Mike Mearls talks about the Raven Queen

[Millstone85]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXWgG83jyaI

My parsing:
* She is indeed the queen of ravens, which she uses to make her will known and to capture souls.
* She is the current ruler of the Shadowfell, though perhaps as a result of some cosmic and personal tragedy that left her trapped there.
* In the world of Nentir Vale, she is regarded as a goddess. She has clerics and paladins. There are myths of how she arose, such as her slaying of Nerull.
* Nerull cultists on Oerth would find that strange, because their god is there answering their pleas.
* Elsewhere, she isn't quite a deity. She also represents neither Law nor Chaos.
* She isn't seen as a keeper of departed souls, but on the contrary as a meddler who plucks souls out before they reach the Outer Planes. (Ew, I hate that. In 4e, I saw her as an enforcer of mortality who would reserve herself the right to break the rules.)
* She might return a soul to the world, feeling it is bound for greater things.
* She might send a soul back on an endless cycle of reliving the tragedies of its life. (Is she one of the Dark Powers?)
* She has a castle overlooking a small city. Some mortals come to seek her favors, though she doesn't exactly give audience. (Is she like the Lady of Pain?)
* The shadar-kai are her faithful mortal agents. They are somehow tied to her origins, and the Raven Queen may have once been an elf herself. (I had a feeling they were going to make her archfey-like.)
* If you meet a shadar-kai on the Material, they look like a robust young elf. If you meet one on the Shadowfell, they are incredibly withered and old, and typically masked.

[Unoriginal]

Thanks for posting this!



* She isn't seen as a keeper of departed souls, but on the contrary as a meddler who plucks souls out before they reach the Outer Planes. (Ew, I hate that. In 4e, I saw her as an enforcer of mortality who would reserve herself the right to break the rules.)

I like that change, personally.


* She is indeed the queen of ravens, which she uses to make her will known and to capture souls.


I kinda love that. It makes her sound less like "the name a teenager who think 'dark' is cool would call themselves" and more like a proper immortal entity.

[Bobbyjackcorn]

I agree with Unoriginal, I rather like the inclusion of her being more mischievous or questionable in nature. It seems thematically appropriate that a being this cloaked in mystery and tinged with a tragic theme, especially a being ruling over the shadowfell, should be morally questionable.

But other than that, it's nice to see some more definition in this Warlock patron.

[Naanomi]

More weird revision Cosmology to account for in the ‘default’ Great Wheel... the Plane of Shadow gets revised every edition or so anyways I guess, and this is easier to swollow than the exemplar race meddling... I wonder how FR’s Shar is taking someone suddenly appearing (and in charge!) of ‘her’ domain in that setting

[Millstone85]

Thanks for posting this!You are welcome!

This is a video I had been waiting for. 4e Nentir Vale had in my opinion the best take on the Shadowfell, and the Raven Queen might bring much of that goodness with her into 5e.

Also, while looking for cool symbols for the planes, I would definitely use that of the Raven Queen for the Shadowfell.

https://i.imgur.com/rQIoBVc.png


I like that change, personally.
I agree with Unoriginal, I rather like the inclusion of her being more mischievous or questionable in nature.She was already very mischievous and questionable, and perhaps all the more for being in a position of importance.

See, in Nentir Vale, the Shadowfell isn't just a dark sad place you might crash into on your way to the afterlife. The Shadowfell is the gateway to the Astral, reincarnation or anywhere else your soul might be going. And the Raven Queen is the one keeping the place from fully devolving into a buffet for Orcus. But sometimes, she is the one bringing your soul into her schemes, perhaps for a greater purpose, or perhaps on a whim, who can say?

I guess I am a sucker for the dignified psychopomp archetype, who SPEAKS OF FATE AND THE FLOW OF LIFE but can also be bargained with or be unpredictable. This new Raven Queen doesn't sound like a psychopomp at all, just another lich-like being.

If they aren't going to bring back this vision of the Shadowfell, how about saying that the queen's ravens help souls reach the Astral at least as often as they bring souls to her?


I wonder how FR’s Shar is taking someone suddenly appearing (and in charge!) of ‘her’ domain in that settingIIRC, Shar had already abandoned the place in 4e. Not to the Raven Queen, who wasn't 4e FR canon, just abandoned it.

