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A Murder of Crows

Design and Layout Greg Saunders

Art Tithi Luadthong

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 A Murder of Crows
T he animals of the forest come in all shapes and sizes, natural and unnatural.
Wolves, foxes and bears are common, but perhaps the most ubiquitous are
birds of all varieties. Probably the most noticeable of these are the various forms
of the crow family that haunt the eaves of the forest and fly high above. Crows,
rooks, ravens and magpies are often encountered, and now that no aeroplanes take
to the skies the birds have that entire domain to themselves.

T o the Drifters and communities that exist beneath the canopy, birds are a
constant companion to their lives. Their calls echo through the woods, and
the dawn chorus can be deafening. At twilight, the birds roost high in the many
trees, but not before they soar over tree tops in aerial displays.

B ut of course in the Sea of Leaves natural creatures are accompanied by

their unnatural counterparts – those that act in ways subtly different to
A Murder of Crows

their manner before the event. Unnatural birds come in as many forms as their
normal brethren, but crows seem to be the most common form. These creatures
are another expression of the strangeness of the forest, watchful eyes that cannot
be escaped.

A murder is the collective name for a group of crows, but in the post-Event
world it is the name people use to describe any unnatural form of birds that
they may encounter the forest.

Overview
I n the Sea of Leaves people fear the obvious dangers – wolves, bears and other
predators. The Unnatural forms of these creatures evoke even more terror, for
their unpredictable attitudes toward people and their reputed violence. However,
despite their small size unnatural birds are perhaps even more the subject of
fear. This is in part due to their greater numbers, but also due to the difficulty in
evading or escaping them. Birds come in flocks that can mass huge numbers, and
are able to easily avoid attacks and attempts to drive them off. Similarly, although
small and individually not particularly threatening, flocks of birds can pose a real
danger should they make a single minded attempt to injure or hurt a person, and
would be very hard to drive off.

A theme common in Summerland is the sense of horror brought on by the

direct regard of humanity by nature. In reality most wild animals except
some of the larger predators ignore or run from humans, and pay very little regard
to people except for when they are forced into self-preservation. If that distance is
breached, then the results can be unnerving and scary.

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 Inspiration: The Birds (Film,
1963 directed by Alfred
Hitchcock)
T he classic film the birds (and the book it was based on) is a perfect example
of the horror of seemingly harmless aspects of nature. In the film for
unexplained reasons birdlife starts deliberately attacking people, even at their
expense of their own lives. What makes this so horrible is not just the violence of
the attacks, but the fact that it is both unexpected and unexplained. Animals just
don’t react in that way, and when they do, it unsettles humanity’s sense of reality.

A Murder of Crows
Corvidae
T he various species bird could be used in Summerland to elicit different
feelings and tone to games, as described below for four common types of
corvidae.

Clever Animals: Crows

M any natural animals are cleverer than people give them credit for, and
display an intelligence that when revealed can be disconcerting. Their
unnatural counterparts might have this intelligence seemingly boosted even to
human levels, which when coupled with unnatural goals and drives (no wild animal
would normally have a goal to interact with people), can make these creatures a
powerful expression of what has changed with the world since the Event. In the
wild pre-Event crows have shown a great deal of intelligence, and have been able
to use simple tools to achieve their aims of collecting food. An unnatural crow
might display a greater degree of tool use or the ability to make long term plans.

Adventure Hook: Down Tools

O ne of the few power plants still working in the post-Event world is the
Bridgest Hydro-electric plant. Purely by good fortune the machinery
wasn’t damaged by the coming of the trees, and now a whole community has
grown up around the facility, nurturing their prize into spluttering life, providing
rare electricity. But things have gone bad recently. Someone has been tampering
with the machinery, despite the access doors being locked. They have shut the
plant down twice, risking damaging the turbines in the process. Can the characters
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 discover the crow that has been adjusting the settings of the system, and persuade
it to stop?

Birds as Adversaries: Rooks

S ometimes birds are solitary creatures, other species commune in great
flocks. Natural animals in such communities are wary of humans and easily
disturbed, and roost in tree tops for safety. They rarely would pose any kind of
threat to humans. However, their unnatural equivalents when flocked in large
numbers could be extremely dangerous – even smaller animals could potentially
cause a lot of harm, especially if they are reckless and oblivious to their own
safety. The sense of menace from such a flock could be palpable. Of the corvid
family, most likely to form such groupings are rooks, similar to crows but slightly
A Murder of Crows

smaller, which often aggregate in large numbers.

Adventure Hook: The Ravaging

O ne of the main routes through a part of the forest between two of the
larger settlements exists as a thin line of passable woods fenced in by the
Deeps. Drifters regularly make their way through the ‘tunnel’, carrying food and
supplies between the communities. Recently, a large flock of rooks have taken up
residence and have begun attacking travellers passing beneath their roosts. Now,
no one will carry between the settlements, and much needed medical supplies can’t
get through. Will the characters brave the attacks, or can they find the reason why
the birds are so aggressive?

