The Two-Raven Quill

Origin and Legend

This quill is now in the possession of The Thane of Alven and plays an important part in the religious pageantry associated with the office. The legend of its origins adds much mystique to the object. According to the legend, the quill was a gift of the goddess Morgan to the first Thane of Alven.

The words of the goddess have been recorded as thus:

The raven and I will write the words
Open your eyes, see the world
Hold in your hand
Who might live
Who might die,
What might pass.
In thy hand, Never the ink shall dry.

The quill is used to write the seer's prophecies in the The Book of Events Yet to Come every Samayne at the start of the Alven year. The Thane and the The White Seer are the only two people allowed to touch and write with the quill. The words written with the quill are supposed to come true and it is believed that if the quill failed to write one Samayne, this would mean the end of the Thanes and Alven.

The Two Ravens

The quill itself is said to have been made of two raven feathers. It also sports exquisitely crafted silver and gold filigree decorations. The fact that two raven feathers instead of one has been used to craft the quill has given rise to a charming apocryphal tale that is a favorite of Alvenites' children.

Morgan had two favorite ravens.
Fithic was a large and beautiful raven. His black feathers always shimmered under the light of the sun and his deep black eyes were a brilliant pool of onyx. Although Fithic was very handsome, he was not the brightest of his kind. He usually spent his days preening his glossy feathers looking pretty on Morgan's shoulders.


Bertram on the other hand was on the scrawny side, very clever, and somewhat naughty. He liked to perform tricks for Morgan whom he adored, and could even say a few words in the old tongue. Bertram was an excellent mimic and Morgan was very amused by his antics.

Soul of Raven by Consuelo-Parra on DeviantArt


When Morgan had the magical quill crafted, she chose one of Fithic's beautiful, glossy feathers for the quill. Bertram became very upset that he had been overlooked for such a prestigious object.

He, then, decided that his smaller, but still potent feathers should also be a feature of the quill, and be remembered for all eternity. Why let big, silly Fithic have all the glory when he had the brains and wit to change history?


At the end of a long sunny day, as the sun was setting over the horizon, Bertram entered the workshop of Calander. Calander, Morgan's legendary smith, had fallen asleep at his desk and did not notice the quiet bird putting an extra small feather in his hand.
When Calander awoke, he continued his work without noticing the extra feather tucked away behind the larger, glossy one.


When Calander presented his work to Morgan, she smiled recognising Bertram's feather in the work. It is said that the small raven got a whole bag of hazelnuts that day as a reward for his cleverness. It is also said that the quill is as potent as it is because of Bertram's feather and its intelligence.