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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Greywander's Avatar

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    Nov 2017

    Default Reborn as a bunch of crows - Looking for crow myth/folklore to mine for ideas

    I recently had the random thought of "Isekai but the MC is reincarnated as a swarm of crows." There's... a lot that we could talk about on that subject (not sure I've ever seen a story with a hivemind as the main character). For now, I just want to talk about the different types of crows the protagonist would have access to for his swarm. Initially I was thinking there would be a linear upgrade path, e.g. crows -> ravens -> sun crows, but I think a better way to do it is for the swarm to have a "population limit" and stronger crows use more of it. So the MC would be able to have a lot of normal crows or a few mythical crows, with the limit increasing as he gets stronger. I could still do upgrades, but probably on an individual basis instead of a universal upgrade, and it would be more like pokemon evolutions where there are multiple evolution paths.

    Anyway, let's start with the basics. The family Corvidae is pretty broad, including things like blue jays. There could be some interesting potential there for some additional variety, but it might make sense to restrict it to just the genus Corvus, and maybe Coloeus (jackdaws). From what I understand, the difference between ravens and crows basically comes down to size; in that sense it's kind of like the difference between horses and ponies. There will be specific differences between one specific species of raven and another specific species of crow, but in general there aren't any consistent differences between all ravens and all crows across the whole of Corvus, aside from size. I think anything in Corvus could be called a crow, so a raven is just a big crow in the same way that a pony is a small horse.

    After a bit of research, I'm struggling to find concrete features to use to emphasize the differences between crows and ravens (and likewise for things like rooks, which are also in Corvus). Biologically and mythologically they're basically interchangeable. I could impose a difference, e.g. ravens are tankier and can use divination magic, while crows are sneakier and can use shadow or death magic. Or I could just make ravens a straight upgrade from crows; perhaps stronger in every way but using up more "population space" in the swarm.

    Speaking of magic, I'm imagining that the MC would have access to "crow magic" where he makes his flock of crows basically create magic circles by flying in circles above a spell's target. This would probably be for stronger spells, and individual crows might have "on demand" spellcasting they can use, e.g. a sun crow shooting lasers or breathing fire. Though considering the swarm could eventually number in the hundreds, any individual crow probably shouldn't be too strong. Speaking of, let's move on to the mythical crows I'm aware of and some that I've made up from scratch.

    I'm mentioned sun crows a few times; they're three-legged crows from Asian mythology. You might have seen the name Yatagarasu in video games or anime, for example. As far as I'm aware, they don't have any connection to the phoenix, and I haven't seen anything associating healing or resurrection with them. Instead, it seems more like they would probably use light and fire magic; the "sun" in "sun crow" isn't just there for show. I could still make them into "crow clerics", so to speak (Light Domain, probably), but perhaps there's another mythical crow for which that would be better suited.

    I've known about three-legged crows for some time, but a new mythical crow I only just discovered is the valravn. It's name means "raven of the slain", so probably a death magic user or necromancer. They're described as being half-raven and half-wolf, and I'm imagining something a bit like a griffon, but instead of a literal half-and-half creature I'd probably unify the design into something more consistent. The physique of a wolf, the legs of a raven, the beak of a raven but with wolf teeth, the ears and tail of a wolf, and covered in black feathers. One thing I'm not sure is how big they should be; they could be anywhere from raven-sized to wolf-size, and that's a pretty large range. I'm worried about making them too big since they're technically supposed to be part of a swarm. They'd probably be more warrior types and might take up a lot more "population" in the swarm.
    One other aspect of their folklore is that if they eat the heart of a child then they turn into a knight, which doesn't sound very chivalrous but whatever. For this reason, I was considering using Valravn as the character's name instead of one of the types of crows they can use, with the idea that they would eventually gain the ability to combine their swarm into a humanoid form (a "knight"), like the reverse of a vampire turning into a swarm of bats. But I am leaning towards having valravn as a type of crow he can get.

    The azure jay is a real bird (in Corvidae, too) with an associated mythological origin where it is known as the blue crow. According to the story, it was a normal crow and got upset when someone cut down the tree it was in. It flew to the sky and heard a voice telling it that it would be painted the color of the sky and made a guardian of the trees. Azure jays apparently have a habit of planting trees, probably intending to return later to eat the seeds but sometimes they forget. So it sounds like a sky-blue crow druid, if you ask me.

    One mythical crow that I made up myself is the storm crow: a crow with four wings that can control the weather. So it would be another magic using crow with access to wind, rain, and lighting magic. Honestly, this also sounds a bit druid-like, so maybe I could combine the idea with the blue crow, but the blue crow seems to have more of a plant focus, so I think they're distinct enough. Is there any folklore that kind of aligns with this idea that I could use as a basis?

    Another mythical crow I've made up myself is the ghost raven: a white raven that can shoot a weak jolt of lightning from its mouth, turn invisible, and become incorporeal to pass through solid obstacles. Otherwise, it's basically a normal raven. I actually came up with this for a completely different project where it was meant to serve as a witch's familiar, but I think it actually fits pretty well and is closer to the power level I'm looking for (it's easy to envision some of these other mythical crows as being way too strong; they're not necessarily "designed" to be swarm monsters).

    The last mythical crow I'm aware of is the nachtkrapp, or night raven. Apparently it has no eyes, can harm you if you look at it, likes to kidnap children, and of course it does all this at night. So basically crow Slenderman. I'm thinking spooky dark/night magic and teleportation abilities.

    What other mythology and folklore could I mine for ideas? Also, for those who know more about mundane birds, which types of corvids do you think would work best and how would they be specialized? The problem I'm having with the regular birds is that they're either so similar that they may as well be reskins or they're too different such that they no longer fit the crow theme.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Reborn as a bunch of crows - Looking for crow myth/folklore to mine for ideas

    In the World of Darkness setting, there are were-ravens. I read the oWoD setting book on them, as well as the East Asia fera book, and both had cool stuff; though I don't remember a ton. Definitely see the inspiration from the sun crow legend.

