, Traveling Scribe — The tale of "The Seeping Sickness of Karthwasten"