Raven Queen
Feared and respected throughout Nerath, the Raven Queen is not a deity who inspires casual devotion. As the goddess of fate, the Raven Queen is offered prayers by those initiating new undertakings, hoping her omens will augur well. Winter is her season, and the festivals marking its beginning and end pay her equal homage. Most familiar, however, is her role as goddess of the dead, who hears the prayers of the grieving. Whatever their reasons, supplicants call upon her sparingly, and with caution; drawing the attention of the Raven Queen is not something done lightly.
Nerathi are most familiar with the Raven Queen’s clergy from funerals and attendant services, though they are likewise present at most important rituals in a person’s life. Her priests are called upon to bless births, that mother and child not be taken. She is invoked for weddings as well, binding the fates of lovers one to another. For all their involvement in such common rituals, the clergy of the Raven Queen are little loved. They do, like their patron, command respect (and not a little fear) from their constituents, however, and servants of the lady of Letherna are not likely to go without.
The Raven Queen rules her priesthood like a distant monarch, granting chosen representatives the right to interpret and enforce her will in their respective areas. Ancient titles, their origins long lost, are bestowed upon favored servants, who in turn invest authority to subordinates to create structured, feudal church hierarchy. This structure does not ensure any unity of purpose, however. Indeed, controversies and differences of interpretation abound at many levels of the Dark Estate. Currently, the most contentious argument revolves around the goddess’s stance on the undead, with some advocating their existence within the skein of fate, while others take a hardline stance demanding their destruction wherever encountered.
Adventurers are often far too familiar with the Raven Queen, though her disciples are rarely licensed. Paladins and avengers are the most common followers of the Raven Queen to join the adventuring guilds, often putting their talents to use fighting uncontrolled undead. The Raven Queen’s clerics tend to the wounded and speak their rites over those who they cannot save. Invokers, always rare, are the most feared of her servants, bringing divine wrath down upon the enemies of their dread monarch.
