Raven Conclave

"The feeling as it touched me was... beyond description. The darkness lost its grip on me and I burned brighter than a star. I let out a breath and a cry and then the raven let out its wings and lifted me from the ship, carrying me into the sky. As I rose, I could feel all of it falling away, all the darkness, all the evil, all the pain. I saw all of Northrend arrayed before me, and as I watched the sun rose, and the mountains were set ablaze. The ice began smoldering. The dark citadels of the dead cracked and then crumbled away. That's when I realized. I was not witnessing the sunrise. I was the dawn. The raven had carried me up the horizon to shine a light upon the damned, and I did. A thousand worlds, Abbendis, a thousand worlds ablaze in Holy Light, burning away every impurity, every speck of evil, and leaving behind only the faithful."

- Barean Westwind, Grand Admiral of the Scarlet Fleet

Few would contest that the Scarlet Crusade has perverted the teachings of the Light for their own ends, but even those among the Crusade fear and revile the Raven Conclave. It is perhaps better described as an offshoot religion of the Church of the Holy Light rather than a sect within it, as it introduces so many new tenets that it is hardly recognizable as the same faith. The most notable introduction is the recognition of a messiah figure known as the Raven - typically interpreted to be Grand Admiral Barean Westwind, the religion's founder - whose teachings and instructions supersede even the three pillars of the Church tradition. From this new openness to breaks in tradition, the Conclave welcomed shadow priests, oracles, warlocks, and even death knights into its ranks, often in leadership positions above more traditionally-minded Scarlet Light followers.

The religion began between 28 and 29 LC in New Hearthglen, the Scarlet fortress in the Dragonblight, and spread rapidly amongst the ranks. It established its primary seat in Onslaught Harbor in Icecrown. With the Lich King's defeat and Westwind's mysterious disappearance, the religion's sudden growth was stopped short, and the Crusade began to return to its more traditional roots or turn towards more radical Light-oriented ideologies such as Truth. The Conclave's influence never spread far beyond Northrend; however, it still has many adherents amongst the survivors of the Scarlet Onslaught, and there are rumors that some of their membership has infiltrated the bastions of the "true" Light religions of the old world.