I. The Burden of Absolute Might
Corvin Nyx rose from the earth at The Black Scar, his body transformed by the raw energy of the Primal Obsidian Core. He was no longer the sickly, starved product of The Crucible. His skin was now fairer, healthy, and his body was defined by taunt, rippling muscle. His ears had grown elongated and sharper, like an elf's, and his Eyes of the Abyss—pools of absolute, unreflective black—were fixed, assessing the world in terms of raw energy and Shadow density.
The fusion was agonizingly complete, but the power was chaotic. His first attempts at movement were catastrophic. He moved too fast, too far, and when he threw out a hand to steady himself against a boulder, his palm instantly cracked and crumbled the stone into a pile of coarse gravel. He stared at the pulverized earth, realizing with cold finality that his life was now a state of constant, dangerous miscalculation. He had become his own greatest threat.
Corvin spent the next two weeks in self-imposed exile within the shielded foothills of The World's Teeth, fighting a war for internal order. The silence he craved was impossible. The Tactical Flock-Link was a screaming intrusion, the collective conscious of the Murder (the ravens) constantly flooding his mind with sensory overload. His newly elongated ears amplified every rustle of wind and crunch of stone, turning the mountain's quiet into chaos.
His training was a trial of pain and absolute will. He practiced micro-movements, fighting the immense, uncontrolled power in his limbs. He learned that every emotional flare—every memory of his father's surrender, every surge of hatred for the Trazarch Trade Union—translated into a destabilizing energy release. Order required total emotional frigidity.
He channeled the excess energy into a single task: constructing a small, stable Obsidian Structure. He failed dozens of times. The raw energy either dissipated uselessly or exploded outward, leaving shards of toxic, unstable crystal. He realized that his magic demanded geometric perfection and absolute mental clarity. This brutal self-instruction taught him the fundamental rule of the future Void Reservoir: Perfection or destruction.
II. The Strategic Imperative
Corvin realized the limits of his hatred. He could not, in his current uncontrolled state, assault a Union city. The grand vision of the Gothic Obsidian Citadel was years away, requiring massive, unobtainable resources. His immediate objective was to construct the First Satellite Tower—a simple, stable anchor to regulate the chaotic Obsidian power that threatened to consume him.
The project required skilled builders, labor, and fierce loyalty. His hatred of the Union was too pure to corrupt their existing workforce. He would not take what was tainted; he would create his own foundation.
He would target the marginalized—the abused slaves and laborers—those who had tasted the worst of the Union's depravity, making them ideal candidates for submission to a superior, protective order.
Corvin used his stabilized Raven's Eye View—the painful psychic projection—to scour the land outside the mountains. He fixed on a vulnerable target miles away from the main trade routes: the Lithos Scar Quarry, an isolated Trazarch operation. Adjacent to it was the impoverished labor village of Lithos. This was his target for liberation and recruitment.
III. Convergence: The Map of Lithos
Corvin directed his gaze toward the small, besieged complex. His Eyes of the Abyss cut through the distance, showing him the layout with unnatural clarity. The village of Lithos was a cluster of rough-built hovels, overlooked by the quarry operation.
The defenses were formidable for a single individual: thirty armed mercenaries, hired by the desperate Union to keep the laborers compliant and the copper flowing. They had fortified the main road leading to the quarry, patrolling the sparse perimeter with arrogance and inefficiency.
Corvin located his key assets:
Obel Harth (The Mason): A figure singled out for his meticulous discipline with stone and timber—the precise structural mind Corvin needed to design the Tower.
Veridian Vex (Mercenary to Slave): An immediate, high-stakes complication. Veridian Vex, the brilliant, anti-Union strategist, was captured and held in chains along with the villagers. Corvin recognized the tactical value of the man who had independently resisted the Union. Veridian was a slave who escaped during the chaos parallel to Corvin's escape, however captured again. The young man is of 23 years of age around the age as Corvin at this time, who used to be a mercenary until he fell upon debt in the Union. The acquisition of Veridian Vex was now mandatory.
Strategic Assessment:
Conflict: Corvin Nyx (Untrained, Uncontrolled Strength, Solo) vs. 30 Mercenaries (Armed, Trained).
Need for Annihilation: Corvin's time constraint (to grow stronger and train) demanded absolute silence. All thirty mercenaries had to die. A single warning shot or surviving witness would bring the full, overwhelming force of the Trazarch Union down upon his nascent foundation.
IV. The Final Calculation (The Black Flock Gambit)
Corvin settled into his final position on a remote ridge, his mind a cold engine running the full simulation. He formed the tactical plan that would become the blueprint for all future Raven Legion operations: the Black Flock Gambit.
Total Isolation: The mission must begin with complete sensory blackout. Corvin would command the Black Flock to fly low and systematically destroy all light sources and cut all communication lines under the cover of their beating wings, plunging the area into absolute darkness and silence.
Surgical Annihilation: Corvin would prioritize speed and silence over technique. His strength was his weapon; his lack of training was the liability. He would use the Murder to attack simultaneously, blinding and distracting every isolated sentry, allowing Corvin to execute a single, silent, crushing blow or a lethal improvised strike. Two specific Ravens would remain apart of the operation to provide continued surveillance and to warn of any runners.
Acquisition of Arsenal: He would acquire the leader's weaponry and use the fallen mercenaries' gear and bodies as the first material wealth for his new fighting force, arming the 20-30 villagers who would form the genesis of the Raven Legion.
The First Command: Liberation was the price; submission and service would be the reward. Corvin would secure Obel Harth and Veridian Vex, and the construction of the First Satellite Tower would commence immediately.
Corvin Nyx, the Raven Lord, rose from the ridge, his new body moving with a silent, terrifying grace. The calculation was complete. His first act of absolute order was about to begin.