Cold Iron Sight. The queen can see cold iron weapons through clothing, foliage, solid stone, or other forms of cover. The items appear to her as glowing red beacons.
Fey Queen. The queen cannot be put to sleep by magical means. In addition, the queen has advantage on Charisma (Deception, Intimidation and Persuasion) checks when dealing with Fey.
Legendary Resistance (1/Day). If the queen fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
Speak with Beasts and Plants. The queen can communicate with Beasts and Plants as if they shared a language.
Unseelie Awareness. The queen magically knows the deepest fears and desires of any creature she meets.
Multiattack. The queen makes two Claws attacks, and she can use her Frightful Presence.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage. Instead of dealing damage, the queen can Grapple the target (escape DC 14). Until this grapple ends, the target is Restrained. The queen has four claws, each of which can grapple a target.
Debilitating Ray. Ranged Spell Attack: +9 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d10) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature other than a Beast, Fey, or Plant, the target must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or deal only half damage with weapon attacks that use Strength for 1 minute. The target can repeat its saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Compelling Whisper. The queen issues a magically powered whisper at a creature within 120 ft. of her that can hear her. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or have its alignment changed to Lawful Evil. Fey creatures have disadvantage on this saving throw. The target is also Charmed by the queen, and regards her as a trusted ally to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn't under the queen's control, it takes the queen's requests or actions in the most favorable way it can.
Each time the queen or her companions do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat its saving throw, ending the Charmed condition on itself on a success. Otherwise, the target is Charmed for the next 24 hours or until the queen is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a bonus action to end the effect. The change in alignment remains until reversed by a Remove Curse spell or similar magic.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the queen's choice that is within 120 ft. of her and away of her must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become Frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat its saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful, or the effect ends for it, that creature is immune to the queen's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Spellcasting. The queen casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17):
At Will: Detect Magic, Entangle, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation
3/Day: Darkness
2/Day Each: Bestow Curse, Sleep
1/Day Each: Animate Dead, Magic Circle, Major Image
Summon Ravens 1/Day. The queen summons a Swarm of Ravens that manifests in a space within 90 ft. of her. The swarm is an ally to the queen and her companions. In combat,. the swarm shares her initiative count, but takes its turn immediately after hers. It obeys her verbal commands (no action required by the queen). If she does not issue any, the swarm takes the Dodge action and moves to avoid danger. The swarm disperses after 16 hours.
Umbral Wings (Recharge 5-6). The queen whips her wings around her, spinning in a circle as umbral energy blasts from her wings. Each creature within 20 ft. of her must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) necrotic damage and becoming Blinded on a failure, or half as much damage only on a success.
Fey Negation. The queen targets one creature she can see within 60 ft. of her that is casting a spell. If the spell is an Illusion or Enchantment spell of 3rd level or lower, the spell fails, but any spell slots or charges are not wasted.
Fey Step (Recharge 5-6). After taking damage, the queen teleports, along with any equipment she is wearing or carrying, up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space she can see.
The unseelie queen can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature's turn. The unseelie queen regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.
Attack. The queen makes one Claws or Debilitating Ray attack.
Wing Attack (Costs 2 Actions). The queen beats her wings. Each creature within 5 ft. of her must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 11 (2d6+4) bludgeoning damage and be knocked Prone. The queen can then move up to half her flying speed.
Sylvan Absorption (Costs 3 Actions). The queen drains the life force from a Beast, Fey, or Plant creature that is her ally or Charmed by her. That creature loses 7 (2d6) hit points, and the queen regains a number of hit pointst equal to that amount. If the hit point loss reduces the target to 0 hit points, the queen instead regains 10 hit points regardless of the amount of hit points lost.
Description
Unseelie queens are rulers of mischievous and dark fey creatures. Unseelie queens have a deep and abiding hatred for most Humanoids, the queens having been hunted using cold iron and forced out of their natural realms by the ever-encroaching machine of industry and agriculture, their once tangled forests tamed and turned into pastures, farmland, or cities. Unseelie queens are known for stirring up trouble between Fey and Humanoids, capturing children, murdering travelers, bespoiling wells, and all other manner of malicious deeds meant to scare off or punish those encroaching on lands the Unseelie Court believes to be theirs.
