Vecna: From Lich to Godhood - D&D Lore

he's known by many names the whispered one the undying King the arch Lich vcna chances are if you've heard of anything of D and D lore you know of VNA he is the absolute villain of Dungeons and Dragons and one of the most iconic if not the most iconic Lich we get his rise to power his setbacks his battles and he is actually one of the only villains that has actually achieved a lot of what he set out to for depending on what addition we are looking at he is a deity but VNA was not always a deity and in today's forgotten lore we will watch VNA rise from a mere mortal to a terrifying figure whose name is feared by all due to a lot of the intentional secrecy surrounding VNA in his story he is very much a figure of mystery the following is one of the most basic and early understandings of his Origins he dates back to a time of near prehistory in the world of greyhawk he's a figure more of Legend than fact and like all legends there are embellishments exaggerations distortions contradictions and confusions attached to the name vcna in his time vcna was considered the mightiest of all wizards unsurpassed in his knowledge of all of the Arcane arts and from the loneliest Chamber Of a Black Tower he ruled over a now forgotten Nation some say his realm was beyond the great mountains to the West another theory hold his Tower once Rose from the very depths of near div a few writers even go so far as to claim vna's Dominion extended over another plane entirely and that he was ultimately destroyed by a Revolt of the greater powers that dwelt there even in his life vna's strictness and cruelty were Infamous he built this great Kingdom based on his wizardly skills and fish cruelty in fact some Tales claim he was so cruel that he would breed entire Villages like cattle simply to keep his foul laboratory supplied with subjects for his experiments others describe military campaigns where he annihilated entire cities beneath tidal waves of rock and Earth old Tales from the duy of Ernst even claim VNA was responsible for the creation of the bright desert like all things humanoid and it was speculated that he was half elf VNA grew old and neared his death this Black oblivion that threatened to greet him no longer caused Terror in him instead it caused anger and rage he was determined not to die and in his conceit came to believe that immortality was not merely possible but it was his right he began a search for the ultimate power needed to overcome the greater power death how he accomplished this is not known for sure as there are of course no Witnesses from this time According to some Tales VNA amassed enough power to confront his own death and forever imprison it thus escaping his Doom according to others vna's pride and arrogance so offended the greater powers of the outer plains that cursed him to dwell Forever on the border between life and death never again to fully live or rest in tranquil death in the third version the one that we all know is that vcna found the secret magic of life and thus transformed himself into the most powerful of liches now where he got this from was completely unknown that whatever the method there is no doubt that vcna entered a new stage of his foul history Beyond Death he became the greatest of all liches he continued to expand his evil Dominion so formidable and hideous was his temper that men feared to speak his name he became the whispered one the master of the spider Throne the undying king and the lord of the rotted Tower it is at this point in the story the second most important character Inus life comes into play his right hand one of his lieutenants cast The bloody-handed Rose to the four amongst vna's lieutenants as the Arch's body weakened Cass became his instrument of rule though still Supreme in power VNA took less and less interest in the daily Affairs of his kingdom Cass pronounced vna's judgments presided over the council in vna's name and heard the reports from the vna's foul Army vno began to trust Cass more than anyone else in this entire story as a sign of C's Authority and to protect his Lieutenant from the Intrigue of others vcna forged an artifact one of the most important and famous artifacts in all of D and D history the sword of Cass the most inventive and creative name ever put to the sword it was a magical weapon like none had ever known they say it's iron was taken from the heart of a frozen star and forged in Flames stolen from the Sun though dull and unadorned it shimmered with evil its Edge could bite any metal and its blade never doled when Cass wielded it no man could withstand him the being of this High magic it was no ordinary sword the sword itself was evil even when compared to vcna it whispered to Cass in secret voices feeding his Warrior's pride in his vanity telling it it was greater than vcna telling Cass you were the true ruler of all of his lands and slowly it seduced vna's most trustworthy urging him to usurp his Lord's throne and send the archage to death once and for all and though Cass was strong the sword was Stronger and eventually Cass came to believe its words and one day Cass was emboldened enough by the sweet