Raven Host Proving

The paths of Rehlos, Craeven, Mourgrim, and Carsybe cross gradually during the trials by which the Raven Host tests its aspirants and finds uses for the strongest among them.

Early Proving

Rehlos and Craeven begin cooperating opportunistically during the earliest proving and rite-of-passage material. Each recognizes that the other increases his own chance of success. Neither trusts the other, and both believe they are exploiting the arrangement.

Craeven sees Rehlos as an exceptionally useful martial instrument and may privately believe he is shaping Rehlos into the commander he needs. Rehlos assumes Magi are inherently manipulative, expects a competent Magus like Craeven to be particularly dangerous, and is fully aware that Craeven is trying to influence him. He tolerates Craeven because Craeven is extremely useful and may privately regard the attempted manipulation as predictable behavior that can itself be exploited.

Each believes he understands and exploits the arrangement better than the other.

Separate Aspirants

Carsybe and Mourgrim initially progress separately through the same broader Chaos proving structure.

Carsybe advances as a genuine Zealot of Tzeentch, proving both sincere devotion and practical usefulness within a warhost.

Mourgrim advances through raw aggression and brute force. He does not succeed through leadership, intrigue, scholarship, or ritual sophistication. He repeatedly overcomes the trials because he is exceptionally difficult to stop, extraordinarily effective at direct violence, and does not stay down when he should.

Convergence

During a major Raven Host trial, all four first meaningfully converge on the same objective. They hold no formal bond to one another and possess no standing as a permanent company. They are four unusually capable aspirants sent against the same obstacle.

Their complementary strengths make the grouping unusually effective. That shared success becomes part of the reason their paths continue to intersect afterward.

Later Field Command

Their eventual association develops gradually through continued service. Rehlos earns authority through demonstrated competence and advancement, eventually becoming the clear military and field commander of a larger Raven Host formation. Marauders, lesser Chaos warriors, cultists, auxiliaries, and other Raven Host troops serve within it.

• Rehlos is the military and field commander.
• Craeven is the principal Magus and sorcerous adviser. He continues to pursue influence and may consider himself the command’s true intellect; Rehlos expects this and never naively trusts him.
• Carsybe is the principal Zealot and religious authority. He accepts Rehlos’s temporal command while holding that Tzeentch is actually in charge and that every member of the command is an instrument of the Great Changer.
• Mourgrim is the standout front-line Marauder and shock warrior, not primarily an officer. Few warriors from the early trials survive long enough or perform well enough to rival his reputation.

These four become the best-known figures at the center of the field command, but many others fight beneath and beside them.

Notes

• This proving trial corresponds approximately to the Chapter 4 Raven Host material in the Chaos racial campaign.
• The four characters should not be interpreted as a fixed four-person player party during the earlier campaign.