Haunted Wood Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

TAG: Open to everyone; tagging @Damien + @Ramsay + @Hydra for reference because they run the closest packs. If anyone wants further involvement from the NPCs or more clues, feel free to tag my OOC account to let me know and I'll pop in again (or I might just throw up a reply randomly).
AUTHOR: Written by JB.
SET: Dawn of June 14th 2019

In the early hours of the morning they come - dressed in iridescent black, capped with a plague doctor's cowl; against the backdrop of the woodland they are almost imperceptible. First one, then another, then many - a murder, circling where the forest meets the lake. The crows are waiting patiently for the sad little man to die so that they may eat. The youngest of the flock land with a crash along the lake's edge and scuttle closer, snickering and chattering amongst themselves.

The body is fresh as can be. Pale, turned silver in the liminal light - except there are streaks of black oozing from the sockets where the eyes once sat. A black mask painted garishly across their face, whoever they are; whoever they were, it does not matter now. They are a feast for the flock.

As a death rattle eeks its way from a set of withered lungs, worn from the panic of a terrible demise, the murder swoops low and begins to pluck at the dying animal with impatience; as the last breath fades, the feast begins.

After only a few days of arriving at what would be his seat for the foreseeable future, it could only come as a shock when an entire murder of blackbirds descended near his rendezvous point. You see, a crow is a loud creature, and when they travel in groups there is not a chance any creature within several miles of the gathering wouldn't take notice. Damien was at most a couple miles away. And he could already imagine that what brought the birds to the forest would surely be a significant event, so he howled, alerting his pack that there was a possible breach in their territory.

Before he even reached the eye of the black storm Damien could already scent the smell of death lingering in the air. The creature had been agonizing, and even the crows knew it was only a matter of time for it to drop dead. Stay close he barked to his daughters as they walked further into the forest, following the black cloud above their heads.

From a distance Damien watched, camouflaged within the shadows, amazed by the amount of crows that had gathered in such a short time. He knew better than to meddle while the black feathered goblins feasted. What is your take on this? he asked either of his daughters as though he was talking to one of his advisers. If his children were to become the head of the Melonii Clan one day then there was no time to waste for them to start sharpening their minds.

@Lumiya @Zan maybe this is our chance for Damien to bond with the girls?

The noise was so foreign to little Lumi. The only thing similar she had ever heard was the caws of Tulugak, Mother's bird that had given her some strange looks every now and again. As commanded, she stayed close to Father and made sure to keep an eye on Zannah too. Out of all her siblings, Zan was the one she disliked least. She followed to where the noise was loudest, then stood to observe.

Dead? She asked father in response to his question, looking over to the flock of birds. It looked like whenever their family feasted, huddling over a single meal, all the heads facing to the middle.

Cameo

A call was sent up. A breach? She started into motion immediately, covering the ground towards the call -- and the caw of birds. Something dead or dying for sure. Perhaps some ilk had wandered in looking for a free meal.

She hastened onto the scene, quickly realising that the birds were feeding off something that still emitted the sounds of death. She slowed, ducking through the bushed to see if there was an immediate target; alas it seemed not. She checked Damien, one or two of his kids by his feet. She tensed her jaw,  looking for some hidden assailant. After she was fairly sure the Sovereign and his Spiderlings were safe, she slunk away again -- though not so far to be out of range should whatever Damien had thought was here came back.