The Raven Queen is the goddess of death, memories, and passage to the afterlife. Rather than being a terrifying and imposing god of death, instead, the Raven Queen is regarded as a kind and gentle being who cares for the souls and memories in her care. She does not seek to hasten death upon mortal beings, she seeks only to comfort those who have passed, to take them into her embrace and celebrate the life that they have lived.
The Raven Queen appears as a tall humanoid woman with pale, cold skin, blank white eyes, and dark hair that is lightly iridescent like the wings of a raven. Large raven wings sprout from her shoulders, giving her the power of flight, and she often is seen in long dresses of black and blue tones. She is rarely seen without her crown of dark black metal, and is accompanied by one or more ravens at all times. Often, she is depicted with golden and silver strands of light in her hands, representing the strands of memories left behind.
The Raven Queen's Influence
Most mortals focus on the Raven Queen's role as goddess of death, and to many, her role invokes fear in those who see her or her emissaries. Others, however, view her in a more benevolent light, seeing her as a guardian of those who have died. This second interpretation is more in line with the goddess's ideals, as she has never once sought to hasten the inevitable end of a mortal on the material plane. She is a Death that is patient, and above all, inevitable.
The Raven Queen is also invoked as a goddess of memories. Her feast days are celebrations of remembrance for those who have passed, and the souls that she is caretaker of never truly fade until they are entirely forgotten. In the Raven Queen's palace in the Shadowfell, she has a tower stretching to the sky, in which all the threads of fate cut from every mortal are woven into a tapestry depicting the history of the world. Some threads of fate are in dull colors, some shine in brightest gold, but all are remembered and given a place by the Queen.
The Raven Queen's Goals
The Raven Queen has simple goals- to remember the dead and to guide the souls of those who pass on to the afterlife that they deserve. Her Ravens act as psychopomps that escort worthy and heroic souls to the Heavens, and drag the souls of the immoral and wicked to the Nine Hells. Unless a mortal has devoted themselves to a service of a god that may claim them for their afterlife, The Raven Queen acts as judge. Additionally, The Raven Queen abhors Undeath, and instructs her followers to destroy the Undead whenever possible
Divine Relationships
The Raven Queen cares little for the dealings of the other gods. As long as other deities don't impinge on the border between life and death, either by overstepping their bounds or by trying to draw the dead back into life, the Raven Queen has little to do with them.
An exception is made for the other two sisters of fate, Ioun and Avandra. The Raven Queen is very close to these two goddesses, and all three in tandem govern the flow of fate and destiny. They respect each other, honor each other, and are regarded as close friends and equals.
The Raven Queen has been known to take Melora, the Wildmother, as a lover. Their two spheres of life and death exist on an opposite axis, but the two coexist in harmony, and have been depicted as lovers or even as wives in old artwork. Whatever their true relationship, it is highly suspected that the two care for each other more than they let on.
The gods which the Raven Queen takes the most issue with are Tyr and Malar, for these two gods are often responsible for ending lives before their time is elapsed. She has even been known to restore life to those who have been slain by those two gods, partially to spite the gods, but mainly in order to preserve balance.
Worshipping The Raven Queen
Most rites of worship to the Raven Queen comes in the form of funerary traditions. The funerary tradtions of the world vary from region to region, but funerals usually involve those who knew the deceased telling tales and commemorating them so they will not be forgotten.
The church of the Raven Queen are usually seen more as counselors for those who have suffered loss, and often find work as funeral directors, knowledgeable in all manner of funerary rites from a multitude of cultures. Many clerics and paladins take a more martial role in their worship of the Raven Queen, driven to destroy Undead that exist in the world. A smaller but more dangerous group of Raven Queen worshipers are those who actively glorify death, cults which she does not condone. These cultists and assassins congregate in secret in communities across the world, engaging in campaigns of violence.
Some of the holidays dedicated to the Raven Queen is the Year's End, and the Feast of Remembrance, which is a joint feast day to both Tyr and the Raven Queen. This feast day falls on the eight of Seluneir. The final holiday, that of Samhain, serves a similar role to the Feast of Remembrance, and has less of an emphasis on those lost in war and more of an emphasis on commemorating those lost in one's family.
