Oslak

General
Clan	Raven Clan
Status	Deceased
Cause of death	Fell off the Guardian Rock
Gender	Male
Family
Brother(s)	Thull
Mate	Vedna
Son(s)	Unnamed son
Appearances
First appearance	Wolf Brother
Appearances	Wolf Brother, Spirit Walker

_“ It was unlike Oslak to get cross. In fact, it never happened. He was a huge, gentle man with a tangled beard and a slightly alarming face, having lost one ear and a chunk of cheek in a misunderstanding with a wolverine. It was just like him not to blame the wolverine.
—Torak about Oslak, Spirit Walker

Oslak was a Raven Clan member, one of the strongest in the clan. His mate was Vedna and they had an unnamed son who was killed by the demon bear. Oslak and Vedna welcomed Torak into their shelter, and Torak was always fond of him. Oslak contracted a mysterious sickness that eventually drove him to jump off the Guardian Rock and into the river to drown.

Appearance

Oslak was a very large man with a russet, tangled beard. One ear was missing from when a wolverine bit it off, and he had a scar on side of his face that pulled down his cheek. He bore raven fears on the left shoulder of his jerkin. He was one of the strongest men in Raven Clan.

History

Wolf Brother

Oslak, Hord, and Renn capture Torak and Wolf and accuse him of stealing their roe buck that they were tracking. Oslak ties Torak's hands and the three Raven Clan hunters return to their camp. Fin-Kedinn orders Oslak to kill Torak, but the young Wolf Clan hunter gambles for his life in a duel against Hord. Oslak provides Torak a spear and an armguard for the fight. After Torak wins the fight, Oslak ties him up again when Renn suspects that Torak is the prophesized Listener to defeat the demon bear. He explains to Torak that Fin-Kedinn sent runners to call for a clan meet.

Raven Clan follows after Renn, Torak, and Wolf towards the Mountain of the World Spirit, Oslak's son and another hunter are killed by the demon bear. Oslak, Hord, and four other hunters find Torak, Renn, and Wolf, and Oslak explains how the demon bear killed two of them. Renn recognizes the gray river clay markings on his brow and cheekbones, meaning that his son was killed, as they are forbidden from speaking a dead person's name for five summers.

Spirit Walker

Upon Torak's return to Raven Clan, Oslak and Vedna offer him a place in their shelter. When Torak tries to tell Oslak about the sick hunter he found in the Forest, Oslak uncharacteristically dismisses him. Torak notices blisters on his hands resembling the sick hunter's, but Oslak snaps away Torak's concerns and tells him to practice spear fishing with his brother Thull. Torak attempts to convince Thull that his brother is sick, but Thull insists they are merely midge bites. Oslak joins them at the river and Torak begins to suspect that he is alright when Oslak goes into a frantic trance and attempts to summon his nephew Dari by the rapids. Fin-Kedinn convinces Oslak to let Dari go. However, Oslak grows mad, claiming that something is eating his souls. Saeunn's healing rite fails to cure Oslak and Bera, who has also fallen ill. He later scratches the sign of the Soul-Eaters in the ground. Fin-Kedinn orders for the to be isolated in a separate shelter.

However, Oslak gnawed through his bindings and threw himself off the Guardian Rock into the river, drowning. The clan prepares his body to be carried out into the forest on a Death Platform, where his souls would travel to the High Mountains. Torak feels guilty for the kin man's death, and Vedna returns to Willow Clan.