I like the Raven Queen, a neutrally aligned rather than an evil god of death makes a lot more sense as death is an inevitable and natural result of life.
The Raven Queen is a great influence in a multipanar campaign dealing in secrets. This way you can tie Tomb of Horrors, Tomb of Annihilation, Vecna, the Bloodstone saga, Orcus and many other colorful characters in a multi-tiered, multi -group campaign which will not affect the canonized storyline and still make your players think you're a genius after a few of the interlinked sub-campaigns
You probably dont give a shit but if you guys are stoned like me during the covid times then you can watch all the new series on InstaFlixxer. Have been streaming with my girlfriend for the last few months =)
My expectation clicking on this video: AJ talking about my favorite D&D Deity, maybe some Critical Role jokes concerning Vax, how to use the Raven Queen in play. Me half way through the video: "Did I just click on a D&D conspiracy theory video? OH MY GODS I am writing a fanfiction about a Knight who takes on a fief and it has a major temple of the Raven Queen. Anyway I thought in this world of Material Plane she battled Wee Jas and stole her "mask". So this is totally valid thing that I didn't know until now.
Loved this. Thank you AJ. Since the start of 5E, I’ve been waiting for the Raven Queen to enter the lore. She’s a more fitting and somber god of death than any other, and one that someone may view as a Valkyrie ending their suffering. Well done.
I am curious what her relationship with Kelemvor is like. I would imagine they and their clergy get along alright, considering the apparent overlap in their purview.
My take is that she's working to maintain the balance & her gathering up of other gods' powers is because she straight-up doesn't trust most of the other gods not to mess something up, so she's taking away their toys - however, she understands the concept of absolute power corrupting absolutely, which is why she stays as hands-off as possible & doesn't generally intervene too directly (except against undead, which are completely unnatural & therefore fair game) since she's also keeping an eye on herself. The way she gained power from multiple sources willingly pledging a portion of their own even feels like a kind of democratisation of magical power, ensuring that she could be de-powered if she started going off the rails.
I’m doing a campaign as a half-gnoll paladin of the Raven Queen. It’s a lot of homebrew lore but for an order locked in a eternal crusade against daemons and necromancers and witches in the arctic the goddess of death is pretty perfect. Plus cults of Nusemnee who pray both to their dead goddess for redemption as well as the goddess of death.
I always think that too. The Morrígan is my matron goddess. They seemed to have ripped a lot to inspire the Raven Queen. Seems to have changed Her warrior and sovereignty aspect, and changed it to death for the Raven Queen. I’m going to add the Raven Queen in my campaign as a goddess to the elves.
What if The Raven Queen eventually turns into The Lady of Pain and, with time travel already established in D&D, goes back and forms Sigil? A powerful entity that has god-like, and seemingly above, powers who refuses to be worshipped and allows no other gods in her presence. If TLoP were a Leshay no one would know as their history is unknown (possibly unknowable?) and that could be attributed to her having purposely worked to obfuscate anything to do with herself. The Leshay can manifest weapons that are part of their being which is similar to TLoP and the random slashing damage taken by those in her gaze or shadow.
I'm just waiting for the day Aj's knowledge of the dnd multiverse surpasses someone like Dalleb and he finally ascends to godtier, becoming the mightiest of gluesticks
I love this video. I learned things that I hadn't found in my research. As I've mentioned in previous video comments, I enjoy using The 3E Epic handbook from a very early part of my campaigns and campaign worlds to tie future events together. I was unaware of the connection between the Raven Queen and the LeShay. Interestingly, in my game, the church of Death is one of the 3 largest. They are the most prestigious tutors on the main continent. Being educated at one of their temples is akin to graduating from Harvard or Oxford. They are very open opponents, and hunters of, Undead. Paladin orders and all. Now I have a little more fuel for my settings document. Thank you fort the amazing information, as always. Best Patreon support I've ever invested in!
I loved this video, really informative and some interesting thoughts. I am currently playing a Hexblade but my DM is involving the Raven Queen a lot more. The line about her being interested in tragedy really struck home considering my back story. The woman i loved was killed and i was blamed and in our last session she turned up as an undead servant of Orcus. Having given up my memory of her i attacked only have her dominate my mind and cause me to attack my party nearly ending in my death. Love the way my DM is running it and having a lot of fun and this video has only increased my enjoyment. Thanks a lot.
"Forming a pact with the Raven Queen is popular these days" Funny because all I ever hear about is Hexblade, though ironically enough Hexblades are supposedly connected to the Raven Queen anyway.
Ughhh Skeksis. While I know I would have loved the Dark Crystal as a kid. I’m glad I didn’t watch it til I was an adult. Because I’m sure the Skeksis would have scared me.
She seems to be a D & D adaptation of The Morrigan (Phantom Queen) from Irish Celtic mythology. A very interesting figure to look into if you wanted more depth on her origins in real world mythology.
Playing a Shadar Kai Hexblade, serving The Queen. One of my favorite deities, and has been all kinds of fun within the group, currently. Especially considering I'm the only PC with any real religious standing. X3
Innnteresting. As someone whose experience of D&D is largely based off 3 and 3.5e games like Neverwinter Nights in the setting of Toril, the Raven Queen is one I'd never even heard of before I saw this video.
My character in a Curse of a Strahd Campaign is a headless Reborn who is an Oath of Vengeance Paladin who before her murder/wrongful execution via beheading swore an oath of revenge and the Raven Queen heard said oath and brought her back to life as a headless corpse that somehow is still considered a humanoid and not an undead and allowed her to take her vengeance upon those wronged her and her family of nobles but in return she has to serve the Raven Queen for all eternity as one of her Knights of Vengeance against evil.
