I couldn’t help but think a lot of the Raven Queen this week. One of my beloved quail passed, and I hoped the entire time that she would easily find her way to wherever she was going, and that it was as peaceful of a death as possible. My own history with the Raven Queen is a bit of an odd one—because I began on the path of witchcraft with a very strong conviction that I would never, ever work with deities. In my experience, people of all stripes used their gods as an excuse to be monsters—and I didn’t want anyone to have that type of control over me or become a catalyst to the downfall of my own morals and ethics. 

Needless to say, I changed my mind. But, I also discovered that not every mortal has the same type of relationship with deities as everyone else. That relationship is also not always worship. My personal understanding of the Raven Queen is as she was presented in 4.0 lore—and I don’t really care for her 5.0 lore. So I don’t use it. 

Origin Story

The Raven Queen was once a mortal magic user. When she passed, the current god of the Dead, Nerull, was so infatuated with her ambition, willpower, and arcane might that he desired her as his consort. So he had her formed as a Goddess, and he named her Nera. But, the Raven Queen, being a Bad Bitch, was not about to take kindly to this. Her, a mere Consort? With her name taken from a man’s? No way. 

Nerull had his own problems. Instead of sending all the souls of the dead on their way, he was keeping a few off the top in his back pocket so he could amass his own personal army and use them to feed his own power directly. Nera was both pissed at Nerull for being a piece of shit and not doing his job, as well as demeaning her. So she decided to bide her time. She spent some time learning how he bound souls, and then decided to rebel. 

Her own power by itself could not rival Nerull’s. So she began freeing all the souls he had captured, causing his personal power to begin plummeting. Eventually, she snuffed Nerull out. This caused the entire Pantheon to effectively shit bricks, because Nera was at that point supposed to be a nobody. They were terrified of her. The entire Pantheon gave her a choice. They could elevate her into a true-blue actual-factual Diety and become the Goddess of Death—but not The Dead—or they could (all of them) use their combined power to snuff her out. That was how terrified they were of her—all of their rivalries and drama were forgotten in that moment. 

She agreed, and she dropped the name ‘Nera.’ What is very important to this arrangement is that she is the Goddess of and has authority only over the moment of Death—and the transition. She has no authority over the Dead—because the other Dieties did not want a repeat of Nerull. (https://thefatefulforce.com/raven-queen/)

Fine. That would do. For the time being. Because the Raven Queen was no fool. She knew how to wait and how to be patient, and how to place her pawns just right to get what she wanted. When two other Dieties fell, she was there to effectively loot the corpses via deals she made on the side. Thus, she stole authority and auspices over both Winter and Fate in this manner, flying off with her prize before anyone could stop her. She took Fate as her reward for siding with the winners against Lolth. In essence, The Raven Queen was not just a baddie, but knew how to play the game and get what she wanted—who to form alliances with, and who was on the decline, and what she could get from both.

Auspices and Symbols

The Raven Queen’s current portfolio consists of (in order of acquisition) Death, Winter, and Fate. Because of her origin as a mortal magic user, she also has connections to magic users. The Shadowfell is her primary domain, and the Shadar Kai have her loyalty. She is known to be fascinated with emotions and memories, and collects them within her domain.

Enemies

The Raven Queen’s enemies are primarily those that command the Undead–such as Orcus and Vecna. Those that interfere with Fate also have her eye, and not in a positive way.

Personal Lore (Unverified Personal Gnosis)

There were very few things that were ever beyond the Raven Queen’s reach, whether it was when she was a Sorcerer Queen or when she had ascended. But, one of those things was constant across her entire existence and remains to this day: biological children. She could never have a child when she was a mortal. As a Goddess of Death…creating life is beyond her. But, that doesn’t mean she cannot acquire children. Someone else just has to have them first. Children that have experienced trauma and abusive upbringings are beloved to her, because she sees their struggle as a mirror to her own against Nerull. She also particularly dotes upon those who are attracted to the occult, as well as those with dark hair and dark eyes–as they resemble her. As long as someone is willing to sever the ties between a biological parent and child, she is happy to take up the mantle of ‘Mother’ to all the forsaken.

I have joked that she combs the ‘discount’ sections at Fantasy Costco and just dumps sad, goth kids with C-PTSD into her cart by the dozen. After all, why let a perfectly good mortal ‘child’ go to waste? They could very well all be hers! She raises up her flock of mortal hatchlings to take back what is theirs, whether that be their personal power or something else. As a given, she likes mortal ‘children’ who enjoy alternative aesthetics. She also despises those who abuse children.

When people ask if I believe in the Wine Mom Raven Queen from The Adventure Zone or the Horrifying Raven Queen from Critical Role, the answer is YES. She is very much both of these.

UPG from multiple sources strongly suggest that she fucks, and sometimes meddles in the love lives of her champions and mortal children. Several fan comics show her commenting she does not require her champions or clergy to make vows of chastity. She does not have an official consort, which implies she is more interested in a no-strings-attached fuckbudy arrangement rather than anything ‘official.’ Many fans ship her with both her own Champions, such as Vax, and other Deities.