And now, let me introduce you to
The Night Of The Raven
It is said that winter is the season of Raven Queen and her shadowy kin. Most folk just try to get along and survive it with minimal loss. However, in most cultures on the natural world it is said that it's better to live with death as your ally rather than enemy. Thus the Queen of Shadows got her own special day - or more accurately, a night.
It is the longest night in the whole year. It is then, when the natural world and Shadowfell are closer to each other than ever. It is said that on this night no deity can interviene in the world problems, except for the Raven Queen alone.
It is celebrated in many ways. In some rural regions folks just leave food for the passing ravens as an offering. In other young boys dress up as ravens and try to scare other inhabbitants. In large towns and cities there are annual feasts combined with remembering the ones that died since the last one. Children that try to prove their courage tend to look up in the skies and spto the Great Raven - Queen's favourite bird. All the festivities end shortly before midnight though.
Midinight is said to be the time when shadow creatures roam the world. It is their last chance before the rule is given away to Corellon and days start to get longer again. By then the Great Raven returns to it's lady and people can safely count days to springtime.
And now, to make this interesting background have some use:
Raven's Cage aka The World at the Edge of Midnight
Paragon or epic tier adventure hook.
Midnight is coming and the Raven is not returning! Raven Queen decides that it is the law that she can't let the night and winter end until it returns to her - and with her current power and position no deity wishes to oppose her!
The Raven has been caught and the PCs need to release it - until then the world is stopped in a moment just before midnight.
The night and time stop have several effects:
- no gods other than the Raven Queen can be contacted, thus Daily prayers will not be regained regardless of resting; however, Raven Queen might allow another deity (especially Avandra, Corellon, Pelor or Sehanine) to send a messenger to mortals, but nothing more.
- time does not flow - it affects powers and rituals that interact with it.
- preparing a Raise Dead ritual attracts Shadowravens. Performing the ritual will cause them to attack.
- creatures with Shadow keyword are more likely to encounter and are given a slight bonus.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
I can see this curtain of blue-green (an aurora) across the night sky, giving the world this eary glow.
A couple of hours after the time stop creatures that would normally be asleep start to wake up, expecting day light. Maybe some creatures (fey maybe) start getting sick because of their need of sunlight. What if Sorrowsworn agents of the Raven Queen start roaming the land, looking for signs of the Great Raven. And what about angels?
just some thoughts.
EDIT: How would anybody actually know about the time stop, apart of the morning never coming? Maybe some people have hour-glasses, and the sand stops flowing. And what about the snow? Maybe it stops falling, just hanging in the middle of the air.
This sounds so cool.
Thanks! And that's a cool picture! Maybe it's the Raven
I was thinking about all clocks stopped and acting as if something was preventing them from going further (you know, the arms twitching, the bell upwards, but not going down, etc.). Hourglasses crossed my mind as well.
Sorrowsworn roaming the natural world sounds epic.
When I typed "messenger" in the first post, I was actually thinking about an angel, but I didn't want to make it too restrictive in case someone wanted to be creative. Since Raven Queen restricts divine intervention on this night, it may be the only one that's allowed to descend (as Sorrowsworn and Shadar-Kai act as hers usually).
Through the streets walk the dead among the living, rejoicing themselves in old ways before they are recalled to their mistress. Ghosts fly across the roofs, scaring kids, and the other way around.
Suddenly the people held their breath. Both living as dead looked to the sky in horror as shards of the mystical beast broke loose of the great beast like feathers in the wind. The Great Raven in the sky was fading.
The dead among the living I stole a little bit from the book The Summoner, from Gail Z. Martin.
What if the Night of the Raven would last for months (in other words, people go to bed and wake up for so many times, it counts up to months). Finally when the Raven is returned, the sun comes up, lifting a great burden from the people's hearts, for living for months in darkness.