V's familiar, raven or crow?

[Professor Tanhauser]

I see that V's bird had a yellow beak. Correct me if I'm wrong but don't crows have yellow beaks and ravens have black ones? I could swear I've seen ravens with black beaks.

Edit: according to this link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Raven) ravens do have black beaks, and are among the most intelligent of birds.

[ocato]

Actually, I do believe ravens do have black beaks. But he calls it a raven and it looks better with a yellow beak I'd say. It's a cartoon.

Edit: Good catch though! I missed that.

[Parasocrates]

Yeah, definitely a raven. I don't think very many people are consciously aware of the fact that ravens have black beaks.

[Icewalker]

Cmon, what are you guys thinking? It's a chicken! V said so herself! :smallwink:

and if it's one of the more intelligent birds, I'd say the whole running part makes sense, as does the fact that it could ask the oracle a question.

[Wooter]

It's a Crowraven. Soer of like an Owlbear. It has the body of a raven, but the beak of a crow.

[Assassinfox]

It's a chicken!

[Avatar God]

I had to check Google images, but apparently both ravens and crows have black beaks. But blackbirds have cool little yellow/orange beaks. Given this new evidence, I vote chicken. :smallsmile:


//edit. For what it's worth, I'm aware that it's actually a raven, but what's the fun in a thread that just quotes "...my loyal raven familiar..." ?

[NeonRonin]

I wonder what kind of seasoning goes into Kentucky Fried Raven... and whether the Death Knight would even be willing to give up the secret recipe. :smallbiggrin:

Edit: I personally vote raven, unless the OOTS world somehow has evolved chickens capable of flight.

[Innis Cabal]

its a raven, as stated by him/she

[brionl]

It's like Esquilax, the horse with the head of a rabbit. And the body of a rabbit, but it's a different rabbit. :)

[Tharivol123]

It is a raven, it just has an illusion cast on the beak.

[Jazzvader]

It is a raven the giant said so in OOTS #3 for heaven's sake

[Demented]

It's a Half-Raven Half-Chicken Half-Elf!

[BobTheDog]

Half-camel, too, probably.

And what would the bonus on a Chicken familiar be? +3 to Profession (farmer)?

[Demented]

Gains a +3 to Survival checks made to gather food.

:vaarsuvius: "Who wants sum more eggs?"
:elan: "Sunny side up, please!"

Alternately, +1 to Strength.

:vaarsuvius: "A raw egg a day helps you build muscle!"
:roy: "I'll pass."

[MReav]

It's a crossbreed between crow and raven, a CRAVEN!

*rimshot!*

[RowlieBowlie]

Actually, both crows and ravens have black beaks.

I think it's a blackbird, but probably it's a half chicken

[Scalenex]

It's a crossbreed between crow and raven, a CRAVEN!

*rimshot!*

Despite crows having black beaks, that is an excellent joke worthy of killing two or three hobgoblins.

[Gez]

Blackwing is a raven. The beak is only yellow because:
In this world, ravens have yellow beaks; at least Blackwing's species does.
This raven happens to like honey, oddly, and it's the yellow honey on his beak you see.
Haley painted it yellow because it's more shiny.
V. always cast change self to better conceal any outward sign that could hint at his or her sex, and through share spell Blackwing uses it to change his beak's color.
It's not his real beak. He had a freak accident and then had to be grafted another bird's beak. (His question to the oracle was about herbal medicine to lessen residual pain from this operation.)
It's not his beak, it's a special piece of armor to protect his beak.
The ritual that binds an animal as a familiar to an arcanist magically changes the beak's color.
Blackwing is a mutant.
It's just the sun reflecting on his shiny, glossy, mirror-like black beak.
You should check your eyes, or lay off the booze. Blackwing's beak is black, if you see something else you have a problem!

[SteveMB]

Edit: I personally vote raven, unless the OOTS world somehow has evolved chickens capable of flight.