voice of the sword he struck at VNA it is said that no man saw the battle so we know no details of it at this time we only know the end result vna's Dark Tower crumbled into dust leaving three things none of which were bodies the first was the sword of Cass the other two were the lifeless hand and eye of vcna this event of course was not foretold by VNA and was less than ideal for him at this point in the story it seems like Cass and VNA were both destroyed in the battle their own body parts in dust and weapons left behind but one very important thing lingered in vna's wake his followers and the legend of vcna grew and so did his cult through some unknown process it is also said that vna's body was too powerful to be destroyed and for Untold centuries his soul drifted refusing to surrender with the worship from the cult he gained small amounts of energy and power one by one over time as the legend of ekna and his cult grew and grew he assumed the powers of a demigod this process took a long time and eventually he reached the point where he was accepted as a minor demigod in the legions of evil guaranteed immortality vum was still not satisfied and he has devised a plan to ascend to Greater godhood he's always seeking more and more power and in second edition we leave VNA off here a scheming mind and the patience to wait centuries it is said that the two most crucial things in attaining Greater godhood are finding the eye and the Hand lost in the battle they are the final keys to fully Empower vcna as it turns out though this story is pretty deeply flawed a lot of the main points are there but a lot of the nuance and lesser things have been lost one very important thing to note is that a lot of the story in Dungeons and Dragons today is a story perpetuated by vna's followers over time they have Rewritten changed the history and redacted as much as they could sounds a lot like wizard of the coast and it's a great cover for them to change the lore over and over again but as it is concrete with the world we do have to dive in this has been the groundwork for the story so far and certain facts are true to every single strain of vcno worship they all agree the scholars and all of the VNA Cults agree VNA was once Immortal of great magical power Cass ruled at his side at some point during his Ascent he created the Lich transformation ritual and became a lich some time after this Cass betrayed him and nearly destroyed him but VNA was dismembered and Scattered his soul too heavy from wickedness would not discorporate instead reclaimed all the missing pieces of his body except for his hand and eye his triumph over death allowed him to complete his transformation and become the god he always wanted to be during this time he also created the book of vile Darkness you may have heard of it the greatest and most enduring evil loosed upon the world it's believe vcna authored this work before Cass mimed and nearly destroyed him in it VNA recorded all the dark Lore and knowledge he discovered in his mortal life from dealings with demons to Bargains made with Devils he Advanced necromancy by Leaps and Bounds revealed the alien powers living among the stars and even include a ritual to breach the boundaries of the mortal World vcna never intended this lore to spread Beyond his own library but was powerless to Halt its dissemination after the Betrayal since then the book has become an artifact many of vnus cultist make it their life work to reclaim this book for themselves now looking back over all of the rest of the additions after second including third fourth fifth and all of the Dragon magazines there are many pieces of information that add depth are many contradictions to the story but we're just going to write these off as VCU tlst propaganda who would never give away the correct knowledge for free now one of the most interesting Revelations looking back at other additions is the introduction of another character in fact it's another Lich that you might notice from fourth and fifth edition a serak now back before the Betrayal of Cass when vno was just a talented wizard he conquered villages to use the town's people as subjects for his necromantic experiments this wasn't mentioned before but VNA had hundreds of failures before his eventual success in devising a ritual that siphoned power from the plains to animate his lifeless bodies giving him immortality as a lich it turns out AER a demonic Half Breed Mage was once one of vna's generals aak rescued vcna from destruction by clerics of palor this all happened when vcna was besieging the city of fleeth the town where he grew up a bit here is revealed about that childhood that VNA had while living in Fleet and why he is now back to conquer it Von grew up here and was raised by his mother maelle his mother mzelle was actually one of his first influences with any magic as she practiced witchcraft at some point in vna's early life she was executed by the city of Flee for practicing this witchcraft even though magic was widely practiced in his City with some emphasis on necromance regardless they killed his mother for this act and vus swore Revenge upon all those who were responsible