The Leshay are my favorite!!!!! I made mine with the goal of overthrowing Coralon the usurper and returning the Leshay to their rightful place as rulers of the Fey.
so we can make an elven character with the personality traits of Pain (Nagato) :D Awesome :D btw great video AJ, I can't wait for the arrival of my copy of Mordenkainen's tome of foes :) :) :) So about the video which talks about how to create a golem, shield guardian, and other construct allies with your ambitious little gnome wizard in 5E... :D
Would it be possible for you to do a video on Solinari, one on The Shadow from the Dark Six or all of the Dark Six, and one on Nuitari? If you could that would be great!
I remember a god of death in the legend in lower book they got 10 of texts for round but even the god feared his sword that One touch can kill anyone but nobody really talks about the gods there
Honestly the Lashee are probably decanonized in 5e. Their existence has always been a walking plot hole as they exist in decent numbers on the material plane, they’re active in the world, more powerful than ancient dragons as individuals still sometimes work together. By all means they should be the most important creature in the history of any given place, yet they’re not. Don’t worry about trying to shove the Lashee into the Raven Queens story. But in a game that focus on the Raven Queen, if you think it is the case, the Raven Queen might be more interesting with the stipulation that she is LeShee, LeShee might be worth being reintroduced. But better to focus on Nagpa and the shadow ki
I'm running a home brew that involves a vampire trying to uncover a time portal that would allow him to go back thousands of years to prevent his own vampirism. The twist is that he was turned by a powerful lich-like being that had acquired god like power by imprisoning a fledgling goddess . The goddess would become the raven queen. Though eventually freed, and her captor destroyed, he twisted her domain from life into death. I'm bringing in a gang of kenku led buy a Napa who are foils for the party. As they mettle with time I think it would really be cool to see if they can turn the raven queen into a life goddess, and maybe prevent the curse on the Napa and kenku all together.
Have you considered how the Raven Queen would feel towards Zuggtmoy and / or Juiblex? The reason I ask is I'm going to play a character that was a Shadar Kai, in the service of the Raven Queen. Was captured, tortured and killed by cultists of Juiblex. Was reincarnated by a circle of the spores druid by order of Zuggtmoy. Came back as a human. Zuggtmoy granted powers in exchange for helping in her war against Juiblex (fiend patron warlock). Character will still be loyal to the Raven Queen. Somewhat grudgingly helpful toward Zuggtmoy, only because of her hatred of Juiblex.
Only because you said to "post any corrections;" Nerull should be pronounced the way it's spelled i.e. Neh-rull like skull; not Neh-rule like cruel. And also it should be pronounced Shay-dar kai as in shade instead of Shah-dow kai as in shadow. While I understand it's splitting hairs, you are a man of words and are looked at as the example to follow with them. Help us be more exact with a more accurate pronunciation of the creative spelling their creators gave them. On a side note, it's a disservice to pronounce Asmodeus as Az-mode-e-us instead of using the same emphasis you'd pronounce Amadeus with. No one would say A-made-e-us; they pronounce it as Ah-ma-Da-yus / Az-mo-Da-yus 😉 Thank you for creating all this amazing content and take the criticism with a grain of salt... I love the channel!
I really appreciate people taking the time to explain these things for me, as you are quite right, I am representing the lore and I do want to get it right.
Considering the english language is full of stuff like: tow - cow and though, cough, through, wrought, thought etc. I'd give people more leeway here. Just because it's written somewhere, it doesn't necessarily mean there is just 1 correct way to pronounce it.
Interesting! The Greyhawk god of Magical Technology, he has a pretty awesome historic legacy, being the first player character with a name unrelated to the players own name... OK, good call, added to the list.
what is the relation between Shar and the Raven Queen. I mean Sharmerged teh shadow plane and the negative energy plane together to form the Shadowfell, and it seem that the Raven Queen is the master of the Shadowfell? I know their is a all out war opposing Orcus and the raven queen (and worshiping Orcus in the shadowfell is a criminal offense punishable by death) but what about Shar?
Little late to the party, so I'm not sure you'll even see this AJ, but here's a question in case you do: So I got off my butt to take a look at the Raven Queen Patron UA, and noticed a rather odd line: "She hates intelligent undead and expects her followers to strike them down, whereas mindless undead such as skeletons and zombies are little more than stumbling automatons in her eyes." This seems rather pertinent to a point within the debate over the ethics of Necromancy (at least in regards to the creation of undead). One of the strongest arguments on the topic is that creating undead such as ghouls, zombies, or skeletons traps and tortures the soul of the departed, in perhaps a similar manner to that of the Soul Cage spell. If this were the case however, would that not also draw the ire of the Raven Queen, who in all likelihood only despises intelligent undead for stifling her stream of souls? It seems that this nonchalance would indicate that the creation of mindless undead doesn't restrict or notably disturb the soul which formerly inhabited that body. I know it's UA (meaning a few grains of salt are recommended), but this seems to settle at least one point of a rather longstanding debate. Or have I missed something? Now that I'm thinking about it, a video on general necromancy would be pretty interesting.
The way I do it is by saying that mortals have a soul and a spirit one is like the energy source the other is considered were the mind and memorys are stored so if you separate one from the other they lose there agency and form
I do know liches trap their souls in phylacteries and regular undead seem to be soulless, unless they're spirits...which is just a soul roaming. Am I way off?
Question: can you post a video on the Scarlet Brotherhood. I am trying to write a good backstory for one of my character but I need more info on them. Please and thank you
Are you saying the Raven Queen has her own type of elves are they are there any relations to the dark elves like dr'izzet or the neck part looks like straight out of a movie Jim Henson movie in the 80s or the recent of the date that was a few years ago but it was a good one the creatures antagonists the evil creatures the magpies I mean (MAGPOWS)
He addressed this in the video. It isn't said what kind of elves they were so it could've been any of the ones we know of or their own thing all together.
4:55 - An actual Skeksis. Also, I'm pretty sure the nagpas _were_ initially inspired by _The Dark Crystal_ - the first D&D module featuring a nagpa came out within a few months after the movie's release.