Er, its "flight" is precisely the reason V identified it as a chicken. :smallamused:

[mikeejimbo]

It's a raven wearing lipstick, obviously.

[Threeshades]

both crows and ravens have black beaks, and black legs and feet too. Ravens actually belonging to the crow family. So blackwing is both a crow and a raven.

A blackbird (http://www.gartenspaziergang.de/amsel4_m.jpg) though comes much closer to V's familiar.

But still, as stated before, blackwing is a raven. That's i guess another law of cartoon (well not really physics): animals dont have to be anywhere near the color they have in the real world (see also: roadrunner)

[Raeden]

Crows have black beaks too. Male blackbirds are black with orange beaks. Also, Hill Mynas are black with orange beaks and they can imitate speech like parots. They also imitate the sound of your phone, which makes it an annoying pet. So maybe V should have taken more ranks in Knowledge (Ornithology) before picking her familiar, as she accidentally picked the wrong bird.

[cavalier973]

It's a golden, magic beak, of course

[NeonRonin]

It's the BEAK OF DOOM!

(gives birds a +10 bonus vs. insects, worms and other bird-preferred foodstuffs)

[Simons Mith]

It must be a miniature giant dwarf raven. It's about the same size as a crow.

[pendell]

No one remembers V saying, many strips ago,

"None of us has ever tampered with reality when bored. That would be wrong"

... maybe blackwing's beak is an example of such tampering? It'd explain why blackwing doesn't like V. That and the fact that V totally ignores him.

One reason I think V is a guy. I've known few women who would be so careless of a creature one takes as a pet/familiar.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[The Familiar]

both crows and ravens have black beaks, and black legs and feet too. Ravens actually belonging to the crow family. So blackwing is both a crow and a raven.

Are you sure that it isn't Crows being members of the Raven family? :smalltongue:


But still, as stated before, blackwing is a raven.
In 3rd Edition, the black bird choice is a raven, but back in 2nd Edition the black bird du jour was a crow.

Common Ravens have a call described as a very low "gronk"; it's American Crows that caaaaw.*

Vaarsuvius has complained about the annoyances of converting editions before. Based on Blackwing's...dialect...it's possible that he is a holdover, and while referred to as a "raven", is really a crow.

...and has a Yellow-billed Magpie or European Starling somewhere in his family tree, though that would probably be tantamount to an insult...:smallwink:



That's i guess another law of cartoon (well not really physics): animals dont have to be anywhere near the color they have in the real world (see also: roadrunner)
It can also be seen as creative license: Big Black Bird with black beak/legs equals really scary/intimating/bad, while Big Black Bird with Yellow beak/legs not so much.




*Stokes Field Guide to Birds--Western Region. Pages 332-333.

[MReav]

Despite crows having black beaks, that is an excellent joke worthy of killing two or three hobgoblins.

Thank you, I try.

[Spiky]

Edit: I personally vote raven, unless the OOTS world somehow has evolved chickens capable of flight.
No, that was the Zelda series.

[Spiky]

Are you sure that it isn't Crows being members of the Raven family? :smalltongue:

Actually, they are both members of the Corvidae family.

[Larrin]

cartoon crows/ravens (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=cartoon+crows&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2) almost never have black beaks (at least as often as not they don't). Bird beaks are orange or yellow, cartoonists know this, viewers/readers know this. Reality has no place in a strip if it will only confuse the readers.....

[Wardog]

[QUOTE=The Familiar;2434807]Are you sure that it isn't Crows being members of the Raven family? :smalltongue:


As it happens, I'm reading a book about crows at the moment.

Apparently, the word "crow" can legitimately be is used with varying degrees of accuracy to mean:

* Any member of the genus Corvus (also know as "true crows"), which includes the raven, carrion crow, American crow, rook, jackdaw, and others.
* Any member of Corvus that hasn't been given been given any other common name.
* Any member of the family Corvidae (which includes the above, plus magpies , jays, and others).

