Elemental Evil perverts the natural elements, limiting them to aspects of destruction. This force wants to gain the power to tear down everything—morals, social structures, governments, the laws of nature—and reduce existence to a more elemental state, tainted with conflict and madness. Elemental Evil uses mortal servants as a means to this end.These hateful principles take two primary forms in the world. The first is corruption. Elemental Evil tempts the broken, the wronged, and the wicked with the power to strike back. It represents the worm in the apple, a hidden corruption that grows stronger over time as the natural order decays. Secret cults spring up, institutions are debased, and the fundamental laws governing the seasons begin to weaken. As Elemental Evil grows stronger, its corruption grows into the second form: madness. Cultists sink into insanity, lashing out at everything around them or destroying themselves in elemental cataclysms. Ruin rules as the forces of nature become instruments of destruction. A world in which Elemental Evil triumphed would exist only as an everlasting war of raging elements.Elemental Evil appears in different worlds throughout the many ages. This sinister force—the Elder Elemental Eye—is well hidden in Faerun. Individuals remain susceptible to its call: those lured by the promise of power, those who know only hate in their hearts, those whose minds are broken and therefore open to insinuation and dark whispers. These are the servants of Elemental Evil, and they can cause immeasurable harm if they aren’t exposed and rooted out.Although destruction is the unifying principle of Elemental Evil, beings that serve this dark force don’t necessarily adhere to that goal. Only the most unbalanced minds seek destruction for its own sake. Instead, the servants of Elemental Evil seek power through the destructive might of one of the elements of air, earth, fire, or water. This is the origin of the four elemental cults that together compose the worship of Elemental Evil.The cults operate independently of each other. Each believes that its favored element is the most powerful and most worthy of worship. Rank-and-file members of the air cult sneer at the idea that anyone could see something worth worshiping in elemental earth, fire, or water. Members ot the other cults feel the same way about any cult but their own. Only the best-educated or most magically gifted members understand that a unifying principle underlies each elemental cult.Even then, they believe that their element should reign supreme.Despite these different goals and varying methods, the elemental cults are linked to each other by forces they don’t fully understand. From world to world and age to age, the cults of Elemental Evil have risen again and again. Each time, the cultists of elemental air, earth, fire, and water are joined to the same dark fate.Throughout the adventure, characters have ample opportunity to see the symbol associated with each of the four cults. They could figure out how the four symbols connect to form a fifth symbol: that of the Elder Elemental Eye.CULT OF THE BLACK EARTHThe earth cult worships the implacable strength and unyielding resistance of elemental earth. Cultists seek the power to destroy the works of civilization with landslides, sinkholes, or mighty earthquakes, thus demonstrating the true power of elemental earth and the futility of resistance. Earth cultists see mines, quarries, and tilled fields as insults imposed upon the living rock and soil. They believe the earth thirsts for the blood of those who don’t venerate it before all other powers and beings.The Cult of the Black Earth appeals to those who draw their fortunes from the earth—directly or indirectly. In areas where the influence of Elemental Evil takes hold, animals and monsters that live or burrow in the ground accept the cultists as allies. Creatures such as ankhegs or bulettes, normally too stupid and ravenous to be trained, submit to the will of the Black Earth. The monsters allow themselves to be herded or ridden into battle against the enemies of the cult.The Sign of the Black Earth. The symbol of the earth cult signifies purpose and stability. Cultists sometimes identify themselves with a hand gesture: they make a triangle by touching the thumbs and forefingers of both hands together.TACTICS AND PHILOSOPHYThe Black Earth cult is the most defense-minded and patient of the four elemental cults. Earth cultists admire stoicism, endurance, and unyielding resolve. They are deliberate and slow to act, careful to consider their plans and gather their strength before beginning any new enterprise. Once earth cultists resolve to act, they are inflexible, grinding their way forward through any obstacle or unforeseen development. They are single¬minded in the extreme, and most earth cultists have little use for social niceties. They see common courtesy as a way for the weak to put limits on the behavior of the strong, and they scorn empathy or friendship as weakness.In battle, Black Earth cultists are brutal and straightforward. They overpower foes with direct assaults, although if they have the opportunity