Vecna

(a.k.a. Master of All that is Secret and Hidden, the Arch-Lich, the Chained God, the Maimed God, Master of the Spider Throne, the Whispered One, the Dying King, the Lord of the Rotted Tower, and the Undying King)

Vecna is considered the most powerful and the most evil lich in history. He rose to godhood, becoming the god of secrets. Unlike most deities, Vecna did not claim a domain, but instead wanders the entire multiverse. He maintains the Citadel of Cavitius, originally on the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Ash near the border to the Negative Energy plane, which he had wrested away from the Doomguard long before. The Citadel was used by Vecna as his fortress, which he visited regularly, to gloat on the despair of his defeated enemies.
Vecna is a sworn enemy of the Raven Queen, whom he envies for her unique abilities to tap into the flow of souls and to harvest knowledge. One of his goals is to overthrow the Queen and rule the entire Shadowfell from her Fortress of Memories. His servants constantly battle with the Raven Queen's shadar-kai followers.

History

Vecna's early life was clouded in legend and contradiction. Most accounts stated that he was originally a human wizard, although some reports claimed that he was a half-elf. After having become an extremely powerful wizard and starting to fear for his own mortality, Vecna was taught by Orcus how to achieve undeath, later becoming one of the most powerful liches ever in existence.
During his reign, Vecna trusted his lieutenant Kas with most administrative tasks. He forged the powerful Sword of Kas as an instrument of his lieutenant's authority. However, Vecna's evil, manifested in the sword, seduced Kas into usurping and killing his master. Kas then battled Vecna, who banished him to his realm of Cavitius, but not in time to avoid his own destruction. The only traces left of Vecna's physical body were his left hand and eye, which still carried a fragment of the lich's will. Their latent power turned them into the artifacts known as the Hand of Vecna and the Eye of Vecna.
Vecna's spirit, however, endured. After several centuries, he amassed sufficient followers and worshipers among ambitious wizards to reach the status of demigod. At this point, the threat of Vecna's ascension was known to many, including Elminster .
After a failed attempt to ascend to full deity status, Vecna himself was banished to Cavitius. Vecna's failure freed Kas, who had been turned into a vampire after a long period of exposure to the negative energy prevalent in Cavitius.
Some time later, Vecna once again attempted to ascend to the status of greater deity by organizing a centuries-long plot that culminated with absorbing the essence of another demigod. His plans also involved an invasion of Sigil, from where Vecna then aimed at controlling the entire multiverse. Having his plans once again thwarted by adventurers, Vecna was expelled from Sigil with the help of the Lady of Pain, but the power he acquired through the process still allowed him to retain lesser deity power.
Vecna's invasion of Sigil caused a great disturbance in the multiverse. Following his defeat, the Lady of Pain strengthened Sigil's defenses and reorganized the planar structure in order to repair the damage caused and to prevent such an event from ever happening again.

Divine Classification

Lesser Deity