Animal Lord, Queen of Cats

Family: Animal Lords

The taller-than-average woman steps out of the shadows, her gown whispering. Her head is that of a sleek, black cat with gleaming, green eyes. The nails on her fingers and toes are long, curved, and sharp.

Large fey (shapechanger), chaotic good

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 195 (23d10 + 69)
Speed 50 ft., climb 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
15 (+2)	22 (+6)	17 (+3)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	21 (+5)

Saving Throws Strength +7, Constitution +8, Wisdom +9
Skills Acrobatics +16, Deception +10, Perception +9, Stealth +11
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities radiant
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, poisoned, stunned
Senses truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 15 (13,000 XP)

Special Traits

• Cat Passivism. No cats or weretigers can willingly attack the Queen of Cats. They can be forced to do so through magical means.
• Keen Smell. The Queen of Cats has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
• Legendary Resistance (3/day). If the Queen of Cats fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
• Magic Resistance. The Queen of Cats has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
• Magic Weapons. The Queen of Cats’ weapon attacks are magical.
• Pounce. If the Queen of Cats moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 19 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
• Rejuvenation. If she dies, the Queen of Cats’ soul reforms on the Astral Plane. In 1d6 days, it inhabits the body of another cat on the Material Plane which becomes the Queen of Cats with all of the hp and abilities thereof. Only killing every cat on the Material Plane will prevent this trait from functioning.
• Safe Fall. When she falls, the Queen of Cats lands on her feet and takes no damage.
• Shapechanger. The Queen of Cats can use her action to polymorph into a Medium human woman, a Small cat, or back into her true Large, cat-headed humanoid form. Her statistics, other than her size, are the same in each form with the exception that only her cat and true forms retain her climbing speed. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying transforms with her.
• Speak with Felines. The Queen of Cats can communicate with cats as if they shared a language.
• Innate Spellcasting. The Queen of Cats’ spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 19). The Queen can innately cast the following spells, requiring only verbal components:
  • At will: dispel magic, invisibility (self only)
  • 3/day each: counterspell, pass without trace
  • 1/day: maze

Actions

• Multiattack. In human form, the Queen of Cats makes two moon strike attacks. In cat form or her true form, she makes three attacks: two with her claws or moon strike and one with her bite.
• Bite (Cat or True Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) piercing damage.
• Claw (Cat or True Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) radiant damage.
• Moon Strike. Ranged Spell Attack: +10 to hit, range 90 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d10) radiant damage. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw or shed dim light in a 5-foot radius until the start of the Queen’s next turn. As long as it glows, the target gains no benefit from being invisible, can’t hide, and the next attack made against the target has advantage.

Legendary Actions

The Queen of Cats 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 Queen of Cats regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.

• Leap. The Queen of Cats moves up to her speed, jumping or climbing over obstacles in the way. Difficult terrain caused by urban or forested terrain features doesn’t cost her extra movement when she leaps.
• Swipe (Cat or True Form Only). The Queen of Cats makes a claw attack.
• Scurry (Costs 2 Actions). The Queen of Cats moves up to her speed and can Hide.

The Queen of Cats’ Lair

The Queen of Cats lives in a luxurious extra dimensional palace. The entrance to the palace is difficult to find, often hidden in alleys, sewer entrances, or normally-empty alcoves between buildings. The only constant is the doorway is always in a city. The palace itself is full of carpets and soft furniture, cushions, and many potted plants. The air smells of fragrant herbs, particularly catnip, and incense. Small platforms, steps, and walkways make the entire palace an inquisitive cat’s paradise, and all the décor features tassels and other dangling adornments.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Queen of Cats takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; she can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• The Queen of Cats sounds a growling cry. She summons 4 tigers or 8 panthers in unoccupied spaces she can see. The creatures act immediately and on initiative count 20 in subsequent rounds. The creatures follow the Queen’s commands and remain for 1 hour or until the Queen uses this lair action again.
• The Queen of Cats creates an area of magical darkness in a 20-foot-radius centered on a point she can see within 120 feet. This action works like the darkness spell except it dispels light created by a 4th level or lower spell if it overlaps an area of such light. The darkness lasts until the Queen of Cats dies, or until she uses this lair action again.
• The Queen of Cats creates a magical beam of moonlight in a 15-foot-radius, 30-foot-high cylinder centered on a point she can see within 120 feet. Each creature in the area becomes vulnerable to radiant damage until initiative count 20 on the following round.

Regional Effects

The region containing the Queen of Cats’ lair is warped by her magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:

• The area within 1 mile of the lair attracts hundreds of stray cats. The Queen of Cats can choose to see or hear through the senses of any cat in this area and can speak through it while doing so.
• Shadows grow deeper within 1 mile of the lair. Dexterity (Stealth) checks have advantage within that area. The Queen of Cats can suppress this effect in any area she can see (this doesn’t require an action).
• Within 1 mile of the lair at night, no matter the weather, there is always a clear patch in the sky that reveals the moon. During any moon phase other than a new moon or lunar eclipse, this area is dimly lit by moonlight. If the Queen of Cats dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.

About

The Queen of Cats, also referred to as the Shadow Guardian, and Herald of the Moon moves, often unseen, in all walks of mortal and fey life. Her true form is that of a statuesque woman nearly 10 feet tall with the head of a black cat. She prefers to move about at night under the moon. Her wanderings take her to places where danger and unsuspecting people are likely to cross paths, and her curious nature often leads her in unexpected directions.

She carries the radiance and purity of moonlight into the dark, wielding it as a weapon as keen as her claws against her foes.

Protector in the Dark. Those who strike out in search of adventure learn quickly that the shadows and crevices of the world hide many dangers. Most people have no defense against the worst things that prowl the darkness, the things that slip into the world from the places beyond. The Queen of Cats and her followers stand in opposition to those dark influences. Through the ages, her midnight prowling in cat form, and subsequent battles with creatures from the outer darkness, have given rise to the folk tales of cats protecting their owners from evil spirits.

Diplomat and Spy. The Queen of Cats saunters through the world slipping from one stratum of society to another with grace and ease. Either as an unassuming black cat in back alleys or a woman of bearing regal enough to blend seamlessly in imperial courts, she finds forces of corruption and darkness wherever they lurk. Befitting her fluid mobility through nearly any population, she often carries word from deities or powerful beings tied to the moon. Rumor holds that she is a confidant, or possibly a lover, of the the Moonlit King. The Queen of Cats is one of the few creatures who can slip through the twisted mazes surrounding his home. If his worsening madness is any concern to her, she doesn’t show it.