for her death and this Point even though it has been thousands of years he is returning to the city to make good on his vow vcna in perhaps his First Act of gratitude maybe ever allowed a serak access to the rotted Tower in the upper levels of his keep all of vna's information from these upper levels including processes on the transformation of becoming a lich were detailed here as it turns out the truth is that aserar arranged vcna near destruction and orchestrated his own own rescuing of him so that he could ingratiate himself with his master and put himself in a position to steal vna's darkest Most Powerful Secrets took years for VNA to even uncover this deception and at this point aak saw his Doom coming and fled asak tale is a story for another day but as you can see you have a pretty good idea of where he learned the process to be coming aich from this changed vcna a lot vcna is known for closely guarded knowledge they keep you of Secrets coveting and hoarding knowledge and VNA From This Moment swore that from then on he would protect all of his secrets with a fervor that bordered on religious fanaticism while vna's power grew his obsession with secrecy became a literal religion to those who worshiped him this of course spread to his cult and is a central Cornerstone of their worship a worship in obsession with secrecy we also get more about cass's in vna's actual relationship more than just the promotion trusting and betrayal Cass was a human palad in vus service during the time of this aak betrayal he was almost completely driven by visions of blood and a thirst for foes who would challenge his own prowess at Arms Cass had tried everything including pledging himself to a god of death but this all still made him bored it was the path to dying that fascinated and the more violent the path the better this is what Drew him to VNA in vna's ambition and in a way he was the perfect servant he did not have more ambition than vcna like a Sak he was perfectly happy to follow vcna killing in his wake VNA found all of this appealing he's also amused and entertained by cass's hypocrisy and the fact that he would always insist on a fair fight before he would mercilessly cut down his opponents Cass Rose through the ranks and became vna's top Lieutenant he gained the name the bloody-handed on the day he led the conquest of vna's birthplace at this point vno was as close to trusting Cass as he had anyone since since AER that treachery was an open soar on whatever Pride Ina's mind but again unlike AER casted no interest in vna's Arcane Secrets the warrior only cared for Blood and Steel VNA was confident of cassa's loyalty he used necromancy to extend cass's life as Cass became invaluable to him and when cass's mortal form had reached the point when even VNA spells could sustain it no longer the Lich fashioned for him a fanged mask of silver by wearing this silver mask Cass willingly received the Dark Gift of vampirism again there is some conflicting information on when Cass became a vampire in my opinion this is the most widely accepted explanation this is when VNA gave him more jurisdiction he needed someone else to share power with and so he decided to forge him a weapon forged from the frozen heart of a fallen Star as he spoke the final enchantments over it he carefully pulled a thread of Shadow from his own Consciousness and wrapped it around the sword's black blade from that point as long as Cass bore that sword VNA would be able to listen in on cass's activities and sometimes even his thoughts Cass was honored by this gift and he felt the sword's strength the instant he drew it Cass is the one who named it the sword of Cass if that tells you anything about him and so vcna finally put his last worries that he could not trust Cass to bed he gave him the power that he needed to share but vcna had made another Heir a large one VNA had made the sword too power and putting a part of his own Essence his own Consciousness into it it contained a piece of VNA and it brought with it obsession with secrecy and a lust for knowledge the sword's intelligence quickly wrapped itself in a mental cloak to Shield itself from vna's detection and it fed VNA false thoughts of obedience from Cass while it nurtured rebellion in the vampire's heart in a way the sword became a mini version of VNA and of course there can be only one any being like VNA has absolute ambition and another vcna standing in the way would do no good years passed as it influenced cass's mind and knew exactly what to say and eventually made Cass aware of vna's attempts to read his mind through the sword Cass felt betrayed himself and he believed that the sword was loyal to him all of this time vcna is still not a God not a Lesser God or a deity he had been planning a ritual to ascend to godhood himself and as he performed the ritual this is when the sword of Cass told Cass to strike during the ritual while VNA was occupied Cass charged into the keep with Cass as powerful as he was with the power of his sword no one in the entirety of the rotten Tower was a challenge for him the guards fell beneath his blade like wheat at the Harvest as they died VNA detected cass's