House Corvus

## History

House Corvus was established when Catania first began to expand into the lands south of the Avim Forest. The forest in those days housed many dangerous and evil creatures, such as Hags, evil fey, and others, which frequently raided and harrassed the new settlements that were being established nearby. An alliance of soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers formed in order to protect the settlements and strike back at the aggressive denizens of the Avim Forest, assembling under the symbol of a raven.

When Catania finally sought to consolidate its power over it's northern frontier, existing noble houses attempting to establish themselves in the area would often clash with this irregular band of fighters whenever their impositions began to aggravate the commoners of the area. In order to avoid all-out conflict, the Catanian king at the time granted a dukedom to this group, allowing them to establish themselves as House Corvus. In spite of this, most of the other noble houses were still quite bitter at the newly formed House Corvus, and found themselves frequently at odds with it's favor of commoners and lack of respect for the older, more established noble houses.

Yet House Corvus continued to develop itself, becoming one of the first to begin domesticating and breeding the nearby Avim as mounts, becoming especially known for being skilled enough to even train the notoriously aggressive Black Avim. In order to protect those in it's care, House Corvus began the tradition of the Great Hunt, in which the entire House would venture out into the Avim Forest every five years in order to cull the various evil and violent creatures that preyed upon the common folk of their lands. This event was also open to any other nobles who wished to prove themselves against the wild creatures of the forest, and many did in order to increase their own prestige within Catania. However, the attendance of these nobles outside the house dropped steadily as relations with other houses became more and more strained, until the last Great Hunt 27 years ago, during which they were conspicuously absent.

This last Great Hunt was also notable for being the downfall of the house, as during it they were ambushed by a strangely organized force of evil fey and beastmen, who wiped out the entire house. The only survivor of the last Great Hunt was the Heir to the house at the time, Avis Corvus, who in spite of his great loss, set about the task of rebuilding the house, quickly marrying and having a son, Talon Corvus. Avis also made the house into a political force, campaigning for improved rights for Catanian serfs. It is also rumored by some in the other noble houses that this support may have gone beyond peaceful means, and that the house may be suppling peasant revolts across the country.

## Holdings

Since the tragic events of the last Great Hunt, House Corvus' holdings have significantly diminished, but Avis has often chosen to turn over to turn over the assets he could no longer properly manage over to the common folk of the region, allowing him to maintain support. Currently, House Corvus has possession of Castle Corvus, which Avis has left to the care of his son, while he manages other possessions outside of it and furthers his own political goals.

## Inhabitants

The actual noble family since the tragic events of the last Great Hunt currently only includes Avis and his son, Talon, but the family accepts retainers of any race, including elves, dwarves, and isolated examples of more exotic folk.