Avis Corvus

Avis Corvus is the current head of House Corvus. Despite experiencing a horrific tragedy with the death of his entire house during the last Great Hunt, Avis has managed to rebuild its power under his care, making it a political advocate for the serfs of Catania.

## History

Avis was born 45 years ago, as the heir of House Corvus. As he grew up, he trained as a Knight and joined the Order of the Shield, swearing himself to the defense of the common folk, as his father before him and many others of the house. The final Great Hunt, a quarter of a century ago, was to be his coming of age, a time to prove himself against the various evil creatures in the Avim Forest that preyed upon the commoners below him that he had sworn his life to defend. All of the House would be in attendance to witness him uphold the reputation of the house in combat against these monsters.

Sadly, fate had different plans for the young master and his house. The last Great Hunt was a massacre, with all of the hunters of the house being slaughtered by an organized force of monsters, beastmen, and evil fey. Avis himself avoids getting into the details of what happened that day, as horrifying as it was, but states that the only reason he managed to survive that day was due to the intervention of a mysterious being that identified itself as the Great Raven. He states that the Great Raven told him that it was a being who had watched over the house from a distance ever since its founding, having respected its ideals. Realizing that more direct intervention would be needed to secure the House's future, it whisked him away to safety.

Despite the loss of everyone he knew and loved, Avis seemed to be filled with grim determination, quickly setting about the work of maintaining the house despite the death of all of its members except him. He managed this through either luck or unusually skillful political maneuvering, managing to avoid being absorbed by the other noble houses while simultaneously entering into agreements with the common folk in his holdings to help him run the house's possessions. Avis was aided by the fact that the hostile creatures who previously threatened Corvus lands seemed to be placated after the last Great Hunt, ceasing their attacks, although no one knows why.

He also quickly managed to find and marry a wife among the common folk of his holdings, as many of House Corvus had done before. Avis' marriage with Edith had been an inspiration for his workers, improving their morale and making them even more protective of their lord. Unfortunately, Edith passed away while birthing their son, Talon Corvus, due to bleeding that not even his healers could stop. Avis never remarried after this tragedy, instead dedicating himself to improving the rights of serfs within the lands of Catania in her name.

It was this political quest that drew the ire of many of Catania's other noble houses, who profited from the system of serfdom and wished it to continue. He met severe resistance to these political goals within the House of Nobles, and had very little success in convincing his colleagues there to give serfs new rights within the country. In response, Avis began to go on speaking tours across Catania, urging the serfs to put pressure on their noble lords to work with him on his goals.

This angered Catania's nobles even further, as they accused him of causing, and even sometimes supporting, the numerous peasant revolts that have happened over the last two decades. As a result, Avis has been the target of several assassination attempts in recent history. These attempts have met with very little success, with the assassins all meeting grisly ends at Avis' hands. Some within the noble houses have spread rumors that the corpses of some of these would-be assassins have been left on the doorsteps of the houses who hired them, exsanguinated and with their hearts ripped out, as if eaten by some sort of wild animal. Many nobles have taken this further, claiming him to be some sort of foul creature in disguise, plotting the downfall of Catania.

Despite this political campaign, he seems to have still not forgotten about the loss of his entire house at the hands of monsters in the Avim Forest. Avis has been constantly lobbying the King of Catania in order to get him to pledge the involvement of the Catanian military in a great Final Hunt that would clear the Avim Forest of monsters once and for all and secure Catania's northern border. Despite his horrible reputation with most of the other nobles of Catania, Avis' courting of favor with the king has been highly effective, and he has been in the good graces of House Kellin for the past two decades.

## Appearance

Avis Corvus is a well-built man with blonde hair and brown eyes. While he does definitely look older, many who have observed him say that he doesn't quite seem like a 45-year-old man. When attacked, he quickly transforms into a distinctive black full plate adorned with raven feather that observers have said seems to be almost part of his body, and also summons a wicked greatsword that seems to cause a supernatural amount of bleeding with each strike. While this armor strikes many as odd, Avis claims it to be just a gift from the Great Raven who saved him many years ago.

## Personality

Avis, despite his high ideals, is ruthlessly efficient, willing to do anything it takes to get his way. He seemingly has no concern for the political unrest caused by his actions. Despite this, Avis has proven to be highly charming towards those he has need for, and these people have reported spending time with him to be highly enjoyable.