Greater raven

Greater ravens were the eponymous inhabitants of Ravens Bluff. They had a reputation for predicting the future.

Description
They were glossy black birds with wingspans and dark eyes.

Behavior
Greater ravens were mysterious and cryptic creatures. Their motivation and reasoning were rarely known.

Abilities
Besides their renowned ability to deliver cryptic prophecies- which typically foretold woe either minor or catastrophic- greater ravens had only one other magical ability: the power to curse whoever slew them. At the moment of their death they delivered the curse as a rhyming prophecy; no matter how they were killed the curse could be clearly heard unless a silence spell had been cast over the area- and even then, it only prevented the hearing of the curse, not its effects.

Ecology
Greater ravens lived in and around the city of Ravens Bluff. They ate small rodents and birds, insects, lizards, the eggs of other birds, berries, flowers, and growing shoots. They had a fondness for wax and for cheese (the smellier and moldier the better), and would sample any food eaten by humans if given the opportunity, with a preference for saltier foods.

Greater ravens were normally solitary, although mated pairs and even flocks of up to forty individuals were not unknown; flocks, at least, were highly territorial and would swarm intruders.

Lone greater ravens sometimes decided to follow around an individual that they felt would be interesting to watch. They would flit from tree to tree, seemingly taking delight in watching their misfortune and making sarcastic comments upon events. Such birds had a reputation for causing bad luck.

Very rarely, a lone greater raven would become the familiar of sorts to a wizard. Such birds would perform a kind of commune up to thirteen times each year as their master requested; they could also be asked to foretell the future but, as they invariably predicted misfortune, it was held that those asking should be certain they wished to do so.

Interestingly, greater ravens could hold small bones for long periods of time in their craws, spitting the polished bones out at times, normally to make a point.