I. The Calculation of Acquisition
The acquisition of Obsidian Marshall, Garrus Vane, was complete, but the existential problem remained: the Raven Legion was crippled by a lack of equipment. The Obsidian Forgemaster—Alcides Ynatos (Tenebrium)—was the solution, but he was located inside a Trazarch-controlled market town, protected by the City Guard. Corvin Nyx would not risk the alarm or the exposure of his command; he would acquire the asset through pure, cold calculation.
Corvin retired to the apex of Obsidios Lithos, channeling his mind through Umbra, the Master Scout, who was perched on his shoulder. His strategy was surgical: exploit the Union's greatest obsession—coin—and their greatest fear—audit. He would execute a plan that utilized the corruption inherent to the Union.
The Target Profile: Corvin required the local official who managed the town's taxes—the nexus of the corruption. Umbra was used to map the town's psychological landscape, quickly identifying the highest-ranking local official responsible for tax collection and debt enforcement: Magistrate Velan. The psychological noise emanating from his office—the anxiety and greed—confirmed he was actively engaged in significant embezzlement. Corvin did not stop there; he needed absolute leverage. He had Umbra focus its enhanced sight on the Magistrate's private ledgers, acquiring the precise, intimate details of the official's hidden financial crimes—the single piece of information that guaranteed his compliance. Crimes that included skimming right off the top of taxes, collection debts owed to the tower itself, and anything else he could get his dirty little fingers on. Just enough to keep collecting a sizeable sum overtime but not enough to get caught unless someone was looking for it.
II. The Weapon of Auditing
Corvin rejected any plan involving bloodshed. He would use the Union's own systemic terror—the fear of an internal audit and political sabotage—as the sole tool of acquisition.
Corvin prepared the exchange. He created two flawless, small Obsidian Shards—not weapons, but tokens of currency and threat. He dispatched a single, unarmored Raven Legion courier to the market town with a set of carefully folded, sealed messages, guided by Obsius (The Herald) on the route. The courier's instructions were absolute: deliver the message to the Magistrate and wait.
The Negotiation: The courier, cloaked and anonymous, delivered the first message directly to Magistrate Velan's private office.
The Magistrate, accustomed to receiving bribes and threats, unfolded the note with weary contempt, but his expression instantly froze. The note contained Alcides Ynatos's exact outstanding debt and tax levy, confirming Corvin's omniscience over the local debt registry. Alongside this financial data, the note held a terrifying second layer: a single, precise sentence detailing the Magistrate's personal, hidden financial crime (the exact nature of his embezzlement and the fraudulent records designed to protect him from the Ministry of Commerce's audit).
Magistrate Velan was instantly paralyzed. The threat of political and financial ruin—far worse than a simple bandit raid—forced his immediate compliance. He realized the writer possessed an unnatural, impossible surveillance network.
The Demand: The note did not demand gold; it demanded Alcides Ynatos himself. The Forgemaster was to be delivered to a specified drop sight a few miles away form the tower within 24 hours, free of charge, with fabricated paperwork confirming his "debt retirement." In exchange, the Magistrate's crime would remain a secret, and his life spared from the audit's political annihilation.
The Magistrate, valuing his neck and his illicit wealth above all else, acted with desperate speed. He paid Alcides's debt out of his own pocket, frantically fabricating documents to make the release appear legal and routine. He arranged for the swift, discreet transport of Alcides Ynatos out of the market town and toward the looming shadow of The World's Teeth.
Instead of having him because taken directly to Obsidios Lithos, he had them meet Veridian at a ruin miles outside the town so the Unkindness could keep watch but act as another form of protection. From there after the Union carriage disappeared from view back towards the town they departed towards the keep. Hours later arriving to their destination, Corvin was waiting patiently with a smile of everything going according to plan, to his will.
Corvin: I offer you Order and the future to forge armor and weapons that will see this Order brought into reality. Instead of the very chains they had you forge, the same ones you wore to bed you shall forge Obsidian to be their undoing.
Alcides: You saved me from a eternity of professional hell, to be forced to create the tools used to enslave others, to fuel their greed. I swear my loyalty to you!
Corvin: Without speaking, placed his hand over his neck branding him with the Mark of the Raven. You will have a forge built to handle the demand that will be required of you. You will be given men to help you create. Your title shall be Tenebrium, shaper of obsidian and shadow.
Not only did it connect him to the Flock- Link but also allows Alcides to channel the obsidian magic into the very armor and weapons he forges. The path to creating a truly terrify Legion has been realized.
Alcides was tasked with building the first forges so he can begin his work arming the ever growing Raven Legion which what will become their hallmark weapons and armor. With this obsidian stone was needed to build the forge, a massive forge able to house several blacksmiths can capable of arming a nascent legion.
With the acquisition of Alcides and of Garrus the two key people needed will begin the expansion in earnest. There is no point to waiting for the Union to act, the time for Dark Order has begun.