Thread:AngryLance/@comment-39280634-20200609090822/@comment-28358106-20200623213343

The short version: it's like this. Her followers are a coven of witches and warlocks, and part of that pact involves them dedicating their lives to her, literally.

Whenever a married pair of the coven have a child, the child is brought up to know the ways of the coven. The child is the penultimate symbol of death and rebirth. When the child comes of age, they decide which of their parents will be sacrificed to the Raven Queen. This time is agreed upon in the family, and the pact is made in a writ bound by blood magic.

When the time comes, the rites are performed, and the child follows through with the ritual. The child then inherits some of the parent's knowledge and magic abilities, though which ones are unknown until afterwards. The sacrificed is given a place forever at the Queen's side in return.

In olden times, there were aspects of the ritual that involved sex, but the Queen has since done away with them to distance herself from the current atmosphere. There is more to all this, but that's another thing.