Valravn
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Contents
In Her Own Words
It was just an eye. No one wanted it, save me. The Father of Ravens had so casually tossed it into the fountain, you wouldn't have believed that just a dozen heartbeats before, he'd scooped it out of his head with a determined thumb and a dirk. Silent through most of it maybe a groan as the nerves were severed. He gave up his eye with the smile of someone paying nothing for everything. That beautiful, that delicious eye. It sat in scarcely a beaks-length of water, rocking as Mimir filled his horn, and gave away his precious draught. Mimir forbade any from drinking from the fountain, and swear, I drank nary a drop as I plunged my head after the morsel. Don't be so shocked! It was a winter where the wolves prowled lean and hungry across hard pack snow. The air held bite cold enough to put off even the beserks. And all the old battlefields were picked clean. And that eye was as I had dreamed a perfect eye could taste. Such a rich meal made me sleepy, and I awoke as this, this winged-person thing.
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 the depth of his fury by how calmly he asked his questions. I confessed, for he could see all. Hugin and Munin told him all, but I do not blame them. I was allowed to stay in Asgard, but banned from Valhalla. And there I watched the battlefields shrink as humans found new gods, gods who promised a peaceful afterlife with all their loved ones, gods who promised virgins in a paradise, when our dead fought to prepare for Ragnorok, over and over.
But the All-Father had a plan. If men wanted a warm breast, he would recast his Valkyrja, demons of the battlefield, into lovely shield maidens. Men wanted comfort and therefore Valhalla would be flooded with mead. There was still the battlefield, but only for the brave, and for the victors cold mead and warm maidens.
Most of the Valkyrja agreed. Others did not and for their rebellion were locked away. With me. Torn out of the beautiful sky and buried with a fury of demons who railed at their prison walls. But they were of Ymir's dead heart and unmoved. When the walls wouldn't give, They railed on those within. Never to fly again. Those that accepted their fate turned to stone which was all save one. I would have turned to stone as well, if I hadn't heard my kin on the outside, though as the eons passed their voices became a whisper. But they told me of the wonders the world was becoming, and at my urging, wore their beaks over the centuries writing a charm on the stones outside our barrow.
When the charm was finally spoken, I had all but joined my stone sisters. A man had said them, but not known what he said. He was about to be devored by demons of blood, you see. Desperate times. I believe you call them vampires. Valkyrja rushed to slay them all, but I told her the man and his band had released us, and that the vampires would fight bravely. Only the second 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. Afterwards I few, but not far -- my wings were terribly weak. Wizards from UNTIL found me, and promised hospitality.
UNTIL INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT
Powers and Abilities
Limited Shapeshifting
Valravn is classified as a 'magically augmented creature', and while she appears as a human with raven features, she exhibits more characteristics of a raven with human features. Part of her magical augmentation is the ability to shift between winged-human and raven form. While she greatly prefers her raven form, she cannot remain a raven long. The transformation takes less than a tenth of a second and has used it to avoid opponents in combat. When shifted, she may appear and even weight the same as a normal raven, 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.
Superhuman Speed, Strength, and Endurance
In her winged-human form, she is a formidable opponent; she is incredibly fast and capable of bursts of speed up to mach 1 for short periods of time. She has lifted up to two tons with effort. She is fast enough and agile enough to block bullets with her blades, including high velocity rounds. 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 density even without armor. And yet, she is capable of flight, taking what she called a journey 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.
Magical Arms and Armor
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.
Skills
Valravn is a master class swordsraven, and uses her enhanced speed and agility to great effect. She regularly spars with Picaro who has called her a 'spirit challenge' and 'a cheater'. Even without her swords, she is a capable hand-to-hand combatant. Valravn has difficulties reading English, and many times needs help with modern technology. She had a strong knowledge of Norse magic and runes, but does not appear to have any hermetic.
Corvid Telepathy
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.
Other Notes
Valravn has extreme Agorophobia an obvious result of her long imprisonment. She has made repeated attempts to contact Hugin and Munin, who she views as brothers, but has not made contact yet and had made finding them one of her top priorities.
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.
