Valravn
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Contents
In Her Own Words
It was just an eye. No one wanted it, save me. Discarded by the Father of Ravens with a casualness that almost made you forget he had perhaps a dozen heartbeats before, scooped it out of his own head with two fingers and a dirk to cut the strands. That eye, that delicious, glorious eye of the Father of Ravens, just sitting in scaresly a beaks-length of water. Mimir forbade any from drinking from the fountain, and I drank nary a drop as I plunged my head after the morsel. Wolves proweled lean across the land, and the bitter cold was enough to put off the beserks. Food was scarce. Such a rich meal made me sleepy, and I awoke as this, only able to be a normal form for brief moments and when I roosted. I had no idea the eye could do that, but Mimir, who could see all could have warned me, and maybe I would have warned him his severed head would come to counsel to the All Father until Ragnorok. Maybe.
In Valhalla, in front of so many of the Aesir and Vanir, The All Father asked, and I confessed. He was furious. I could tell by how calmly he asked his questions. I confessed, for he could see all, and there was no way brother Munin or Hugin would keep a secret like that.
After I confessed the All Father said little else to me until he locked me away with the rebellious Valkyrja. No one to keep company save the Valkyrja. But most of them turned to stone, discarded like the eye. In time there was only one, and I kept her enraged so she wouldn't sit and turn to stone like the others. I would have become stone too, if it hadn't been for my raven brothers and sisters outside. I had stolen the charm for my release and I begged them to carve it into the stones around the barrow, and they did, telling me stories of the world outside. It must have taken centuries, and in time, even they forgot me and the Valkyja locked away.
But the charm was spoken, but a man about to be devoured by demons of blood -- you call them vampires. Valkyja didn't want to help them, but I told her the vampires would fight bravely, and we should help the man released us. Only the first was a lie. The vampires tried to flee, but they were new to the tunnels of the barrow, and they were pushed back into the darkness.
UNTIL INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT
Powers and Abilities
Valravn is classified as a 'magically augmented creature', and while she appears as a human with wings, exhibits more characteristics of a raven trapped in human form. She is able to shift into a raven form for short periods of time, or to roost. While she may appear as a raven in terms of size and weight, Dr. Black and Dr White contend she is still easy to differentiate from a flock of normal ravens. She also seems to have the raven's keen sense of smell, especially concerning meat and carrion.
In her more human form, she is a formidable opponent; Superhumanly fast and capable of bursts of speed up to mach 1 for short periods of time. She possesses superhuman strength, reflexes and agility, having lifted balanced weights of up to two tons and weaving her way around high velocity bullets. As per her heightened strength and speed, her skin and muscles are denser than human. Between her resilience and her mystical armor, can roll through or even flat out resist those attacks which do hit. She is not invulnerable, however, and can be injured with powerful enough weapons. But even injured, Valravn can recover from serious injuries in less than a day.
UNTIL research has examined her wings, and concluded that while the wings are similar to a raven's, they are not of a size to accommodate her physical density. And yet, she is capable of flight, taking what she called a relaxing flight across the United States in just under sixteen hours, without any noticeable fatigue. This feat is currently under review by Project HERMES whose preliminary analysis concludes that it is simply in her intrinsic nature to fly and she is not going to let something like physics stop her.
Valravn's sword and armor are equally baffling. Her armor can be bent and damaged given enough firepower, but it also re-constitutes itself as needed, though the process may take days. Her swords are extremely durable and sharpening them seems to be more of Valravn's habit than a necessity. HERMES conjectures they are 'part of her archtype' and even if destroyed, would reconstitute themselves while Valravn is alive.
Valravn is a master class swordsman, and uses her enhanced speed and agility to great effect. She is a skilled hand to hand combatant. In swordplay, she has impressed Picaro with her speed an innovation, and he spars with her whenever there is time.
Valravn also is able to communicate with corvids -- bird such as ravens and crows. Her ability to connect with a single bird seems to extend to a mile, she claims ravens gossip, and in time, she can get messages to anywhere there is a corvid. They also seem to serve as an informational network for Valravn, and she has located people and things around Millennium City using her 'network'. She can call large numbers of crows and ravens, but this seems to be out of a social need and not as some sort of tactic.
Assessment of Origin
Dr. White and Dr. Black categorized Valravn and agree she is the product of powerful Nordic magic, but admit there is no legend of a raven having eaten Odin's discarded eye. Valravn has contended that the fact no one knows about her or the disobedient Valkyrja fits with Odin's plan to have them 'forgotten to history'. While the theory that Valravn's Aesgard might not be what we would call 'Prime Aesgard', Dr. White and Dr. Black are confident such a dimension could exist.
Current Situation
Valravn is no longer a UNITY affiliate hero, but a member of the Urban Legends, which has its own liason team. Because the Urban Legends are affilliates in good standing, Valravn remain living a UNTIL HQ, being assigned a small room for storage and access to base facilities. When she is not sparring with Picaro, she is usually flying about Millennium City with her fellow ravens, or roosting on the roof.
History
Valravn was discovered with Valkyrja after frantic call from an emergency satellite phone from a camping group in Norway saying they'd been attacked by vampires and rescued by Norse-speaking demons. The Vampires had been stalking the vampires for several days and ambushed them in an area the locals called Raven's Mound. When an UNTIL investigative team arrived with a combat support team from the Oslo field station, two of the campers were dead, and the rest in shock from witnessing the slaughter of their friends and the subsequent massacre by the demons. One of the campers, Hed Berdahl, claimed to have recited a charm he found cared on a stone and released Valravn and Valkyrj but was unable to communicate or control them any further.
After a call to Oslo allowed for translation from Old Norse, the team learned that the Raven's Mound had been previously named Raven's Tomb and was, according to Valravn, a prison in which the All Father had put Valkyrja who wouldn't submit to being transformed into beautiful shield maidens. Initially, there had been up to a dozen more Valkyrja, but over the thousands of years of imprisonment, they had turned to stone, and while Valkyrja was eager to engage Odin anew, Valravn was eager to leave. Unsure her claims, but eager to calm them, Field Director Ulrich granted them political asylum and they were immediately flown to Millennium City.
Valravn has adjusted well to life in Millennium City, but initially spent more time with corvids than people. She learned English quickly and bits of other languages, and has offered her services as an affiliate hero to UNTIL.