to undermine defenses or attack from below, they unhesitatingly put their skill at tunneling and mastery of burrowing monsters to good use. They are unflinching in the face of death. Surrender is never an option.Earth cultists live and work underground. They craft weapons from stone or iron and “bathe” themselves in sand or dirt to feel close to their favored element. Black Earth initiates know the secret of creating armor from magically shaped stone, and even their robes include stone pauldrons or masks.PROPHET OF EARTHA medusa named Marios Urnrayle leads the Black Earth cult. He wields the elemental weapon Ironfang, a war pick infused with the power of Ogremoch, the Prince of Evil Earth. Marios is vain and cruel, an extreme narcissist who delights in surrounding himself with objects of beauty and luxurious comforts. Beneath this sneering self-assurance lies a bitter being who loathes himself and holds everyone around him in contempt.Marios began life as a human aristocrat, born into a wealthy Cormyrean family. He squandered his family’s wealth on endless self-indulgence, seeking more questionable forms of entertainment through the years. The Urnrayle estate became known as a place of outrageous masquerades, bizarre banquets, and grotesque orgies. Marios required his guests to don ugly or monstrous masks, thus ensuring that no one’s beauty would outshine his own.As he aged, Marios turned to magic to preserve his fading beauty. After searching for years, he found a ring that contained the stolen vitality of a lovely fey creature. As long as he wore the ring, his imperfections vanished and no one could resist his physical charms—until the day the ring transformed Marios into a medusa.The horror of his fate drove Marios mad. He fled his ancestral home, taking his collection of masks with him.After years of wandering and hiding in one ruined estate or another across the Western Heartlands,Marios felt drawn to the desolate Sumber Hills by troubling dreams and visions. A long stairway beneath a ruined monastery brought him to an ancient cavern with a hideous altar, upon which lay a war pick of iron. When the medusa claimed Ironfang, his purpose finally became clear to him. He established his lair in the dungeon nearby and began building the Cult of the Black Earth.Traits. Unlike many of his followers, Marios is genteel and well-spoken. He delights in witty banter and pointed repartee, although he is quick to make a cutting remark or jest at someone else’s expense. Marios takes pleasure in mocking others, especially if he can do so in a clever or elegant way. Marlos’s previous life had been a constant search for pleasure, but the only thing that now stirs his loveless soul is refined cruelty. He can be driven to fits of blind, unreasoning jealousy if he is outshone by another urbane and attractive individual.ENEMIES AND ALLIESThe Black Earth cultists are highly suspicious of the Cult of Howling Hatred. They believe that the air cultists are mercurial, unreliable, and generally out of touch with reality. The earth cultists respect the strength and ferocity of the Eternal Flame followers, but also find them maddeningly inconstant. Black Earth cultists ally most often with the Crushing Wave, since they admire the patience and pragmatism of the water cultists.CULT OF THE CRUSHING WAVECultists of the Crushing Wave worship the awesome power of water, from the surging tides and deadly maelstroms of the sea to the raging torrents of rivers in flood and the rock-crushing power of ice and glaciers. Crushing Wave cultists see all living creatures as nothing more than trapped water that could one day be free to return to the seas or skies in a new form. The seas and deep waters are eager to reclaim the parts of themselves currently held in the blood and bodies of living creatures, and it is the duty of Crushing Wave initiates to return nonbelievers to the primal waters by drowning them or shedding their blood.The Crushing Wave cult appeals to those who live in or near bodies of water, as well as to those who appreciate subtlety and inevitability. Wicked sea creatures such as aquatic ghouls and merrows are friendly toward water cultists. Even non-sentient predators such as sharks or octopuses understand that water cultists are allies to be aided or masters to be obeyed.The Sign of the Crushing Wave. Water cultists use a simple hand sign to identify one another when a token of recognition is required: crossing the forefingers and overlapping the thumbs to create an X-shape linked by a line across the bottom. It stands for water’s eternal surge and retreat, a cycle of unending change.TACTICS AND PHILOSOPHYCrushing Wave cultists are almost as patient and stoic as the followers of the earth cult. They understand the value of outlasting formidable foes and slowly eroding their defenses. However, they are far more flexible and opportunistic in their overall philosophy than the earth cultists are. Like a flood that seeks the weak point in a levee and then bursts through with ever-growing strength, water cultists are quick to sense an opening and then act to exploit it. This philosophy of pragmatism and