You never lose at war when war is what you sell.
"How is it, ye ravens—whence are ye come now
with beaks all gory, at break of morning?
Carrion-reek ye carry, and your claws are bloody.
Were ye near, at night-time, where ye knew of corpses?"
- Hrafnsmál
"Gold and God… those are two big things to motivate men to kill without mercy. If you control one, you get to be the king. If you control both, you get to be the kingmaker."
- Astrith, the Valkyrie of Juárez
"Have you ever heard of the Mamluks? They started as enslaved mercenaries, but they climbed up to become Sultans. My point is that, if you play your cards correctly, submission to authority can be the path to true power."
- Olga Brandt, Lead Researcher of Station 63, "The Mother of Valkyries."
Ladies and Gentlemen of the honorable Allied Occult Initiative!
I address you today, on behalf of the High Table of the Most Holy Order of the Jomsvikings, known as well as the Valravn Corporation, first to congratulate all of the Initiative on the decisive, definitive victory achieved over the Axis Powers! The war was won by the bravery of the soldiers, the ingenuity of thinking minds, both strategists and scientists, and, of course, by the favor of the Gods themselves, who blessed our side with the ultimate weapon!
We, the Ravens, fought this war along the Initiative not as mere mercenaries, but as true believers, true protectors of Democracy, Freedom, and Prosperity! And we shall bear the scars of this war as a badge of honor.
However, it is with a heavy heart that I must bring you the following news. We are here to formally withdraw our request to join the coming Global Occult Coalition. We do it mainly out of respect for the concerns of the fellow members of the Elden Covenant: The Universalist Order of the Æsir, the Servants of the Silicon Nornir, and the Nifelheim Armed Tactical Order. No offense has been taken, and after careful consideration, we indeed agree that we can provide a better service to our partners as an independent organization.
I know you may have your questions, and they will all be addressed in due time and in a less public setting, but let's get one thing out of the way in this forum: we hear your allegations of so-called "war crimes". Let me ask you all this: Is history not written by the victors?
Crimes? The only crime would have been letting the enemy win, to have the Ahnenerbe Obskurakorps be successful in their creation of the demiurge? To rob us, the anomalous powers, of our magic? To allow only the "correct" people to use thaumaturgy in their ethnostate? Would you rather have these…fascists rule the world?
No, ladies and gentlemen of this future Council. We at the Valravn Corporation fear this was not acceptable.
You call us warmongers, but we have never started a war. We are always called upon on your behalf to fight the battles you started but cannot end. We only exist because we are the Supply and you are the Demand. We feel we did what we had to in order to be on the right side of history. Should any of you possess any evidence of our wrongdoing, and not just hearsay, please, I encourage you to come forth. Let history and our peers be the judges. A history and peers, which might we add, is constructed of folks on the correct side of history.
Well.
For the most part.
And we won't lie about it. This new world you're creating, this dream of cooperation, this so-called "rules-based" order you champion… is fragile. The only rule that truly matters is power. And there is a powerful presence: a spectre haunting this new order! And you know very well what we are talking about. In order to defeat a terrible one, you welcomed an even worse one as your brother in arms. And now the world shall pay the price of your naivety.
Soon, the infection of the communist mind virus will take root in those places that you are so naively gifted with "freedom" and "democracy". Eastern Europe has already fallen, and mark these words: Africa, Latin America, the Middle and Far East… they will all soon bleed from this disease. And you won't be able to contain it. But we will.
Rest assured that the Valravn Corporation will always be at your service, always willing to do what you dare not… anything for the future of this dream! You need us and, fortunately for his nascent age, we intend to continue working, fighting for all of you. We sincerely thank all our patrons, particularly the Zenith Group, a distinguished member of the Council of 108, who have pledged to provide us with critical financial support. As for the rest of you, we leave you with a message in the very language of the strange new bedfellows you find yourselves with: Мы вас похороним!1
And as always, we will kill in the dark. We will kill in the light. And we will feast on the battlefield.
-Lord Alexander Brandt the Third, addressing the Allied Occult Initiative in the Eurtec Conference after the Seventh Occult War / WW2.
