The Returned have escaped the Underworld and dwell among the living once more, but their second lives are rarely what they expected—not that they remember what it was they expected. As a result of having followed the Path of Phenax (see chapter 4), the Returned lose their identities, which manifest as separate beings known as eidolons. The experience of escaping the Underworld also causes them to lose their faces, which become expressionless surfaces with empty eye sockets and gaping mouths. These blank surfaces they cover with distinctive golden masks.
Returned reenter the world blank and undead. No longer possessing the ability to form long-term memories, they generally can’t build meaningful relationships or establish new lives. Instead, most experience fleeting emotions and follow hollow routines, their existences reduced to shadow plays without weight or substance.
Returned Masks. Adventurers who defeat Returned foes might marvel at their fortune in claiming such rich spoils after a battle. The mask of a Returned is worth approximately 100 gp, based on its composition and craftsmanship. However, selling a Returned mask isn’t a simple matter of cashing it in for coin. Most people on Theros know the tales of the Returned and want nothing to do with such cursed relics or with those who try to traffic in them. Finding an unscrupulous merchant willing to trade for Returned masks is rare, as the items are effectively another sapient being’s face. Convincing a merchant to buy a Returned mask, or dealing with the ramifications of such a sale, might prove to be an adventure in itself.
Returned Nature. The Returned are undead. They need water and air but not food or sleep. They think and speak and even feel emotions based on their new experiences, but given their circumstances, those emotions tend to be muted
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