corvus
Roman naval bridge
A corvus was a Roman naval boarding device—a hinged gangway with a heavy spike that dropped onto enemy ships, locking vessels together and allowing infantry to cross.
The invention helped Rome defeat Carthage at sea during the First Punic War, turning naval battles into land-style combat. (Capitalized Corvus is the genus of crows and ravens, or the constellation.)
Large black carrion bird
- rookChess piece or corvid
- jackdawSmall Eurasian crow
- magpieChattering corvid, loves shinies
- jayColorful crow relative
ornithology · avian · passerine · birdwatching · feathers · beak · wings · plumage
Forced fluid stream
- ebonyDense dark tropical wood
- inkWriting fluid
- obsidianGlassy igneous rock
- midnightTwelve o'clock at night
sable · pitch · void · iridescent · glossy · sleek · dark · shadow
Omen interpretation practice
- portentSign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- premonitionAdvance sense of future events
prophecy · divination · auspice · presage · death · battlefield · warning · superstition
Addressing challenges methodically
- memoryMind's retention capacity
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- communicationExchanging ideas or information
adaptation · reasoning · planning · caching · puzzle-solving · mimicry · counting · insight
raven
Large black carrion bird
jay · ornithology · avian · passerine · birdwatching · feathers · beak · wings · plumage · talons
jet
Forced fluid stream
midnight · sable · pitch · void · iridescent · glossy · sleek · dark · shadow · noir
augury
Omen interpretation practice
- portentSign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
premonition · prophecy · divination · auspice · presage · death · battlefield · warning · superstition · foretelling
problem-solving
Addressing challenges methodically
- memoryMind's retention capacity
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
communication · adaptation · reasoning · planning · caching · puzzle-solving · mimicry · counting · insight · strategy
Odin
Chief Norse deity
totem · shapeshifter · messenger · lore · legend · mythic · divine · pantheon · transformation · ancestral
- ancient weaponssword, swords, shield, shields, bow
- naval warfarenaval battles, naval battle, battleship, destroyer, sea battles
- ancient naviestrireme, bireme, galley, Greek fire, ramming
- ship partshull, keel, deck, mast, bow
- ancient shipstrireme, bireme, galley, quadrireme, war galley
- Punic WarsHannibal Barca, Scipio Africanus, Hannibal, Carthage, Scipio
corvusGreek fire
Byzantine incendiary naval weapon
ballista · catapult · rostrum · retreat · ranged weapons