In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Vecna was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and eventually achieved godhood. He is also a member of the third edition's default pantheon of D&D gods. Notably, Vecna is missing both his left eye and left hand. Vecna's holy symbol is an eye in the palm of a left hand. Vecna was also named as one of the greatest villains in D&D history by the final print issue of Dragon.[1]
Vecna Hand Of The Revenant 1
Vecna is usually depicted as a powerful magician resembling a desiccated corpse missing his left hand and eye. A constant theme in the adventures in which the character appears is Vecna's never-ending quest for power, ending, should he succeed, with Vecna as the only deity in existence.
Immediately below the Heart of Vecna are two bizarre monsters known as the Hand and the Eye. The Eye of Vecna creature appears as a slender humanoid with an eyeball for a head, whereas the Hand of Vecna appears as a stocky humanoid with a huge left hand where its head should be.
Vecna's 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.
This interpretation is relatively recent. As per the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide, Vecna only procured this most powerful sword for his chief lieutenant. Similarly, depending on edition and source, its appearance has varied, from a short sword to a wavy bladed two hander. However, it is undoubtable that the Sword is inextricably tied to Vecna's relics.
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 require a person to remove their own eye or hand and replace it with 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 members of the group actually fought over which character would get to have his head cut off and replaced. After the third character died, the joke was revealed.
At his empire's height, Vecna was betrayed and destroyed by his most trusted lieutenant, a vampire 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.
"At the heart of what is now the Coldwood, a great and majestic elven city once stood. Crafted from living woods, marble, silver, and even ice, the City of the Summer Stars was home to perhaps 2,000 gray elves. They were an introverted, studious, mystical people, and they sought no dominion outside their homelands. The spells and lore known to them is virtually beyond comprehension in the Flanaess now. By a wave of her hand, Queen Sharafere could make winds ripple through all the endless miles of the great forest, and summon unicorns, treants, and the beasts and birds of the forest to her glittering palace. The demise of this race is a dreadful tragedy which few alive today know of. Those who know the tale do not speak of it. Mordenkainen, Philidor, Gywdiesin, Calendryen of the Vesve, Immonara, and the Silverbow Sages of the Lendore Isles are among that rare few, and perhaps one or two other mortals. The City of the Summer Stars received emissaries from the Ur-Flannae. Those necromancers and wizards spoke honeyed words, but Sharafere saw the lust for magical power in their hearts and sent them away. In their rage and desire to possess the magic of the elves, the Ur-Flannae brought their own magic to assault the city. Fire and acid rained down from the skies. Fiends stalked the forests. Bulettes, xorn, and other monsters erupted from the very earth to strike at the foundations of the city." (Ivid, 74)
During the reign of Hamoch of Tyrus, the hand was discovered by the fisherman Gisel. For several decades he kept it as a curiosity, until he was slain by his brother who stole the artifact. The brother was waylaid en route to Tyrus and the Hand fell into the possession of the outlaw Mace.
"The next painting shows the wizard from the other paintings, but now his figure is skeletal and gaunt, his hands emaciated claws. His robes appear as before, snake-covered, but another crown rests upon his head. The circlet one appears to be formed of snakes enfolding around his skull. The throne is also changed, now made of human bones, with the back a large spider web that unfolds across the wall behind him. Caught in the web are many tiny figures, both human and demi-human, faces and bodies twisted in horrible suffering. Around the throne are dying, eviscerated victims, each wearing a burning necklace with a variety of holy symbols.A Knowledge check (Sheldomar Valley, Core, Arcana, Nobility and Royalty or History) of DC 20 will divulge that this shows Vecna following his transformation to a lich, and quickly built a great empire of evil. The disemboweled victims were priests of variety of gods, their symbols easily recognized as symbols from long ago representing divine aspects of nature, truth, justice and goodness; most are Flan." (p.13)
"The next fresco depicts a number of maroon-robed Suel assaulting and entering a tall white tower, and then leaving with a great number of items.A Knowledge check (Sheldomar Valley, Core, Arcana, Nobility and Royalty or History) of DC 10 will identify the tower as the Silent Tower, home of the Silent Ones. A Knowledge check (Sheldomar Valley, Core, Arcana, Nobility and Royalty or History) of DC 25 check will reveal that this represents the Malhel attack upon the Lonely Tower. "If the heroes make a Spot DC 16+APL check, please read or paraphrase the following:Upon close inspection, you notice that two of the items being taken from the tower are an eye and a hand. (p.14) 2ff7e9595c
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