[Marcloure]

In 4e Nentir Vale, it's also said that anytime a god is to die or lose their domain, the Raven Queen will be there to take that god's mantle. And so she did with Nerull, Lolth, and the goddess of winter (which I forgot the name). She was a controversial entity in Nentir Vale as well, no one truly knew what she wanted to achieve with her schemes and the sorrowsworn cultists.

[Naanomi]

IIRC, Shar had already abandoned the place in 4e. Not to the Raven Queen, who wasn't 4e FR canon, just abandoned it.
It is possible, I’ll be the first to admit that I failed to follow 4e plot or Cosmology to any significant degree (by most appearances the bulk of it has been explicitly retconned or quietly glossed over anyways)

[Malifice]

More weird revision Cosmology to account for in the ‘default’ Great Wheel... the Plane of Shadow gets revised every edition or so anyways I guess, and this is easier to swollow than the exemplar race meddling... I wonder how FR’s Shar is taking someone suddenly appearing (and in charge!) of ‘her’ domain in that setting

In Faerun she is not a God. Because the shadowfell stretches across all the material planes, she make for an effective warlock patron though.

My current PC is a Warlock (Hexblade)/ Shadow sorcerer. He is a survivor of the destruction of the city of Shade. He is native to the Shadowfell.

Instead of picking Shar as my patron deity I have picked the Raven Queen (I used to worship Shar but was contacted by a raven and turned away from the worship of Shar after the destruction Of the city of Shade).

Just like in the hex blade fluff, Im sworn to her to advance her cause in Faerun.

My characters goals are to re-establish the city of Shade (and Netheril), but dedicated to the Raven queen instead of Shar. This would likely result in the Raven Queen becoming an interloper Deity in Faerun.

Of course both Shar and Kelemvor for may have problems with this.

[Naanomi]

Used to serve Shar, now following a non-Diety? Hope you succeed (or you like being a brick)...

[Millstone85]

In 4e Nentir Vale, it's also said that anytime a god is to die or lose their domain, the Raven Queen will be there to take that god's mantle. And so she did with Nerull, Lolth, and the goddess of winter (which I forgot the name).Lolth died at some point in 4e? Are you sure?


It is possible, I’ll be the first to admit that I failed to follow 4e plot or Cosmology to any significant degree (by most appearances the bulk of it has been explicitly retconned or quietly glossed over anyways)Well, there is retcon and retcon.

4e FR had a tale about how the Abyss fell into the Elemental Chaos. I am sure 5e FR has one somewhere about how the Abyss returned among the Outer Planes, probably Sundering-related.

If they ever make a 5e Nentir Vale book, that's where the Abyss will suddenly always have been an Outer Plane.

[Malifice]

Used to serve Shar, now following a non-Diety? Hope you succeed (or you like being a brick)...

All in all just another brick in the wall..

As an agent of the Raven Queen I have faith the Raven Queen will protect me. She will send one of her ravens to collect my soul, or restore me to life, before Kelemvor has his say.

[Marcloure]

Lolth died at some point in 4e? Are you sure?

Lolth didn't die, but when she lost the Elven Wars and was cast to the Abyss, the Raven Queen took her domain over Fate.

[Millstone85]

Lolth didn't die, but when she lost the Elven Wars and was cast to the Abyss, the Raven Queen took her domain over Fate.Aaaah, yes, that makes sense.

[Waterdeep Merch]

All in all just another brick in the wall..

As an agent of the Raven Queen I have faith the Raven Queen will protect me. She will send one of her ravens to collect my soul, or restore me to life, before Kelemvor has his say.
Not gonna lie, this is a pretty awesome character. I like how you used established lore, it's classy.

I really like the idea that the Raven Queen is basically the shadowfell equivalent of the Lady of Pain. The Dark Powers-esque ability is a bit of an eyebrow raiser, too. I'm not a huge fan of what the Amber Temple did to the Ravenloft cosmology, but if they've decided that the Raven Queen was the one trapped in the now-shattered sarcophagus and is essentially responsible for what happened in Barovia, I might like it a little more.

[Unoriginal]

All in all just another brick in the wall..

As an agent of the Raven Queen I have faith the Raven Queen will protect me. She will send one of her ravens to collect my soul, or restore me to life, before Kelemvor has his say.

