Vecna (vek-nuh)
The Maimed Lord, The Lich-King, The Whispered One
Veccna, deity of secrets and necromancy, was once a mortal wizard who became a lich and then ascended to godhood. He usually appears as a lich who is missing his left hand and left eye. He lost his hand and eye in a fight during his bid to gain power and become a powerful god.
Seldom is the name of Vecna spoken except in a hushed voice. Vecna was, in his time, one of the mightiest of all wizards. Through dark magic and conquest, he forged a terrible empire and became the ruler of the Empire of Vaszkysa. But for all his power, Vecna couldn't escape his own mortality. He began to fear death and take steps to prevent his end from ever coming about.
Orcus, the demon prince of undeath, taught Vecna a ritual that would allow him to live on as a lich. Beyond death, he became the greatest of all liches. Even though his body gradually withered and decayed, Vecna continued to expand his evil dominion. So formidable and hideous was his temper that his subjects feared to speak his name. He was the Whispered One, the Maimed God, the Undying King, and the Lord of the Rotted Tower.
While he was an earthly, yet very powerful and immortal lich (he was once the god-emperor of Vaszkysa), he sought to ascend to godhood and become as powerful as Primus by draining the long inert essence of several of the Nameless Ones. Had his plan succeeded he would have unknowingly wiped out all of the Natural World (much to the delight of his demonic allies.) He did manage to destroy and absorb the essences of two gods of The Twelve: Mystra and Ketsimus to attain godhood. Vecna was met with defeat in a battle with Saint Cuthbert, where he lost his left hand and eye. He is now a lesser deity, the god of secrets, treachery, and necromancy. He was imprsoned on the plane of Stygia by Primus and rules that which is not meant to be known and that which people wish to keep secret.
Divine Domains
Artifacts
The Eye and Hand of Vecna-The Hand of Vecna is a withered, blackened, mummified human hand. It is usually described as a left hand, with long, claw-like nails. It is cold to the touch. The Eye of Vecna is a preserved human eye, variously encountered as a bloodshot human eye, or a hard, shrivelled red or black clump. When placed in an empty human eye socket, it becomes a golden eye with a slit pupil like that of a cat, and glows red or green in the darkness.
In his final battle with the gods of The Twelve, Vecna lost his hand and eye to the canonized once mortal, Saint Cuthbert. These now mummified body parts are said to possess a part of the evil, divine essence that is Vecna-former arch-lich, now minor god. His cultists seek the artifacts in an effort to gain more power to better rule through fear, and to better aid their dark god.
The left hand and eye of Vecna's original "mortal" lich form, which have never been replaced in his later more powerful incarnations, are now high-valued and very dangerous magical artifacts. To use the powers of the Hand of Vecna or the Eye of Vecna one is required to cut off one's own corresponding body part and affix Vecna's in its place. The new bearer of the Eye or Hand (or both) will gain access to powerful spell-like abilities, but the items will slowly corrupt them, turning them evil over time.
Holy Books & Codes
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Tenets of Faith
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Secrets, Necromancy, Subterfuge
Alignment
Neutral Evil
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