Overview
The Fen-Owl is the fen's own, and it is the colour of the fog, and it moves through the dark the way a thing moves that was made for the dark. It is the fen's night-watch, and it is the reason the fen is quiet after the dusk, and the quiet is the owl's, and the owl keeps it the way the fen keeps its dead.
Habitat
The Fen-Owl keeps the fen — the low, wet ground of Howling Fen and the wider fen-country where the reed stands in black water and the fog does not lift. It is the fen's night-watch, and the night is the owl's, and the owl keeps the fen the way the fen keeps its dead. It does not fly far, and it does not leave the wet ground, and the wet ground is the whole of the range, because the owl that has left the fen has left the dark, and the dark is the owl's own. The nest is on the high perch — the dead tree, the reed-tall, the stone that rises out of the water — and the perch is the whole of the home, and the home is the fen.
Appearance
The Fen-Owl is the size of the large hen, and the body is the colour of the buff, and the buff is the colour of the fog. The male is 61 cm from the beak to the end of the tail, and the female is a hand longer, and the female is the bigger hunter, and the fen knows it. The face is the mark — a heart, white, framed in the buff, and the heart is built for the sound, and the sound is the hunt. The eye is the mark of the breed, and the eye is large and dark and set forward, and it burns like a lantern in the dark, because the eye is built for the dark, and the dark is the owl's, and the owl is the dark's. The feather is soft at the edge, and the soft edge is the whole of the silence, because the feather that is soft at the edge does not make the sound, and the sound is the hunt, and the hunt is the silence. The wing is long and broad, and the flight is low and slow and sure, on the air, with the wing barely moving, and the eye is forward, and the head turns the way a thing turns that has already decided. The beak is short and dark, and the foot is four-toed with the claw, and the claw is the whole of the answer. The male keeps the perch, and the perch keeps the female, and the two are the fen's own, and the fen's own is the owl.
Behaviour
The Fen-Owl is the ambush, and the ambush is the whole of the hunt. It does not chase, and it does not fly from the perch, and it comes down the way a thing comes down that has already decided. The cry is low and round, and it carries the way the fog carries, and the fen knows the cry before the eye does. It is the night-watch, and the night is the owl's, and the owl keeps the fen quiet, and the quiet is the whole of the law. By day the owl sits on the perch, and the perch keeps the owl, and the owl waits for the dusk, and the dusk is the whole of the waiting.
Natural Weapons & Defenses
The claw is the whole of the answer, and the claw is the taking, and the taking is the night. The claw is four-toed and dark, and it closes on the small thing of the fen — the mouse, the frog, the young of the water-thing — and the closing is the whole of the hunt. The wing is the defense, and the wing is soft at the edge, and the soft edge is the silence, and the silence is the whole of the defense. The eye is the defense, and the eye is built for the dark, and the dark is the owl's, and the owl is the dark's. The owl does not fight the big thing, and the big thing does not find the owl, and the not-finding is the whole of the defense, because the owl that is the colour of the fog is not the owl the eye can see.
Magic Alignment
Innate only — no school. The Fen-Owl has the Silent-Wing — the feather that is soft at the edge, and the soft edge is the whole of the silence, and the silence is the hunt. It has the Dark-Eye — the eye that burns like a lantern in the dark, and the lantern is the whole of the seeing, and the seeing is the whole of the hunt. The owl has no word, and the word is not the owl's, and the not-being is the whole of the owl's own.
Society
The Fen-Owl is the pair, and the pair is the whole of the family. The male keeps the perch, and the perch keeps the female, and the female is the bigger hunter, and the fen knows it. The two lay the small egg on the perch, and the perch keeps the egg, and the egg is the whole of the next owl. There is no pack, and the not-being is the whole of the owl's own, because the owl that is the pair is the owl that is the fen's own, and the fen's own is the pair.
Culture & Lore
The fen's folk count the owl by the lantern. Two lanterns in the dark means the Fen-Owl is hunting, and the small thing is counted. Two lanterns on the perch means the Fen-Owl is home, and the fen is quiet. The old ones say the owl is the fen's own, and the fen's own is the fen's dead, and the dead are the owl's, and the owl keeps them the way the fen keeps them. The hunter does not take the owl, and the not-taking is the whole of the law, because the owl that is taken is the fen's own, and the fen's own is the fen.
Home
They keep Howling Fen, the low, wet ground where the reed stands in black water and the fog does not lift. The fen is the owl's own, and the owl's own is the fen.
Relations
The Fen-Owl is the predator of the small thing of the fen — the mouse, the frog, the young of the water-thing. It is the prey of the big thing of the dark, and the big thing does not find the owl, and the not-finding is the whole of the law. The fen's folk keep their distance at the perch, and the distance is the whole of the law, because the owl that is the fen's own is the fen's own, and the fen's own is the fen. The The Forgotten of the fen keep the owl as the night-watch, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the owl that is the fen's own is the one the fen keeps.
In the Story
In the current story, the Fen-Owl is the lantern on the fen — the fen Uaellaen writes about when the quiet is the owl's. The Forgotten keep their distance at the perch-line, and the distance has held for two seasons. This season the lantern came up the fen with a cry that was not in the cry — a cry that is not in the dark, and the not-listing is the whole of the warning, because the fen keeps its quiet, and the quiet has started to move. The owl is keeping the perch, and the keeping is the page the camp has not been shown.