Any chance you'll cover some of the 3rd edition deities? I'd love to see something on Wee Jas. For that matter Pelor...if you gave your take on the fringe theory of Pelor actually being more of an evil deity and his incarnation as being a ruse for some plan that would be awesome.
Years ago I seen the 3rd e Deities hand book, read a little of it. And my game shop didn't think much of it. I never bought it. Other than the "story back ground," just use a Titan as a generic avatar in combat. Other than the "Decree of the Gods," that prevents any given god or arch-fiend from flexing their full power on a mortal's world. DC and Marvel comics has more story lines where you have gods moving around "humans." From AD&D2e "Planescape" setting, Wee Jas is a Lich Queen. And some where in 3e she feed on Souls.
I mean, in my setting, pelor is actually a complete asshole. He's that insane lawful good paladin that murders you "in the name of good" when you steal a cookie
I have a feeling the Raven Queen's "origin story" feels like a retcon to older (pre 4th edition) members of the D&D community. However, I for my part won't miss Nerull. I never found him very interesting to begin with, while I actually like the Raven Queen. Still, I think there is again - the same way we had it before - too much overlap with other "people's" story in this. There already is a god of the dead, Kelemvor, and a god of death, Myrkul, the later just returned from oblivion, in the Forgotten Realms and they are heirs to the portfolio Jergal once held. Of course you can say:" She is part of the 'ethno' pantheon of the elves." Fine with me, but since she succeeded Nerull and no FR deity she actually belongs in Greyhawk and not in the FR. I forgot to mention that in Greyhawk she again has some overlap with an already existing deity, and that would be Wee Jas, who is also a godess of death and magic. And as a godess of death and an enemy of Lolth she completely eclipses Kiransalee, who's portfolio again is death and magic. How about Shar? If we are back in the "Great Wheel" cosmology and the Shadowfell is a shared outer plane, the Raven Queen must be vying for power there with Shar, and she isn't going to beat Shar, who also happens to have death, and magic (sort of), in her portfolio. Last but not least, how about Vecna and Velsharoon? I don't have the SCAG, has Velsharoon not returned like most other deities that died or went missing in the transition from 3rd to 4th edition? Kiransalee Death and Magic Wee Jas Death and Magic Myrkul Death Kelemvor the Dead Shar Death, Magic (sort of) Vecna Death Magic Velsharoon Death Magic The Raven Queen Death and Magic
Rylan Joran an excellent observation. The raven queen has a lot of plot armor since she's last to the party. They've pushed for her to be the goddess of the dead not death. As a partial. She's not breaking lore. retcon.
How do things go in D&D there seems to be an lot of gods that are god in multiple realms. For example if Ao in Forgotten Realms wants to erase Corellion can he?
arham bliss in Ao's area of concern he can. It wouldn't kill the god in question but it would kill all the gods influence there. Gods can be destroyed in one realm and yet in another theyd still exist. Now Ao is pretty chill and not liable to do such things.
I think they are the same entity, because when you look at the official "Divine Ranking" given to Corellon or for instance Moradin, you will find out that they are above almost everyone and that greater powers usually have a ranking between 16 and 18, while both of them have 19. And I don't see how they get there in the FR just by virtue of having an ethno-specific following. I think ti takes all the elves or all the Dwarves to get them to the top.
I won't lie, I had always been under the impression The Raven Queen had been a human god, since in 4e WotC made shadar-kai human-kin and of course that was where she appeared by this name. I appreciated that change, as it gave humans a place in the greater cosmos, as if they were growing as a race and finding a place in the multiverse, it felt right even, that the latest god of death was once a human, a people that have no true "patron" diety of their own and are characterized by their short lifespans. Moreover the elves already had their "dark" elves in the Drow, it felt redundant to double up on them with the shadar-kai. The way they're described makes them seem very "human" as well in that they are daring adrenaline junkies who chase danger and excitement, expressing in equal parts a free spirit, and a purposeful existence. Driven but wild, principled but flexible, dark but not bound by it. It felt very "human". 5e of course returned them to their elven roots and this "expose" on The Raven Queen helps ease that transition by giving it a conceivable reason on a meta level, but I still would have preferred the poetic notion of humanity's contribution to the pantheon being a god of the very thing that universally defines humanity most, mortality and ambition. Also... _"I certainly dont know everything, not by a long shot... Not yet anyway."_ -Probably Vecna, at some point in time.
Hmm Call me crazy but would it be a stretch for Nerull to return seeing as he was a greater deity and one of Death at that so who's to say that his death is even permanent like it would normally be seeing as the Raven Queen doesn't really even do her job like she should be
Death via natural causes, so, death can be peaceful and a release, murder is more about the act of killing a thing, they result in the same thing, a dead being, but they are very different ways of getting there.
how in the world could the Raven Queen have possibly stopped the War of the Anti-Seldarine? :/ Aurashnee had been planning that for a LONG time... in the novel Evermeet: Island of the Elves, it outlines what happened in Arvandor. Aurashnee's multiple betrayals, the war, Eilistraee's arrow piercing her father Corellon's heart, the creation of the goddess Angarradh, the transformation of Aurashnee to Lolth and being cast into the Abyss, and so on... unless you mean the Raven Queen tried to stop the Fourth Crown War, which was started by the dark elves of Ilthiir in retaliation for the atrocities of the Vyshantaar of the Sun Elven Kingdom of Arvyandaar when they used Elven High Magic to call forth Morhamor'Sykerlor, the Killing Storm to utterly destroy tens of thousands -if not millions- of peaceful dark elves of Miyeritaar, which had resisted annexation and occupation by Arvyandaar. The Sun Elves had basically nuked the most peaceful and prosperous elven nation on Faerûn, and the center of Elven High Magic. The dark elves of Ilythiir, whose leaders admittedly weren't that "nice" to begin with (some of whom followed the Masked Lord Vhaeraun or followed That Which Lurks, Ghaunadar) realized that the only way to win in a fight the evil Sun Elves was to call on dark powers... aka Lolth, who had only relatively recently discovered Toril (her children Eilistraee and Vhaeraun had been here even before the Sun and Moon elf refugees from Tintageer arrived) anyway... how could the Raven Queen have possibly stopped that war either???
sorry, I'm really into FR lore and especially all things elves. the awful heavy handed retcons to decades of lore that WotC did to the Realms towards the end of 3.5 (Wendonai... puke... drow are and always were CULTURALLY evil) and into 4th edition and 5th really bother me.
