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Original Adult Novels of Magic, Mystery and Mayhem
by Ruth Solomon

Raucous is a raven and the familiar of Artimus Rogue, who saved him from death when he was returned for the seventh time to a shop that specialized in selling familiars.  Raucous had been completely unsuitable for all his past masters due to his habit of shitting on them constantly as well as stealing food, indiscriminate pecking, raising a racket and other unsavory acts.

When Artimus entered the shop because of all the noise he heard, he found the shopkeeper trying to blast the raven with his wand and missing, while the bird swooped and dive bombed him several times with bird droppings, cawing uproariously. Artimus caught the injured raven when his tail feathers were singed and protected him from the irate shopkeeper's wrath.

"If birds had a devil, it would be him," the shopkeeper told the sorcerer.

Artimus took the raven without paying for him, since he was marked for death, but told the shopkeeper he didn't need to worry about Raucous being returned.  If the bird acted unsuitably, he'd gut him, roast him with rosemary, thyme and small potatoes, then use his feathers for additional stuffing for his down pillow which was going a bit flat.

Raucous loved him immediately. Now here was a master worth his salt.

Raucous also serves a vital purpose, that of battling clerics.  He is fed special stones developed by Artimus to help him in this task, and is quite effective.  Unfortunately, this ability has the side effect of making the bird even more cocky.

Raucous understands human language perfectly and is multi-lingual. Thank the Sons he can't talk out loud, although he can communicate with Artimus.  He usually responds to anything unpleasant said to or about him by snapping his beak at the offender viciously.  If the opportunity presents itself (or he won't get into too much trouble) he will later dive bomb him/her/it with amazing accuracy.

Hobbies: Shitting on unsuspecting victims.

Sport: Shitting on unsuspecting victims.

Ambition: To shit on as many unsuspecting victims as he can in his lifetime

Quirks: Pulls his head in, fluffs his feathers up to seem twice his size and holds his beak open to appear more threatening when faced with an adversary or wants to menace someone.

Ultimate Dream: Wishes he had an unlimited cache of Artimus' "stones" to use when he wished.

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