There are many stories and legends that propose the origins of the psuedo-deity, but often the one that is shared is as follows: the Raven Queen, originally a mortal wizard who was a follower and partner of the previous god of death, ended up developing rites that allowed her to destroy him and take his place, becoming the first mortal to achieve godhood. Her rise to godhood is variously described as either involving her challenging her predecessor and overtaking him or as having instantly destroyed him upon her ascension. She sundered his name from reality, so that it even disappeared from his temples at the moment of her ascension; likewise, her name was taken even from the memories of those who knew her and was later believed to be either lost to or removed from the historical record.

She is the god of death, fate, and winter; but her ability to manipulate the souls of the dead is what makes her a powerful force. The Raven Queen represents neither law nor chaos—nor good or evil, and many powers believe her to be a meddler from her perch astride the river of souls. Legends have it when she spots a soul that interests her, whether because of the potential of the soul or some other inscrutable reason, she will send her ravens out to flock around the soul and pull it to her.

The Raven Queen rules the Shadowfell from a throne of mystery. One of the Raven Queen’s divine realms in the Shadowfell is a castle known as the Fortress of Memories: a place of overwhelming sorrow, overflowing with memories taken from mortals and fragments of dead deities, material objects collected by the shadar-kai and brought to her as gifts, and apparitions of creatures and places associated with strongly emotional stories. Swarms of ravens occasionally flew out of the fortress, taking her cryptic messages to the far reaches of the multiverse and acting as the Queen’s eyes and ears while away.