Vecna

Vecna
Title(s)	The Accursed King The Undying King The Whispered One
Alignment	Neutral Evil
Divine Rank	10 (lesser power)

Vecna, often called the Whispered One or the Undying King, is a mortal-born wizard who, after a thousand years of study, achieved immortality and ascended to godhood using dark magic. He's an archlich who is worshiped as a god in many worlds, such as Greyhawk, the Nentir Vale, the Forgotten Realms, and Exandria.

Vecna is one of the most effectual forces of evil in the D&D meta-setting. He's a real villain's villain. He was named Biggest Badass of the Century in the Daily Sigil 800 years in a row, and some even say he knows what the dog is doing. If you thought your villain was bad, Vecna almost certainly makes them look like a pussy-ass bitch.

Meta

Here's a neat little Easter egg: Vecna's name originates as an anagram of the surname of Jack Vance, the father of the Dying Earth genre of fiction.

Alignment

Vecna is a fantastic example of Neutral Evil.

History

Long story short, Vecna was born in the Flan city of Fleeth on Oerth. His mother was a witch who was burned at the stake when Vecna was young. Vecna fled the city, and vowed revenge on it.

He spent the next thousand or so years learning magic from a variety of powerful masters. He systematically killed almost every one of them after he learned all he could from them, presumably to prevent anyone else in the future from learning the same secrets. We therefore know very little about what arts Vecna has knowledge of, and who taught them to him. The only (alleged) master Vecna couldn't slay was Orcus. In this time, Vecna achieved immortality in lichdom.

At the end of this thousand years of study, Vecna returned to his hometown, Fleeth, at the head of an undead army. A great battle ensued, in which Vecna was nearly killed by priests of Pholtus, but Vecna's boy Acererak saved his life. Vecna then sacrificed the entire city in a grand ritual that would elevate him to godhood.

But at the last moment, Vecna's chief lieutenant, Kas, betrayed him. He attacked his former master, and in the ensuing brawl, Kas cleaved off Vecna's left hand and gouged out his left eye. Vecna vanished, and the ritual was presumed to have failed.

However, hundreds of years later, Vecna returned to the world, revealing that the ritual had indeed succeeded and Vecna had simply been regathering his strength.

Body parts

As I mentioned, Vecna's lieutenant, Kas, cut off Vecna's left hand and gouged out his left eye. This is very important. See, Vecna's disembodied body parts are as famous (arguably more) as he is.

Both the Hand of Vecna and Eye of Vecna are legendary artifacts of immense power. In the centuries after Vecna's disappearance, untold numbers of people have sought after these two parts of Vecna's body, for they are some of the most potent magical artifacts in existence.

Relationships

Vecna doesn't have many allies. As mentioned, Acererak was one of Vecna's generals and even saved his life once. Vecna rescued Acererak at the age of ten and basically raised him, but it is unknown where they stand currently. Another of Vecna's lieutenants, Kas, is possibly number one on Vecna's shit list—Vecna is obsessed with getting revenge on him.

Vecna has many other underlings, such as Halmadar the Cruel, Delilah and Sylas Briarwood, Osterneth, Sir Loran, Gusten the Blood-Fiend, and others.

Vecna was allegedly taught in the ways of magic by Orcus and the Serpent Mok'slyk, among others. Mok'slyk (assuming he exists) is probably Vecna's greatest ally. Some believe that Orcus now opposes Vecna.

Vecna has innumerable enemies, including the Raven Queen, Kelemvor, Vox Machina, Iuz, the entire Circle of Eight, Saint Cuthbert, Pholtus, Sarenrae, Ioun, Pelor, and Heironeous.

Mandate

Edicts	Never reveal all you know. Find the seed of darkness in your heart and nourish it; find it in others and exploit it to your advantage. Oppose the followers of all other deities so that Vecna alone can rule the world.

Power Ranking

Level	40 (Wizard 20, Cleric 20)
CR	~30
DR	10 (lesser power)

See also

• Acererak
• Szass Tam
• Larloch
• Myrkul
• Thulsa Doom
• Braccus Rex
• Voldemort
  
  
• Asmodeus
• Tiamat
• Iuz
• Shar
• Demogorgon
• Orcus
• Bane

Gallery

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  Source: @sax_art on Twitter.

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  MTG