She could have been casting a spell like Karsus' Avatar ritual, to usurp the power of Lolth, for instance. We just don't know, but she was very powerful.
Also, my god, never apologize for having such an amazing expertise in the lore of Elven history on Faerun. I rarely get feedback so good! That was an awesome question.
I love elven lore, but I'm still learning and so much I don't know, but thank you for the compliment - it means so much coming from you AJ! :D It's just so fascinating and darkly poetic that a People with such advanced culture and art could be so blind that they do these horrible things "for the greater good" over and over again. They just don't learn from their mistakes. Their pride, arrogance and blindness is as pure as their beauty and poise. Elves are probably my favorite anti-villains.
Golden fires of eldritch rites Did blaze across the sky Gathering Darkness of broiling death Swept down from up on high. Mormhaor'Sykerylor!, the magi roared As destruction did rain down Upon their cities and invaders both As their realm began to drown. A mighty wave a mile high Swept in from the West The only People to survive Were those that fate did bless From Tintageer, their ancient home The battered People fled Through Gates to lands of mists and trees With hubris did they spread Mormhaor'Sykerylor, The Killing Storm A lesson never learned Destroyed their world once before A history The People spurned For once again gathered they Upon the high broad plains Calling forth the Killing Storm Unleashing death and pain. The gods do weep upon this thought, That The People never learn That the hubris of Tel'Quessir Brings the fate The People earn ~Adapted fragment from the Lament of M'kerlor (original author unknown)
She sounds an awful lot like the Morrigan from Irish myth.
🤔
Vecna-Summoning Secret Lore:
The Raven Queen's true name that she "erased", is Morrigan?
🤷
I like the Raven Queen, a neutrally aligned rather than an evil god of death makes a lot more sense as death is an inevitable and natural result of life.
10:30
Liam O'brian cameo.
The Lady of Pain, The Raven Queen, even Auriel the Frostmaiden to a certain extent, what is with D&D making their goddesses enigmatic and aloof?
Skeevy simp writers?
@@AJPickettA skeevy simp demographic that they are chasing
OOOOOooooo hey.
A Kenku Raven Queen Warlock... thatd be fun to play. XD
Raven Queen is one of the most interesting deities in D&D
The Raven Queen is a great influence in a multipanar campaign dealing in secrets. This way you can tie Tomb of Horrors, Tomb of Annihilation, Vecna, the Bloodstone saga, Orcus and many other colorful characters in a multi-tiered, multi -group campaign which will not affect the canonized storyline and still make your players think you're a genius after a few of the interlinked sub-campaigns
I concur.
You probably dont give a shit but if you guys are stoned like me during the covid times then you can watch all the new series on InstaFlixxer. Have been streaming with my girlfriend for the last few months =)
@Milo Remington Definitely, have been using Instaflixxer for since december myself :D
She is a major part of my worlds. Though renamed nox as she is still a goddess.
My expectation clicking on this video: AJ talking about my favorite D&D Deity, maybe some Critical Role jokes concerning Vax, how to use the Raven Queen in play.
Me half way through the video: "Did I just click on a D&D conspiracy theory video?
OH MY GODS I am writing a fanfiction about a Knight who takes on a fief and it has a major temple of the Raven Queen. Anyway I thought in this world of Material Plane she battled Wee Jas and stole her "mask". So this is totally valid thing that I didn't know until now.
Okay... those vulture headed people are CLEARLY Skexxies.
Clearly.
I'm wondering: Which came first?
Dark Crystal, or the cursing of the Wizards by the Raven Queen.
Thanks for this video, really helped me flesh out the lore surrounding the Church of the Raven Queen in my setting.
Loved this. Thank you AJ. Since the start of 5E, I’ve been waiting for the Raven Queen to enter the lore. She’s a more fitting and somber god of death than any other, and one that someone may view as a Valkyrie ending their suffering.
Well done.
I am curious what her relationship with Kelemvor is like. I would imagine they and their clergy get along alright, considering the apparent overlap in their purview.
little bit, yeah.
@@AJPickett But I thought Kelemvor was the God of death? What am I missing?
My take is that she's working to maintain the balance & her gathering up of other gods' powers is because she straight-up doesn't trust most of the other gods not to mess something up, so she's taking away their toys - however, she understands the concept of absolute power corrupting absolutely, which is why she stays as hands-off as possible & doesn't generally intervene too directly (except against undead, which are completely unnatural & therefore fair game) since she's also keeping an eye on herself. The way she gained power from multiple sources willingly pledging a portion of their own even feels like a kind of democratisation of magical power, ensuring that she could be de-powered if she started going off the rails.
I’m doing a campaign as a half-gnoll paladin of the Raven Queen. It’s a lot of homebrew lore but for an order locked in a eternal crusade against daemons and necromancers and witches in the arctic the goddess of death is pretty perfect. Plus cults of Nusemnee who pray both to their dead goddess for redemption as well as the goddess of death.
She seems like a death god version of Morrigan
Seems like? I’m seeing it as pretty much ripped straight from it with parts added.
Morrigan was a death god tbh
I always think that too. The Morrígan is my matron goddess. They seemed to have ripped a lot to inspire the Raven Queen. Seems to have changed Her warrior and sovereignty aspect, and changed it to death for the Raven Queen. I’m going to add the Raven Queen in my campaign as a goddess to the elves.
