Raven Queen

The Winter's Maiden, goddess of Death, Winter and Fate. One of the twelve gods of Verein Kirche von Arkhelle. Depicted as a woman with a porcelain face dressed all in black. Her stained glass window in Kade Sirrine Kathedrale is the only one not to feature any bright colours, only black with small details in dark blue and crimson. Sable Warden Meriele Berevan is a leading cleric of the Raven Queen, based in Kaarst, where there is a relatively high proportion of worshippers of the Raven Queen.

Thodris Holderheck's mutilated remains were found below the largest statue of the Raven Queen in the Sombre Lyceum, located in the north of the grounds. It is carved from black marble and depicts her shrouded in robes and wearing a deep hood, her face obscured by an expressionless yet somehow plaintive mask. A raven is perched on her right shoulder, and she is holding her hands out in front of her as if in prayer. The body of Thodris was arranged to mimic this pose.

It was only when Galesong Thervan Indále described this crime scene to Vichthart that the Sable Warden stopped silently looking out the window and turned to describe it as a travesty. The Raven Queen's followers particularly abhor murder and even more so necromancy, seeing them as perversions of a person's natural fate. It was for this reason that Vichthart only felt comfortable trusting his potentially controversial findings with Meriele Berevan, who he knew would take a stern view of the presence of undead in Kaarrst.

According to the Sable Warden, the Raven Queen's origins go back to some time before the Great War, when arcane magic was practised everywhere in the Material Plane. She began as a mortal woman and a powerful arcane mage who discovered the secrets to rise to godhood. She further adds that she is a god of magic who has grown in power over the years, who tends to attract those who are similar to her. Shortly before activating the circle of teleportation that takes the party to the Acropolis of Kereskaa, the Sable Warden observes them carefully and makes the following comment.

Part of the purview of the Raven Queen is fate. How strange she would send such an eclectic group as yours. Pray that you do not fail.