The Raven Queen, the Matron of Death

Master of the skein of fate and the mistress of winter, the Raven Queen is the god of death. Her gaze follows and marks the end of each mortal life, watching over the border between life and death and ensuring the natural transition is undefiled. Many funerals ask her blessing to protect the deceased from the terrible curse of undeath. Those who study ancient lore believe that the Matron of Death was once mortal herself and is the only known mortal to have ascended to godhood. Her rise instantly obliterated the previous, now-forgotten god of death, and the other gods quickly and fearfully destroyed the secrets to the rites of ascension. The Raven Queen tugs at the threads of fate from her stronghold of black ice within the frozen realm of Letherna, nestled in a frigid corner of the Shadowfell.

Depiction

Few existing visual depictions of the Raven Queen exist; many temples merely use the raven as a symbol of her blessing. The few illustrations of her portray a tall, pale woman wrapped in dangling black linens, with her face obscured by a white porcelain mask and her onyx-black hair straight and neverending.

Holy Day

The Raven Queen's holy day is called the Night of Ascension, celebrating her apotheosis. The actual date of the her rise to divinity is unclear, but the Night of Ascension is celebrated on the thirteenth day of the tenth month. What was once a night of cheery celebration of the dead in the Dwendalian Empire has recently become an occasion to burn effigies and decry the Kryn Dynasty for their unnatural relationship with death.

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.