What if The Raven Queen eventually turns into The Lady of Pain and, with time travel already established in D&D, goes back and forms Sigil? A powerful entity that has god-like, and seemingly above, powers who refuses to be worshipped and allows no other gods in her presence. If TLoP were a Leshay no one would know as their history is unknown (possibly unknowable?) and that could be attributed to her having purposely worked to obfuscate anything to do with herself. The Leshay can manifest weapons that are part of their being which is similar to TLoP and the random slashing damage taken by those in her gaze or shadow.
I'm just waiting for the day Aj's knowledge of the dnd multiverse surpasses someone like Dalleb and he finally ascends to godtier, becoming the mightiest of gluesticks
The Glue War will be a messy one, for sure...
Glumageddon
I love this video. I learned things that I hadn't found in my research. As I've mentioned in previous video comments, I enjoy using The 3E Epic handbook from a very early part of my campaigns and campaign worlds to tie future events together. I was unaware of the connection between the Raven Queen and the LeShay. Interestingly, in my game, the church of Death is one of the 3 largest. They are the most prestigious tutors on the main continent. Being educated at one of their temples is akin to graduating from Harvard or Oxford. They are very open opponents, and hunters of, Undead. Paladin orders and all. Now I have a little more fuel for my settings document. Thank you fort the amazing information, as always. Best Patreon support I've ever invested in!
I loved this video, really informative and some interesting thoughts. I am currently playing a Hexblade but my DM is involving the Raven Queen a lot more. The line about her being interested in tragedy really struck home considering my back story. The woman i loved was killed and i was blamed and in our last session she turned up as an undead servant of Orcus. Having given up my memory of her i attacked only have her dominate my mind and cause me to attack my party nearly ending in my death.
Love the way my DM is running it and having a lot of fun and this video has only increased my enjoyment. Thanks a lot.
I love this! definitely gonna use it for my paladin\warlock multiclass, it's gonna be an interesting character to say the least
Strong Skesis vibes from the Nagpa and their whole "steal magic from the Elves/Gelflings"
Very much so.
10:50.... AHHHH WAS THAT MY BOY VAX (Critical Role)
But in all honesty awesome video, very well done! This has just made her one of my favorite God's.
I came here to say the same thing! She's got a heavy story element in my next campagin thanks to CR.
I somehow didn't notice at first... has to be him right?
Ghost elves please, only reference to them I know of was the dragon magazine.
Hmmm, ok.
You are on fire 🔥 man keep up pumping out this gold👍🏽😁👍🏽
Played the unearthed arcana Raven Queen Warlock in my friends shadowfell campaign. It's a really fun class, hope they add it to the next expansion
Tell me more about your warlock
For a copule of sessions my group had lot of stuff going with her cult. Great tool for dm to introduce undead foes
It is easier to think of The Raven Queen as the goddess of Dying instead of death.
"Forming a pact with the Raven Queen is popular these days"
Funny because all I ever hear about is Hexblade, though ironically enough Hexblades are supposedly connected to the Raven Queen anyway.
Sounds like the Nagpa may have been the inspiration for the appearance of the Skeksis from Dark Crystal
Dark Crystal inspired them, not the other way around :)
Ughhh Skeksis. While I know I would have loved the Dark Crystal as a kid. I’m glad I didn’t watch it til I was an adult. Because I’m sure the Skeksis would have scared me.
She seems to be a D & D adaptation of The Morrigan (Phantom Queen) from Irish Celtic mythology. A very interesting figure to look into if you wanted more depth on her origins in real world mythology.
Light of Belenus read The IRON DRUID. It’s on audiobook to on TH-cam unless it’s been taken down. Great series
Playing a Shadar Kai Hexblade, serving The Queen. One of my favorite deities, and has been all kinds of fun within the group, currently. Especially considering I'm the only PC with any real religious standing. X3
Innnteresting. As someone whose experience of D&D is largely based off 3 and 3.5e games like Neverwinter Nights in the setting of Toril, the Raven Queen is one I'd never even heard of before I saw this video.
Have you done a video on the Negpa?
Im curious to learn more. 🙂
Nagpa, I believe so.
Very much been looking forward to this video!!! One of my favorite goddesses.
13:34 “The Raven Queen is not the type to meddle.” My Cleric casting Commune and asking his 3 yes or no questions. Can I limit that?
Its not my place to say
My character in a Curse of a Strahd Campaign is a headless Reborn who is an Oath of Vengeance Paladin who before her murder/wrongful execution via beheading swore an oath of revenge and the Raven Queen heard said oath and brought her back to life as a headless corpse that somehow is still considered a humanoid and not an undead and allowed her to take her vengeance upon those wronged her and her family of nobles but in return she has to serve the Raven Queen for all eternity as one of her Knights of Vengeance against evil.
Modchil (17 wizard 3 cleric ) wishes to achieve lichdom and forever give our Queen secrets
Great stuff as always! Found your Nagpa video ;)
The Leshay are my favorite!!!!! I made mine with the goal of overthrowing Coralon the usurper and returning the Leshay to their rightful place as rulers of the Fey.
My favorite deity, what a surprise!
so we can make an elven character with the personality traits of Pain (Nagato) :D Awesome :D
btw great video AJ, I can't wait for the arrival of my copy of Mordenkainen's tome of foes :) :) :)
So about the video which talks about how to create a golem, shield guardian, and other construct allies with your ambitious little gnome wizard in 5E... :D
Would it be possible for you to do a video on Solinari, one on The Shadow from the Dark Six or all of the Dark Six, and one on Nuitari? If you could that would be great!
The Raven Queen is a big part of my current long standing campaign, frankly my favourite deity due to her complexity, lore and her versatility.
Sweet, another enemy of Loth ;]
As always the lore and artwork are amazing, thanks for the video.
OH yeah. Been looking forward to this one!
9:22 uh what? somewhat inscrutable?! she is completely inscrutable!
Did you have difficulty scruting my able?
