The Raven Queen

The Raven Queen, also commonly known as the Matron of Ravens or the Matron of Death, is the goddess of death, fate, and winter; she's also considered the goddess of twilight, inevitability and the passage of time, presiding over the transition between life and death. Originally a mortal woman in the Age of Arcanum, she ascended to godhood and destroyed the previous god of death. After her ascention, her true name has long been lost. Her devotees seek her favor to guide them in death and prevent the curse of undeath from falling on them.

Because of her hatred of undeath, she and the Demon Prince of Undeath, Orcus, are fierce enemies. The Duskmeadow District of Vasselheim is devoted to worshiping her and is also where her temple, Raven's Crest, is located.

As an NPC, the Raven Queen is played by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
The Raven Queen is described as a tall and slender woman, with flowing black hair and pale, porcelain skin. She almost always wears a blank, porcelain mask. On the rare occasions she removes it, she is described as a beautiful woman with red irises.

Her general iconography in Issylra, Tal'Dorei and Wildemount represents the way in which the goddess appears to mortals, almost always adding elements of black feathers such as a cape or wings. However, certain sects in Marquet (in which she is worshiped as Duskmaven) depict her as a keen-eyed vulture with plumage varying from the shades of a sunset to the black of midnight; in this representation the goddess also covers her face, in this case with a golden funerary mask.

Personality
The Raven Queen would usually place the responsibility on one of her champions, Vax'ildan, to demonstrate the integrity of his will regarding his commitment to the natural transition between life and death. In a reversal, the dependence of Vox Machina on the will of the Raven Queen in their dire need requires that she demonstrate her character. Not long before Vox Machina's final confrontation with Vecna, Vax'ildan visits the Raven Queen as the last of Vox Machina's supplications to their divine patrons for beads of divinity. The creation of a bead would weaken the Raven Queen in the giving of her essence. Such a prospect prompts the Raven Queen to state the risk due to the precarity and vulnerability of her place in the pantheon among the Prime Deities:The Raven Queen developed the Ritual of Seeding and wrested a position in the pantheon from the previous god of death. Her apotheosis threatens the stability of Exandria established in The Divergence of the Prime Deities from the Material Plane per the edict of Bahamut and Erathis. The weight on her mind that the Prime Deities perceive her existence as "a threat" is evident: she belongs among neither gods nor mortals. For the Prime Deities, she portends the possibility of another Calamity, which Vecna's apotheosis realizes to an extent. As a god, she lives with anxiety over the surety of her place in the pantheon. One may conclude that her resultant hesitation restricts her expression of the same good-will as the "self-sacrificing" and "just" decision of Bahamut and Erathis. Despite this, in Exandria's hour of need, the Raven Queen puts aside the anxiety over her vulnerability with the assurance of Vax'ildan's continued faith, granting him the bead of divinity.

Background
The Raven Queen was originally a mortal mage who lived during the Age of Arcanum, theorized to have been Ruidusborn. She was a follower and partner of the previous god of death, but she developed rites that allowed her to destroy him and take his place, becoming the first mortal to achieve godhood. Her rise to godhood is variously described as either involving her challenging her predecessor and overtaking him or as having instantly destroyed him upon her ascension.

In fear, the remainder of the pantheon swiftly destroyed and prohibited these rites. Her name was subsequently either lost to or removed from historical record. However, another powerful mage of the Age of Arcanum, Vecna, reconstructed the Ritual of Seeding and attempted it, but the ritual was interrupted and he was all but destroyed. The Raven Queen's ascension also inspired Vespin Chloras to release the imprisoned Betrayer Gods back into the Material Plane, leading to the Calamity. Several centuries later, in 812 PD, Vecna returned and successfully completed the ritual.

The Raven Queen first appeared as a spectre during the revivification spell of Vex'ahlia, summoned by the opening of her late champion's casket. At first, the party mistook her for Vesh (due to Kashaw's part in the ritual), but she was revealed during Vax'ildan's contribution to be, in fact, the Raven Queen. Vax offered his life to her in place of his sister's. The Raven Queen reached her hand out to Vax and nodded, agreeing to the offer. At that point, Vax unwittingly became her new champion.

