Raven

Raven

Type	Star Week zodiac (last 7 days)
Month	6 (Spring)
Theocracy	Corvus
Lexalian	Huginn & Munnin
Jaknia	Nephthys Ravens
Phenomenon	The week of stillbirths

Raven is the Star Week sign of the sixth month, and the most ominous sign in the sky - for it marks a week of a strange and terrible world-wide phenomenon.

The Week of Stillbirths

During the week of the Raven, expecting mothers face an almost certain stillbirth - the death of the child before it is ever born. Every culture of Thelemar tells a different story of why.

In Greek Myth

Each year the Olympian gods must journey to the mouth of Tartarus to combine their powers and force back the monsters and Titans striving to escape. All eleven Olympians make the descent - all but Apollo, who is left to watch over the world for his gift of foreseeing any disaster that might demand the gods’ sudden return. But for that one week Apollo must abandon his other charge - the protection of newborns - and so no new life is permitted to enter the world while he stands his lonely vigil.

In Norse Myth

This is the week when Hugin and Munin, Odin’s ravens, rest from their endless search for knowledge across the world. They arrive with feathers ruffled and wings worn out, and spend the week gathering strength for a new year of flight and espionage. Robbed of his chief source of information, Odin is left exposed to the schemes of the ice giants - and so, with the help of Frigga, he allows no child to be born that week, lest the giants raise it to hasten Ragnarok.

In Egyptian Myth

The ravens of Nephthys are her swift and clever pets, able to reach every corner of the world - but the sorrowful week takes its name from them for a grimmer reason. A disease borne by sick ravens passes from infected mothers to their unborn through the placenta, killing the child soon after birth. It peaks at the end of the ninth month, so that pregnancies begun then end in stillbirth nine months later. The plague shows no symptoms in adults - only in ravens and newborns - and efforts to cull the sick birds have yet to lower the toll.

Names Across Thelemar

• Holy Theocracy of Olympus: Corvus
• Lexalian Republic: Huginn & Munnin
• Jaknian Conglomerate: Nephthys Ravens

Appendix

See Also

• Roc - the sixth month’s regular sign
• The Heavens of Thelemar

Sources & Attribution

• Primary lore: editions/5e-2014/world/moons-sun-calendar-seasons-and-zodiacs.md (Traveler’s Guide), author TrueMichato.
• Translated original: the prior Hebrew page (moved to content/private/_originals/Zodiac/).

Zodiacs

Zodiac Signs of Thelemar

Regular Zodiacs	Beaver Aurochs Horse Cat Peacock Roc Bee Octopus Hound Griffon Bulette Phoenix
Star Zodiacs	Sequoia Salmon Unicorn Aurumvorax Pseudodragon Raven Almiraj Hillstep Turtle Kitsune Bat Owlbear Lizard

Link to original