So you want to be stayin' alive and not a brick in the wall?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U13xOvDa19U

[Malifice]

Not gonna lie, this is a pretty awesome character. I like how you used established lore, it's classy.

Elof Tanthul.

Illegitimate bastard half-elven son of Telamont Tanthul and a nameless moon elven concubine. The 13th Prince of Shade, heir to the Netherese empire.

I had originally gone with CN and a follower of Shar (he's an emo and a nihilist /existentialist, seeing everything he loves destroyed). I thought about it some moore, and decided that Shar wasnt appropriate as a deity in a Good aligned party, and (reading the Hexblade fluff, where they are chosen by the Raven Queen and equipped with strange weapons to further her agenda) decided instead that he was an agent of the RQ.

'As Elof lay dying among the shattered ruins of the flying city after it was crashed to the ground by Elminster, the last thing he saw before blacking out was a raven perched among the ruins watching him intently...

He dreamt of darkness and shadows, and of an audience with a beautiful raven haired woman, who at first he mistook for Shar. She revealed to him a version of the Shadowfell that was not corrupted by the bleak essence of the Negative energy plane prior to Shar merging the Negative energy plane and the Plane of Shadow together during the Spelllague.

He finally saw the truth. Shar had decieved the Shadowvar. She had lied to them, and brought them to ruin due to her nature as the God of nihlism and entropy. Her worship had doomed the Shadowvar. Shar demands we fear the dark, yet the Raven Queen demands we embrace it. There was another way... If only the Raven Queen could gain a foothold in Faerun, Lord Ao would allow her worshippers as an interloper deity.

He awoke to find a strange black bladed greatsword by his side. And a new found purpose.

Restablish the Shade empire. This time in servitude to a new dark mistress.

(And yes, hes an Elric rip off).

[Millstone85]

Some of my headcanon regarding the Shadowfell:
* If you found and used a shadow crossing in the kingdom of Cormyr, you would arrive in a shadowy version of the region.
* Should you then travel by land or sea, you would for all intents and purposes be on a shadowy version of the planet Toril.
* Should you get aboard a spelljammer, you would fly up to a shadowy version of Realmspace.
* Leaving the crystal sphere would throw you directly into the Negative Plane. Better not do it.
* Back on "Toril", you could find the city of the Raven Queen surrounded by strange mists. There you would meet people from Krynn, Oerth, etc., who all found the city surrounded by mists on a shadowy version of their world.
* Leaving the city, you would most likely return to the shadowy version of your world.
* Same deal with Barovia.

[KorvinStarmast]

If Mearls wasn't such a crappy speaker, and if the producer had a clue on how to present information verbally, I might have been able to last the whole seven minutes. As it is, I thank the OP for the summary.
The Mearls method of speaking:
Never use 50 words when 150 will do
pause and stumble and hem and haw frequently.
:smallfurious:
\
He's much better at writing.

[Regitnui]

I agree with Unoriginal, I rather like the inclusion of her being more mischievous or questionable in nature. It seems thematically appropriate that a being this cloaked in mystery and tinged with a tragic theme, especially a being ruling over the shadowfell, should be morally questionable.

I personally love the Raven Queen. In my campaign, and therefore my version of Eberron, she's one of the most powerful beings in Dolurrh, the afterlife where every soul ends up. Some people say she's the deity called the Keeper. Others say she's a benevolent guardian of the dead. She not only has Shadar-kai on staff, but Arcanaloth "accountants" and inevitable enforcers. Until a stronger being decides to exert authority in the barren, grey wastes of the afterlife, she's in essence the ruler of the plane.

She has a city she rules over, so I can adapt that straight over from MToF.

[Daithi]

If Mearls wasn't such a crappy speaker, and if the producer had a clue on how to present information verbally, I might have been able to last the whole seven minutes. As it is, I thank the OP for the summary.
The Mearls method of speaking:
Never use 50 words when 150 will do
pause and stumble and hem and haw frequently.
:smallfurious:
\
He's much better at writing.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you, but I did make it to the end and the announcer says that Jeremy Crawford will soon be speaking about the Raven Queen and the Shadar-kai as well.

I'm hoping we'll see some kind of official Raven Queen warlock in the new book.