Book of the Raven

The Book of the Raven was a short, firsthand account of an anonymous traveler's experiences traveling with a group of Vistani.

Description
The cover bore no title, nor was its author identified anywhere in its pages. The book was bound with wire between two thin sheets of black oak, which were cracked and covered in scratches and indentations, apparently from having been carried and pecked at by birds. The pages of the Book of the Raven were yellowed and wrinkled from age and moisture, respectively, and seemed to rustle in the wind if the book were left open and unattended. The book was written in Common in unsteady and tiny brown script.

Contents
The Book of the Raven was essentially a travel journal that told the story of how its anonymous author was nursed back to health by a group of traveling Vistani after injuring herself by falling off her horse. The author wrote of the Vistani she befriended, especially Darzin, who sang to her to distract from the pain, and Drasha, who tended to her wounds. Also included were the author's observations on Vistani culture and their way of life, with special emphasis on their music and food.

Although the author spent most of the journey cooped up in a Vistani wagon, the Book of the Raven told of how the group traveled on rough roads through dark, thick forests and seemingly impenetrable mist. The book's final pages described the Vistani caravan drawing closer to a dark, foreboding castle. The book ended abruptly and mid-sentence on the third-to-last page, with the final two pages left blank.

History
The book arrived at the fortress-library of Candlekeep in the, having been carried there in the talons of a raven that pecked at the book until it was frightened off by an Avowed acolyte. Seeing as the work bore no title, the librarians of Candlekeep cataloged it under the name Book of the Raven based on how it arrived. The book was then archived and largely forgotten about. Sixty years later, in, the wereraven Anil Zasperdes visited Candlekeep and hid a map leading to Chalet Brantifax within the pages of the Book of the Raven.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Candlekeep Mysteries: "Book of the Raven"