Art
Sigrun & Herja – by MissBirdy
Cihuateteoh Cyberpunk – by Amai-Ixchel
Trial by Combat – by Amai-Ixchel
CSS Themes
Valravn Theme – by Kilerpoyo
Blood Raven Theme – by Dc_Yerko
Writer's Manual
The seal is breaking. The dice is cast…
What happens when those with nothing to lose look for answers, hope, justice… and even vengeance in places they shouldn't? As more and more of the truth is uncovered, the Veil and all the institutions it protects start to look… fragile. When all possibilities converge and all futures collapse, change becomes inevitable. Or does it?
Empowered by ancient thaumaturgy and occult science, the marginalized of the world may finally have a fighting chance to reclaim what the so-called "normalcy" has denied them for too long. What happens next? Revolution and then chaos: Anomalous guerrillas, rogue magical micro-states, cult-like criminal organization… Freedom fighters or criminals? For the Powers that Be, said the distinction is meaningless.
But where some may fear the day of reckoning, some others see… a business opportunity. For one fact remains certain: There is no price high enough, be it in money or blood, that Those Who Bought and Sold the World would not pay to keep their petty power. Fearful but unwilling to compromise, the rulers of the world dread the day they may not be able to suppress the fire they are so guilty of starting.
How can political power be maintained in a reality where the anomalous exist? How to get away with keeping millions in abject poverty when magic can gift practically infinite resources? How to impose arbitrary social hierarchies on those that can't be categorized by the rules of nature? For how long is it even possible to control a population that can learn to master fire with their minds? To turn into beastmen? To bend reality to their will?
The answer is to fight fire with fire.
The answer is Valravn.
The Valravn Corporation, A.K.A GOI-1043, is an Anomalous Private Military Company. As a private army-for-hire at the behest of the highest bidder, it commands a brutal but effective force. Recruited from ex-operatives of the best armies of this world… and others… this army specialized in anomalous counter-insurgency. The Raven is active in politically unstable regions where organizations like the Foundation and GOC have less influence. At the right price, the Crows of War will lend their services to both governments and other GOIs to suppress any kind of opposition. No matter how tainted and bloodied the task, Valravn will carry it out… often with the utmost cruelty.
With a vast arsenal of state-of-the-art weapons and paratech, Valravn's divisions are a force to be reckoned with. But the military power of the Corporation is supported by an equally cruel parascientific prowess: they are experts in the weaponization of anomalies, particularly those of mythical origin. Most of the deadliest Valravn assets find their origin in various world mythologies and religions. Deities, spirits, gods… nothing is sacred and nothing is safe from being stolen from its original context, and twisted into war machines to be unleashed against the unfortunate souls targeted by the Corporation. In addition, Valravn's Tyr Project is the world-leading research division on paraprosthetics and combat augmentations. Those (un)fortunate enough to survive gruesome injuries are "gifted" with the dubious honor of becoming weapons themselves, almost certainly at the cost of whatever humanity was still left in them.
Led by the mysterious High Table, the Valravn Corporation professes a combination of pseudo-Norse pagan determinism and capitalism worship. The Viking version of the Prosperity Gospel meets the Anomalous Military Industrial Complex. Moral responsibility is an oxymoron in a universe ruled by the rigid Laws of Supply and Demand, relentlessly pushing an eternal pendulum between war and profit. Such a world in perpetual conflict is a fertile ground for the Corporation, always looking to expand into new ventures. For war is their business, and profiting from it is their sacred duty.
The ethos of the Valravn Corporation is perfectly illustrated by its motto: "We feast on the battlefield", which alludes to the carrion-eater nature of corvids. As long as War keeps birthing spoils and battlefields, Valravn will thrive and reap the fruits of the killing fields.
You never lose at war when war is what you sell.
Worldbuilding and Lore
Valravn exists across multiple canons, continuities, and timelines. While each iteration will have its own particularities, there are common elements shared across multiple versions:
Concepts
The High Table
The mysterious board of directors of Valravn leads the Corporation from the shadows. Little is known about them, as they rarely show themselves, mostly acting through proxies and impersonal messages. Are they human? Machine? Valravns? Whatever the case, their authoritarian grip on the Corporation is felt at all levels. Known positions in the High Table are the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operation Officer, the Chief Information Officer, the Chief Technology Officer, the Chief Security Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chief Marketing Officer.
