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Valravn
Valravns are monsters from Danish folklore. The following is my personal take on them. Many elements present here are not found in the source material and instead are inferences or were wholly invented by me. Feel free to use these ideas for your own valravn or valravn-inspired characters!
Intro
Corvus caedes. Ravens of the slain. Legends say that if a raven eats the heart of an unburied king or chieftain that died in battle, that raven becomes a valravn. It is said valravns have human intelligence and superhuman strength, and are evil and manipulative as well. And all the legends say they are terrible creatures.
Appearance
The valravn is a liminal being, and each one is unique in appearance. Some appear as gigantic, eight-foot-tall raven raptors, while others are griffon-like hybrids of ravens and wolves. To complicate this matter, valravns are shapeshifters and have numerous forms for different occasions. They may blend into the environment and travel unseen as a mundane raven, then later take on a monstrous form to attack prey. The only consistency between all valravns' true forms is that they all have corvid traits in some way. They may have wolf traits as well, but this is not always the case.
Some valravns are capable of taking on a human form. They tend to give themselves armor when they do so, giving the impression that they are turning into a knight. This guise is not perfect, as there will always be something slightly unsettling and not quite right about them. While a valravn disguised as a raven can remain unassuming indefinitely, a valravn disguised as a human will inevitably be found out.
Behavior
By the nature of their existence, valravns are intelligent and dangerous creatures. A hunger for human hearts does not easily lend itself to a charitable personality. Their hunger dictates their every action.
They are experts at fighting in their many forms, striking precisely where and how they need to. Most of the time, however, valravns pick alternatives to outright violence. A clever predator does not need to hunt prey, all it needs to do is trap it.
A valravn always has some sort of deceptive plot in mind. They have a habit of using trickery in their words or only telling half-truths when making deals with mortals. Unlike the fae, this is not a case of magic compelling them to do so. They simply have a sick sense of humor, taking joy in the despair of the mortals they have tricked.
Valravns can either be nomadic or have a set territory. Typically, younger ones are nomadic while older ones settle, but this is by no means definite. Nomadic valravns fly from one bloodied battlefield to the next, something that is easy for their keen senses to find. Settled valravns typically take up some remote locale, like a forest or island, and reign it with iron claws and beak.
Valravns, much like mundane ravens, are mostly solitary. They may take on a mate, typically another valravn, but sometimes some other monster, or rarely even a human. Valravns are fiercely loyal to their mate, to the point of madness. Anything less than perfect for their other half is unacceptable and must be corrected. A valravn separated or, gods forbid, denied their mate would be a truly twisted and insane monster indeed.
Valravns may also be accompanied by their young. These chicks may be naturally born, humans they turned into their own, or even a mix of both. Their young typically accompany their parents until they reach maturity, at which point they leave their parents' side and strike it out on their own.
Origins
Being as elusive and deceptive as they are, the true origin of the valravn is not known. Most sources claim that the first valravns originate from nothing more than ordinary ravens, wolves, or humans that fell into a deep bloodlust and fed on the corpses of royalty and children. Other sources say that valravns are the creation of witches and troll women, a way for them to turn humans into viscous weapons that follow their dark bidding. There is even one tale that claims the first valravns were the result of Odin's ravens, Huginn and Muninn, mating with his wolves, Geri and Freki. It is possible that multiple stories are correct, or none of them are. All that is known for sure is that the valravns appeared one day, and they were ravenous.
In the Past
[...]
Turned Humans
As they grew more prolific, a horrifying truth was discovered: valravns could turn humans into their own kind. Children were the most frequent victims to the process, their minds easier for their sires to corrupt. Countless stories speak of a valravn stealing away children to this end.
But with the rise of humans-turned-valravn came a curious new quirk as well: remorse. Naturally born valravns had never felt regret or shame for their actions before. While some freshly turned valravns embraced the transformation, many more were disgusted by what they had become. New tales emerged of these individuals, speaking of them not in fear but in pity, recounting how they longed for their lost humanity as they were forced to scavenge through detritus and corpses.
