It is said there are moments when The Raven no longer walks as soldier, thief, or emissary — but as silence itself. In those hours he is not Duke, nor Shadow King, nor Hunter of Dragons, but The Thorned Veil.
A white mask, heavy with red sigils, covers his face; each line etched for a comrade lost, each circle for a city swallowed by the Nothing. The black of the eyes admits no mercy, only inevitability. Upon his brow, a crown of thorns bites into the shroud — pain transfigured into power, grief into dominion.
The Thorned Veil is not merely worn, it is become. It is the face of judgment, the mask of mourning, the shape of endings. To see it is to know that something will fall, whether empire, foe, or soul.
Some whisper that it is only a mask of office, donned when he carries the Emperor’s justice or bears the dead into remembrance. Others claim the Veil is his truest form, the face he hides beneath all others, revealed only when the Dream itself shatters.
But all agree: when The Thorned Veil rises, there is no escape. The red shroud drapes the figure, the crown draws blood, and the shadow of The Raven walks, silent and unrelenting.
It is said there are moments when The Raven no longer walks as soldier, thief, or emissary — but as silence itself. In those hours he is not
