Hey everybody! Long time no see! Anyway...I am currently working on a novel based in a medieval/fantasy setting. I would like some feedback on how the very beginning of the first chapter sounds. It'll be right below.

The air was crisp as the woman's body fell to the most bottom part of the open grave. A thick fog had rolled in from the north, bringing the chill of winter to the southern kingdoms. Despite the cold, about five people gathered around the open grave to peer at the lifeless form lying in the dirt. The assistants of the priest silently shoveled dirt and weeds into the grave, moisture clinging to their weathered skin, the darkness of the morning still on their faces. The people surrounding the soon to be filled grave were emotionless, their eyes moist with tears. The priest spoke solemn prayers as ravens flew overhead. As the crowd around the grave were mourning, a man in black stooped in and joined the group, not being noticed by anyone. His cloak was torn and faded, his long and matted brown hair poked out through his hood, and his clothes were all dingy and ruined. The man had a fearsome smile on his face, teeth bared, though some were missing.
Not long after the man conjoined with the group, the assistants had finished filling the grave. One assistant, a tall and surly man, picked up a small stone cross and a hammer. The ground shook slightly as it was sent deep into the soil, and pounded in so it would stay. At this, the priest and his assistants walked back to their carriage and left, the horses pulling it snorting and trotting on down the rocky path. The amount of mourners was slowly diminishing, as one by one they left the grave to return to their homes on the barren countryside. At last, the only person remaining at the grave was the man in black, his smile more wicked than before. He knelt down on top of the grave to peer at the stone cross. He got so close, his breath created moisture on the cracks of the cross, and he quickly pulled out a small chisel and hammer. Quick, repeated tapping echoed throughout the area, the ravens staring intently at the man, as he carved ancient words and symbols into the cross. Words that could not be read by the average peasant. Symbols only decipherable by the keenest and intuitive of wizards or scholars. He grinned the entire time, up until he stood and held out his hand. When he did this, three of the five ravens nearby flew to him and landed gently on his arm. His smile was malevolent by now, as he removed his hood, revealing two pure white eyes, along with designs made entirely of his own flesh, carvings on his face in the shape of a raging fire. He laughed viciously and fed the ravens some scraps of meat out of his pockets as he went to the road and followed it east, towards the ancient and no longer used watchtowers of Kiln. Light snow was falling now, the man put his hood up and shook his arm, the ravens flying upward, circling him as he walked, laughing like a madman all the way down the road.

Well, what do you think? I WANT SOME HONESTY! Thank you for reading if you actually DID read the whole thing. Yup. That's about it. See ya later!

Sorry. There were paragraph breaks...But I forgot that this site doesn't like the tab button...So, sorry about the lack of indentation.

I just skimmed the first few lines; I'll read the rest soon. Just wanted to point out - wouldn't it be 'bottom-most part of the open grave' instead of 'most bottom part of the open grave'?
It might just be my particular style though. Second opinion, anyone?

>>3 Ah. I see what you mean. Yes. That sounds much better. Thank you.

Okay, this is quite good. As a start, I like it!
I'm pretty picky when it comes to wording, though, and there's a few things that I can suggest, even though I don't think they're necessary changes.

Firstly, the continued use of the term 'open grave' (or just the use of the word grave in general) gets to me. I have a thing about repetition in pieces of text, even though I myself am super-repetitive. How abooooout...
'freshly-dug hollow' (assuming it was indeed freshly-dug)
'deep excavation'
'angular or rectangular (ect) pit'
Or any variations of those. But like I said, mere suggestion.

"The people surrounding the soon to be filled grave were emotionless, their eyes moist with tears."
Uh. How can one be emotionless with tears in their eyes? Or do you mean it in the way they were trying to look indifferent but failing?
(That's pretty much the only real problem I had with this)

"Not long after the man conjoined with the group" This just sounds odd to me? Conjoined isn't really the verb I would use - you could go for the simple option of replacing conjoined with joined, but there's another great word that would fit here on the tip of my tongue that I can't recall :( Sorry!

"A man in black stooped in and joined the group, not being noticed by anyone."
Did the man lean over as he joined the mourners? Or are you trying to say he stepped in? Am I just being a weirdo again? (yes)
And instead of 'not being noticed by anyone', how about:
'unnoticed by those around him' (this one is just bad I'm sorry)
'slipping into the crowd unnoticed'
'overlooked'
Or even, 'A man in black stooped in and joined the group unobtrusively/inconspicuously.'
Ect, ect.

I have to stop there since I have something else to no right now, but if you'd like I can come back and continue. Or you can tell me to shut up oxo

>>5 Thank you. Thank you. Those are some good tips. Since it is only a first draft of the book, I'll make some changes. I've made other changes since I posted it, but now that I've read some feedback, I'll make some adjustments. Thanks!