opportunism means that the Crushing Wave is the most mercenary of the four elemental cults. Water cultists eagerly seek out rich prizes and use their ill- gotten loot to develop their schemes.In combat, Crushing Wave cultists excel as skirmishers. They value mobility and opportunism, rarely making a stand in one place for long. Instead, they feign retreats, regroup, and launch new attacks, wearing down their foes like storm-driven waves eating away at a sandy beach. Almost all water cultists are excellent swimmers skilled at fighting in water, so they look for opportunities to surprise their enemies by using bodies of water to slip around or through defenses.Because the cultists see water as the wellspring of all life and purpose, they spend as much time in or around it as possible. Many cult hideouts are located near large bodies of water, and those that aren’t feature hidden pools or wells in which cult members can immerse themselves. Water cultists prize water-breathing magic and seek it out for no other reason than to spend hours meditating underwater. Few cultists gain any profound insights from these exercises.PROPHET OF WATERThe former sailor Gar Shatterkeel leads the Crushing Wave cult. He wields the elemental weapon Drown, a trident imbued with the essence of Olhydra, Princess of Evil Water. Gar is a sullen man who says little, letting his actions speak for him. He believes he has been wronged by the world and hates all people except those as broken and unfortunate as himself. Gar also despises weakness in others.Gar was born in a poor fishing village in the Nelanther Isles. At a young age, he lost his family to a sahuagin attack. The sea devils slaughtered almost everyone he knew. A Tethyrian merchant galley conscripted the young orphan into service, and Gar was forced into a brutal indentured servitude that was barely better than being enslaved. His unwilling service came to an end when pirates attacked the merchant ship. During the fighting, Gar was knocked overboard. For days he survived by clinging to the ship’s wreckage, until a shark ripped off his left arm. Death seemed imminent, but a powerful current arose and bore him away from the hungry predator. Within an hour he was cast upon the shores of the Sword Coast.Gar believed that the current that had saved his life was an elemental sent by the sea. From that day forward, he devoted himself to the ocean, teaching himself its secrets and learning powerful water magic over years of lonely wandering. He despised all other people, remembering only his harsh treatment by the merchant crew and the brutality of the pirates. But in time he became aware of a call to a higher purpose, impelling him to find other examples of human flotsam and teach them about the power of the sea.Gar’s visions led him to the secret waters beneath the Sumber Hills. He found a hidden cavern temple, on whose altar lay a powerful magical trident. Sensing its power, Gar took up the weapon and began to call his cult to join him in the Temple of the Crushing Wave.Traits. Gar is covered in barnacles, and he wears an artificial arm in the shape of a crab’s claw over the stump of his left arm. He never uses two words when one will do, and he believes that anyone addressing him with courtesy is either insincere or subtly mocking him. The water prophet’s primary motivation is retribution; the world has been cruel to him, and he intends to make everyone else suffer as he has. He longs to be near the ocean again and is distressed by the fact that the driving force behind his visions keeps him so far from the sea.ENEMIES AND ALLIESThe followers of the Crushing Wave detest the Cult of the Eternal Flame. They find the fire cultists to be hostile, short-tempered, and unforgivably rash. The Howling Hatred cultists aren’t as hostile, but they are likewise given to sudden impulses and are unreliable. The water cultists get along with the Cult of the Black Earth. The earth cultists are deliberate and dependable, if perhaps too inflexible for their own good.CULT OF THE ETERNAL FLAMEThe followers of the Eternal Flame cult worship the destructive power of fire in all its manifestations. They seek the power to burn away the “corruption” of both civilization and nature with volcanic eruptions, forest fires, heat waves, and droughts, creating a wasteland of ash and cinders ruled by fire alone. Eternal Flame cultists believe the world and all its peoples are wicked and malformed, and they consider it a sacred duty to “purify” everything around them by reducing their surroundings to smoking cinders.The Eternal Flame appeals to those drawn to destruction for its own sake. Creatures of elemental fire are most likely to take up this reckless philosophy; even non-intelligent fire monsters sense the reckless lust for destruction lurking in the hearts of fire cultists and consider Eternal Flame believers to be their allies.The Sign of the Eternal Flame. The symbol of the fire cult is reminiscent of a bowl-like brazier with a burning flame. Fire cultists sometimes identify themselves with a symbolic hand sign: holding one hand in a fist, thumb up, and laying the other hand over the