Birds as Guides: Ravens

T he idea of birds as guides or familiars is common in the tales of humanity,
and Ravens often fulfil this role. The largest of the Corvid family, Ravens
were a rare sight before the Event. Now they are often encountered in the Sea of
Leaves. Solitary birds compared to Crows, ravens are also opportunistic eaters
and consumers of carrion. They are clever birds in their natural form, and an
unnatural raven might express a far greater intelligence, choosing to interact with
people to impart knowledge or understanding. Quite how a raven would pass its
knowledge on to humans is hard to guess.

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 Adventure Hook: The Raven’s
Call
T he community of Pinewood is under a cloud – someone murdered the
daughter of one of the farmers, Jenny Turnbull. People die in the woods,
but this murder happened in the community itself, safe within the walls. No one
knows what happened, but the murder appears to have a vaguely ritualistic aspect
to it. Little does anyone know but there was only one witness – a raven. Now the
bird is trying to find someone to tell. Can it communicate its message before the
murderer strikes again?

Birds as Thieves: Magpies

A Murder of Crows
S ome birds in their natural form have a tendency to steal, especially bright
objects which catch their eye. Magpies are noted for this behaviour. In
Unnatural birds this characteristic might be exaggerated or pushed to extremes,
and may involve the animal seemingly taking objects with great worth even
though they appear normal. How such a theft would be resolved is an interesting
dilemma – would characters try to kill the bird, or somehow reason with it? Would
they seek its nest and try and rescue what was stolen?

Adventure Hook: Something

Stolen
T he community of Little Bow takes residence in the remains of an army
depot, as most of the buildings are intact and fairly well defendable. They
store their food in an old armoury, where it is fully secure. The trouble is, they’ve
lost the key. Trey Giddings, the leader of the community, was accosted by Magpies
when he last left the base. During the attack, one of the magpies stole the key to
the store and now the community’s food is now out of reach. Why did the birds
take the key? What do they want with it? How do the characters communicate
with the birds to resolve the situation?

Supernatural Corvidae
A s well as the unnatural animals previously discussed, there may be truly
supernatural creatures that the characters may uncover in the forest. Below
are some example of supernatural birds that may help or hinder those that travel
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 through the Sea of Leaves.

The Crow’s Brother

T here is a boy sometimes seen in the forest, in the deeper regions away from
the communities. He’s always accompanied by crows, some perched on his
shoulder, some in the trees nearby. The boy seems to talk to them, or at least listen
to what they say to him when they caw. When approached, it is clear that the boy is
blind, but he seems to function quite well, as if the crows see for him. If asked, the
boys says that the crows tell him secrets of the forest. The boys says in exchange
for food, he will tell some of the secrets the crows have spoken. Whether these aid
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or hinder the characters is hard to know.

The Red Crow

T here is talk of a bird to the north of the community of Willowdown, a
crow with feathers reddish brown in hue. It has been sighted for several
weeks around the settlement, and most people have always found it unnerving
due to its weird colouration. Now rumour has it that a week ago, a member of the
community came across a horrifying site – the red crow apparently drinking the
blood of a dead man lying in a clearing. Crows eat carrion, but the onlooker swore
that the bird looked at him and spoke. What it said he won’t tell, but he refuses to
go into the forest now, and cries in his sleep.

The Flock
T he flock are a story, and enigma, something Drifters talk about around a
fire when the nights are dark. A huge congregation of rooks, the flock
reportedly move from region to region, scouring communities before moving
on. The story goes that the birds swoop in and attack, before rushing away with
almost the same speed. They don’t hurt people though, they take things. Typically
it is personal items of value to an individual but of no intrinsic worth that are
taken, like mementos and photographs, rare books and items of jewellery. What
the birds do with these collected items no one knows, but there have been stories
of mysterious Drifters approaching settlements not long after the birds strike,
offering to find the lost things for the right price.

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 Friend Raven
A pparently, there are some ravens in the forest that seek out human company.
They often approach camps, nervously at first but with increasing boldness,
and wait to be fed scraps. Assuming a kind soul feeds them, the birds then roost in a
nearby tree and settle down to watch. Then the stories say if anything approaches
the camp – Wild, Lost or an animal of some kind, the bird caws loudly to wake the
camp. Many Drifters have similar stories of helpful birds, and say it’s always worth
being kind to those you encounter in the Sea of Leaves.

The Magpie’s Gift

A Murder of Crows
T here is a bold magpie by the settlement of Bear’s Hill that is welcomed inside
the community. An inquisitive bird, the piebald animal often approaches
humans, and if it can attempts to steal food. But the magpie isn’t a normal bird, it
has been credited with an unnatural ability which the locals call the magpie’s gift.
Seemingly should the bird take a shine to you, it will bring you something, a little
gift as if to thank you for your kindness. However, unbelievably, the gift is always
something that you truly wanted, something impossible to find, such as a picture
of your mother, your lost wedding ring or a small book you had as a child. How the
bird does this isn’t known, and nobody has ever received a second gift.

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