Vecna

The Whispered One; Lord of the Rotting Tower; The Undying King

Vecna, known as The Whispered One or The Undying King, is an immensely powerful and notorious figure in Korrisian history, and has had a part to play in almost every significant moment since he has lived. Vecna's life is as mysterious as it is sad, much of what scholars claim to know has never been proven, as there's no first-hand knowledge to corroborate it.
Vecna is a Lich, a powerful and deadly wizard who has unlocked the power of immortality through unlife. Not only is Vecna the most powerful Lich, he is the first. The original ritual of Lichdom was taught to Vecna by the Demon Prince Orcus, who sought to utilize Vecna as a pawn, but Vecna turned against him and stole his secrets, causing them to be eternal nemeses.
The Archlich most recently returned to the stage when he broke out of Carceri, the Prison Plane, in 1102 DB. Vecna, for a time, had forged an unlikely alliance with the The Glade Guardians, and sought to assist them in their battle against Ludlef Corland and the powers of the Void. After a rift was caused between Vecna and the Guardians, he sought to not only destroy the Void himself, but also to seek retribution against the Glade Guardians, most specifically, the member Azure.
Vecna was present at the Battle of the Silver Tower, and played a pivotal role in the death of Imrys, the Darkheart. Unfortunately, Vecna's career as a benevolent force would come to an end as he sought to take the power of the Winds for himself, barely held back by the Glade Guardians, and Kas the Bloody-Handed.
During the Age of Heroes, Vecna was returned to his mortal form when he attempted to attack the Deity of Death, Myrkul. After being outmatched by the dark god, Myrkul took him and restored his life, removing all aspects of his Lich nature. Vecna spent years hiding and seeking any way to recover, as he didn't have the means to re-create his phylactery and perform the ritual a second time, especially with the thought that Orcus would most definitely come for him. Reserving himself to the idea that mortality could truly claim his life, he set forth a set of plans to help stabilize the multiverse, and ensure that Myrkul would fall from grace. His plans included saving the mortal aspect of the Raven Queen, Nera, aligning with the Deity of Hope Mintie, and creating an "insurance" plan should the Empire become too powerful. As he rapidly aged and came nearer to death, he realized that he had one power left that Myrkul could not take, his name.
Vecna knew many were aware of his power, his abilities. He spread his influence far and wide about the Multiverse. He whispered secrets to those who sought them, lost and forbidden magicks, powerful rituals and incantations. Soon, people whispered his name in prayer and worship. Over the 20 years that the Empire spent building and expanding their influence across the Material Plane, Vecna was growing in a power he had long hoped for. With the eyes of the gods far from him, watching in terror as the Empire claimed all, Vecna ascended.

Divine Domains

Arcana
Death
Grave
Knowledge

Worshipers

Evil mages, corrupt politicians, necromancers

Tenets of Faith

• Learn all you can, and keep hidden that which you know. Reveal what pieces you must, but never the whole.

• Express and cultivate the evil within yourself, and in doing so, recognize it in others and exploit them for your own benefit.

• Seed the ruin of all who worship other deities, until only those who kneel before Vecna remain.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Vecna is considered the most powerful and the most evil lich in history. He is known as the Master of All that is Secret and Hidden, the Arch-Lich, Master of the Spider Throne, the Whispered One, the Lord of the Rotted Tower, and the Undying King. His weapon of choice is a dagger. Vecna seeks to supplant the other gods, and rule over the universe, for this, worship of him is kept a locked secret, out of fear that those who worship the Undying King will face execution.

