Raven
Wolf Darkwood
Raven was born in 1857 to Singing Wolf, an Apache
medicine woman. Singing Wolf had been seduced and abandoned by an
Irish trader. Once her tribe realized she carried the child of a
white man they exiled her. On her own in the wilderness she gave
birth to Raven.
Embittered by what had happened to her, Singing
Wolf looked to find vengeance. She decided that the tool of this
vengeance would be her newborn daughter. As Raven grew her mother
schooled her in the darkest of tribal magic. From the beginning,
the young girl had a natural aptitude for what she was being taught.
From spell casting to shape shifting, Raven became a powerful master of
mystical forces. While she was learning and growing, her mother told
her that someday she would be sent to destroy those who hand wronged them.
But Raven was an independent child, and as she
grew into her teenage years she began to clash with her mother. She
had become very tired of Singing Wolf’s total control over her. It
had gotten to the point were Raven would spend days wondering in the wilderness,
until her mother would find her and return her home. The fights between
them grew more and more brutal as time pasted.
At the age of sixteen, Raven met a young cowboy
from a local ranch. The two saw each other, and fell in love behind
Singing Wolf’s back. After several months, the young man came to
take Raven away. His plan was to sneak her away in the middle of
the night, and marry her before her mother was any the wiser. He
had made arrangements with a monk at a local monastery to perform the wedding
that night. Unfortunately he never made it to the monastery with
his would-be bride.
Singing Wolf caught her young daughters suitor,
before he could slip away with his prize. She sent him to his death
with a blow from an ax to the back of the head. The heart broken
Raven flew at her mother in a heated rage. Using what she had been
taught, Raven shape shifted into a wolf like creature and ripped her mother
apart.
Having nothing left, Raven made her way toward
Santa Fe. She quickly put her talents to work in order to survive
in the town. She became an entertainer of men. Described as
spell binding and enchanting, men seemed entranced while in her presence.
Gratefully they handed over their hard earned cash to her.
For several years her existence in the town
was barely tolerated. In 1876 women folk from the town ran out of
tolerance. For years Raven had charmed their husbands and sons out
of their money. They could no longer set by and let her work her
devil magic on the men. One night they kidnapped Raven from her hotel
room, and took her to the out skirts of Santa Fe. They accused her
of witchcraft, and set about burning her at the stake. Before the
flames could do their job, a group of men from the town set her free.
The mob of women fled into the night once Raven was saved from the fire.
In the days and weeks that followed, several women from the town mysteriously
disappeared. Oddly enough, around the same time, local farms reported
that their herds had increased in number without explanation.
A year later, in 1877 a ruthless gunfighter,
by the name of Leroy Wood, entered
Santa Fe. Known by many as “Deadwood”, Leroy had a reputation as
bloody killer. It wasn’t long before Raven and Leroy became entangled.
Whether it was love, or dark magic, no one can be sure, but the two married.
The ceremony took place at undisclosed location in the desert. No
one is sure who performed the wedding, or of what religious affiliation
they may have been. Some say that it was the devil himself that tied
the knot between the evil couple.
Shortly, after the wedding the two left Santa
Fe. The fear and hatred of the pair had made it too dangerous for
them to remain in the town.
They weren’t heard of again until 1880.
They had changed their last name to Darkwood, and had moved to Virginia.
Raven was not happy about leaving the desert, but Leroy was born in Virginia,
and that is where he wanted to build his home.
The couple had a large supply of money left
over from their former careers with which to fund the building of their
new home. Raven and Leroy over saw the construction of the house
in every detail. After refusing to do what he was told, one of the
carpenters of the house disappeared. The disappearance inspired the
rest of the workers to work quickly without complaint. The house
was finished in record time.
In 1882 the couple gave birth to a daughter.
She was named Abigail Darkwood.
So began the legend of Darkwood Manor.