[OOTS_Rules.]

Raven sounds better in print than crow.

[nothingclever]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html

Good job proving you guys have no lives spamming a messageboard the Giant has been contemplating taking down since it wastes so much bandwidth because of terribly stupid topics like this.

"Gee guys, do you think Roy is going to become evil by not letting the bad guy finish his speech?" "Did the undead dragon say rrrr! or was it Roy?"
"Zomg I have ADD and even though I clearly see the author is focusing on one character per comic and Durkon will probably get his turn soon I haven't seen him fight yet so like show him now! Waah!"

Man your topics are awesome.

[Threeshades]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html

Good job proving you guys have no lives spamming a messageboard the Giant has been contemplating taking down since it wastes so much bandwidth because of terribly stupid topics like this.

"Gee guys, do you think Roy is going to become evil by not letting the bad guy finish his speech?" "Did the undead dragon say rrrr! or was it Roy?"
"Zomg I have ADD and even though I clearly see the author is focusing on one character per comic and Durkon will probably get his turn soon I haven't seen him fight yet so like show him now! Waah!"

Man your topics are awesome.

Wait, I thought that's what this forum is made for.

Damn and i was just about to post a foreshadowing thread about the Final Fantasy Party that was getting on that airship from Cliffport to azure city...

[Spiky]

Apparently, "crow" can legitimately be used to mean:

* Any member of the family Corvidae (which includes the above, plus magpies , jays, and others).

Only if "legitimately" means "because somebody who doesn't understand simple words said it once and now we have to be sappy and let them change the meaning of words so they won't cry over being an idiot".

[Wardog]

Only if "legitimately" means "because somebody who doesn't understand simple words said it once and now we have to be sappy and let them change the meaning of words so they won't cry over being an idiot".

I concede your point.

I just checked the passage in the book, and it said "The word 'crow' is occasionally used for all members of this avian family". When I said "legitimately used" I was either misremembering or oversimplifying, or both.


Although if someone said "a magpie is a type of crow" would that be too badly wrong?


Oh, and I've now edited my original post.

[Spiky]

Although if someone said "a magpie is a type of crow" would that be too badly wrong?

In print or an abstract discussion, yes. (IMO) If you see a magpie sitting in a tree and aren't familiar with birds and think it's a crow, no.

[MReav]

Good job proving you guys have no lives spamming a messageboard the Giant has been contemplating taking down since it wastes so much bandwidth because of terribly stupid topics like this.

Hey, I managed to kill a hobgoblin with my pun. I'm quite satisfied with my contribution to this message board.

[The Familiar]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html


What makes the strip you've brought up hilarious is that 2nd edition crows were familiars, and the wizard owning one was granted the heightened Sense of "excellent vision" from the bond--which was the point of Vaarsuvius suddenly remembering the familiar in the first place. So even though called a Raven, Vaarsuvius, Haley and Belkar expected Blackwing to provide a crow benefit.

By 3rd edition, the Special benefit of a Big Black Bird (now listed as a Raven) as a Familiar is "Speaks One Language". Blackwing has the ability to speak Common, but chooses not to (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0155.html).

Which merely makes a legitimate case that Blackwing is Raven Familiar converted over from the Crow Familiar template from a past edition. Or a Crow Familiar in a past life, take your pick. :smalltongue:


Good job proving you guys have no lives spamming a messageboard the Giant has been contemplating taking down since it wastes so much bandwidth because of terribly stupid topics like this.

I'll take this over yet another I know Vaarsuvius' Gender any day. :smalltongue:


And to Spiky and Wardog: I'm well aware that crows and ravens not only share the same Family but the same Genus, and that the crow is considered the representative, while the raven is 'just' another member. I was poking fun semantically at Threeshades statement.

If it helps to make sense of my sense of humor, I had a teacher who would cheekily refer to Red-winged Blackbirds sometimes as Black-bodied Redbirds. :smallbiggrin: