Order of the Glittering Rock
This article is "non-canon". "Non-canon" articles are articles on things that mostly exist for storage/discussion purposes. They might be draft ideas for later inclusion, pet stories, or completely off-the-wall stuff posted just for the sake of not forgetting it later.
The Order of the Glittering Rock (internally, ra-chu corrr ra-ca-ruk-ruk ki ca) is an extended family of awakened [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_raven common ravens] (pf). A plurality of these crows are wizards, all following the path of the Order's creator, Cah-ruk-ruk, a former Wizard's familiar who became consumed with her impending mortality and the death of knowledge when her master expired of old age.
Inception
Cah-ruk-ruk was originally an ordinary raven, who lived on the estate of Rydal Hal von Gulsin, a loner wizard of some repute. She was called into Rydal's service as a familiar after the death (by old age) of his most recent, and given the name "Bead" after his amusement at Cah-ruk-ruk's fascination with the shiny objects littered around his workshop.
As Rydal continued his studies, Cah-ruk-ruk came into awareness. Her memory became more expansive, and the connections between concepts became more complex. Even as she felt she understood more than ever about the world around her, she became obsessed with her continued ignorance, and resolved to fill all the gaps she could of her knowledge. She entered lengthy conversations with Rydal, who indulged her, eventually even awakening her to sever the connection between her awareness and his power.
Rydal, advanced in age, died some years later, mostly of natural causes (inasmuch as that can ever be said of a Wizard). Rydal mourned the loss of her friend. But, the days passed, and the pain faded. With Rydal's seclusion, Cah-ruk-ruk suddenly found herself in charge of all Rydal's accouterments and stored knowledge; as secluded as he was, nobody came to claim his property. Cah-ruk-ruk, feeling philosophical about her own mortality, hatched a plan: To birth a society of others like her, with the purpose of storing the wisdom she and Rydal had spent so long accumulating.
And so, she found other ravens and converted them to her cause. One by one, she awakened more and more of her kind, and taught them all that she could of what she had learned so far. The library became filled with the sounds of fluttering wings and soft caws, the laboratory tools and gadgets all slowly morphed into forms suitable for the ravens' manipulation, and the growing group of ravens started to develop its own rituals, language, and culture.
Today
The Order of the Glittering Rock still inhabits Rydal's manse. The ravens have done what they could to maintain the structure, but with a different set of priorities and requirements, it has taken on a much different character. Many of the doors have been replaced with massive (to ravens, at least) rock walls, leaving only small gaps for passage. Structures have occupied much of the space near the ceiling, and the floor itself has largely fallen into disorganized rubble, covered with bird droppings that are only occasionally cleared away when sanitation requires it (in large, cooperative projects involving the entire community). This being some hundred-odd years later, Cah-ruk-ruk has been gone for many generations, but she is still highly revered, and many tributes to her and the Order's inception lie throughout their habitation and rituals. They all represent in some way the depths of the Order's curiosity and ingenuity, in uniquely raven-centric ways, but their nature makes them hard to interpret by outsiders, who might not really grasp the inherent meaning behind a small, rotten twig piled haphazardly atop two broken pieces of glass, half a gold ring, and a coffin nail.
Despite its founder's initial obsession with mortality, the Order's approach to solving its problems has been much more culturally focused than individual. Where humans might seek to prolong life (or stave it off entirely) through Necromancy, the Order has instead decided to pursue methods of transmitting, acquiring, and storing knowledge. As such, they largely specialize in Divinations, Transmutations and Conjurations (with subfocus on Teleportation). One medium-term goal is to make the awakened status innate, and the path they are pursuing to that is to slowly change the makeup of the ravens that are born, carefully observing new generations and controlling their development to meet their ends. Out of necessity, they also have knowledge of things that can protect them--they've proven particularly apt at using Illusions and Enchantments to keep their location secure against the occasional (and inevitable) interloper, although they have yet to face a truly existential threat.
Given the nature of the Order, they have found it very easy to inhabit the lands of the other races. This role has largely been one of observance, and the ravens are very careful not to give away their special status, knowing that they very likely don't have the power to withstand an organized incursion. They've been uniquely suited to witness many events in the Mainland's recent history, and though they don't act on the knowledge, they could be an invaluable resource to anyone who discovered what they were, and could manage to navigate their strange priorities.
