Lord Eurus

★★★ - Crow at time of death
He/Him (Cis Male) - Bisexual

Originally from a pack deep in the western mountains, Crow Lord Eurus left his pack at an early age to forge a new life in a better world. He lived on the outskirts of the mountains for a time, with his mate Boreas and a few other dispersals from his birth pack. They were known as the Windchasers, and vowed to "run wherever the wind took them"; but they were young, they were foolish, and they were ignorant of how long the good would last.
During one particularly rough winter, the Willowsinger--a unique variety of herbalist who had taken on a vow of silence and isolation--and her forbidden pair-bonded mate betrayed the pack. One night, she slipped forbidden herbs into the pack's prey. Much of the pack fell sick, allowing the rebels to slip away unnoticed under the cover of the shadows, leaving those who survived missing many vital roles.

After the horrific betrayal, the Windchasers left the mountains. Running from the ghosts of the packmates they had lost, they first went east into the deep woods, then summered briefly in the deserts of the south, before returning north to the protective embrace of the pines. Over the course of his leadership, Eurus fell into a deep and unshakable despair; nothing brought him . Even the daughter he adopted and raised with Boreas, a fiery she-wolf named Tempest, did little to lift his spirits. He continued to drift through life like a sorrowful ghost, and rumors of him having passed through the Shadow Veil began to circulate. His packmates whispered that during his travels he had gazed upon the realm of death, and the sight had scarred him so terribly that he would never be the wolf he had once been. And perhaps, in a way, they were right; the specters of his mistakes followed his every step, and their accusing whispers forever echoed in his mind.

Then one night, in the pack leader's dreams, there came a stranger.
It wore the face of a wolf, but with one glance it was obvious that the stranger was so much more. It was woven of pure midnight shadow, with massive black wings like a bird and the coldest of silver eyes. Golden chains were draped across its fur, rings and disks pierced its tufted ears, and a crown of bones and metal rested upon its brow. It spoke in echoing whispers, telling Eurus of a prophecy: that its child in the world beyond the Shadow Veil, a pup with black wings and silver eyes, would come forth and lead the struggling pack to greatness. But before that pup could take the throne of power, Eurus must prepare. If it had no power in the light world, the pup's attempts to save the pack would be in vain; so, to ensure its strength, it informed him of what must be done. Two divine ravens sat upon its shoulders, Allegiance and Ferocity--and it, Cunning, was the third and most powerful. He must gather them followers, and form a holy order in their name. They would require sacrifices and offerings, and for only the best of wolves to represent their name; they would ask much of him, and he must bow to every demand they made.
Haunted and desperate, he agreed.
And then he woke up.

The next night, a little pup wandered into the camp. His fur was dark as pure midnight shadow, the shape of black bird wings traced down his narrow shoulders, and he bore the coldest of silver eyes. No gold chains were draped across its fur, no rings and disks pierced its ears, and no crown of bones and metal rested upon its brow--but the instant Eurus met the pup's eyes, he knew that the seemingly powerless little thing was the child that Cunning had promised.
This pup was to be the Raven Prince.

He adopted the little pup as his own, and raised him to rule. He told the Prince of his true natur: that he was the son of Cunning itself, prophesied by the Three Ravens' call to lead the pack to greatness. Though the young Prince did not fully understand, he eagerly took on his promised role. With the Prince now crowned as a king, Eurus reformed the pack to fit the Ravens' will; he changed the ranks, created rules, and enacted rituals and ceremonies that still continue to this day. When the Prince finally matured, even taking on a handsome wolf of the Eyra family as his mate and bearing a litter of pups by him, Eurus stepped back. Every piece of the plan had fallen into place, and his work had been finished--for he was simply the catalyst.

Late at night, he went to the Temple with a request for the Rooks; to give him the potion required to pass beyond the Shadow Veil permanently. As he was their Crow, they agreed instantaneously; and that night, as alone as the day he had been born, his life came to a soft whisper of an end.