The Talisman of the Raven, a ring, served as a Talisman of Transformation for the Nightsisters of Dathomir. This artifact enabled its user to transform into a raven. Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsisters' united clans during the Clone Wars, explained that the Talisman connected to the prime raven spirit within the spirit world, granting its abilities to the wearer. Initially, a Shaman of the Nightsisters safeguarded the Talisman, but Sister Charal, a Dathomiri witch, stole it. She fled to the moon of Endor, never returning the Talisman to her coven.
Charal skillfully employed the Talisman while serving the Sanyassan Marauders, a group of Sanyassan pirates. However, King Terak, the Marauders' leader, later seized the Talisman and wore it as a necklace. Ultimately, the ring met its end during an encounter with the native Ewoks of Endor. The ring's immense power was unleashed upon Terak, resulting in his death by burning. Because Charal was in raven form during this event, the Talisman's destruction permanently trapped her in that shape.
The ability to change shape into a raven was granted by the Talisman of the Raven. The Witches of Dathomir, a female-only society of Force-sensitive individuals, created such arcane technology. Neither Sith alchemists nor Jedi scholars could fully comprehend the workings of these artifacts, and their attempts to replicate them failed. As a Talisman of Transformation, the Talisman of the Raven comprised a red gemstone embedded in a golden ring.
On the planet of Dathomir, the Nightsisters, a dark side witch clan, crafted such artifacts by imbueing various objects with the power they termed "spirits"—their interpretation of the Force. According to Talzin, the Clan Mother and Shaman who led the united Nightsister covens during the Clone Wars era, the spirit realm contained the life energies of beings corresponding to real-world animals and was governed by the universal expressions of male and female energy. She theorized that every species had a corresponding ur-spirit in the spirit realm—for instance, all ssurians in the material world had a single "ur-ssurian" spirit in the immaterial realm. Talismans of Transformation were believed to enable wearers to transform into specific creatures by tapping into the energy of their respective ur-spirits.
The Talisman of the Raven was infused with the raven's ur-spirit energy, granting its user the ability to assume the form of the black bird. To access the ur-raven's power, the wearer needed to twist the stone. This effect could also occur accidentally if the ring was struck. If the Talisman was lost or destroyed while the user was still in raven form, they would be permanently trapped in that shape.
Like all other magical artifacts, the Talisman of the Raven belonged to the Sisterhood community. Talzin stated that Nightsister Shamans, elder witches responsible for interpreting the spirits' will, were entrusted with safeguarding the talismans. Any Sister wishing to use the ring had to borrow it from the Shaman and return it to the coven afterward. In Wild Power, her key book on Nightsister philosophy, practice, and role in the galaxy, Talzin lamented that Charal had never returned the Talisman of the Raven.
The earliest known possessor of the Talisman was the Nightsisters' Shaman during the century before the Galactic Civil War. Before 96 BBY, Sister Charal, a clan member, managed to escape Dathomir with the Talisman, which she had borrowed from the Shaman. Pursued by her fellow witches, Charal traveled across star systems with the stolen ring. She joined the Sanyassan Marauders, space pirates from Sanyassa, led by King Terak. They were eventually stranded on Endor, a remote moon untouched by galactic civilization. The Endor Gate black hole and other stellar anomalies surrounding the moon had marooned many intergalactic travelers. Unlike other castaways, the aggressive Sanyassans desperately sought escape from the forest moon, salvaging any technology they could find. Charal used the ring effectively, intimidating the Marauders with its power and becoming Terak's partner.
In 3 ABY, Charal fell victim to her own magic ring during a confrontation with Logray, the shaman of the Ewok tribe inhabiting Bright Tree Village, and his apprentice Paploo. During the fight, Paploo's slingshot struck Charal's talisman, activating its powers. The witch strategically retreated, planning to seek revenge later. Later, in 3.5 ABY, a Human child named Cindel Towani and her family crashed on Endor. Charal and the Marauders saw an opportunity to escape their forced exile using the family's starship. The Sanyassans believed the ship's crystal oscillator held the "power" to return them home. Terak and Charal killed Cindel's parents and brother, capturing the girl. When Charal failed to "conjure" the crystal's power, she was jailed with Towani, and her ring was confiscated. Wicket W. Warrick, a young Ewok warrior, teamed up with his friends to rescue Towani from Terak's Keep, escaping with the crystal oscillator and heading to their own crashed ship.
Seeking revenge, King Terak launched a punitive expedition, ordering his minions to recapture the crystal oscillator. He allowed Charal to use the ring but reclaimed it after her transformation, intending to keep her in bird form to track the group without betrayal. When the Marauders found their targets, a battle erupted. Terak wore the Talisman of the Raven as a pendant. During the fight, a rock from Wicket's slingshot struck the ring, shattering it and releasing its power. Pieces of the magic stone pierced Terak's chest. Clutching his heart, Terak burned to death from the ring's "spirit" energy. According to Dathomiri beliefs, the raven ur-spirit trapped in the ring returned to the spirit realm. Because the transformation spell was active when the ring was destroyed, Charal was forever trapped as a raven. The transformed witch was last seen falling to the ground, hoping to reclaim her broken ring, before flying into the woods.
The Talisman of the Raven debuted in the 1985 TV film Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Though frequently seen, it was never mentioned in the dialogue.
While early sources hinted that Charal's ring could transform its wearer into almost anything, Daniel Wallace's Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side clarified that Nightsister Talismans of Transformation had limited powers, only allowing transformation into a specific creature. Wallace revealed in his endnotes that the Talismans of Transformations were created with Charal and her magic ring in mind.
Conflicting accounts exist regarding King Terak's death. While his Databank entry on StarWars.com stated he was burned by the ring's power, other sources, like the children's book The Ring, the Witch, and the Crystal: An Ewok Adventure, claimed he turned to stone. This article follows the Databank's version, as it was once the most official Star Wars database.