fist as if to cover the bowl but allow the flame to show. Members of the cult can also be identified by their burn scars.TACTICS AND PHILOSOPHYFire cultists are impetuous, hot-tempered, and violent. They aren’t mindless savages; their impetuousness also encompasses fiendish inventiveness and a drive to devise new tools for their mad cause. They are masters of fire and forge, taking captives to work in their infernal foundries. Fire cultists see conquest and enslavement of the weak as necessary steps in bringing about the chaos they intend to unleash on the world.In battle, fire cultists launch sudden, overwhelming assaults. They throw themselves into reckless attacks with no regard for their own lives, seeking to cause as much damage as possible before falling. They are fearless and would rather die fighting among a mob of enemies than retreat a single step.Followers of the Eternal Flame cult surround themselves with the largest fires they can create. Their favorite tactic involves using magic to open volcanic fissures or vents and channel flows of molten rock. Widespread arson and deliberately set forest fires are acceptable alternatives. Most fire cultists believe that something important and beautiful should be set on fire every day, or else they’re just not doing their part. FIRE PROPHETThrough all-consuming ambition and a desire to punish all who ever thwarted her dreams, the tiefling Vanifer has risen to leadership of the Eternal Flame cult. Beneath her refined exterior is a steel edge of scorned pride. And underneath her hard pride lies a desire for murder and mayhem. Vanifer harbors a fierce hatred for all who think themselves superior to her, and she stops at nothing to make them see her as a figure to be feared and respected.Vanifer was born and raised in the crushing poverty of Calimport’s poorest quarters, armed with only her cunning intelligence. In her youth, she learned to dance for coin and slowly worked her way up from the wine sinks of the laborers’ districts to the elegant chambers of the city’s nobles. She mastered minor fire magic to distinguish herself from other dancers and incorporated flame into her routine. Her talents grew, and soon she caught the eye of a pasha and became his concubine.But even as she enjoyed the gifts he lavished on her, Vanifer hated the pasha for seeing her as a mere trophy. She left before long, robbing the pasha of a small fortune in jewelry and setting fire to his palace.Vanifer fled to Zazesspur, but her former master’s agents soon found her. She fled again to Baldur’s Gate, taking up residence in the poor neighborhood known as Little Calimshan. There she opened a school of dance and discovered that her gift for fire attracted other sorts of students. She became the leader of a cult of fire worshipers. There she remained until a few months ago, when dreams and visions impelled her to seek out a lost dungeon in the North. On the altar of a forgotten temple she found the dagger Tinderstrike, imbued with the power of Imix, the Prince of Evil Fire. Armed with this powerful weapon, Vanifer resolved to establish a new chapter of her cult beneath the Sumber Hills.Traits. Vanifer is an extraordinary manipulator. She collects allies and followers with her wiles, using them as she needs and discarding them the moment they lose their usefulness. It’s a testament to her natural talent that many of her victims are pathetically eager to bask in the glow of her attention again if she discovers she needs something else from them. While Vanifer puts on the airs of a rich noble, she despises those raised with great wealth, and her sensibilities favor the coarse. Vanifer is ambitious above all else, and as undisputed master of the fire cult, she intends to make the Eternal Flame the strongest and most feared cult of all.ENEMIES AND ALLIESEternal Flame cultists detest the followers of the Crushing Wave. They see the water cultists as slippery and untrustworthy, perhaps even cowardly—after all, the Crushing Wave retreats quickly from opposition and seeks the path of least resistance before committing its strength. The earth cultists are stolid and courageous, but maddeningly slow to act. The cultists of the Howling Hatred share the fire cult’s impulse to act swiftly and show many of the same qualities of inventiveness and creativity in the service of Elemental Evil. CULT OF THE HOWLING HATREDThe followers of elemental air call themselves the Cult of the Howling Hatred. They worship the destructive power of wind and storms, believing that those who venerate elemental air gain the power to punish those who have wronged them. More so than the members of the other cults, air cultists see their beliefs as a means to an end. Destruction for its own sake isn’t particularly interesting, but destruction as an expression of personal freedom or to earn things wrongfully denied? That’s a different story.The Cult of the Howling Hatred appeals to those who deal in perceptions over facts: illusionists, spies, and assassins, for example. Predatory or fierce winged creatures of any kind, even non-sentient monsters that would otherwise resist training, perceive the air