The Raven Queen's Favor
As all mortals eventually fall before the Raven Queen, she does not particularly seek out worshippers. When she does invest her power in champions, she usually does so because they have impressed her by following her ideals, or they have a strong ability and sense of purpose in destroying undead. The Raven Queen's Favor table offers several suggestions for the nature of your connection to the goddess.
| d6 |
Sign of Favor |
| 1 |
A family member died bringing you into the world, or defending you from danger. |
| 2 |
You don't think or feel as others do, finding emotions messy and confusing. |
| 3 |
You were pledged to another god, but when you lost a loved one, only turning to the Raven Queen could ease your grief. |
| 4 |
You can't bear to witness suffering, so you serve The Raven Queen to bring peaceful ends to the unfortunate. |
| 5 |
In a brazen or desperate moment, you dared death to take you-and in a way, it has. |
| 6 |
You have died before, and in that moment, you glimpsed the realm of the dead, and the Raven Queen offered you a second chance in return for serving her. |
Devotion to The Raven Queen
Servants of the Raven Queen facilitate the passage from life into death. As a follower of the Raven Queen, consider the possibilities on the Raven Queen's Ideals table as alternatives to those suggested for your background.
| d6 |
Ideal |
| 1 |
Devotion. My devotion to my god is more important to me than what she stands for. (Any) |
| 2 |
Tradition. Honor the dead through rites of respect and by continuing their ways. (Lawful) |
| 3 |
Dread. Mortals put their fear out ofmind, but through me, they will remember the inevitable. (Evil or neutral) |
| 4 |
Apathy. Life is but a rehearsal for death, and it's best not to grow too attached to it. (Neutral) |
| 5 |
Succor. I offer peace to the dying- which, to varying degrees, includes all of us. (Good or neutral) |
| 6 |
Judgment. Violations against the order of life and death must be set right. (Lawful) |
Myths of the Raven Queen
During the Raven Queen's ages of living, she has inspired countless tales of wonder.
The Raven Coins.
Popular legend says that the Raven Queen was the first mortal to die. When she came to face the gods, she brought a single treasure as an offering to each of the world's five mightiest deities, hoping to receive a peaceful place among them in return.
The gods realized what the Raven Queen's spirit represented: the first of an endless flood of mortal souls that would soon begin to join her in death. Unwilling to spend eternity sorting the endless stream of dead mortals themselves, the other gods did give the Raven Queen a place among them, as well as charging her with the task of caring for the dead. The gods cast the Raven Queen's offerings back into the mortal world in the form of five coins. They promised the Raven Queen that, once she collected the coins anew, the gods would put a new judge in her place, and give her a place among the heavens instead of the dark and grim Shadowfell.
Ever since, the Raven Queen accepted offerings of coin left at her shrines, and sees all treasures left in the tombs of mortals. It's said that any who bring the Raven Queen one of the coins will be rewarded with a wish for anything the Raven Queen can grant-even exception from death.
Walkers of Woe.
The nightmarish creatures known as woe striders are said to be products of the Raven Queens's punishment. These beings descend from an age when some mortals learned to unshackle themselves from the strands of destiny. To what end is a question lost to time, but the Raven Queen put a quick end to these blasphemers and eradicated nearly all knowledge of their methods. Ever since, the shades of these accursed mortals have walked the Shadowfell as woe striders, monstrosities endlessly seeking strands of destiny that they might use to replace their own discarded lots.
Menelaia's Song.
Long ago, a master lyrist named Menelaia mourned her lover, Pero. She entered the Shadowfell, and played a love song to lure Pero's soul back to the mortal world. When the Raven Queen saw this, she sought to stop them and extended her net to draw both of the lovers back. The Wildmother saw this and she blocked the Raven Queens's net with vines, reminding the Raven Queen that all will return to the dead eventually, and that a long life will weave the threads of fate ever further. The two lovers lived long lives together, and eventually returned to the Shadowfell together after death.
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