Vecna and his mother, Mazzel, were born to the untouchable caste in the ancient city of Fleeth. She trained him as a wizard in the arcane arts for many years before the city burned her as a witch, and Vecna escaped. He then studied under the direct tutelage of Mok'slyk, the Serpent, said to be the personification of magic itself, whom his mother had served as a priestess.
Hundreds of years later, Vecna had risen to become the most powerful wizard in the land and had already achieved lichdom having carved an empire for himself in the Southern Continent. During this time, he wrote Ordinary Necromancy and made significant contributions to The Book of Vile Darkness. He marched on Fleeth with an army of undead and spell casters. He was nearly destroyed by clerics channeling the power of Pelor, god of light, when they blasted him with a beam of light on his left side. He was saved by one of his generals, the half-fiend Acererak. Acererak would become a mighty lich himself.
Once recovered, Vecna attacked the city again. This time, the leaders of the city begged for mercy, offering wealth and eventually their lives in exchange for their citizens. Vecna turned one of them and the man's family over to his lieutenant, the vampire Kas the Bloody-Handed, who spend a day torturing and killing them, then had all within the city slaughtered and their heads mounted on pikes. At the height of his empire Vecna was betrayed by Kas. Kas managed to destroy the Archlich before his own death, with the Sword of Kas, a lethal blade of the Undying Kin's own make, leaving only Vecna's left hand and left eye behind.
Vecna was once thought to be dead, destroyed by his dearest friend and the backfire of his own ritual. In reality, Vecna was banished far from the Material Plane to Limbo, where he was discovered by an ancient order of Githzerai. The Gith took Vecna prisoner and eventually turned him over to the Emperean Ymarus, the Warden of Carceri. Vecna was imprisoned for nearly a thousand years, left alone in his isolated tower, to think over his life. Vecna took this time to slowly gather bits of power in order to once again contact those outside of the plane, and manipulate magical occurrences. One such occurrence was to bring the Glade Guardian, Azure, to his presence. The Guardian was uneasy about interacting with the broken man, but they forged an uneasy "alliance" together, and Vecna granted Azure his Hand, a powerful and dangerous artifact. Through the Hand, Vecna could once more manifest as a projection on the Material Plane, he would watch his new-found allies, and even assist in small doses. Things changed when Azure, realizing the evil of the artifact that had cursed her, sought its destruction. In sheer panic and desperation, Vecna brought all power he could to bear against his jailers, and escaped the Prison Plane.
Once more returned to the Material Plane, Vecna sought to rebuild his power under the watchful eye of the Prime Deities, as not to arouse too much suspicion. Knowing that his archnemesis Imrys was also playing the game, Vecna knew he had to counter many plots. He retrieved his hand and dispatched his long-time enemy Viris, whilst also annihilating Cormantor, an ancient citadel of knowledge that housed most of the information on the Archlich. Vecna attempted to fully rebuild his powerbase in Loudwater, resurrecting the thousands of dead citizens to serve him, and rebuild Tovag Boragu, but he was foiled by the Glade Guardians. Vecna was nearly matched in battle by the Guardians, who were also joined by Kas the Bloody-Handed, forcing him to retreat. Mintie, once a mortal member of the Guardians, awakened the Divine Spark inside of her upon sacrificing herself to halt the necromancy spell that would have cursed the entire Central Continent. Vecna fled back into hiding for a time, biding his time until he could remove all pieces from the board, the Guardians and Imrys. He rebuilt his alliance with his once loyal minion, Acererak, and the two ambushed the Glade Guardians at the Silver Spire during their battle with Imrys, under the banner of friendship, Vecna helped the Guardians destroy Imrys forever. Upon Imrys' death, Vecna immediately turned against the Guardians, slaying several of them. Vecna vaporized his enemy, Kas, and drew his blade, wielding it against one of the last remaining members of the Guardians. Instead of cutting him down, Vecna stayed his hand and left once more, realizing that it was not his part to play.
Vecna left for the Shadowfell, to rebuild his shattered empire and to re-establish a strong powerbase, also allowing him to filter all occurrences of the Shadowfell. It is also said that Vecna returned to Cavitus, a plane in the Domain of Dread, and wrested it from the hold of the Dark Powers, making it his own personal demiplane. He disappeared for nearly 500 years before resurfacing but for just a moment during a titanic battle between two deities, fighting for dominion over death itself. It is said that the Raven Queen was cut down in this battle, but Vecna was able to save her essence by forcing his very will across reality. The Lich halted the Reaper's attempts to manifest on the Material Plane, drawing his attention back through Azeflyn's Mirror, when an unknown party of adventurers had accidentally opened the doorway. The last account is of the Lich and the Reaper engaged in an earth-shattering duel of arcane and divine mastery, before the doorway was shattered.

[Pictured: Vecna in his mortal form]
The Archlich was defeated in combat by the reborn deity Myrkul, who cursed Vecna the only way he knew how, by removing Vecna's greatest tool, his immortality. Vecna was fully restored back to a mortal, and Myrkul worked to ensure that Vecna would not so easily repeat the ritual to become a Lich. Vecna for years hid away, plotting his return and his vengeance on Myrkul. Eventually, Vecna realized the one tool he had left, his name. Thousands upon thousands new of the Lich, knew his capabilties. He slowly reached out among the planes, allowing his tendrils to wander and seep in every crack and crevice of society. Eventually, those who whispered about his power asked for small fractions of it, for gifts, some could say they prayed to him for it. Slowly Vecna's influence grew, and he was able to draw on the power of this newfound prayer and attain Quasideity status, of which he was slowly re-growing his power of immortality. As his power grew, he became more intrigued by this new divine status. The Prime Deities barely noticed his presence, as they watched in horror what was happening in Korrisia with the creation of this new Empire.

[Pictured: A rendition of Vecna's Avatar state]
Vecna made a bold move, which garnered the attention of the Prime Deities. He latched out into the Material Plane, and drew hundreds to his new church. The Cult of Vecna was truly formed, he named two members leaders, his Hand and his Eye. As the power of their worship added to his power base, he attained Demigod status, and created his own divine realm. Vecna went back to what he knew best, Cavitus. He re-created the skull-shaped citadel from ages past and now sits upon his new divine throne. The Prime Deities, unsure of what will come have accepted Vecna into the Pantheon with hesitation, but know it will be far easier to keep watch over him.

Intellectual Characteristics

Eidetic memory, hyper-intelligent, full mastery and understanding around all arcane spells.

Divine Classification

Demigod

Alignment

Evil

Realm

Cavitus

Circumstances of Birth

Born to a lone witch in a forgotten city.

Circumstances of Death

Died from his mortal life in the ritual to become a Lich

Gender

Male

Eyes

Pale blue, one eye is missing and in its place is a sickly green glow

Hair

mostly balding, some areas have long white hairs

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale White/Rotted or missing in areas

Height

6'0"

Weight

120 lbs