I took the idea of weaponizing crows from a medieval manuscript attributed to a certain Marcus Graecus: Liber Ignium ad Comburendos Hostes (or The Book of Fires for the Burning of Enemies).

 

It is a compendium of recipes for manufacturing incendiary weapons, some chemically sound (teaching ways of making gunpowder), others soundly outlandish.

 

The third recipe, upon which my fairy tale is based, is of the latter kind. It is marked by simultaneous clarity and secrecy. The ingredients and the procedure are fully articulated, while not a word is said on how the crows are made to fly in the desired direction. That's where I planted my sorcerer, the Crowmaven.