While Vax'ildan and Keyleth discussed the Raven Queen, a raven appeared at Keyleth's window, cawed at the two, then disappeared. It was insinuated to be sent by the Goddess.

In his sleep, Vax'ildan had a brief vision of the Raven Queen and the tapestry of threads she oversees. She identified him as "fate-touched," and told him he could be anything.

The Raven Queen was summoned during Grog's revivification by Vax'ildan. As a second form of aid, Vax pledged to serve the Raven Queen unconditionally and with conviction. The Raven Queen sent Vax a vision, seemingly agreeing to the offer.

After these events, Vax found a raven's feather laying on his pillow which he symbolically put in his hair, similar to the blue feathers worn by his sister.

First, the Raven Queen directly appeared to Vax'ildan, now dead, in a space similar to the first time he communed with her. She then asked him what his destined thread is.

Later, as a part of Vax's resurrection ritual, Vex'ahlia made a bargain with the Raven Queen to hunt down Orcus in return for her brother. Apparently seeing this to be favorable, the Raven Queen manifested in some physical way, allowing Vax to be brought back to life and calling Vox Machina "to meet [her] behind the Divine Gate". Seeming to have disappeared to the rest of Vox Machina, the Raven Queen was still seen by Vax as she gave him an ominous message about future activities of his employment before actually leaving.

Vox Machina returned to the Platinum Sanctuary in Vasselheim after defeating Vecna and sealing him away beyond the Divine Gate. As Keyleth finished addressing the crowd, the Raven Queen appeared behind Vax'ildan and put her hands on his shoulders. Percy tried to get in between the two of them, but she froze him in place.

Keyleth, Scanlan, and Vex asked the Raven Queen for more time. The Raven Queen gently sympathized with their grief but insists that a deal was a deal. Vax said goodbye to each member of Vox Machina, promising that he would see them again. Vax used Druidcraft to create snowdrops out from him to Vox Machina and walked to the Raven Queen. Vax saw a bright light from inside the Raven Queen's cloak. In the light was his mother, telling her son she is proud of him. As Vax walked towards the Raven Queen, her cloak faded, the snowdrops continued until they turned into feathers and both were gone.

Vax'ildan
Vax'ildan offered his life to the Raven Queen in place of his sister, Vex'ahlia, as part of a Revivify spell. The goddess appeared before him and seemed to agree to those terms. Not long afterward, Vax became a paladin devoted to her cause. After Vax was killed by Vecna, he made a bargain with her to defeat him in return for continued life as a revenant. Once Vecna had been banished, the Raven Queen immediately came to collect Vax'ildan, who became her champion. A year later, she allowed him to return to the mortal realm to speak at Vex'ahlia's wedding, thanks to a Wish spell cast by Scanlan.

Known worshippers

 * Clay family (originally)
 * Eadwulf
 * Lieve'tel
 * Purvan Suul
 * Ratanish
 * Valiq
 * Vax'ildan

Appearances

 * Campaign One
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials
 * Specials

Mentions

 * Campaign One
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Two
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three

Quotations

 * "All life is inherently broken from the start, Percival. Take solace in that. There is no perfection in life. Otherwise, what would be the purpose of death? It's to try to find ways to better yourself before the end that gives us purpose. You are all broken, but also understand - mortals can achieve great things. I did."

Trivia

 * Liam and Matt discussed the relationship between the Raven Queen and her Champion, Vax'ildan, on Talks Machina on February 21st, 2017. Matt said that the Raven Queen and Vax'ildan did not have a typical cleric-deity relationship, but that she had told Vax the road she wanted him to take and is now just letting him walk the path on his own. If he strays from that path, she will intervene.
 * The Raven Queen is typically categorized with the Prime Deities, a group usually defined by its actions during the Founding, even though she was not present during the Founding.
 * The Raven Queen's holy day is the Night of Ascension, celebrated on the thirteenth of Cuersaar. Some in Tal'Dorei also associate her with Winter's Crest.
 * The Raven Queen's alternate title of the Matron of Ravens in the original Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting is modified to the Matron of Death in the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, presumably to avoid redundancy.