The Craven Hostess of Crows

Darken wings
as the laughter begins.
Caws of the crows
as the shadows arose.
Maddened chattering
as the covens were gathering The aunt of aunts
Grandest of grandmothers.
Host of the flock.
Cursed, she cackles. Fear and desparity
as nations plunge into depravity.
Screams and accusations
as death comes for generations.
Time of night is here
as is her.

The Craven Hostess of Crows

Many stories surround the Matron-Deity of Hags, as the unavoided certainty of her arrival. Morrigan, the Crow of War unites all of the hags who can hear her warcall in a plague of attacks from all different families of hags. What this deity actually looks like is hard to read, as every hag claims that their interpretation is right, and every interpretation is widely different. She is often depicted as a giant crow in front of the pale moon and told to have a caw so horrendous, that it alone covers the moon with clouds of shadow and causes nightmares to all who hear it. Others tell tales of a giant hag that has shriveled, large crow wings growing in place of, or maybe behind her arms.
In the legend of Morrigan it is told that her arrival signals a time of horrors. Where nations plunge into chaos and brothers accuse brothers of ancient deeds. Her shadow is seen as a sign of incoming wars and some olden believers claim that hearing a crows caw directly towards you before a battle signals your doom and coming death. Several times incidents of creatures have risen that have been mistaken as Morrigan.
Morrigan is seen as a mischievous deity, who enjoys bringing the worst out of people. Unlike her sisters and other hags, Morrigan does not need to spend time plotting. Her ancient, mystical magic together with her caws is enough to drive even the brave into despair and the innocent into murder. Sagas and tales of destruction wrought by Morrigan are famous in the less civilized lands, where hunters still avoid killing crows in order to not gain a disfavor among the hags. What stories are true, what false, is extremely difficult to pin out as both are told by her sisters, the other hags.

Historical Basis

Hag's March is a mysterious event, where the forgotten wilds of the world breed new horrors, as multiple covens of hags all work together to destroy mighty cities and strongholds with their cursed magic and mischievous cunningness. Larger cityscapes fall from inward due to infighting, curses and sickness that spread among them as some strongholds are bombarded by armies of hags approaching from every front. Foreshadowing these assaults are murders of crows that fly over the soon-to-be-ruined cities and castles.

Spread

The legend of Morrigan is a bedtime tale to misbehaving children, to warn them of the hags power: "I really hope you are not enchanted by that old hag, why are you so difficult?" In addition to this, lands further away from civilization still worship Morrigan as more or less of a lesser deity. She is not celebrated, but avoided and sometimes sacrifices are performed in her name to purify the status of a person that has wronged Morrigan or her sisters in some way. These rituals happen on occasions, such as when someone brakes the rule of three by foolishly killing one of three hag sisters. When this happens, the village either exiles the killer in hopes of the hags sating their revenge with him, or attempts to make up the loss of the hag to the sisters.

Variations & Mutation

If one is to actually track the source of these legends, or to discover more complex truths to what the Morrigan is, one is to have to do something worse than a deal with the devil. He has to withstand the deal with a hag, a grandmother hag. Oldest of grandmother hags, who rival the very dragons and elves with their long life, are said to know the secrets of Morrigan. Beware, because a deal with a hag is known to never end in favor of the mortal proposing the deal.

In Literature

Songs of Morrigan are often played by various of bards, especially during autumn when darkness falls and nights grow longer. Many horror stories center around ill omens brought by flocks of crows and there are even some inquiries and investigations made by historians to the truthfullness of the tale of Morrigan.

In Art

Idols formed of twigs, bone, bird-skulls and flesh of the dead can be found deep in the woods, usually protected or watched over by the hags. Some of the more gifted and modern hags have crafted pedestals of stone and altars that present their matron deity.

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