Raven Concord¶
"With Inwe's grace, may laborious pain and death come swiftly to the traitor Valtor!" — Zolnira, elder of the Concord (S051)
The Raven Concord is an order of warlocks in Proturas, a subsidiary faction of the Dwellers with its order hall, Ravenhold, in the caves of the Warrens (S078, S105, S051). "These warlocks are scorned and belittled by other warlocks for their deliberative nature. They are almost entirely female, although there is no strict requirement as such. Their power comes from an unusual bargain ... each of them takes a piece of Inwe's soul as their own" (S078). In 834 AL, in the Fifth Age, the Concord was betrayed by one of its own, outlawed by the Proturan Council, and scattered.
Also called: the Warlocks of the Raven Concord, the Concord of the Raven, the Concord; its members Concord Warlocks or Ravenlocks (S078, S105, S072, S077). The campaign notes several times write "Conclave" for the Concord, and "Conclave Warlock" for its members (S042, S051, S052, S061).
Inwe's bargain¶
"When they dream, they relive her memories. This imparts vast knowledge over time, including historical and mystical knowledge. The Concord Warlocks are seen as blasphemers, heretics and abominations by worshippers of the Kalari pantheon" (S078). A new warlock apprentices for about two years, "afterwhich" she "joined the Concord and suffered through the Juxtaposition Ritual"; the dreams that follow are "a very difficult adjustment", and the initiate is "tired all the time". "Many Concord warlocks" join the military after membership (S074). The memories reach far back: in one, Inwe watches the wizard Severac demonstrate his Dracius Cradle on a platinum dragon egg and vows to create the Knights of the Dragon Lotus to protect it (S040).
The members carry Rings of the Concord, through which the elders speak to them all at once (S051), and masters wear "Robes of the Master" (S044). The order's greatest treasure is the Tear of Inwe; "your access to Inwe's magic" was thought to depend on it (S051). Both objects are described with the lesser relics.
The Concord in the Warrens¶
"An order of warlocks which has an order hall in a small part of the Warrens, which is made up of a series of caves. Attempts at disrupting the concord by the gangs have led to targeted plagues, blood diseases and awful deaths. The last gang which abducted and killed a Concord warlock in the Warrens was completely eradicated. They all died of a withering disease over a period of weeks, whose effect was on display to the rest of the Warrens. The gangs don't forget. They despise and fear the Concord" (S105).
The Concord is ruled by three elders, among them Zolnira and Grimbac (S068, S051), and keeps a council that summons its members to account: "the council would like to speak to you at your earliest convenience ... and we would like to assess any threat to the Conclave, the Warrens or the Region" (S038). Outside Proturas the name had a darker sound; a campaign ballot lists "Ravenlocks" with the Sancturi and the Brotherhood of Light as cults whose members might raid a Proturan outpost (S077).
The fall of Ravenhold¶
The traitor was Valtor, "a well-known Conclave Warlock" who worked with the White Hand and sat in the Circle of Eternity, and who told the Circle where the spirit of Vixseranyol was imprisoned (S061, S068). His manor's cells held "the corpse of a Female Concord Warlock (a master)", her spirit trapped (S042).
In 834 AL, as the council went to war with the Boreal Elves, "Valtor provided 'evidence' of widespread corruption and anti-Proturan activities within the Concord". "The Military has seized Ravenhold ... scattering the Concord Warlocks. Further, there is a standing order across Proturas to arrest and interrogate Concord Warlocks" (S051). Grimbac's last messages through the rings tell the story:
Quote
Arbiters backed with a considerable Proturan military force have begun a siege of Ravenhold after I denied them entry. They presented a warrant signed by Lord High Arbiter Nadlegade to seize all members of the Concord for treason and high crimes. ... Property of the Concord has been forfeit and now belongs to the Proturan Council. My advice to all of you is to remove anything that identifies you as a Raven Concord member immediately.
We are trapped! We attempted to secure the Tear of Inwe, but there is no way out. I regret to tell you that master Ulster and mistress Invariel were cut down by the Proturans while assisting me in retrieving the Tear. Valtor himself is in the vanguard of the Proturan forces.
Zolnira warned the members to remove their rings, since "Valtor is capable of using it to track down its users", and set about "organizing a refuge for loyal members of the Concord", who were to gather "at the Amberhouse in the Steps" (S051). Grimbac was taken to Black Iron Hold, "a converted Dwarven Hold below Proturas for powerful and magical prisoners". Valtor "has officially become a member of the Warlocks of the Blue Flame" and occupies Ravenhold (S051); by the next session the notes record "Ravenhold captured and Conclave under arrest" (S052).
Grimbac had prepared for the end. A vault in the Zerajic Bank held twenty-five thousand gold and titles to items "legally stored by the Concord, but ... actually the property of the Silver Moon", including the Tear of Inwe and Morwen's Book of Bloodrot, to be given only to their leader, Lord Monmort (S051, S052). The fall and its aftermath are told in the Proturan Campaign chronicle.
Relations¶
The Concord's chief rivals are the Warlocks of the Blue Flame: a Riftborn slave of the Blue Flame warlock Oxar "joined his rivals: Warlocks of the Raven Concord" when he died (S074). The Proturan Arbiters carried out the warrant against the order.