D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide To The Raven Queen
The Raven Queen rules the Shadowfell from a throne of mystery. But who is she, really? Is she a goddess? Or something more?
Conflict and mystery are at the heart of Dungeons & Dragons. Some conflicts are big and obvious, like the eternal Blood War between devils and demons. You can find its bloody swath across the River Styx.
Others are subtler. Like the dissolution of the empire of the Mind Flayers, scattered across the cosmos. But far more mysterious is the Shadowfell. A realm of death and shadows, ruled by an enigmatic queen. Sometimes called the Watcher of the Gate of Death, or the Queen of the Shadar-Kai, the Raven Queen is a powerful figure indeed.
The Raven Queen
In the earliest stories, the Raven Queen once overthrew the god of death, and freed the souls that he had been hoarding in his unhallowed palace. When the triumphant Raven Queen was confronted by the gods, she rebuked them, only to be coerced into accepting the mantle of goddess of death. But these legends are largely held to be apocryphal. Most scholars agree this was the thinking of an earlier edition of sages.
Now most agree the Raven Queen has entirely different origins.
The Raven Queen is said to be a great elven sorceress, whose name has vanished from history. This sorceress watched the destructive conflict between Corellon Larethian, father of Elves, and Lolth. In this bitter dispute, the elven peoples were being torn apart by the deities.
In response, this sorceress reached for the mantle of divinity herself. To save her people, she would try a dangerous ritual to ascend to godhood to reunite the warring factions of the elves. Whether this would have worked, or not, we will never know.
During the ritual, a group of evil wizards attempted to siphon away some of her power. And the sorceress halted mid-ritual to visit her wrath upon these interlopers.
And visit she did. They were wiped out, to a man. However, the ritual failed. And the souls of those who followed the woman who would be Queen of Ravens, were dragged into the Shadowfell as her not-quite-divine body died. However, her spirit survived in the Shadowfell.
From here, in a realm called the Fortress of Memories, she rules over the Shadowfell. Her loyal followers, the Shadar-Kai, carry out her wishes, fearless of death. For they know their mistress will capture their souls and return them to life in the Shadowfell/
And it is her ability to manipulate the souls of the dead that makes her a mysterious force. The Raven Queen represents neither law nor chaos—nor good or evil, and many powers believe her to be a meddler from her perch astride the river of souls. And they’re right: on occasion, when she spots a soul that interests here, whether because of the potential of the soul, or some other inscrutable reason, she will send her ravens out to flock around the soul and pull it to her.
Little wonder then, that she has so many Warlocks. Those who bargain with dark weapons like Blackrazor might find themselves entangled in the Raven Queen’s schemes. She is a mysterious figure, who opposes Orcus and Vecna, and other necromancers as well.
Perhaps one day we’ll know more about her plans. But until then, be mindful of the ravens.
In the meantime, all you really need to know is that she loves it if you point out whether or not something is So Raven.
