The Raven Queen is a deity in Dungeons & Dragons that belongs to the Forgotten Realms setting. Residing in Shadowfell after an ancient spell to become a god backfires, the Raven Queen is a lawful neutral entity that lacks physical form. She oversees both life and death, manifesting mementos, memories and trinkets of the living to sustain her. The Raven Queen was introduced in 4th Edition, and has gone on to be a deity in Dungeons & Dragons’ 5th edition as well.
The Raven Queen originally was a collector of memories and powerful feelings. Because these strong emotions were often based in grief, sadness, and torment, her existence was bleak and unpleasant. She is able to help mortal beings face their fears to cleanse their souls, but is lost in turmoil herself in exchange. To help balance things, she sends her followers, the Shadar-Kai, to collect items, memories, and souls, storing them away in D&D’s realm, the Fortress of Memories.
According to the D&D book Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, it is believed that the Raven Queen was once an Elf Queen of Dungeons & Dragons’ Feywild. She became entangled in a conflict between the gods Corellon and Lolth, and hoping to end the destruction and anguish the disagreement was creating, she rallied her followers to aide transformation into a deity herself. However, due to corruption among those she trusted, the spell failed and backfired, dragging her and her followers into Shadowfell as a result.
Dungeons & Dragons’ Raven Queen Has No Physical Form
The Raven Queen does not possess a physical form due to her existence being torn apart during the backfired spell. Instead she spreads her influence through her followers, while manifesting to players via symbols, premonitions, and effects when she needs to be heard. The Raven Queen’s form has remained fragile throughout the history of D&D, and she must continue to amass mementos and trinkets to help maintain her power. It is unknown what her overall intentions are with the things she collects, as it doesn’t appear she has any plans for them outside of using them to tether her own existence.
The name of the Raven Queen is likely a title assumed through her fixation on collecting the fragments that belong to mortality. Because of her name, her symbol throughout the D&D setting of the Forgotten Realms is a raven’s head in profile, pointed to the left. She is also known to unleash flocks of ravens to search out trinkets for her collection. Like many deities in Dungeons & Dragons, players will find the Raven Queen’s origins aren’t concrete and the lore surrounding her power is mysterious and flexible, allowing players to take creative license when deciding what they would like to use when adding her influence into a campaign.