Vecna

Titles: The Arch-Lich, the Maimed God, the Whispering Tyrant, the Secretkeeper, the Lord of the Rotted Tower, the Master of the Skull Throne, the Unspoken

Home: Unknown

Alignment: Neutral evil

Portfolio: Secrets, necromancy, undead, forbidden magic, conspiracy

Domains: Death, knowledge

Symbol: A skeletal left hand with an eye in its palm

Favored Weapon: Daggers

Teachings

 * Information is power. 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.

Allies

 * Asmodeus
 * Torog
 * Zehir

Enemies

 * The Raven Queen
 * Ioun
 * Pelor

Followers and Clergy
Vecna’s followers are scattered across the world in hierarchical mystery cults and secretive cells alike. Some insane conspiracists and scholars form their own isolated groups, but most tend to follow a shadowy hierarchy, with each member’s identity kept a secret to all but their superiors.

The Left-Hand Path - The largest organized form of Vecna’s cult, the Left-Hand Path features a strict hierarchy Keepers of the Forbidden Lore - A secretive sect within Vecna’s faith, the Keepers ignore most of Vecna’s associations with dark magic and necromancy, and instead implore his aid as the god of secrets, using his aid to hunt down and destroy knowledge that is too evil for any to know.
 * The Heart of Vecna - The high priest of Vecna’s cult
 * The Eye of Vecna - Head scholar and mage of the cult, maintains intelligence and secrets
 * The Hand of Vecna - The cult’s head enforcer, performs assassination and leads military forces
 * Thoughts of Vecna - Lower priests and mages that lead individual cells, known as Organs
 * Teeth of Vecna - Mages and spellcasters
 * Fingers of Vecna - Thieves and assassins
 * Blood of Vecna - Warriors and common members

Traditions and Practices
Vecna’s followers are commanded to seek out and collect information in all its forms, gathering it into vast secret libraries. They are also commanded to keep that information to themselves, so they often burn books and scrolls and assassinate sages, often only memorizing the knowledge so it will die with them.

Vecna’s followers focus on gathering information and artifacts related to necromancy, blood magic, and other dark arts, and they seek to use that power to further their own goals and eventually depose the Raven Queen, granting Vecna dominion over death.

Followers of the Vecnaic Mysteries must be willing to sacrifice, often literally, anything and anyone to advance in power. They must have no devotions before the Unspoken.

Clothing and Symbols
Followers of Vecna often keep their association secret, hiding symbols of his faith within intricate arcane symbols or hidden tattoos. Many reveal their worship carefully with complicated secret handshakes.

In ritual, Vecna’s followers revel in their dark reputation, wearing robes of black, emphasizing skull and death motifs, and wearing fearsome masks to disguise their identity.

Places of Worship
Vecna’s worship mostly occurs in scholars’ basements, hidden corners of arcane universities and libraries, and hidden rooms in certain taverns where tongues are loose.

Sacred Texts

 * The Codex of the Dark Pact - A dense tome written with human blood on human skin, the Codex of the Dark Pact is encoded and locked away, and its secrets are forbidden to all but the highest members of the cult. Few without the proper knowledge could even understand the text if they could get ahold of it, but for those who can decode the writing, they can learn all manner of dark rituals, including the secrets of lichdom.