Raveleijn

- Season 1

(2011)

Father Woudenberg takes his city family three hours driving to the countryside. Near Ravanhorst, a rustic village he knows, he wants to by the semi-derelict 'old inn', a water mill, with a small vineyard. Locals hesitate to point out the way, as it's haunted, apparently by a woman and a raven. The kids are not amused to be separated from their friends, but the youngsters are bribed with the promise of a dog. Cool firstborn Thomas's opposition is overruled and separated from his city band to move. Second son Maurits, a gentle nerd, looks up they may be on the site of ...

The ghost tells second son Maurits in a nightmare that lost city Ravelijn needs the family's help. Thomas's rebellious frustration is complete when he hears his city mates already found another guitarist to replace him in the band. Father Woudenberg blackmails him to help Maurits minding kid brother Joost, or rather pretend and soon leave the wood, where Joost builds his 'castle' and follows the ghost's voice to Raveleijn. The girls get a dog, which soon gets loose in the woods, luring everyone else to penetrate too.

Joost follows the voice of the witch, who is Halina, manipulative wife of Raveleijn's count Olaf Grafhart, who desperately observes the forest trough the eyes of a hawk. Entering the gate of the ruin, the whole fortified capital rises and he's transformed in an adult knight in armor until he leaves trough that gate. The countess sends a message indicating 'it begins' to gray falcon, a blind sorcerer who presides over a ragged band in the woods. After a row with father, whose first attempt at wine-making starts badly, Thomas rejoins the search for the runaway dog and ...

The other Woudenbergs still suppose Joost's fantastic story the fruit of his childish imagination, even after he and Maurits show the old map of the medieval countship they dug up. Mother Woudenberg admits to father Rutger ignoring what inspired to pain such a strange subject, in fact the witch-countess conjuring a raven-message-spell. Father's plans require the inn's water mill to power a winery, but its derelict mechanism needs mending and none of his family is prepared to accompany him. The siblings follow Joost when a raven-call gets him sleepwalking in the forest...

Following sleepwalker Joost, the five siblings arrive at the ruin and see him enter it. Thomas notices the five ravens, which they were warned about, as Maurits recalls, and he reads on the gate the spell they can turn into riders. Crossing the gate, all brothers are transformed into armored knights, the girl twins into ladies. The count's spy falcon follows them, cause for alert in his castle. Thomas notices a metallic monster attacking a maid and distracts it. He convinces to others to follow her, actually to a palisade, which seems empty, but proves a trap.

The siblings are overwhelmed by the blind seer's men, but Samira, the maid whom Thomas saved from the monster, convinces all they're friends. The blind leader now realizes they are the prophecy's five and beseeches them to stay and save them. He tells how he once was the kind count's trusted councilor, until Falco Peregrinus arrived, convinced the count that Ravenbosch was in danger and thus got first a guard, then a conscripted army installed and took over as councilor. Thomas decides they can't stay and takes his hesitant siblings home, but the seer trusts they'll ...

Thomas refuses to return, but as the seer predicted, changes his mind, actually after being haunted, on top of a row with father, by visions, ravens and the witch-countess's voice, which also mysteriously became the inspiration for mother Woudenberg's paintings. So he leads the siblings at night back to the ruin. This time, guard commander Korda reports to the count having witnessed the magic but found it doesn't work for him.

The siblings return to Samuel's palisade refuge to offer help. They are shown the five strange weapons forged by the exiled community to prophecy designs, supposed each to match one of the natural elements. While they try to figure out how to use those, the traitor informs the count, who sends a guards squad. As those approach, fear spreads. The five decide to flee, guided by Samira, and attempt dealing with the count in his fortified capital.

Having shaken off the guards squad, the siblings face three metallic monsters and desperate try their element-specific weapons. Thomas discovers his sword breeds fire, enough to ward them off. Furious about the guard's failure, the count fires captain Korda, who is demoted to castle cleaner, and promotes former informer Balthar in stead. Both hope a new 'draconian' monster project will provide ample protection, even now the siblings' magical powers are proved. The countess summons the five, trough Joost's visions, to meet her at the inn outside the city, their future ...

The innkeeper hides the five, even when offered a reward by guard captain Balthar, who is easily misled by a rat story to cover up a clumsy noise they make in the attic. Father Rutger discovers all fie children are missing and reads Maurit's diary-sketchbook, which mentions the gate story. Mother realizes she has been painting them as young adults and the witch who inspired her and the boys' visions. The countess returns, but the count has noticed her absence, questions her till she admits believing him madly changes, considers it treason and chains her in a dungeon. ...

In the belfry dungeon, the countess discovers anther prisoner, none other then her husband, who swears his identity saw stolen by impostor Falco Peregrinus. Korda finds them and is sent to get the keys. The five overcome a a magical attack from guards captain Balthar, who sends swarms of birds but is stopped by Maurits's wood weapon, the crossbow. When they arrive in the city, followed shortly by Samuel's exiled men, the count sends more metallic monsters, but Maurits's idea to wreck their knee joints allows cutting them join and discovering they are manned by the ...

The impostor count's ultimate weapon is a huge, five-headed mechanical dragon, which even breeds fire. The countess-witch and real count are liberated by Korda and implore the siblings to fight it, combining their five magical weapons. That seems to fail, until Joost discovers how his uses earth and Maurits how to combine all five. Thomas finally acknowledges kid brother Joost's merits. After the triumph and grand celebration, they must return home, while their parents have found the gate but can't enter.