'Dungeons & Dragons' Reinvents Controversial God Through New Origin Story

A new Dungeons & Dragons video has revealed the secret origin of one of its most controversial [...]

By Christian Hoffer

A new Dungeons & Dragons video has revealed the secret origin of one of its most controversial characters.

The upcoming D&D publication Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes is adding a ton of new lore to the world of Dungeons & Dragons, including a new origin story for the Raven Queen, a popular but controversial deity who lives in the dark Shadowfell plane.

The Raven Queen was a focus of D&D's Fourth Edition, a largely derided version of the game that cam back in 2008. D&D added the Raven Queen as a new god of death who slew her predecessor Nerull and inherited his godhood and domains. Many long time D&D players hate anything related to Fourth Edition, but the god was the focus of many adventures during that time period and some players were attracted to her mysterious past. Geek & Sundry's Critical Role show also somewhat redeemed the Raven Queen by featuring her as the deity of one of its main characters and showcasing how unique she is compared to other deities of death in fantasy realms.

In a new video presented by D&D Beyond, D&D Managing Editor Jeremy Crawford talks about the Raven Queen and her tie to the Shadar-Kai, a race of beings who live in the Shadowfell.

The Raven Queen's new origin presents her as a queen of the elves during a time of chaos in ancient times. The elves had been cast out of Arvandor, their version of heaven, by their creator deity Corellon for a momentary betrayal and found themselves adrift in other realms. A powerful elf queen decided to bring the elves back to Arvandor by accumulating enough magical power to become a god herself. Unfortunately, the queen's plan backfired when other magic users attempted to siphon off some of her power, causing a great magical catastrophe and killing her in the process.

The elf queen died in this catastrophe, but the vast magic she accumulated caused her to reform as the Raven Queen in the Shadowfell. Her followers joined her as the Shadar-Kai, and now serve her in her new role - as a god-like entity that acts as a gatekeeper of sorts over the Gate of Death. However, the Raven Queen isn't a passive observer. Instead, she collects and meddles with souls that interest her and have her Shadar-Kai travel throughout the D&D multiverse to collect memories and knowledge. No one quite knows what her new motivations are, but she's considered to be a major power player in the D&D multiverse.

You can find out more about the Raven Queen and other new information about the world of Dungeons & Dragons when Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes comes out on May 29th.

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