Deep Crow

This page contains information about a fictional creature from the Penny Arcade webcomic.

The Deep Crow is a fictional species of the genus Corvus. Descending from modestly sized crows, the Deep Crow ranges drastically in size depending on their age. Truly ancient Deep Crows can reach rather large sizes and require larger roosts in which to make their residence. Deep Crows tend to prefer abandoned human structures such as Power Domes and silos that grant large, spacious interiors in which they can prepare their fel nests.

Deep Crows tend to be indigenous to the North American subcontinent, although their initial descendants have been traced to Asia and often Sub-Saharan Africa. Other corvids tend to show a distinct fear for Deep Crows; a roost of them will often be devoid of other similar animals.

Mating Behavior and Human Interaction
The mating behavior of the Deep Crow has been well documented, if not by now-living observers (The blood-stained data of one Dr. Harold McGuffin serves as a chief source on Deep Crow behaviors and is now kept under glass at the Spokane Institute for the Research of Biological Externalities). Apparently more akin to daemonic than culturally evolved ritual, Deep Crow mating reportedly involves the slaughter of the male participant, his shredded, still-warm flesh serving to swaddle the glistening, newly laid egg. Observed eggs measure an average of 0.5 meters along their long axis and are reported to "ceaselessly hum and pulse with sick regularity." Deep Crows have been known to lash out at intruding humans, often going so far as to become violent against the intruder and his or her property. Especially in agrarian locales, farmers and ranchers have been known to find entire herds of animals dead or injured, bearing the "horizontal shearing" so characteristic of Deep Crow attacks. It is unknown if this is an act of revenge, per se, but scientific consensus tends to indicate that a Deep Crow is a very territorial creature and the attacking of animals and property is simply a defensive reaction.

History
The history of the Deep Crow is a long and convoluted one, characterized by violent clashes with residents across North America. The worst recorded Deep Crow attack was upon the farm of one Eugene Pfister of Duchampe, North Dakota. Often referred to as the War of the Wings,it began when Pfister discovered Deep Crows attacking his cattle at night and murdering his family. Vowing to exact vengeance upon the foul beasts, he tamed one of the mightiest of the flock. Training it to accept him as its rider, he fashioned a glorious lance, hereafter referred to as Crowslayer the Unyielding. Clad in the finest armor ever fashioned, Pfister rode his mount into battle. A formidable armada of Deep Crows, led by the Dreadfeather Ur'kaotok, faced Pfister in open combat. Over the following thirteen hours, Pfister downed an estimated 40 deep crows, culminating in a duel to the death where he slew Ur'kaotok by driving Crowslayer through the beast's mouth.

Since the end of the War, Pfister has returned to farming, content in knowing that he has done his job. The lance, forever embedded in the skull of Ur'kaotok, glistens from the top of the mountain where the final duel took place.

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