Queen Zalkore

## Overview

### Family

King Daemon (husband, deceased), Prince Viserys Al-Gharib (son, deceased), Princess Visenya Al-Gharib (daughter, deceased), Queen Maxima Al-Gharib (descendant)

### Affiliations

Chult, Thiru-Taya, Al-Gharib royal family

**Queen Zalkore Al-Gharib** was the last reigning queen of Chult who ruled more than two centuries ago. She was born and raised in Chult's capital city of Omu. Zalkore was renowned for her beauty. As a princess, she tended to ignore the historical and legal studies she was expected to master prior to ascending to the throne. She preferred the social affairs of the monarchy.

When she was just a girl, she was promised to Daemon, son of the Lord of Mbala. The two married on her 18th birthday. Chultan law dictated that only the first born (or surviving closest relative) would reign over the country. Their spouse would serve mostly as a figure head and in an advisory capacity. The person who marries into the royal bloodline always takes the royal family name as well.

## Reign

Queen Zalkore wasn't very attentive to the country's affairs. She let her small council handle the day to day tasks. When crises or the need for true leadership would arise, she relied heavily on her Hand to the Queen and King Daemon. She was quite popular with Chult's elite due to her extravagant parties. This often came at the cost of her people's approval and expense.

## Family

While her marriage to King Daemon was strictly political, the two relied on one another. King Daemon had the knowledge and expertise for ruling. And Queen Zalkore provided him the avenues to power he desperately craved. The couple had two children. Viserys was their oldest and the last prince of Chult. He would later be the only surviving member of his family and went on to continue the family line. This makes Queen Maxima a direct descendant of Prince Viserys and Queen Zalkore. Visenya was their youngest child and the last princess of Chult (until Maxima made her existence known to the world).

While Daemon was the legal father of Viserys and Visenya, he was not their biological father. Queen Zalkore had a long running affair with her honor guard, Thiru-Taya. He was the true father of the prince and princess.

## The End of an Era

Queen Zalkore saw her beauty fade with age. Her insecurity drove her to seek out eternal youth and life. This led her to the Yuan-Ti in the Hisari region of Chult. It was well known the Yuan-Ti coveted the capital city of Omu. Queen Zalkore offered them residence in the city in exchange for life everlasting. The Yuan-Ti gave her immortality by turning her into a gorgon.

Thiru-Taya sought revenge against the Yuan-Ti and cursed their homeland of Hisari, banishing them from it and the curse still prevents them from returning to this day.

King Daemon turned Queen Zalkore's small council against her after this and banished her to the royal gardens of Nangalore. Before sending her away, Daemon convinced Zalkore Thiru-Taya was behind the plot. Thiru-Taya tried to fight against this coup but lost his life fighting for his love. King Daemon's archmage then bound Thiru-Taya's soul to an urn and sent it to Nangalore as well.

Queen Zalkore's exile was the beginning of the end for the kingdom of Chult. King Daemon proved to be a feckless leader. Omu suffered from plagues, a famine, and crime. It's believed Ubtao, the god Chultan worshipped, abandoned the island at this time.

The Nine Trickster gods (lesser deities who weren't truly gods) came to Omu. The city divided itself into these nine competing religious factions. This caused open holy war in the streets of the capital city. King Daemon fled the city and left it to the gods. The followers of the gods capture princess Visenya while she and her brother, Viserys, tried to escape. The strife they caused decimated the city's population. This amount of death and chaos attracted an archlich named Acererak, who travels the multiverse to learn magical secrets and to feed his phylactery. Acererak killed the gods and had the Tomb of Annihilation built to house them by an Omuan engineer. Acererak was so impressed by the Tomb that turned the engineer into an undead humanoid so he could always maintain the tomb. He christened the engineer Withers.

King Daemon returned to broker peace with Acererak. The archlich wasn't interested and killed Daemon, trapping him in the Tomb as a mummy. He also trapped Princess Visenya's soul in it as well. He then departed to continue traveling the multiverse and Omu was lost to time. The rest of Chult's city-states would become independent and fall one by one.

## As a Gorgon

Queen Zalkore remained in Nangalore for the rest of her life. The isolation drove her to madness. However, Thiru-Taya's spirit was there for her. She met the Strangers With Weapons when they went to the gardens in search of a magic orchid under then Princess Maxima's orders. She was confused and quick to anger. Thiru-Taya's spirt was able to make peace between them. Maxima and Ashaara sent Aarakocra soldiers to protect Zalkore from outsiders - and outsiders from her.

Zalkore would later die during the Merchant Prince insurrection. The Yuan-Ti allied with the new Merchant Princes who rose up to dethrone Queen Maxima in Port Nyanzaru. Yuan-Ti forces destroyed Nangalore, captured Thiru-Taya's spirit to use as a weapon against AWW, and beheaded Zalkore.

## Titles

* Princess of Chult (formerly)
* Queen of Chult (formerly)