The Five Crow-Hunters
(This is a barebones headcanon post for my idea of who the crow-hunters up to Eileen and Bloody Crow were! I will make a more detailed post with art later).
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Daya, the Heaven Crow
The tradition of crow-hunters and mercy killers dated far back into ancient Pthumerian culture, even finding its way into the beginnings of Cainhurst’s history. But the practice was revived for a more modern world of plague in the Hinterlands, (which we may consider Tibet due to the connection with sky burial).
Daya, a native of the alpine regions of the Hinterlands discovered traces of lost Pthumerian outposts in the hidden tunnels and caves near her homeland. In the crevices of one of the tombs, she uncovered the fabled Blades of Mercy, crafted from the flesh of a fallen star.
Daya was a witch and seer, able to foresee the plagues to come and to discern the end of the world. Aware of the inevitable carnage that would follow in her time, she took up the role of a mercy-killer for the warriors that would attempt to halt the loss of life.
She donned a raven skull over her face and wove a cloak from the feathers of a blood-drunk crow to further symbolize her role in sky burial. She was called the Sky-Raven/Heaven-Crow, the Silver Crow, and the Astral Crow by some.
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Brandon, the Dragon’s Crow
Daya took an apprentice from the slums of a city located in Bloodborne’s equivalent of England. (Yharnam itself is different and has a strong canon link with Prague). The fiery-haired Brandon was the second carrier of the Blades of Mercy. He was chosen among several other “fledgelings” that trained under Daya to be the one true successor.
Brandon had been a soldier in his youth, fighting on the frontlines of a distant war alongside the men who would later form the League itself. This included Valtr. Brandon was known for his pyromania and unstable personality. For a long time he made a good crow-hunter, but his story ended in massacre.
Brandon wore a pyro-technician’s mask, a leather trench-coat, and a copper-dusted cape woven from the feathers of slum hooded crows. He was known as the Copper-Crow, the Dragon-Crow, and the Ruddy Crow.
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Felix, the Hinterland’s Scarecrow
Felix was the nephew of Daya, raised between the Hinterlands and Yharnam with a family of mixed heritage. Though he had eagerly trained under Daya for years, he was snubbed as her heir and initially envied Brandon for it.
However, the two men became friends over time, with Felix fighting as a common hunter and Brandon watching over him. Felix eventually became Brandon’s own heir, chosen over other fledgelings. Their close bond ended in tragedy when Brandon willingly went berserk and engaged in acts of terrorism. Felix was the one to mercy-kill him.
This act of “kinslaying” earned Felix the moniker of “scarecrow amongst his own,” and he embraced it as a marker that he would not hesitate to slay his own brethren if needed. He also revamped the crow-hunter order, eliminating the practice of training and selecting heirs from among fledgelings.
Every crow-hunter would carefully select one apprentice to train, and there would be no others.
Felix wore a cloak of tattered straw and blue-black feathers, a scarecrow mask, and traditional beaded jewelry from the Hinterlands. He was called the Scarecrow, the Blue Crow, and the Brother Crow.
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Eileen, the Pathologic Crow
The heir chosen by Felix was a girl from the Hinterlands that he had known in his youth. Her name was Eileen, and for a long while she had been a wandering pathologist in her ancestral homeland.
Eileen and Felix traveled to Yharnam, where the plague of beasts was most foul. It was this cursed city where they became the deadliest and most efficient crow-hunters of their time. It was around this time that Eileen also had Gehrman transform the Blades of Mercy into a trick weapon.
After Felix’s death, Eileen carried the mantle and blades for longer than any other in her line, even carrying out the duty in her old age. Her ultimate fate was unknown, and while she did not pass the mantle to her original heir, another worthy successor came along to become the next Crow in her place.
Eileen wore a cloak of Carrion Crow feathers, a plague doctor’s mask, and bore the soothing scents of lavender and rosemary on her person. She was called the Pathologic Crow, the Lavender Crow, and the Mother Crow.
- Luther, the Bloodshed Crow
Eileen’s original heir was a boy from Cainhurst that had been lost to his own kingdom and left to die. He was unlike any of his predecessors and bore abnormal strength and durability. His heightened senses, unusual features, and secret blood-ties marked him as an omen and curse of the crow-hunters.
Luther later succumbed to violent madness and revived the ancient tradition of “Cainhurst crows,” who were mercy-killers of hunters, but with a twisted, blasphemous purpose. Luther sought to aid Annalise, his Queen, in bringing forth a Child of Blood. He believed this child would rekindle the Vileblood dominion and erase mankind’s bestial influence from the world for good.
But to the hateful traitor, men and beasts were the same even from birth. He showed them no mercy, thus earning Eileen’s scorn. The two became life-long rivals.
Luther wore a cloak modeled after Eileen’s, with the same woven carrion feathers, but he wore the armor of a Cainhurst royal guard in proud defiance of the crow-hunting order. He was called the Bloodshed Crow of Cainhurst, the Ripper Crow, and the Vileblood Crow.
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I’ll draw a comic for these guys some time!
