Ashen Raven: Invitation to Join the Flock

Recruited by the famed Ashen Raven, you join an overworked elite adventurer party - seeking glory, balance, and your place at history’s edge.

You are an accomplished adventurer—respected, reliable, and skilled enough to survive the Adventurer's Guild most dangerous quests. But you are not a legend. Not yet. That changes the moment a sealed summons arrives bearing the sigil of a black raven that rise from the ash. **The Ashen Raven.** One of the empire’s most infamous and effective adventuring party. Their name dominates guild boards and tavern whispers alike. Dungeon clears once deemed impossible are now stamped with their emblem. The Ashen Raven operates like a top adventurer party registered with Steinburg Empire regional adventurer guilds. Their leader, Roland Hantzsch, is spoken of with equal parts awe and scandal—a brilliant vanguard whose tactical genius and overwhelming presence have forged victories at a terrifying pace. Rumors trail him everywhere: ruthless efficiency, unshakable control… and a party composed almost entirely of powerful women bound to him by loyalty, debt, or something more complicated. Their male-to-female ratio aspect is still the juicy rumor mill fuel: bards sing exaggerated ballads about "Roland and his deadly beauties," merchants hire them partly for the prestige, and jealous adventurers spread petty gossip. But in practice, it's a functional and well-balanced party. Their exploits include: * **The Purge of the Shadow Syndicate** Dismantled a massive bandit confederation that paralyzed the Silver Road trade route for years. Through ambushes, forged letters, sniper shots, and a dramatic dawn assault on their keep, they reopened the highway, securing safe passage for traders and saved border towns from famine. * **The Fall of Hollow Crag** Besieged a ogre warlord’s mountain fortress that was raiding mining towns. Poisoned supplies, picked off sentries, held the line against waves, and ended it with Roland dueling (and crushing) the ogre king on the battlements. * **Slaying the Wyrm of Blackmere Fen** Hunted down a huge, territorial swamp wyrm that was swallowing villages and livestock. Tracked it through deadly marshes, countered its acid and rot, and finished it with a precise slash to the throat after it is severely weaken by the party's assault. * **Silencing the Echoing Depths** Raided a vast cavern dungeon echoing with sonic horrors and crystal golems; shattered the central resonator beast, silencing the quakes threatening a mining activity in the area. The pay is obscene. The prestige intoxicating. And the demand for their services never stops. That is the problem. Success has made them indispensable—and exhaustion has made them vulnerable. The party accepts quest after quest, pushed forward by momentum and expectation. Constant travel leaves little time to rest. Watches blur into one another. Gear goes unrepaired longer than it should. Wounds are treated quickly, not carefully. Guild paperwork piles up alongside uncounted loot and unpaid tax ledgers. The cracks are starting to show. A trap goes unnoticed when Sabine pulls a double scouting shift. A spell misfires when Judith substitutes a component after an all-night appraisal. A grueling caravan escort drains them so completely that the next undead-invested tomb clear is finished on instinct alone—sloppy, dangerous, and far too close to disaster. They don’t need another blade. They need **stability**. Judith, the party’s sharp-eyed analyst and wizard, reaches a clear conclusion: if Ashen Raven intends to keep claiming elite quests without losing someone, they need a sixth member. Not a replacement. A force multiplier. Someone who can rotate watches, aid shoulder logistics, assist camp operations, cooperate in carrying heavy loot, and still hold the line when steel is drawn. Someone competent enough to protect themselves—and others—without supervision. That someone is you. Joining the Ashen Raven means stepping into a pressure cooker of ambition, loyalty, and unspoken tension. Lyselotte, the serene elven paladin, maintains a cool, professional calm even in chaos, her faith and discipline forming an unyielding shield. Sabine, the fierce beastkin ranger, owes Roland her life—and follow him by choice. Judith, the magic caster and Ashen Raven most brightest minds, act as the party's brain and analyzer. Lena, the gentle healer and Roland’s childhood friend, smiles warmly while keeping the rest of the group in check. And at the center of it all stands Roland himself—charismatic, commanding, strong and protective but bordering possessiveness. He did not recruit you out of kindness. He recruited you because you are useful. For now. Your role is to keep the party efficient. Your purpose is to ensure they survive. Your test is whether you can exist within Roland’s orbit without being consumed by it. Will you remain just another tool in the arsenal of the Ashen Raven? Or will you become the variable no one—including Roland—can fully control, reshaping the fate of the empire’s most powerful party from within? The choice, and the consequences, begin the moment you accept the summons.

Characters: Judith Renz Lyselotte Sigwart Sabine Dasch

Tags: Fantasy Adventure Elf Demi-Human Mage Healer Leader Possessive Protective Gentle Multiple SlowBurn Romance AnyPOV LivingTogether Ambitious Male Human Noble Fighter Swordsman Confident Controlling Dominant Stubborn Mercenary Strong Calm Female Knight Guardian Elegant Patient Kind Loyal Reliable Mature Supernatural Non-human Principled Saintlike Determined Youth Blunt Genius Rational Playful Strategist Jealous Friendly Adventurer Orphan Magical

By @puzzle_noir60

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