cultists as allies and cooperate with them. Hippogriffs, griffons, and giant vultures are frequently used as air cult steeds.The Sign of the Howling Hatred. The symbol of elemental air is an inverted triangle with three branching lines above it. Some believe it stands for the funnel cloud of a tornado, while others see it as the superiority of winged creatures over the ground. Some maintain it is an ancient rune that stands for the elemental lord Yan-C-Bin. Whatever their interpretations, the air cultists use the symbol as a secret password of sorts. By touching the thumbs and little fingers together and closing the rest of the fingers into a fist, an air cultist forms an inverted triangle that is a mark of membership in the cult.TACTICS AND PHILOSOPHY Howling Hatred cultists are clever, impulsive, and creative. They usually see themselves as smarter, quicker, and more capable than others they meet. Howling Hatred cultists dislike open battle. They prefer to work in secret, using stealth and illusion to gain their ends with a minimum of force. Tactics of deception and ambush provide the air cultists with opportunities to prove themselves smarter and more resourceful than their opponents. The wind doesn’t blow down a castle, but flows around and through it. Infiltration and indirect attack are clearly superior tactics.Air cultists seek out high places for their strongholds wherever possible, although they value subterranean spaces with wide chasms or lofty vaults. Places where flying is possible are mandatory. The followers of the Howling Hatred understand that sometimes they must put secrecy above other considerations.PROPHET OF AIRThe moon elf Aerisi Kalinoth leads the Cult of the Howling Hatred. Tall and slender, with illusory wings that gently fan the air, Aerisi speaks to her people in a whisper that sounds clearly in the ears of all in her presence. Aerisi regards her followers not as cultists, but as her noble subjects. Before them she is prophet and queen. Musicians and courtiers amuse and flatter her, and warriors mounted on hippogriffs serve as her knights. Aerisi grew up in an enchanted castle in a remote part of Faerie, surrounded by tales, histories, and tomes of magic. She passed her early years playing games, practicing enchantments, and imagining herself as one of the avariel (winged elves) from her storybooks. Her parents sheltered her from the conflicts of Faerun, and she came of age with a tender and fragile disposition.Eventually her parents decided it was time for their daughter to engage in elven society, and they brought her to the hidden city of Evereska. Her parents then realized their grave mistake. In pampering and sheltering their daughter, they had raised not a young lady but a spoiled child. Accustomed to having all she desired, the princess erupted into tantrums whenever she was denied her slightest whim, and the moon elves of Evereska could hardly endure her.Aerisi felt powerless among the moon elves. Although she had become a skilled enchanter in Faerie, her people were resistant to such charms. In her dreams she began to envision herself as one of the winged elves from her storybooks. She wished to control the wind and go wherever she liked, and to punish those who offended her. The childlike fantasies of her youth became dark visions where she ruled the storms and the air itself. She dreamed of an old mystic with brown skin and white hair, who promised to teach her all she desired to know—a vision of Yan-C-Bin, the Prince of Evil Air. Aerisi turned her study to elemental air, learning the secret of flight and escaping Evereska to follow the deluded visions of her dreams.Aerisi’s visions led her to a strange altar in a cavern beneath the Sumber Hills, where she acquired the spear Windvane. Driven by Yan-C-Bin, she dubbed herself a queen and set out to find followers to rule. Her enchantments helped fill the ranks of the Cult of the Howling Hatred with initiates hopelessly devoted to her.Traits. No one can deny Aerisi’s grace, but she also possesses a violent temper that reveals itself whenever she is denied what she wants. Aerisi is prone to flights of fancy and impulsive decadence. She doesn’t see herself as evil because she lacks the capacity to empathize with anyone else. Those who worship and please her are good, and those who defy her are wicked and must be punished. Her wish to lash the world with storms and destruction is, at its root, a temper tantrum against the elven society that dared to impose its strictures on her.ENEMIES AND ALLIESThe cultists of the Howling Hatred find the Black Earth cultists to be coarse, rude, unimaginative, and stubborn to the point of stupidity. Most offensively, the earth cultists are bluntly unimpressed by the Howling Hatred cult and its achievements. Followers of the Crushing Wave are more flexible and inventive, but they are crass mercenaries and likewise too pragmatic to appreciate the finer points of the air cult’s philosophy. The Eternal Flame is the best of the lot, since the fire cultists share the decisiveness and creative energy of the Howling Hatred cult, even if they are overly proud and aggressive.
