Queen Nekros

**Queen Nekros** was once Queen Penelope Heliodson of Theros. She was the mother of King Demetrius Heliodson and sister of Prince Varik Heliodson. It's widely believed she died from a plague that swept through House Heliodson, however, she was murdered by her brother. Prince Varik poisoned the Therosian royal family and killed all the members of his house except himself and Demetrius.

After she died, Penelope's soul went to the Underworld. She spent nearly a decade recruiting an army of souls who agreed to follow her and escape the Underworld together. She led them on the Path of Phaenax and made it back to the realm of the living. However, she and her new army didn't realize Erebos cursed the gates to the Underworld. Whoever escapes are turned into undead beings known as The Returned. These humanoids exist in the twilight between life and death. They still have their intellect but none of the memories from their mortal lives. Their hope and love for life have become twisted into jealousy and hatred.

Penelope was like any other Returned - lost and wandering. Lunasa bestowed Penelope with shadow magic that made her much more powerful and dangerous than any other Returned. This made her the natural choice to lead the Returned as their queen and become a mother again by creating more undead beings. The moon goddess also did it as a way to spite her rival Heliod, the sun god, and to punish the ancestors of Queen Photia. Lunasa freely admits she didn't anticipate how powerful Penelope would become or that she'd use her shadow magic to destroy Theros.

At her command, Returned soldiers attacked King Demetrius' coronation. She led a squad into the ancient Heliodson Temple of the Sun. She raised the Heliodson family members in the temple's crypt as zombies. When confronted by the heroes of Setessa, she told them, "You can be killed mercifully and join me and my children...or you can be killed brutally and join me and my children." After the heroes defeated her Returned soldiers, she covered herself and her newly acquired zombies in shadow and teleported away.

The undead queen was seen at the battle of the Field of Pyra. When her side was losing, she raised a dead giant as a zombie. King Demetrius tried to hold the monster off as his side retreated. However, after Barb made him lose his concentration, the giant broke through his fire dome. The flaming shockwave decimated both sides of the war.

Unfortunately for the living, the fiery blast didn't kill Queen Nekros nor enough of her forces to end the war. When the party infiltrated a Returned base run by Leonvari Boneclaw and Umbra Lee, they discovered she had generals investigating how to turn mortals into the Returned, plague creation, and the Vault of Kruphix. Leonvari and Umbra were looking into creating their own godkiller potion and Umbra discovered a way to create Returned children.

The Acolytes in Sexy Tights confronted Queen Nekros in her palace when they led the Army of the Living to Deuteros. She fought against them with a shadow dragon and zombified versions of Codnus Bearbody and Puke Wilson. Her dragon fell first and then she perished from a guilding bolt cast by Juxxtina. All the zombies she created died after her death. What remained of her Returned army surrendered after her defeat.

## Magical Prowess

Queen Nekros is a practitioner of shadow magic. She can create undead, become incorporeal and shadow-like, and teleport.

She's proven herself a capable teacher of the dark arts. She taught Pterax Caelum how to raise zombies.

## Titles

* Mother of the Returned
* Shadow Binder
* Queen of Theros (formerly, when alive)