The Ravens - A Spy Network

[Fragsie]

Commoners in Daunton refer to Hermes as Merkari, the god of travelers, thieves, messengers, liars, and general good-natured naughtiness. It'd suggest that your goddess be an exarch to Merkari.

I'm not a fan of the name "The Ravens", however. Too much conotation with death, and not enough with rumors and lies. I suggest "The Whispers".

They may well have connections to death, but only in some cultures; in others they are keepers of knowledge; "To have a raven's knowledge" is an irish proverb meaning 'to have the powers of a seer', and Odins two ravens; Hugin and Munin, where his 'eyes and ears' in the mortal realms, seeking out secrets for him. On a more jovial note; the saying 'a little bird told me' would have a new meaning too.

Raven's association with death mostly stems from the fact that they are carrion eaters that frequent battlefields and other sites of death. in a fantasy world, there are bigger, nastier things that i think would hold that mythological concept in the minds of the races.

The name is also a reference to the goddess(exarch or demi) who is known as the Raven Elysian amoung other names because of her appearence. In my past game her name was Shaowlight, but that doesn't really fit with any of the names of god/esses in the Shifting Seas pantheons, does anyone have suggestions for names?

 

[Don Incognito]

Her name should be a secret; only those who are high-ranking in the organization know her true name. The lay members of the order (and the public at large) refer to her as She Who Whispers, and the Ravens are those who carry those whispers to the public at large.

Idk, for some reason I'm married to the word "Whispers".

 

[ukingsken]

I like the idea of it being an exarch of the messenger good. A god fit and allows her to focus on one part of his portfolio.

 

[covaithe]

A demigod or exarch or whatever of Merkari certainly seems appropriate. However, I don't necessarily think that Merkari's nominal maleness precludes, uh, him from being the deity in question. I don't see why there can't be a sect that believes Merkari is secretly female but disguises "herself" to confuse the unworthy.

I'm not sure how I feel about the long-distance communication thing. On the one hand, it does seem a bit off in our setting. On the other hand, it's really no more powerful than Sending Stones. I think I'd be okay with them if they were a) limited to fairly high-level members, who might plausibly have access to sending stones anyway, and b) there was a way for DMs who find this inconvenient to temporarily nullify them or make them less effective. Call it ethereal static, or sunspots, or claim that this spy network is an outgrowth of a much older extraplanar organization and the tattoos simply don't work as well in the Transitive Isles unique planar structure. Whatever.

I like the connection to ravens, but I think "the Ravens" is a much too generic name. "Merkari's Ravens", perhaps, substituting the appropriate deity name, or "Secret Ravens", or "Ravens of <Place name>", where <Place name> is their legendary secret headquarters.

 

[Lord Sessadore]

I like the connection to ravens, but I think "the Ravens" is a much too generic name. "Merkari's Ravens", perhaps, substituting the appropriate deity name, or "Secret Ravens", or "Ravens of <Place name>", where <Place name> is their legendary secret headquarters.

All of the above, plus more? Might be cool if they (or rather, their agents) are known by different names in different places. Then only the truly knowledgeable would or can realize that they are really all one big organization.

On the deific note, I also think that an exarch of Merkari works well, or a belief that Merkari is really a woman. The second gives them a sort of mystery cult feel.

 

[Atanatotatos]

Well, what about "the Whispering Ravens", to join the two proposals together?
As for cov's suggestion, think it defenitely suits the setting (the "Merkari is really female" thing); the inspiration for the pantheon is heavily graeco-roman, and it was very commong for greek gods to have very different aspects, depictions, portfolios and cults in different places; the reason being the ultimately insular nature of the poleis. Which of course is very reminiscent of the L4W setting, too.

 

[Atanatotatos]

Also, greek gods transfor in all sorts of creatures and all kinds of people, changing sex sometimes too. So, it wouldn't really be strange for a sect of L4W to believe a god is actually a goddess, or simply venerate "hir" female aspect.

 

[Atanatotatos]

One more thing before I stop ranting about greek mythology: Hermes was also addressed as "psychopompos" (soul-leader), having in several myths the function of showing dead soluls the way to the Underworld. So the associations with ravens is not out of context even if they are associated with death (consuming a corpse is indeed directly related to allowing the soul to proceed to its next life -infact, many cultures cremate bodies).

 

[Lord Sessadore]

Ata makes some very fine points there.

Also: Ooh, here's another idea. Makes them all the more secretive, and sort-of less pervasive as well. Perhaps even the members of the Ravens (or whatever they end up being called) don't know how widespread their organization is. Most of them think that they're a local thing, and only more powerful members (say, the chapter heads, or whatever) know that there are other branches of the Ravens elsewhere. Thoughts?

 

[ukingsken]

Thats a great idea sessadore. Kind of like a pyramid scheme. Chapter house leaders know there are other houses in other cities, area/zone leaders know there are different zones across the continent, and only one group or maybe even one person knows that theyre actually world-wide as it were. I mean obviously its better if the exact structure is vague but I think the idea that its like a pyramid scheme where everyone only knows what goes on at there level and that they report to one guy above them is very appropriate.

And I think I like the "merkari femal aspect" idea. It is definitely very greek, and even seems like something the greek gods would do just for fun. Very childish those greek gods.

And the Whispering Ravens is a wicked name!