Vecna, The Arch-Lich
Risen God of Undeath, Magic, Necromancy, and Secrets
Everything changed after the Astral Convergence. To have come so close, yet failed so spectacularly...it must serve as a lesson to us faithful. Time and again, we have failed to understand this truth - and may the Archlich strike me down if the words I speak are lies, but even he has fallen victim to it and forgotten the selfsame lessons he has imparted onto us, his loyal faithful. What lessons, you say? Simple - that the people of the world will go to any length, no matter how great, when a tyrant takes their freedoms by force. For proof, we need merely examine the history of our own faith. Saint Baelerax, who drove the Holy Sword Ioth Mitne into His undying heart when the threat of his evil became too great to ignore. The Travelers, who delivered the thousand-year deathblow started by Saint Baelerax during the Astral Convergence when His power was at its zenith. And most recently the usurper-king Aeturna and his bastard scion, who fought him to a standstill in the snowy northern fields when the gods had been cast down and his evils brought to light. We must take these lessons to heart, brothers and sisters, if we are to survive - that even the Archlich himself is not above hubris. That even He is not immune to failure, or beyond reproach. History has shown us that when the people see Tyranny in the light of day, they will stop at nothing to tear it down. Grand Plans, when done grandly, provoke a response in kind. Yet, all hope is not lost. For people are nothing if not indolent - cloak your plans in rhetoric and remove their freedoms one by one in the name of progress, fighting one's enemies, or any number of other reasons, and they will rejoice your coming with thunderous applause. The times are changing, brothers and sisters. And just as He has survived and adapted, so too shall we - Persevere in Patience. Time, as always, is our greatest ally - our greatest victory shall come in time so long as we simply wait.Titles: The Arch-Lich, The Chained God, The Corpse-King, The Undying King, The Whispered One, The Prime Evil, Master of all that is Secret and Hidden, The Corruptor Favored Weapon: Dagger Alignment: Neutral Evil Church Moniker: Cult of the Whispered One Obedience: Spend an hour smashing the holy symbols of other deities(Preferably those taken or won from actual followers of those deities) while whispering your deepest secrets aloud and offering them up to the Archlich. Perform this activity in an area of necromantic or negative energy affinity if at all possible. Obedience Effect: You become immune to any divination spell that is attempting to discover information about you, your worn items, etc - you are made aware of these attempts and may return whatever information you choose. In addition, if you speak a creature's full and true name as a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, your next attack against them or the next save they make against an effect of yours has a +4 bonus or -4 penalty respectively. A creature can only be named in this manner once per minute.
Divine Domains
Evil, Knowledge, Madness, Magic, Rune, Void(Isolation Subdomain Only)
Artifacts
Perhaps most famous of all the artifacts in the Cosmology of Ea are the original two artifacts of Vecna - the Hand and Eye of Vecna. Each rumored to be an artifact beyond compare, these two items were legendary investitures of power created by the Archlich eons ago for reasons that even now escape mortal understanding. Long sought after by adventurers and mages and explorers of all types, the Hand and Eye were said to have been relics that granted unimaginable power to they who sacrificed part of their own body to insert the item into themselves - though the power of Vecna himself was said to undeniably lurk within the items and corrupted those who dared wield them slowly but surely.
In the modern day, however, the Hand of Vecna is believed to have been destroyed - a persistent rumor that has appeared with enough regularity amongst the various communities who seek such items that it has begun to become accepted that someone, somewhere, was foolish(and mighty) enough to destroy an artifact and earn the undying ire of the Archlich himself.
Now, with the Age of Godsfall and his defeat in a duel between Barkhan Aeturna and a member of the Travelers, Vecna has been not only defeated, but cast down and so thoroughly destroyed that many believe him to be truly obliterated - his body rended into countless pieces and cast to the far-corners of the world by those who defeated him in an effort to prevent him from ever returning again, his artifacts have now expanded to include the parts of his corporeal form that his opponents divided him into. Each body part(The total count of which cannot currently be known) contains the infinite sorcerous power of the Archlich, and are thus sought after by the faithful and the power-hungry alike, who each yearn to use the parts of the Corpse-King to further their own goals(Be they his eventual resurrection or their own immense power). Now, with each of his fingers, his teeth, his bones, and more scattered across the world and thrumming with unfathomable power(Each an artifact in its own right), many race to reclaim even a single finger which is said to contain enough power to elevate them into power beyond mortal comprehension...
Holy Books & Codes
The Whispered Commandments
Divine Symbols & Sigils
An Eye in the palm of a left hand
Tenets of Faith
Reject all gods but Vecna. Tear down or corrupt the shrines of false gods and exalt his name above all others.
Follow the subtle path. Do nothing blatantly or obviously and reveal your secrets to no one - preserve your cover above all else.
Persevere in Patience. Take no revenge and wait out your enemies - all vengeance shall be delivered when he returns in ultimate victory.
Sharpen the tongue of secrets. Wait, Watch, and Listen - let these words alone be your creed and call to action. A secret whispered at the right moment is a truer weapon than any sword or spell.
Nurture the seeds of darkness. Foster the ways of necromancy to honor his memory, twist the living and the dead alike and into his service to honor his name, and foster the seeds of darkness in the hearts of the virtuous to honor his power.
Holidays
Unknown
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Unknown
Relationships
History
It was not until the height of the Age of Barbarity that he was horrifically slain by the Arch-Lich Vecna, The Arch-Lich during his time as a mortal spellcaster...in a tremendous feat of mortal magic, Vecna cast a massive spell and tore Welun from his divine realm, dragging him down to the Material Plane, where he dueled the Moon God and slew him atop Blistersnap Glacier...and in doing so, killed Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon's only son and absorbed his divine essence to ascend into Godhood.
He is the one spoken of only in whispers. He whose name gives him power. To whisper his name alone in a dark room is to invite destruction upon yourself and your family, and the destruction and perversion of all you hold dear. He is the Godkiller. The Arch-Lich. The Planescape's Greatest Necromancer. One whose very existence is a threat to all gods. All things. He is Vecna.
Divine Classification
Religions
Alignment
Neutral Evil
Held Items
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Comments