The Cartagena Agreement
A treaty between the Valravn Corporation, the Foundation, and the GOC allows Valravn to operate as long as it respects the Veil and restricts the use of anomalous weapons only against anomalous objectives. However, the existence of this treaty doesn't mean there is no conflict, tension, betrayal, or even grey warfare between these factions.
R.U.N.N.E.S
The Retroactive Unified Neural Network Escathological System (RUNNES) is a powerful predictive system powered by ancient runic magic and artificial intelligence. The Corporation uses it as a tactical and strategic simulation system to inform and plan its missions.
Operations Department
The internal branch of the Valravn corporation is tasked with maintaining the planning and logistical support for other branches. They ensure military operations and research projects have all the resources and support to be successful.
Tyr Project
Valravn's Research and Development on paraprosthetics and combat augmentations. Led by Researcher Gael Ceballos, they are responsible for creating assets such as the Chiron Model, the Valkyries, and La Llorona.
International Subsidiaries
Valravn's main branch is headquartered in Eurtec and oversees operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Valravn-Zotz is the subsidiary overseeing Latin America and Caribbean operations, and it's located in Mexico. Valravn-Karasu is located in Japan and oversees operations in Asia and the Pacific.
Ravens Tokens and the Crow's Boutique
Valravn's employees get most of their salary paid in Ravens Tokens, the Corporation's own cryptocurrency that can only be expended at pre-approved venues, such as the Crow's Boutique, Valravn's very own company store. The considerable amount of medical debt (that only grows bigger with every mission) can only be paid with actual fiat currency, meaning that most, if not all, Valravn's soldiers are doomed to a lifetime of indentured servitude.
The Raven Out of Time
The origins of the Valravn Corporation can be traced back to the fall of the legendary mercenary Jomsviking order and it is believed to have existed throughout history in various iterations. For example: A group known as "La Compañía de Cuervos" was active in during and after the Spanish conquest of México, and the "Valravn Northern Trading Company" operated across the British Empire. The modern iteration of Valravn arose around WWII/7th Occult War, where it fought on the side of the Allied Occult Coalition.
Assets
Jomsviking Assault Troops
Valravn's non-augmented troops. At the core of the Corporation's army, these troops are recruited from veteran armies across the world, anomalous or otherwise. Disciplined and equipped with state-of-the-art military gear and weaponry, they are a deadly combat force. Commanders of Valravn's troop divisions bear the title of Hersir.
The Valkyries
See SCP-8503. An all-female combat unit, Valkyries had received cybernetic combat augmentations, turning them into deadly killing machines. Excelling in close-quarters combat, they are the perfect infiltration and shock unit. Valkyrie Headquarters (VHQ) coordinates the operation of all Valkyrie squads. While the leader of Valkyrie HQ bears the title of Queen or Dróttning, the real power controlling them is Dr. Olga Brandt, Lead Researcher of Station 63 and the so-called "Mother of Valkyries." While at first glance they may seem just another murder robot, they are in fact thaumaturgical beings related to the actual mythical Valkyries.
Chirons
In a normal army, losing leg mobility would mark the end of a military career. For Valravn, it is just a necessary rite-of-passage into the next generation of rough terrain mobility. With its all-terrain quadruped paraprosthetics, the Chiron Model can ambush the enemy where they least expect it and disengage before they have a chance to respond.
Berserks
Feared by both foe and friend alike, these bio-mechanical bear-shaped monstrosities are just one of many of Valravn's secret cards. In battle, berserks are almost unstoppable behemoths of raw violence; not only content with the sheer terror of their size and strength, their teeth and claws had been replaced by sharp iron blades.
Lloronas
A terrifying sight pulled from nightmares, these vengeful shrieking spirits are bound to cyborg zombie bodies grafted with combat augmentations and memetic camouflage. One of Valravn's most gross creations, the grief and pain of restless mothers turned into a weapon… what could possibly go wrong?
Gorgon Drones
A remote-controlled close-combat drone, equipped with 8 segmented limbs ending in gripping claws. Developed in collaboration with Raptor Tech Industries, it is controlled by a dreaming pilot using an Oneiric Remote Control system.