@@AJPickett lol
Awesome video also I like this logo and intro way better, it fits better
When describing how her priesthood are you pretty much described me I was like well shit
*hugs*
AJ Pickett thanks I was lmfao about it but still kinda sad in a way lol
Hey AJ! Would you happen to have a video on the creator races?
I remember a god of death in the legend in lower book they got 10 of texts for round but even the god feared his sword that One touch can kill anyone but nobody really talks about the gods there
LOL damn autocorrect
Just what a Kenku Necromancer needs.
Honestly the Lashee are probably decanonized in 5e. Their existence has always been a walking plot hole as they exist in decent numbers on the material plane, they’re active in the world, more powerful than ancient dragons as individuals still sometimes work together. By all means they should be the most important creature in the history of any given place, yet they’re not.
Don’t worry about trying to shove the Lashee into the Raven Queens story.
But in a game that focus on the Raven Queen, if you think it is the case, the Raven Queen might be more interesting with the stipulation that she is LeShee, LeShee might be worth being reintroduced. But better to focus on Nagpa and the shadow ki
She's scary but I love her!
Same waifu level as 5E Zariel, lmao
I love this video now I want to make a Kenku warlock that has the Raven Queen as his patron☠️☠️
That is insanely good! Thanks for that content
My pleasure!
Would she be the go to patron for a warlock looking to kill a god?
Raven Queen is Velka confirmed.
I'd love more info about the Shadar Kai
I'm running a home brew that involves a vampire trying to uncover a time portal that would allow him to go back thousands of years to prevent his own vampirism. The twist is that he was turned by a powerful lich-like being that had acquired god like power by imprisoning a fledgling goddess . The goddess would become the raven queen. Though eventually freed, and her captor destroyed, he twisted her domain from life into death. I'm bringing in a gang of kenku led buy a Napa who are foils for the party. As they mettle with time I think it would really be cool to see if they can turn the raven queen into a life goddess, and maybe prevent the curse on the Napa and kenku all together.
Also would love a video about the Napa. Your lore videos are the best!
I always assumed she was just a reskin of Wee Jas.
I love your videos!
Have you considered how the Raven Queen would feel towards Zuggtmoy and / or Juiblex? The reason I ask is I'm going to play a character that was a Shadar Kai, in the service of the Raven Queen. Was captured, tortured and killed by cultists of Juiblex. Was reincarnated by a circle of the spores druid by order of Zuggtmoy. Came back as a human. Zuggtmoy granted powers in exchange for helping in her war against Juiblex (fiend patron warlock). Character will still be loyal to the Raven Queen. Somewhat grudgingly helpful toward Zuggtmoy, only because of her hatred of Juiblex.
Zuggtmoy is not to be trusted, she is, after all, a demon lord.
@@AJPickett I agree. But my character agreed to the pact, grudgingly, because of her hatred of Juiblex. She's still loyal to the Raven Queen though.
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Only because you said to "post any corrections;" Nerull should be pronounced the way it's spelled i.e. Neh-rull like skull; not Neh-rule like cruel. And also it should be pronounced Shay-dar kai as in shade instead of Shah-dow kai as in shadow.
While I understand it's splitting hairs, you are a man of words and are
looked at as the example to follow with them. Help us be more exact with a more accurate pronunciation of the creative spelling their creators gave them.
On a side note, it's a disservice to pronounce Asmodeus as Az-mode-e-us instead of using the same emphasis you'd pronounce Amadeus with. No one would say A-made-e-us; they pronounce it as Ah-ma-Da-yus / Az-mo-Da-yus 😉
Thank you for creating all this amazing content and take the criticism with a grain of salt... I love the channel!
I really appreciate people taking the time to explain these things for me, as you are quite right, I am representing the lore and I do want to get it right.
Considering the english language is full of stuff like: tow - cow and though, cough, through, wrought, thought etc. I'd give people more leeway here. Just because it's written somewhere, it doesn't necessarily mean there is just 1 correct way to pronounce it.
Hey AJ, can you do a video on Murlynd, the cowboy of Greyhawk?
Interesting! The Greyhawk god of Magical Technology, he has a pretty awesome historic legacy, being the first player character with a name unrelated to the players own name... OK, good call, added to the list.
Cheers!
3:33 did the same exact voice lmao. So deep in the nerdology i need to sit back and grab a drink
Wonderful vid mate, wish she had more lore tho pre Nerul raven queen is a must read
what is the relation between Shar and the Raven Queen.
I mean Sharmerged teh shadow plane and the negative energy plane together to form the Shadowfell, and it seem that the Raven Queen is the master of the Shadowfell?
I know their is a all out war opposing Orcus and the raven queen (and worshiping Orcus in the shadowfell is a criminal offense punishable by death) but what about Shar?
No no, the negative energy plane is still very much it's own thing.
Little late to the party, so I'm not sure you'll even see this AJ, but here's a question in case you do:
So I got off my butt to take a look at the Raven Queen Patron UA, and noticed a rather odd line:
"She hates intelligent undead and expects her followers to strike them down, whereas mindless undead such as skeletons and zombies are little more than stumbling automatons in her eyes."
This seems rather pertinent to a point within the debate over the ethics of Necromancy (at least in regards to the creation of undead). One of the strongest arguments on the topic is that creating undead such as ghouls, zombies, or skeletons traps and tortures the soul of the departed, in perhaps a similar manner to that of the Soul Cage spell.
If this were the case however, would that not also draw the ire of the Raven Queen, who in all likelihood only despises intelligent undead for stifling her stream of souls? It seems that this nonchalance would indicate that the creation of mindless undead doesn't restrict or notably disturb the soul which formerly inhabited that body.
I know it's UA (meaning a few grains of salt are recommended), but this seems to settle at least one point of a rather longstanding debate. Or have I missed something?
Now that I'm thinking about it, a video on general necromancy would be pretty interesting.
