> [!infobox]+ Raven Queen > > <div class="infobox-coat-of-arms"> > <div style="text-align: center; padding: 5px;"> > <div class="character-name-container"><div class="character-main-name">The Raven Queen</div><div class="character-epithet">the Matron of Death</div></div> > </div> > </div> > <div style="text-align: center; padding: 0.2em;"> > <img src="RavenQueenSymbol.png" alt="Raven Queen" style="max-width: 250px; height: auto;" class="internal-image"> > </div> > <table class="infobox-table"> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Province</td><td class="infobox-data">Goddess of Death, Fate and Winter</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Alignment</td><td class="infobox-data">Lawful Neutral</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Symbol</td><td class="infobox-data">A white porcelain mask framed in black feathers</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Holy Day</td><td class="infobox-data">Night of Ascension, 12^th Snowmoot</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Type</td><td class="infobox-data">Greater <a href="Deities.md" class="internal-link">Deity</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Home Plane</td><td class="infobox-data">Her stronghold of black ice in the frozen realm of Letherna, in a frigid corner of the <a href="Shadowfell.md" class="internal-link">Shadowfell</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Divine Champion</td><td class="infobox-data"><em>None</em></td></tr> > </table> ### About The Raven Queen, the Matron of Death, is the greater goddess of death, fate and winter. Mistress of the skein of fate, her gaze follows and marks the end of every mortal life, and she watches over the border between life and death, ensuring that the passage of the soul remains undefiled. Many funerals ask her blessing to protect the dead from the curse of undeath. She is the only god of the Pantheon known to have once been mortal and to have taken a divine place by force, displacing the god of death who came before her, but who she was before her ascension is a mystery. The moment she rose, all knowledge of her mortal life was lost, wiped from every memory and record by the power of her ascension. She tugs at the threads of fate from her stronghold of black ice within the frozen realm of Letherna, in a frigid corner of the [[Shadowfell]]. ### Depiction Few depictions of the Raven Queen exist, and many of her temples simply use the raven as a sign of her blessing. The few illustrations of her show a tall, pale woman wrapped in dangling black linens, her face hidden behind a white porcelain mask, and her onyx-black hair falling straight and unending. Her holy symbol is that same white mask, framed in black feathers. ### Divine Domains The Raven Queen's clerics are most often granted powers of Death, Grave or Knowledge. ### Holy Day The Raven Queen's holy day is the Night of Ascension, held on the 12^th of Snowmoot, celebrating her rise to godhood. The true date of her ascension is unknown, lost with all memory of who she was, but the faithful mark it all the same. Her temples are also the natural gathering place on Barren's Eve, the 1^st of Snowmoot. The day is not hers alone, for it is a time for all to remember their dead through whichever god they follow, but as the Matron of Death, the Raven Queen has become its unofficial focus. ### Commandments of the Raven Queen - Death is the natural end of life. There is no pity for those who have fallen. - The path of Fate is sacrosanct. Those who pridefully attempt to cast off their destiny must be punished. - Undeath is an atrocity. Those who would pervert the transition of the soul must be brought down. ### Enemies of the Raven Queen Above all others, the Raven Queen despises [[Vecna]], the archlich who cheated death and forced his own way into the Pantheon, and she fought against him at [[Thar Amphala]] at the end of the [[Dawn-War]]. She holds all undeath to be an atrocity, and those who raise the dead or prolong their existence beyond their destined end, such as the demon lord [[Orcus]], are her enemies by nature. ### History - #### The Age of Founding The Raven Queen did not yet exist in the [[Age of Founding]]. The domains of death, fate and winter were held by another god, whose name and deeds have been lost to all of [[Aeborhia]], and even to the other [[Deities]]. What part that god may have played in the [[Age of Founding]] and the [[Age of Founding|Schism]] is unknown. - #### The Age of Arcanum In 2496 BD, a mortal mage constructed rites to challenge a god and take its place in the Pantheon. She stood against the god of death, fate and winter, and destroyed him, taking his place and his dominions as the Raven Queen. The moment she rose, all knowledge of who she had been was lost, and so too was all memory of the god she had replaced. [[Corellon]] and [[Ioun]] were quick to destroy her rites of ascension, wiping them from memory and hiding them within [[Ioun|Ioun's]] Endless Athenaeum. Even so, hundreds of mages tried to follow in her footsteps. Nearly all of them were destroyed, either by the gods they challenged or by their own magic turned against them. Only one would ever succeed, the archmage who became [[Vecna]], and the link between the two has long been debated. Some scholars believe she was his mentor and he her novice, though few can imagine Vecna serving anyone. Others claim they were partners who worked on the rites together, though this is not widely accepted, as their rites were different, hers displacing a god while his tore open a new place in the Pantheon. Another theory holds that they were lovers, that he only ever glimpsed her work, and that when she left him he gave everything to follow her. Many believe there was no link at all, and that he was simply the one mage among hundreds who did not fail. Her rise changed the nature of death itself. Before her, death was almost always the end, and the return of the dead was all but unheard of. The Raven Queen holds that death is not a closed door, but a matter of destiny. When a soul is fated to return, it is her task to guide it back, and when its strings have been cut, no prayer will bring it home. - #### The Dawn-War When [[Vecna]] rose to godhood during the [[Crusades of Dawn|Second Crusade of Dawn]], the Raven Queen fought at the side of [[Pelor]] and [[Kord]] when they stormed [[Thar Amphala]], his city in the [[Shadowfell]], where he was defeated and cast adrift in the [[Astral Sea]]. - #### Post Dawn-War At the end of the [[Dawn-War]], the Raven Queen left the [[Material Plane]] along with the rest of the Pantheon in the [[Divergence]]. She continues to watch over the threads of fate from Letherna, and has chosen champions to carry out her will in [[Aeborhia]], the most recent being [[Raven]], who fell in the [[Battle of Rexsall]] in 3036 PD. ### Modern Worship of the Raven Queen The Raven Queen is honoured across [[Aeborhia]], if rarely loved. Her temples handle the funerals, burial rites and records of the dead, and her clergy are often trusted with the graveyards of entire cities, as at the Hallow Grounds in [[Kraesuine]], whose priests tend every burial ground in the city. Her priests will not raise those whose destiny has ended, and turn away even the most desperate requests if they believe a soul's strings have been cut. Many of her temples send students to the [[Sanguine Orders|Blood Hunters]] of the Order of the Ghostslayer to learn their art of hunting the undead, before returning to serve the temple. These hunters are not an order of her church, but they are among the most devoted of her followers, and her champion [[Raven]] was one of them. Followers of the Raven Queen also show respect to [[Melora]], as the caretaker of what remains when the Matron of Death's work is done. ### Known Worshippers of the Raven Queen #### Champions - Lothar - A former champion of the Raven Queen and paladin who betrayed his vows. For around a thousand years he has remained in the [[Shadowfell]], serving out his penance. - [[Raven]] † - A [[Sanguine Orders|Blood Hunter]] of the Order of the Ghostslayer and the most recent champion of the Raven Queen. Fell in the [[Battle of Rexsall]] in 3036 PD. #### Other Worshippers - Dinn - Priest of the Temple of the Raven Queen in [[Zhavrin's Gate]]. - Warden-Priest Cassia Morrow - Head of the Hallow Grounds in [[Kraesuine]]. - Silus Martel - A priest and [[Sanguine Orders|Blood Hunter]] of the Temple of the Raven Queen in [[Rexsall]], whose true age is unknown.