The Raven Queen

"In the end, farmers and kings are the same. Both are subject to that final, wistful moment."

- The Raven Queen

At a Glance
Arguably the eldest deity in the pantheon, the true name of the Goddess of Death has long been forgotten. Known rather as The Raven Queen, she is the sovereign ruler of The Shadowfell, the extra-dimensional afterlife. She marks the end of each mortal life, overseeing the passage of the soul to the City of Midnight and she sits on the pantheon as the patron of mourning, funeral rites, winters, and souls.

In exchange for upholding her tenants, The Raven Queen provides protection to her followers against the necrotic powers of undeath. For many, this is reason enough to worship her (especially following the two Necrotic Wars). Her tenants are: The Raven Queen lacks the forthcoming nature of the other deities of the pantheon. While she may resurrect a Revenant to fulfill some clandestine purpose, she rarely communicates what that purpose is. More inclined to let the wheel of fate move mortals to their end than to converse with them, The Raven Queen snatches up the souls of her servants as quickly as they've completed their purpose.
 * Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life.
 * Bring down the proud who try to cast off the chains of death.
 * Provide the deceased with a proper funeral so that their soul may find its way to the afterlife.

Staying isolated in her realm, The Raven Queen remains out of contact with much of the pantheon, save for when her motivations conflict with deities such as Bahamut, Melora, and Oghma who treat her with great suspicion. She has an open adversarial relationship with Vecna, regarding undeath as an affront to the natural order of life and death.

Age of Adventure
The Raven Queen's interaction with mortals has been frequent and distant.


 * On numerous occasions the Raven Queen has cast the souls of the dead back to the mortal plane to fulfill a purpose in order to release them from their waking death. When completed, the magic imbuing the soul and reanimating the Revenant is dispelled, thus casting their soul back into The Raven Queen's realm.
 * During the First and Second Necrotic War the followers of the Raven Queen suffered an unending strife as the soulless bodies of the dead were reanimated on the mortal plane. With no control over these bodies, The Raven Queen could only watch as her devotees were forced to flee or bring up arms. Following the Second Necrotic War, The Raven Queen and Oghma entombed Vecna in The Shadowfell until he was later released by Byron Cruentus.
 * The Raven Queen's army of Halruth marched on the ancient Deva civilization of Andea and Dondea as an act of balance, reducing the immortal culture to a fractured few and decreeing that no mortal should evade death.