The way I do it is by saying that mortals have a soul and a spirit one is like the energy source the other is considered were the mind and memorys are stored so if you separate one from the other they lose there agency and form
I do know liches trap their souls in phylacteries and regular undead seem to be soulless, unless they're spirits...which is just a soul roaming. Am I way off?
Question: can you post a video on the Scarlet Brotherhood. I am trying to write a good backstory for one of my character but I need more info on them. Please and thank you
So her clerics get you stoned at a funeral in the temple LOL
Sooooo this is basically 'The Dark Crystal'
Are you saying the Raven Queen has her own type of elves are they are there any relations to the dark elves like dr'izzet or the neck part looks like straight out of a movie Jim Henson movie in the 80s or the recent of the date that was a few years ago but it was a good one the creatures antagonists the evil creatures the magpies I mean (MAGPOWS)
He addressed this in the video. It isn't said what kind of elves they were so it could've been any of the ones we know of or their own thing all together.
Thanks for the great lore. Your videos really enhance my campaigns. Do we know gods of death or undeath prior to Nerull?
There is some serious lifting of Celtic mythologies here. 4e seems to want to divide elves from what they were in previous editions.
The Raven Queen in my opinion is inspired at least in some vague sense by the Morrígan.
4:00
"Dark Crystal "
4:55 - An actual Skeksis.
Also, I'm pretty sure the nagpas _were_ initially inspired by _The Dark Crystal_ - the first D&D module featuring a nagpa came out within a few months after the movie's release.
Any chance you'll cover some of the 3rd edition deities? I'd love to see something on Wee Jas. For that matter Pelor...if you gave your take on the fringe theory of Pelor actually being more of an evil deity and his incarnation as being a ruse for some plan that would be awesome.
Years ago I seen the 3rd e Deities hand book, read a little of it. And my game shop didn't think much of it. I never bought it.
Other than the "story back ground," just use a Titan as a generic avatar in combat. Other than the "Decree of the Gods," that prevents any given god or arch-fiend from flexing their full power on a mortal's world.
DC and Marvel comics has more story lines where you have gods moving around "humans."
From AD&D2e "Planescape" setting, Wee Jas is a Lich Queen. And some where in 3e she feed on Souls.
I mean, in my setting, pelor is actually a complete asshole. He's that insane lawful good paladin that murders you "in the name of good" when you steal a cookie
She kinda sounds like the Dark Souls Goddess Velka
It's like the D&D Dark Souls... I should do a video on Dark Souls some day.
I was wondering how the portfolio of Winter and Auril square?
I can't seem to find lore on the "Black Wings", mentioned in this video. Any suggestions where I can look up information on them?
oof, its been a while. I think thats what clerics of the Raven queen are called? Not sure.
I have a feeling the Raven Queen's "origin story" feels like a retcon to older (pre 4th edition) members of the D&D community. However, I for my part won't miss Nerull. I never found him very interesting to begin with, while I actually like the Raven Queen. Still, I think there is again - the same way we had it before - too much overlap with other "people's" story in this.
There already is a god of the dead, Kelemvor, and a god of death, Myrkul, the later just returned from oblivion, in the Forgotten Realms and they are heirs to the portfolio Jergal once held. Of course you can say:" She is part of the 'ethno' pantheon of the elves." Fine with me, but since she succeeded Nerull and no FR deity she actually belongs in Greyhawk and not in the FR.
I forgot to mention that in Greyhawk she again has some overlap with an already existing deity, and that would be Wee Jas, who is also a godess of death and magic. And as a godess of death and an enemy of Lolth she completely eclipses Kiransalee, who's portfolio again is death and magic.
How about Shar? If we are back in the "Great Wheel" cosmology and the Shadowfell is a shared outer plane, the Raven Queen must be vying for power there with Shar, and she isn't going to beat Shar, who also happens to have death, and magic (sort of), in her portfolio.
Last but not least, how about Vecna and Velsharoon? I don't have the SCAG, has Velsharoon not returned like most other deities that died or went missing in the transition from 3rd to 4th edition?
Kiransalee Death and Magic
Wee Jas Death and Magic
Myrkul Death
Kelemvor the Dead
Shar Death, Magic (sort of)
Vecna Death Magic
Velsharoon Death Magic
The Raven Queen Death and Magic
Rylan Joran an excellent observation. The raven queen has a lot of plot armor since she's last to the party. They've pushed for her to be the goddess of the dead not death. As a partial. She's not breaking lore. retcon.
How do things go in D&D there seems to be an lot of gods that are god in multiple realms. For example if Ao in Forgotten Realms wants to erase Corellion can he?
arham bliss in Ao's area of concern he can. It wouldn't kill the god in question but it would kill all the gods influence there. Gods can be destroyed in one realm and yet in another theyd still exist. Now Ao is pretty chill and not liable to do such things.
Are they still the same god even if in different realms?
I think they are the same entity, because when you look at the official "Divine Ranking" given to Corellon or for instance Moradin, you will find out that they are above almost everyone and that greater powers usually have a ranking between 16 and 18, while both of them have 19. And I don't see how they get there in the FR just by virtue of having an ethno-specific following. I think ti takes all the elves or all the Dwarves to get them to the top.
Thanks for vid
If she Had the portfolio of love and death she would be the Goddess or Romantic Goths lol.
Amazing video AJ
I won't lie, I had always been under the impression The Raven Queen had been a human god, since in 4e WotC made shadar-kai human-kin and of course that was where she appeared by this name. I appreciated that change, as it gave humans a place in the greater cosmos, as if they were growing as a race and finding a place in the multiverse, it felt right even, that the latest god of death was once a human, a people that have no true "patron" diety of their own and are characterized by their short lifespans. Moreover the elves already had their "dark" elves in the Drow, it felt redundant to double up on them with the shadar-kai. The way they're described makes them seem very "human" as well in that they are daring adrenaline junkies who chase danger and excitement, expressing in equal parts a free spirit, and a purposeful existence. Driven but wild, principled but flexible, dark but not bound by it. It felt very "human".