Modern Day
While valravns are not well known in the modern day, their numbers are higher than ever. Much like the mundane corvid, they can be found in rural and urban areas alike. The modern valravn is a much less boastful creature than it once was, as the pressures of modern society have resulted in most valravns becoming covert in their actions. Some continue to roam the wilderness, living on in folklore as they have throughout history. Valravn inhabitation of cities is a recent development, though they remain just as cruel as their 'wild' counterparts. There are countless urban legends of mysterious, charming individuals striking deals that seem lucrative at first, only to turn into a devastating loss for their victims. These urban legends typically end with the victim winding up dead in an alleyway with a gaping wound in their chest. It's assumed to be inflicted by a wild animal, but then, why would a wild animal only rip out the heart?
Shapeshifting
[...]
Language of the Birds
Given their avian nature, valravns can naturally communicate with ravens and crows. While these birds may not hold all the secrets of the universe that ancient humans thought they did, being able to communicate with their 'mundane' brethren is nonetheless a useful skill. A scheming valravn may employ corvids as their spies, or perhaps coordinate them to distract a potential victim.
Seiðr
Seiðr is the magic of fate. Users can divine past secrets, see into present relations, and even delve into possible futures. Its practice requires a body of water and often involves the use of blood sacrifices. It is said that masters of seiðr can alter fate itself. While any determined being can pursue this dark art, valravns are naturally attuned for it and find themselves inclined to train its ways. Valravns that have learned seiðr use it for sinister ends, often capable of rendering entire kingdoms into corpse-ridden wastelands with little more a single twist of fate.
Seiðr is a dangerous type of magic and often plagues its users with the prophetic visions it bestows uncaringly. This means little to valravns, many of whom have gone mad already.
Darkness
The blood of valravns is pitch black and strangely viscous. Much like the valravn itself, this blood has an unsettling aura of darkness and death, and reeks of decay. Anything living that comes into contact with their blood burns and rots away. The darkness in their blood seeks to preserve only itself and destroys all that which opposes it.
Valravn blood is highly concentrated dark magic. It is attracted to itself, and as such, they can drain the relatively low amount of darkness found in shadows and similar sources. They can shape it into a thin veil that wraps around them, which can then be utilized as a weapon or for protection. At diluted levels, the darkness can be used to compel others. A valravn can inflict the living with a shadow, compelling them to obey its commands. This influence is even stronger over the dead; many valravns are able to animate dead bodies and completely bend them to their will.
The darkness fuels itself with life taken from others. Valravns must feed on the hearts of thinking creatures. The hearts of simple beasts will not suffice, their owners must be able to think and reason, to feel and love. Ripping all of that away is what fuels their foul black blood and the dark powers it provides. As the hunger grows, it takes over the mind and consumes their focus. The hunger can only be sated by feeding on hearts.
Undeath
Valravns are undead creatures, in the same category as vampires, revenants, and ghouls. Unlike those beings, however, they are particularly good at disguising themselves as living beings. Their bodies are warm, their chests rise and fall with breath. Make no mistake, though, they are not counted among the living.
Most undead are nonhostile to valravns and regard them ambivalently. Valravns have no trouble venturing into the realms of the dead. They suffer no ill effects from eating the food of the dead, not that they have any interest in it.
Healing
Despite being hazardous to other beings, the valravns' darkness gives them their incredible healing powers. They can heal any wound and grow back parts of their body should they lose any. The darkness can even resurrect them from death, though as mentioned above, they aren't quite alive in the first place.
Valravns can revive from a 'minor' death, such as a snapped neck or a blow to the head, as quickly as a few minutes or hours later. 'Severe deaths,' ones that leave the body mangled or obliterated completely, typically take about a week to revive from. In extreme cases, such as those where powerful magic was involved in the killing blow, it may take the valravn months or even years to revive.
Should a valravn's body be completely destroyed, such as being vaporized or shattered into pieces, the remnants will melt into shadows. The shadows will reform themselves, and the valravn will exist in this shadow-like state as the darkness regrows its body. Over time, the shadows peel away, revealing patches of reformed flesh and feather. Once this cycle is complete, the shadows vanish and the valravn's body is fully healed with no visible evidence of injury.
How to Kill a Valravn
Despite these nearly indestructible characteristics, it is possible to kill a valravn for good. As darkness encompasses the core of their being, they are vulnerable to light magic. As such, valravns tend to only emerge at night, as most seeking to hunt them down find that channeling the power of the sun is the best way to slay these monsters.
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