The Drowned Queen
Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
Hit Points 228 (24d8+120)
Speed 30 ft. swim 60 ft.
Saving Throws Con +10, Wis +9, Cha +11
Skills History +8, Insight +9, Perception +9, Persuasion +11
Damage Resistances cold; necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages Common, Aquan, Elvish, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 15 (13,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +5
Actions
Reactions
Legendary Actions
The queen can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The queen regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.
Lair
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the creature can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Cathedral Flood. A surge of black seawater fills a 20-foot-radius area the queen can see within 120 feet. The area becomes difficult terrain until initiative count 20 on the next round. Creatures in the area must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and pulled 15 feet toward its center.
- Bell of the Last Mass. The cathedral bell tolls from beneath the water. Each living creature in the lair must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until initiative count 20 on the next round. A creature that succeeds is immune to this lair action for 24 hours.
- Siltbound Procession. The queen chooses up to three unoccupied spaces on the ground within 60 feet. Skeletal hands burst from each space, creating a 5-foot-radius patch of grasping silt. The area is difficult terrain, and a creature entering it for the first time on a turn or starting its turn there must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained until the end of its turn.
Regional Effects
The region containing the creature's lair is warped by its magic, creating the following effects:
- Within 6 miles of the sunken cathedral, tides rise and fall at impossible hours, often flooding streets under a clear sky.
- Coral grows through corpses, shipwrecks, and masonry near the cathedral, forming crude crowns and crowns of thorns.
- Those who sleep near the coast hear distant bells and awaken with wet footprints leading toward the water.
- Bodies buried within 1 mile of the cathedral sometimes vanish from their graves and return as silent drowned courtiers.
If the queen dies, the unnatural tides recede over 1d10 days, the cathedral bell cracks, and all drowned courtiers raised by her collapse into harmless silt.
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"Kneel, land-born thing. The tide has already judged you." — Queen Ilyrra Voss, last sovereign of Namarra
Lore & Description
Appearance
The Drowned Queen appears as a regal corpse preserved by salt, pressure, and coral. Her gray-blue skin is split by luminous veins of sea-green light, and strands of black kelp drift from her hair as though she stands forever beneath deep water. A crown of pink and blood-red coral has fused into her skull, its branching points threaded with tiny shells and the finger bones of drowned children. She wears a rotted ceremonial gown of midnight velvet and tarnished gold, while barnacles armor her shoulders and ribs. Her eyes are dark pools containing the reflected image of a sinking cathedral.
Behavior & Origins
The Drowned Queen was once Ilyrra Voss, ruler of the coastal kingdom of Namarra. When her priests refused to sacrifice the kingdom's heir to appease an ancient sea power, Ilyrra ordered the cathedral sealed with everyone inside, believing the tide would spare her loyal subjects. Instead, the city drowned, and the queen's final command became a curse: every subject must attend her court forever. She now gathers names, wedding rings, and royal seals from the living, hoping to reconstruct the kingdom she lost. A concrete hook for the DM is the village of Bellwater, whose mayor has secretly promised the queen the town's dead in exchange for protection from a coming storm.
Running The Drowned Queen
Tactics
The queen opens by using Drowning Decree against clustered foes, then uses Siltstep to appear beside the most dangerous spellcaster or isolated target. She raises drowned courtiers with legendary actions to surround enemies, block passages, and trigger Royal Intercession. When bloodied, she uses the cathedral's water and corpses for constant repositioning; she fights to the death if her crown or the sunken cathedral is threatened, but allows herself to retreat if she can carry away a valuable royal relic.
DM Tips
- Telegraph her presence with impossible bells, wet footprints that end at sealed doors, and drowned corpses arranged in kneeling rows before the encounter begins.
- Play the queen as formal, patient, and utterly certain that every living creature is merely an unannounced subject; she never shouts unless issuing a command.
- Make the drowned courtiers visually distinct by giving each a recognizable former identity, such as a drowned knight, bride, judge, or child carrying a rusted ceremonial object.
- For a weaker party, reduce the queen to 180 hit points and allow only two courtiers at a time; for a stronger party, let Raise the Sunken Court cost 1 legendary action and increase each courtier's hit points to 30.
Loot
- Coral Crown of Namarra — The queen's crown can be cut free only after her destruction. Once per long rest, its bearer can cast control water, but each use causes the bearer to hear the queen's voice issuing a new command.
- Scepter of the Ninth Tide — A black coral scepter tipped with a pearl containing a trapped bubble of seawater. It bears the royal seal of Namarra and proves the identity of anyone claiming the lost kingdom's throne.
- The Last Guest List — A waterproof roll naming hundreds of drowned nobles, along with several names belonging to people who are still alive. The list points toward hidden heirs, forgotten crimes, and the queen's next intended subjects.
