Vecna

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Template:Greyhawk Deity

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Vecna was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and eventually achieved godhood. He is a member of the default pantheon of D&D gods (the pantheon of Oerth). Notably, Vecna is missing both his left eye and left hand.

Vecna was created by Brian Blume in the original D&D supplement Eldritch Wizardry in 1976. The name Vecna is an anagram of Jack Vance, the fantasy author whose "fire-and-forget" magic system is the default magic system used in Dungeons & Dragons.

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Description

Vecna is usually depicted as a powerful lich missing his left hand and eye.

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Clergy and temples

Vecna's holy symbol is an eye in the palm of a left hand.

Vecna's cult is very secretive, and cells have been uncovered, at various points in history, in Diamond Lake, Greyhawk, and Verbobonc. Temples to Vecna have also been reported in the Pomarj town of Highport and Erelhei-Cinlu.

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History

Vecna was born as a human, centuries ago as a member of the untouchable caste in the Flan city of Fleeth on Oerth. He was initially trained by his mother, Mazzel, in the art of magic, before she was executed by the government of Fleeth for practicing witchcraft. Vowing revenge, Vecna eventually assumed a mastery of the dark arts achieved by no mortal before or since. Some say this achievement was due to direct tutelage by Mok'slyk the Serpent, believed to be the personification of arcane magic itself.

Nearly one thousand years after his birth, Vecna, now a lich and ruler of a great and terrible empire (in the Sheldomar Valley, centered near the modern-day Rushmoors), laid siege to the city of Fleeth with an army of arcane spellcasters and undead. Legend has it that Vecna was nearly slain in this battle by clerics channeling the power of Pholtus, the god of light. The clerics unleashed a great burst of light, which hit Vecna primarily on his left side. Vecna was rescued and brought to safety by one of his wizard generals, a cambion named Acererak (who would one day himself become a mighty demilich).

Vecna eventually recovered. On the verge of conquering Fleeth, the officials of the city came before him to beg for mercy. They offered up the entire city and her wealth if only Vecna would spare the lives of her citizens. When Vecna was not satisfied, the officials offered their own lives. Vecna gave one of their number, Artau, and his family, over to his lieutenant, Kas, who spent the entire day torturing and murdering them before the other officials. Still unsatisfied, Vecna slaughtered all within the city, and had their heads stacked before the officials, with those of their family members prominent. Vecna then granted his mercy, granting the officials leave to depart, and promising them his protection for the rest of their lives.

At his empire's height, Vecna was betrayed and destroyed by his most trusted lieutenant, a human called Kas the Bloody-Handed, using a magical sword that Vecna himself had crafted for him, now known as the Sword of Kas. Only his left hand and his eye survived the battle, perhaps because of the previous events in Fleeth.

Vecna did not stay gone forever, and rose as a demigod of magic and secrets in the world of Greyhawk. In 581 CY, his cult helped set events in motion that would have granted him the power of a greater god, but the plan was ultimately foiled. After these events, Vecna ended up imprisoned in the demiplane of Ravenloft, but broke free again later, emerging with the power of a lesser god. He then broke free into the city of Sigil, where he came perilously close to rearranging all existence to his whims. (Vecna's multiverse shattering campaign in Sigil is used as an in-universe way to explain the differences between the 2nd and 3rd editions of Dungeons & Dragons.)

The three Dungeons & Dragons adventures that prominently feature Vecna are Vecna Lives! (Greyhawk), Vecna Reborn (Ravenloft), and Die Vecna Die! (Greyhawk/Ravenloft/Planescape).

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Artifacts

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Hand and Eye of Vecna

Vecna's hand and eye 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.

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Sword of Kas

Vecna created the Sword of Kas for his greatest servant.

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Head of Vecna

The Head of Vecna was a hoax that one adventuring party played on another in a campaign run by game master Mark Steuer. One of the groups tricked the other into going on a quest for the Head of Vecna, a hoax artifact that was supposedly similar to his Hand and Eye, but was simply an ordinary severed head. The hoax takes advantage of the fact that the Eye and Hand of Vecna require a person to remove their own eye or hand for the artifact to function. The characters involved in the story reasoned that they needed to decapitate themselves to gain the powers of the Head of Vecna, and several of the group actually fought to determine whose head should be cut off. After the third character died, the joke was revealed.

A full account of the story can be read at The Story of The Head of Vecna.

Bizarrely enough, the Head of Vecna makes a canonical appearance in Die Vecna Die!

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Other Artifacts

At some point in his history, Vecna penned a tome known as Ordinary Necromancy.

He is rumored to have made significant additions to the Book of Vile Darkness.

Vecna's Robe also appears as a powerful Mage-only suit of armour in the computer role-playing game Baldur's Gate II.

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References

  • Brown, Anne. Player's Guide (TSR, 1998).
  • Heard, Bruce. "Spells Between the Covers." Dragon #82 (TSR, 1984).
  • Mullin, Robert S. "Arcane Lore: Greyhawk Grimoires II." Dragon #241 (TSR, 1997).
  • Mullin, Robert S. "Campaign Classics: Three Greyhawk Grimoires." Dragon #225 (TSR, 1996).
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