Evil Foils. Unseelie queens reflect the dark aspects of nature and the fey - they are thought to be foil creatures to the more fun-loving and kindly fey, reveling in tormenting Humanoid creatures and spreading influence of the Fey far beyond their natural borders.
Long Reign. Unseelie queens natural lifespan is only guessed at, the oldest of them having been rumored to have been alive since the first thorn sprouted on a bramble. It is thought that unseelie queens can live and rule forever, unless they are slain.
Magically Compelling. Unseelie queens are capable of magically compelling other creatures to do their will, and a strange magic surrounding them slowly corrupts most Fey in regions they have claimed as their own, turning even the most kind-hearted fey into wicked creatures serving the will of their new queen.
Passed Power. Any fey creature can become an unseelie queen. When an unseelie queen ruling a certain area dies, another fey creature within the area is passed the power of the queen, slowly transforming into an unseelie queen with a desire to rule the region controlled by its predecessor. Usually, an unseelie queen has a successor selected in the event of her death, but if no successor has been selected, the power is passed to another fey in the region selected by an unseelie cabal. In many cases, the selected successor is a Hag or another evil fey.
Possessive. Unseelie queens are incredibly possessive of their subjects, lands they have claimed as their own, and trinkets or tithes offered to them by others. An unseelie queen attaches great significance to gifts she has received, and is loathe to part with them, usually recalling stories centuries old regarding the gift or offering in question. An unseelie queen is devastated by the loss of a follower, fey under her influence, or a Charmed Humanoid.
Unseelie Cabal. A grouping of seven unseelie queens is called a Cabal. A cabal is rarely formed, as most unseelie queens have very little to do with the territories or dealings of other unseelie queens. Cabals usually meet when an unseelie queen dies without a successor, the cabal coming together for the purpose of selecting a new creature to take her place. Cabals might also meet at the behest of a particularly powerful unseelie queen, uniting Unseelie kingdoms to wage war or defend their territories, though this is an incredibly rare occurance.
Lair and Lair Actions
An unseelie queen's lair is usually comprised of a set of ancient standing stones and a throne made of tangled wood or bones. Tangles of vines and thorns grow close together around the lair, creating a dark thicket of brambles in the deepest parts of the woods. Very little light reaches the floor of the forest, and the area is usually in a state of perpetual twilight.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Unseelie queen takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Unseelie queen can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Grasping weeds and vines sprout from the ground in a 20 ft. square within 90 ft. of the queen. The ground in that square is Difficult Terrain, and a creature in that area when the queen uses this action must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be Restrained by entangling plants. A creature restrained by the plants can use its action to make a DC 17 Strength check, freeing itself on a success.
- Standing stones in the unseelie queen's lair glow with energy. The queen chooses two creatures within her lair - if the creatures are the queen's allies or charmed by her, they swap places instantly, each teleporting to the other's current space. An unwilling creature must succeed on a DC 17 Charisma saving throw to resist this teleportation.
- The queen's throne animates as if under the Animate Objects spell. The throne is a Large Construct that has AC `10, 50 hit points, +6 to hit with melee attacks for the spell, and deals 13 (2d10+2) damage on a hit. The throne becomes inanimate at the start of the next initiative count 20. All damage the throne has taken remains and if the queen uses her action to animate the throne again, its hit points do not change.
Regional Effects
The region containing an unseelie queen’s lair is warped by the queen's magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Each Fey within 20 miles of the unseelie queen's lair must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw every 24 hours or have its alignment change to Lawful Evil. A creature affected in this way remains Lawful Evil until the unseelie queen dies, or the Remove Curse spell is cast on it.
- Clumps of grass and foliage within 10 miles of the unseelie queen's lair magically transform into Twig Blights, Needle Blights, Awakened Shrubs or Awakened Trees at random.
- Ravens within 50 miles of the unseelie queen's lair serve as her eyes and ears, reporting the comings and goings of creatures in the region. Ravens within this range also mimic messages sent by the unseelie queen.
If the Unseelie queen dies, ravens lose their supernatural link to her. Fey whose alignments have been altered revert to their original alignment instantly, and animated plants created by the queen's presence revert to normal clumps of foliage within 1d10 days.
Comments