The Raven Queen is the goddess of death and later winter.
History[edit | edit source]
Origins[edit | edit source]
The Raven Queen says that she was once the mortal consort of the original god of the dead, Nerull. Some reports claim that her mortal form was that of an Elf, but others claim she lived in the time before Elves. Though it is impossible to know what her name was in life, we know that before taking the Raven mantle, one name she used was Nera.
For most of the BR era, the Raven Queen, operating under many names, worked as a demi-god performing tasks for Nerull. As the dragons arose and death around the realm proliferated, the two of them kept very busy.
Shortly after The Holy War, Nera backed dragonborn across the realm, hoping that the forces of the Dolina Region would find a way to overcome The Gone But Not Forgotten Curse, a key part of Nerull's hold over the realm. If they had broken the curse, Nerull would be weakened and Nera could seize his power. Unfortunately it seemed nigh impossible, and Nera switched gears to possibly weakening Nerull by pulling his recent domains of Life and Light out from under him.
One of the weapons that Nera used to communicate with her followers fell into the hands of Kel after he and his team raided a Dolina vessel on The AmuPter Front, unwittingly pulling him and OathWielders into her war.
In 11 PR, Nera had seduced a number of heroes around the realm, and began a massive assault on two planes. Nerull was the most stretched he had ever been with his new powers, and waves of death across the realm kept him preoccupied...until the Dark Powers began to step in. The realm's most notorious killers began to disappear slowly but surely (The Mists was in fact abducting and testing the most evil and destructive of the realm), and Nera knew that her window of opportunity was closing. If she let the Mists take too many killers out of Quelmar, Nerull would get a break, and she may not be strong enough to strike him down.
For that reason, she launched her attack on Nerull and his powers in The Shadowfell, while simultaneously beginning an assault in the material plane, asking her Shadowdancers to kill and destroy as much as possible to overwork Nerull. Nerull fought back on battlefields across the realm, including The Griffon's Last Stand in Galik. With Nerull's powers stretched thin as he animated and directed all of the Livers to stop Nera's forces in Galik (among other places). Nera came out on top, seizing the Nerull's portfolio (or what was left of it after Pelor's return). Nera absorbed the powers of every tormented soul in his dominion, an act so unthinkably cruel that it soon lead to the other deities revoking her power over deceased souls.
When the dust all cleared, Nerull held no power, and The Raven Queen was a full god, claiming dominion over death itself, and not over those who had died.
The Raven Queen would later solidify her power base during the War of Winter, when she demanded divine ruling over Winter in exchange for slaying the rebel Khala. The Raven Queen thus joined the ranks of those gods who control the seasons, the others being Corellon (spring), Pelor (summer) and Obad-Hai (autumn). At some point, the Raven Queen assisted Corellon in his war against Lolth; as a reward, she demanded power over Fate, which had previously been in Lolth's portfolio. She was denied this request, and instead the gods granted the newly ascended Chronepsis power over fate.
The Raven Queen counts few personal enemies (or friends) among the gods. She is the only god on "friendly" terms with Torog, but even she keeps the King That Crawls at arm's length. Her most hated foe is Orcus, the Demon Prince of the Undead, who constantly schemes to slay her and take her portfolio of divine domains.
About[edit | edit source]
Once an unimaginably powerful mortal
Nera Is potentially an alias of the ancient warrior priestess of the Planes War in which gods and primordials dueled out ownership of Quelmar. Which side, and who she served under, is a mystery as there is next to no documentation of the Planes War aside from ancient dwarven and elven fables.
Followers of Vvorkhesis the Darklord of the sorrowsworn swear up and down that Vorkhesis is the son of Nera and Nerull.
Several have spoken to have been working for "Nera" for centuries now. Often times these individuals are corrupted, dark, and accomplished murderers. With the exception of one, all recorded Nera subjects have been devout followers of Nerull, who also rewards murder.
Original race is unknown.
The cause of Nera's death is conflictive in the stories as her original identity has not been confirmed. She either died fighting in the war, or was a victim of one of the plagues unleashed by Nerull during this period of time.
Regardless, fearing Nerull's actions and his ambitions to become "the King of all Gods", Corellon and Pelor, with aid of Moradin, strengthened her soul with more qualities than she had possessed in life: magical might, intellectual brilliance, shrewd discernment, unshakable courage, cold allure, and colder pride. This was done for Nerull to have a plaything to waste his time instead of trying to kill all mortals or follow his ambitions.
So, Nerull took the bait: the soul enthralled him to the point he could not think in other stuff. So, he gave it a form and made her his queen. He called her "Nera". Although "Nera" wanted nothing with Nerull, she was ambitious and wanted to get Nerull powers for her, so she accepted his advances.
Notable Actions and Influences[edit | edit source]
Some ancient texts imply that she may be romantically interested in the coldhearted Shadar Kai known as Zugs McFlair, who she kept as a personal slave for centuries after his premature death at the hands of Killis Goodman.
