Vhaeraun

Drow God of Thievery (a.k.a. The Masked Lord, the Lord of Shadow, the Masked God of Night)

Vhaeraun (pronounced: /veɪˈrɔːn/ vay-RAWN), also called the Masked Lord, the Masked God of Night, The Shadow, and, less frequently, the Shadow Lord, the Masked Mage and the Lord of Shadow was the drow god of drow males, thievery, territory, shadow magic, spellfilchers, and evil activities on the surface, aimed to further drow goals, interests, and power there.

Vhaeraun was the son of Araushnee and Corellon Larethian. He held the unique view among drow that males and females were equally valuable and was primarily prayed to by those drow males who sought a better life than slavery under Lolth's matriarchy and who opposed it.

Divine Domains

Avarice, Chaos, Drow, Envy, Evil, Pride, Travel, Trickery, War

Artifacts

Favored weapon: Shadowflash (short sword)

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A pair of black glass lenses that form a mask

Tenets of Faith

Vhaeraun's goal was to put the Ilythiiri, or drow, back into the position of power that they once held. He detested seeing his people wither because of the pointless infighting and division that Lolth promoted. His plan towards his goal was to undo the Spider Queen and her idea of "society", replacing it with one where the drow would be united and both genders treated with equality. He saw that as the only way to lead the drow to reclaim their power and place on the surface, called the Night Above, to rule over all the others. Elves represented an exception, as it was Vhaeraun's belief that all the Tel'Quessir needed to work together for common progress.

The Masked Lord taught subtle opposition against the priestesses of Lolth and their ideals. He incited his followers to rebel and sow rebellion—especially among male drow—against the Spider Queen's matriarchy, by any means available, going as far as to personally teach methods and skills of resistance.

According to the Mordenkainen, however, after the Second Sundering, Vhaeraun changed his stance, and his faith became mostly practiced by males who wished for a better lot in life, but that weren't willing to rebel against Lolth's matriarchy.

On the surface, Vhaeraun taught his followers to increase drow power and influence based on real assets, by trade and association with other creatures, but also by criminal means, for example thievery. These kind of activities on the surface were so similar to Mask's—whose activities consisted of creating a trustworthy front and not committing unnecessary crimes in the face of other means—that the two deities were confused with each other among non-drow there. After the Second Sundering, Vhaeraun's modus operandi emphasized the "good citizens" part more strongly than before.

Holidays

Holy day(s)

Masked Lord's Embrace (Midwinter Night)
Nights of new moon

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

As an avatar, Vhaeraun appeared as a normal male drow, handsome with a slim, graceful, and toned physique. He could change his size as he wanted and appeared either with a height of 16 feet (4.9 meters) or six feet (1.8 meters). His body was surrounded by shadow that did not just randomly lighten and darken but his body seemingly disappeared when this shadow went over him. By allowing it to swallow him completely, Vhaeraun could conduct a rapid form of teleportation.

He looks just like a regular drow, except for his eyes. They change color, you see, to reflect his moods. Red when the god is angry, blue when he's pleased, green when… he's puzzled….

— Drow wizard

Social

Contacts & Relations

The relationship between him and the Seldarine, of which he was formerly a part, were poor; in fact all members of the Seldarine considered him their enemy.

The relationship between him and the rest of the Dark Seldarine was not good; his relationship with Lolth was completely hostile.

A large number of Underdark deities were also his enemies, such as the duergar deities, derro deities, and the kuo-toa deity.

Other enemies of his were Sharess and the halfling deity Cyrrollalee.

However, Vhaeraun enjoyed a working relationship with Mask, Shar, and Talona.