5e of course returned them to their elven roots and this "expose" on The Raven Queen helps ease that transition by giving it a conceivable reason on a meta level, but I still would have preferred the poetic notion of humanity's contribution to the pantheon being a god of the very thing that universally defines humanity most, mortality and ambition.
Also...
_"I certainly dont know everything, not by a long shot... Not yet anyway."_
-Probably Vecna, at some point in time.
...i thought Gozer was a man
the god that created the humans was killed in ancient times, that would be why the humans have no god of their own.
Gozer the Gozerian shall arrive in one of seven pre-chosen forms, perhaps a Giant slor?
I get the feeling the Raven Queen; is going to kill Loth once the chance comes up.
likely
I have my doubts, the Tome of Foes seems to have had her nerfed into a figure of regret, sadness and memories.
YES AJ I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR IT
Also, loved the vid A.J. I still use Nerull.
Raven queen and the Magpie Queen know each other
Get along well actually
02:12 I see what you did there
So are the ebony guard her paladins? Because I would so be one.
Hmm
Call me crazy but would it be a stretch for Nerull to return seeing as he was a greater deity and one of Death at that so who's to say that his death is even permanent like it would normally be seeing as the Raven Queen doesn't really even do her job like she should be
Reminds of the dark souls video games
Im starting another campaing of Curse of Strahd and one player wants yo use the grave domain can he use the Raven Queen as deity?
Sure.
Thanks for the vid sir.
How would the domain of death conflict with that of murder?
Death via natural causes, so, death can be peaceful and a release, murder is more about the act of killing a thing, they result in the same thing, a dead being, but they are very different ways of getting there.
I dislike the raven queen, more so the elven version of the shadar-kai but you did a good job so still a thumbs up.
Interested in the Raven Queens relationship with the new darker races like the Dhamphir and Reborn. Any idea?
The Raven Queen hates the undead right? Her greatest enemies are Orcus and Vecna.
@@AJPickett But are the Dhampir and the Reborn truly undead.....
@@mikegould6590 I think the Raven Queen doesn't bother with such subtle distinctions.
@@AJPickett For myself its more motivation to play a Dhampir (Ghoul) or Reborn (Frankenstein). Bring on the conflict.
@@mikegould6590 That's the spirit!
where do i find more info about the Black wings?
Am sad that the Raven Queen Warlock for 5e did not become an offical thing.
Here is a hypothetical question for you AJ and everyone else.
What if Vecna somehow devoured the Raven Queen and her portfolios?
Damien Jordan the Cosmos collectively put their heads between their knees and kiss their arses goodbye.
There would be a lot of very pissed off Shadar Kai.
how in the world could the Raven Queen have possibly stopped the War of the Anti-Seldarine? :/
Aurashnee had been planning that for a LONG time...
in the novel Evermeet: Island of the Elves, it outlines what happened in Arvandor. Aurashnee's multiple betrayals, the war, Eilistraee's arrow piercing her father Corellon's heart, the creation of the goddess Angarradh, the transformation of Aurashnee to Lolth and being cast into the Abyss, and so on...
unless you mean the Raven Queen tried to stop the Fourth Crown War, which was started by the dark elves of Ilthiir in retaliation for the atrocities of the Vyshantaar of the Sun Elven Kingdom of Arvyandaar when they used Elven High Magic to call forth Morhamor'Sykerlor, the Killing Storm to utterly destroy tens of thousands -if not millions- of peaceful dark elves of Miyeritaar, which had resisted annexation and occupation by Arvyandaar.
The Sun Elves had basically nuked the most peaceful and prosperous elven nation on Faerûn, and the center of Elven High Magic.
The dark elves of Ilythiir, whose leaders admittedly weren't that "nice" to begin with (some of whom followed the Masked Lord Vhaeraun or followed That Which Lurks, Ghaunadar) realized that the only way to win in a fight the evil Sun Elves was to call on dark powers... aka Lolth, who had only relatively recently discovered Toril (her children Eilistraee and Vhaeraun had been here even before the Sun and Moon elf refugees from Tintageer arrived)
anyway... how could the Raven Queen have possibly stopped that war either???
sorry, I'm really into FR lore and especially all things elves.
the awful heavy handed retcons to decades of lore that WotC did to the Realms towards the end of 3.5 (Wendonai... puke... drow are and always were CULTURALLY evil) and into 4th edition and 5th really bother me.
She could have been casting a spell like Karsus' Avatar ritual, to usurp the power of Lolth, for instance. We just don't know, but she was very powerful.
Also, my god, never apologize for having such an amazing expertise in the lore of Elven history on Faerun. I rarely get feedback so good! That was an awesome question.
I love elven lore, but I'm still learning and so much I don't know, but thank you for the compliment - it means so much coming from you AJ! :D
It's just so fascinating and darkly poetic that a People with such advanced culture and art could be so blind that they do these horrible things "for the greater good" over and over again. They just don't learn from their mistakes.
Their pride, arrogance and blindness is as pure as their beauty and poise.
Elves are probably my favorite anti-villains.
Golden fires of eldritch rites
Did blaze across the sky
Gathering Darkness of broiling death
Swept down from up on high.
Mormhaor'Sykerylor!, the magi roared
As destruction did rain down
Upon their cities and invaders both
As their realm began to drown.
A mighty wave a mile high
Swept in from the West
The only People to survive
Were those that fate did bless
From Tintageer, their ancient home
The battered People fled
Through Gates to lands of mists and trees
With hubris did they spread
Mormhaor'Sykerylor, The Killing Storm
A lesson never learned
Destroyed their world once before
A history The People spurned
For once again gathered they
Upon the high broad plains
Calling forth the Killing Storm
Unleashing death and pain.
The gods do weep upon this thought,
That The People never learn
That the hubris of Tel'Quessir
Brings the fate The People earn
~Adapted fragment from the Lament of M'kerlor (original author unknown)
My character is literally in her house now talking to her.
How did it go?