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The 'Castle of the Ravens' is one of several locations which appear in old Vistani tales but nowhere else. Scholars are divided on whether these place names refer to completely imaginary locations or merely to secret Vistani camps whose appearance has been embellished to mislead others who seek their position. Assuming the latter some scholars position this particular encampment 'somewhere on the Sagathavuld' while others have it north of the Buhr Ermanarikus to Lest road. If indeed it was a real castle the broken hills north of that road would indeed be one of the few locations in that area where it could be hidden from view. As for what the tales say about the castle who lives there is never specified but they are unlikely to be Vistani as they are permanently based there. They are associated with ravens who are said to fly around the castle although that may be just another natural storytelling embellishment. The tales do add details to suggest the place is a real castle mentioning 'halls' and 'battlements' but this may be part of a deliberate attempt to misdirect. It is said that from the outside its appearance is 'gloomy' and 'dark' although scholars have pointed out that many natural locations in the Uldona Spine could be described thus. As for reasons the Vistani visit the castle it is most often just mentioned in passing in their tales but otherwise specific mentions have it as a way of bypassing some known danger on the road. It is occasionally mentioned as a place to borrow magic items and also once famously as a place to deposit a particularly dangerous one. It is also associated with books; as a place to consult or deposit rare tomes. These references suggest that if real the location must be a building of some kind even if not a castle. In one story the Vistani are 'called' to the castle to help out the residents although it is not said how the 'call' was made. The occasional scholar has made attempts to identify these imaginary Vistani locations with real places and although some of these books have been popular with the general population none have been very convincing in the academic sense. |