Vhaeraun (vay-RAWN)
Lesser God of Drow Males, Thievery, Territory and Shadow Magic Vhaeraun Tangiadesh (a.k.a. The Masked Lord, The Masked God of Night, The Shadow)
The son of Lolth who rebelled against his mother for more power. Is the twin brother of Eilistraee and is a minute older. His colours are gold, red and black.
(https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vhaeraun)
Vhaeraun's evil activities on the surface aimed to further the drow's goals, interests, and power there. He held the unique view among drow that males and females were equally valuable and was primarily prayed to by those drow males who sought a better life than slavery under Lolth's matriarchy and who opposed it.
Personality
Vhaeraun was an arrogant (at times vain) lesser god and shared the vindictive trait of most drow deities. His arrogance made him believe the drow to be above other races. His followers derived the idea of gender equality from this belief of his. He believed that all other races should be subjugated by the drow.
While he was willing to use underhandedness to reach his goals, he didn't tolerate the same being used against him or his people.
Despite these harsh traits, he was also willing to cooperate when it came to undermining and fighting his mother, Lolth, and tried to unite the other drow gods against her.
Vhaeraun was actively involved in the lives of his followers. Tzirik Jaelre went so far as to describe him as a caring god. Vhaeraun was indeed one who didn't distance himself from the concerns of his followers and answered their pleas about fifteen per cent of the time, even in the form of sending divine servants in cases of real need. He also seemed to be protective of his followers and was seen protecting those in his vicinity when he could, and the means to avert self-sacrifice to those working for him.
He and his followers shared a realistic understanding of his strength. He knew that he was too weak to fight his mother directly, so he worked against her in secretive ways, directed at increasing his and his people's power and decreasing that of his enemies, starting with passive resistance by teaching ideas that contradicted Lolth's dogma and moving to open action. The Masked Lord was unusual among deities for his readiness to enter the front line himself when the scale was right, meaning when the target was another lesser deity.
Divine Domains
Trickery, War
Artifacts
Nightshadow, a longsword and Shadowflash, a shortsword made of silver.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Black mask with blue glasses inset over eyes.
Relationships
History
The relationship between Eilistraee and Vhaeraun went through significant changes over the ages. After her self-imposed exile, the Dark Maiden fought Vhaeraun's warmongering influence on the dark elves. After the Descent of the drow, while the two siblings shared certain goals, their views on how to achieve them clashed. Eilistraee wished the drow to peacefully return to the surface and build friendships with other races, while Vhaeraun wanted the drow to reclaim the ancient prestige through violence and conquest. The Dark Maiden didn't hate her brother, but was saddened by his cruelty and selfishness. Nonetheless, their conflict eventually escalated when Vhaeraun's plan to assassinate his sister backfired, and she temporarily took his power. However, after their return during the Second Sundering, Eilistraee and Vhaeraun had gained a new understanding of each other. As a consequence, they were closer and became more open to each other's ways and goals. They reached a truce and even friendship, although some of their followers remained foes and skirmished often.
Relationship Reasoning
They're blood siblings.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Taking down their mother.
Shared Acquaintances
History
Vhaeraun and Lolth's relationship started as mother and son. Vhaeraun shared her trait of ambition and became her confidant in her betrayal against her Mother (Vhaeraun's Grandmother). After the Descent, the two were complete enemies, Vhaeraun calling for the destruction of the society for which she stood.
Vhaeraun was Lolth's favourite child, and she encouraged her son's rivalry with her, for it appealed to her love of chaos. On the other hand, her son had actual success at swaying the drow to his cause of destroying her, her supporters, and her version of society, which was a real source of fear for her. Lolth viewed him as her true rival and enemy, leading to her incorporating specific tenets against her son's followers.
Mother and son had little to no common ground. Lolth promoted favouritism towards females; Vhaeraun promoted gender equality. The Spider Queen demanded surface elves as sacrifices from her worshipers; the Masked Lord urged his followers to cooperate with surface elves. Lolth tried to keep Drow society stagnant in every regard; Vhaeraun attracted those who wanted change in societal progress, economic growth, territorial expansion, etc. Lolth wanted to extinguish the drow race's desire to return to the surface; Vhaeraun called for settling the surface.
Relationship Reasoning
They're mother and son.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
The Drow and violence.
Shared Acquaintances
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