presence and at this moment he finally saw the sword's trickery and realized too late how his Paladin's loyalties had been Twisted he tried to suspend the ritual but it had already been started and his Godlike power he had Unleashed would not be contained an epic battle took place on top of the rotted Tower there are some that claim that Cass should not have been any challenge for vcna but the fact that VNA was halfway through a ritual still concentrating on it and the fact that the sword itself had some consciousness of VNA that could tell what his next move was the battle was even they fought back and forth between Cass finally struck a major blow slicing off vna's left hand the vampire his body crumbling from vna's spells pressed the attack as he finally plunged his sword into vna's left eye gouging it out cass's sword sensing Triumph released a surge of radiant energy as bright as the sun into vna's body but the effect of the swords Act was like tossing a torch into a sea of oil it set off an explosion so powerful that it destroyed the rotted Tower deafening creatures for Miles vcon cast at the center of the Arcane melstrom were s hurdling through the abyss Between Worlds afterward the only objects that were found intact in the rubble of the tower were V his severed hand IE and cast's sword so this revelation of the story claims that they did not die but instead went hurdling through the abyss Between Worlds the lore gets a little complicated here but they go all over Cass survived the explosion and his sword guided him through the plains to the Citadel of cidus a castle still in the astral sea that VNA had established years earlier as a secret Refuge but the blade abandoned Cass since then the sword has appeared numerous times in different lands enticing the foolish and power hungry with visions of Glory Cass was alive though he did not achieve godhood it is said that he may have a kingdom of vampires somewhere and the shadow fell ruling over them now in VNA was thrown all over but specifically for a short time he appeared in another campaign setting Raven Loft he was thrown into the shadowfell where the Citadel of cidus had been carefully duplicated near a dead Valley of jagged Peaks VNA was trapped in this tiny realm for the amusement of the dark powers and although some later additions and dragon magazines say that this is widely considered to be a myth there is a lot about the two of them in Raven Loft while at the Citadel of cidus VNA is wild with Fury he constantly rages against the powers that hold him in place vowing that he will not only find a way to escape but that he will also destroy the forces that currently imprison him though VNA also confronts a more tangible enemy on the other side of the burning Peaks where he resides lies the domain of toag ruled by vna's most hated enemy Cass so at some point it is believed that both of these beings ended up here this is the most concrete lore about them being anywhere during this time of floating through the Plains and Gain mean in power after their fight they are essentially locked in constant conflict sending armies and forces back and forth between the two sides of the burning Peaks and as horrible and bloody as these clashes always are neither side ever gains an advantage over the other this might just be a hell for vcna and Cass might not be real but that's not really known either way this is a torturous punishment for VNA a frustrating scenario where he can neither Escape nor defeat his enemies nor really build on his knowledge exploring the Plains and amassing more secrets and for a person who desires only the accumulation of power and the acquisition of knowledge vna's current impotence and confusion is as terrible a fate as one could wish upon the overlord and as vcna is finally free of the domains of dread and a demigod free to wander the plains that is where we will end this episode I do think there is a possibility of a followup so let me know if you want to see that in the comments but VNA gets up to a lot while actually being a god including becoming a greater Davy or at least attempting to invading cities in the outer plain traveling through time and of course all of his interactions with the other gods but as far as vcna the man VNA the Lich this is his story at this point he is one of the only villains and all of Dungeons and Dragons to actually achieve what he sought out to do he became a God it was successful was not easy and he was betrayed by everyone along the way but with immortality the power of a deity and infinite ambition and time makes becknel one of if not the most terrifying villains in all of D and D thankfully like other one-dimensional villains his only wishes are not for complete world domination and destruction but as a lich he always covets more power and information and he is not afraid to kill any in his way to achieve this at this point in the story VNA has not yet found his limits and as his story continues we will find out just how far vna's ambition reaches

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Id: _v_lUcC2rFE

Length: 21min 40sec (1300 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 20 2024