Ravendeans

X Add worldbuilding credits now!

The Ravendeans were a family of human nobles that were responsible for the initial establishment and leadership of Ravendean, Osugbo. They were also a group of ferocious Night Shades that terrorized the dreams and waking lives of many throughout the Quelmar Realm.

About

This family was known for being cautious and careful, but power hungry and often ruthless.

Matriarchal Family

They were a matriarchal family, meaning that the family title was exclusively inherited by the oldest female-identifying offspring.

The Curse of the Nightshade

Many members of the Ravendean family were possessed by The Nightshade, a dream inhabiting snake creature that infiltrated the family bloodline after a magical experiment gone horribly wrong.

Timeline & Notable Events

• 995 BR: Following the events of the Holy War, the Ravendeans were a highly decorated family of noble mages. Among other acolytes and rewards, the Ravendeans were given a small area of land after the Holy War due to the part they played in destroying the dragons.
• 2-33 PR: During the first realm war, the Ravendeans managed to maintain and protect their land by staying out of the line of fire. By the end of the war in 33 PR, the family had managed to establish the town of Ravendean.
• 5 PR: Asper Ravendean is born
• 24 PR: Lady Asper Ravendean marries Saladon Orion, being one the first noble women to marry below her station. They would go on to have 5 children:
  • 25 PR Seraphin: the eldest daughter, set to inherit the family title
  • 25 PR Cypher
  • 28 PR Jon
  • 29 PR Nathara
  • 34 PR Deveros
• 40 PR: Seraphin engages in a torrid affair with a troverthian soldier, resulting in her first child
  • 41 PR Basil
• 45 PR: Cypher leaves the family in pursuit of a higher education
• 47 PR: Seraphin marries Day Stellan. They would have one child.
  • 48 PR: Nyoka Ravendean
• 50 PR: Basil comes out as a trans man, meaning he can no longer inherit the matriarchal title and that Nyoka is now the heir to the family legacy.
• 51 PR: Curse of the Nightshade. In a fit of rage and grief after losing her husband, Asper Ravendean attempts a ritual and accidentally turns all of her blood related family into Nightshades.
  • Resulting deaths: Day Ravendean
• 52 PR: Unable to reverse the curse, the family is forced to flee from Ravendean, fully embracing their monstrous nature and succumbing to the power of the Nightshades.
  • Jon, furious with his mother, denounces his family and attempts to escape the serpent form. Unfortunately his attempt fails and he winds up trapped in an amulet. He never sees the family again.
• 52 PR - 76 CR: Ravendeans live as Nightshades, collecting treasure, power, growing in numbers, and terrorizing various individuals throughout the realm.
• 132 PR: (CW: sexual manipulation) Deveros takes advantage of the demonic convergence, using dark magic to manipulate and seduce a mortal. Their tryst would result in Deveros’ twin offspring and the mortals eventual untimely demise.
  • 133 PR: Loren & Nerissa both born as Nightshades
• 654 PR: Jon is released from the amulet and possesses Devyn, a young boy in Ravendean. This eventually leads to their demise.
• 745 PR: Nathara, in their Nightshade form, dies in battle after spending years possessing a Shadar Kai sea captain.
• 861 PR: Nyoka has a little mermaid moment, temporarily becoming human, going back to Ravendean, meeting and falling love with Angel (an elven mortal woman) Nyoka does not kill or “consume” Angel, even though it is customary for the Night Shade to do that, but she does abandon her in Ravendean.
  • 862 PR: Castor Ravendean is born as a Nightshade.
• 865 PR: Nyoka goes on a killing spree.
  • 866 PR: Hemlock Ravendean is born as a Nightshade.
• 1295 PR: The Weave is Fractured, banishing “all” magic from the realm. The Ravendean family goes into hiding and begins researching how to restore their human form with more dedication.
• 2 CR: Seraphin attempts to disengage from the family, dies at the hands of Asper. Nyoka takes over as the primary legacy and family matriarch.
• 76 CR: Nyoka Ravendean discovers a way to partially reverse the curse, enabling a voluntary human form for herself and her family.
• 77 CR: Some of the family decides to return to Ravendean in human form, only to discover that since the fracturing of the weave, a lot about the city has changed and the name Ravendean no longer has much meaning. Castor loses all memories of his snake form, becoming completely mortal. Hemlock maintains her powers and responsibilities.
• 78 CR: The Ravendeans attempt to secure their family legacy by mounting a violent attack on the city of Ravendean and burning it to the ground.
  • Aster dies in the fight.
  • Castor becomes a vampire and has to leave Ravendean forever
  • After a climactic final battle, the Nightshade curse is broken by an anti-magic ritual.
  • Hemlock takes over as family matriarch.
• 79 CR: Hemlock, with her new found matriarch status, sets goals to redirect the family legacy and funds towards rehabilitating and protecting Ravendean. These goals include the following:
  • Starting the Ravendean Historical Society to prevent history from repeating itself
  • Tracking down victims of the Night Shades and redistributing the family wealth to them
  • Finding and hiding or destroying many corrupted magic items that had been left behind by the Ravendean's
• 595 CR: Being human, the majority of the Ravendean Family did not survive the cataclysm and was wiped out with the rest of the mortal races.