    I'm not sure how much information is out there for free, but the 'recommended readings' probably some have cool resources. And the WoD stuff itself could be cool inspiration for powers and lore.

  3. - Top - End - #3
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    ElfPirate

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    Default Re: Reborn as a bunch of crows - Looking for crow myth/folklore to mine for ideas

    Just started rewatching the anime Inuyasha, and one of the first demons the main characters encounter is a Shibugarasu (Carrion Crow, or Dancing Corpse Crow), which has three red eyes and hides in dead bodies (which it also fully capable of creating by biting someone's heart out), working them like puppets.

    Japanese mythology also has Tengu, powerful warriors and tricksters that can change shapes between human, crow, and sometimes others.

    EDIT:
    The Rainbow Crow is more mythological origin story than species, but could still serve as a source of inspiration. In the myth, the Crow is originally beautifully plumed with rainbow feathers, and possessed of a sweet and melodious singing voice, but sacrifices both carrying a torch (the smoke chars his feathers and dries his lungs and vocal chords) in order to relight the sun and end the winter that is killing all of the animals.

    Learned something new today: while the myth is typically credited to the Lenape native american people, the Lenape-Nanticoke Museum denies that the Lenape are its source, and suggests that the story is a warped version of the Cherokee story "First Fire". This claim is supported by the fact that crows are not an important part of Lenape tradition, and that there are no records of the Rainbow Crow story prior to 1989.

    In that story (or at least the first version I found when I googled it), Raven is the first animal to offer to retrieve the first fire to exist, but retreats in fright (without the fire) when his feathers are charred black by the smoke.
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  4. - Top - End - #4
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    Default Re: Reborn as a bunch of crows - Looking for crow myth/folklore to mine for ideas

    Secondig Karasu-Tengu. I was about to mention them myself
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  5. - Top - End - #5
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    Laserlight's Avatar

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    Default Re: Reborn as a bunch of crows - Looking for crow myth/folklore to mine for ideas

    On the "hive mind" end of things, Vernor Vinge has a novel A Fire Upon The Deep in which one of the races is somewhat canine. One individual by himself is not intelligent, but three to six of them form a pack, with distributed intelligence. If an individual dies, the pack can replace him, although that's likely to mean some change of personality and capabilities.
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  6. - Top - End - #6
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    Greywander's Avatar

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    Default Re: Reborn as a bunch of crows - Looking for crow myth/folklore to mine for ideas

    Quote Originally Posted by Laserlight View Post
    On the "hive mind" end of things, Vernor Vinge has a novel A Fire Upon The Deep in which one of the races is somewhat canine. One individual by himself is not intelligent, but three to six of them form a pack, with distributed intelligence. If an individual dies, the pack can replace him, although that's likely to mean some change of personality and capabilities.
    Yes, I had something like this in mind as well, although I was thinking more in terms of one singular intelligence that is distributed among the swarm, rather than individual minds that link up to form a greater hivemind. I had some rough stats in mind, but it's been a while so let's see if I can remember them.

    Basically, having more crows in close proximity (e.g. occupying the same space, and thus constituting a "swarm" if it were a D&D 5e monster) would first increase intelligence in a more vertical manner up to human level, and thereafter it would increase more horizontally, allowing for things like multitasking and focusing on multiple things at once. If they're a little farther than that, say within 120 feet, then they can communicate with one another to share senses and such but can't boost intelligence. Even farther away, say in a 1 mile range, and they can share vague emotions and ideas. Farther than that and they can't communicate at all. However, it's not really possible for two groups of crows to get separated and form independent hive minds. As soon as they regroup, all the memories get shared. Our crow swarm can remain effectively immortal by sending a single crow off somewhere to chill, ready to repopulate the swarm should the rest perish, but it won't have the memories of the rest of the swarm unless at least one crow escapes to link up with it. Memories that have been lost this way may still exist in a similar way to any memory that's been forgotten, so there might be magic or psychological techniques that could bring those memories back.

    As for stacking a bunch of crows in the same space, here's what I had in mind.
    • 1 Crow. As smart as a single crow. Can count up to 3, can't perform any arithmetic operations. Can repeat words and phrases, but is unable to truly comprehend them. Doesn't recognize writing as anything other than weird pictures.
    • 2 Crows. Can count up to 10, can add small numbers. Vaguely comprehends single words. Recognizes writing, but can't read.
    • 4 Crows. About as smart as a small child. Can count to over 100 and perform addition and subtraction. Understands phrases but struggles with complex sentences. Can read at a similar level to a child.
    • 7 Crows. About as smart as a pre-teen/teenager. Can perform algebra. Language and reading is fine, though lacks eloquence.
    • 13 Crows. As smart as a human adult.

    So what I'm thinking is that once the swarm gets large enough, he could have crows sit in clusters of 7 or 13 to boost the intelligence of that cluster, and clusters can be close enough to communicate. Those that are farther can occasionally send crows back and forth to share information. It's kind of like how the two hemispheres of your brain communicate back and forth. There might be some central flock somewhere that processes the information and determines what to do with it, using the advanced brain power of hundreds of crows in one place.

    Now that I think about it, this would make for a really great superhero. Just imagine the level of surveillance an entity like this would be able to maintain. You could basically have a system where he sends crows to alert other heroes about crimes in progress. And that's not even considering how strong he'd be on his own should he assemble most or all of his swarm into one place. I keep thinking of the character as a brooding edgelord like Batman, but considering that crows are often associated with tricksters then maybe Spiderman with his sense of humor would be more appropriate.

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