The Shrines of Athas (EAFW)

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Presented here are some of the better known shrines of the elements and paraelementals. Each of these is served by a cleric or other guardian, but not all of those found on Athas are occupied. Shrines are relatively rare, but almost any settlement or tribe should know the location of at least one, whether or not they understand its purpose. 
==Gunginwald, a Shrine of Earth==
In the middle of the Ringing Mountains, in that stony, rugged district just north of Tyr, lies a shrine of the earth elementals. Those who travel over the mountains have often found it a safe refuge from the beasts that lurk in those craggy peaks, and the guardian who lives at the shrine seems content to provide defense for all those in need.
The guardian's name is Horth Araxis, an earth cleric whose wandering days have come to an end. He can still scale mountains, but long journeys tire him, and have for years. A fit man, his years are betrayed by the dirty wrinkles of his face and the graying of his beard. His eyes are black and beady, and his skin is the color of desert sand. A brown robe covers the tough mekillot armor that has served him well over the years. His weapon is a large maul topped by a hammer like stone of obsidian.
===The Shrine===
The shrine sits just off a little side trail in the mountains north of Tyr. A Wisdom check must be made to spot the narrow entrance. Beasts of burden and large beings may not fit through the entrance.
# Menhirs: Four great menhirs border the circular niche in the walls of the cliff. They are unornamented, but characters should get the feeling that they are being watched. If Horth is attacked, the menhirs will turn into four giant, stone golems.
# The Shrine: The shrine itself is the area bordered by the menhirs. The ground is soft and extremely fertile, and always covered with the greenest grass most travellers have ever seen.
# The Waterfall: A constant stream of fresh, pure water slides down from the cliff face and over the edge. Canteens and water skins may be filled here, but larger containers cannot fit through the slim, recessed entrance.
# Horth's Cave: This cave is Horth's home. There is little here except a bed of soft clay, some pottery, and a few trinkets of gold, silver, and gemstones lying about. The precious metals are worth anywhere from 1-100 sp, and Horth might trade these to a party for something he finds useful or entertaining.
 Horth Araxis
Male Human, Earth Priest 	Male Human, Earth Priest
12th Level 	12th Level
Neutral Good 	Neutral Good
Str 16 	Int 14
Dex 14 	Wis 18
Con 18 	Cha 16
HP: 49 	HP: 49
AC: 6 (Mekillot Hide) 	AC: 6 (Mekillot Hide)
#AT: 1 	#AT: 1
MV:12 	MV:12
THAC0: 14 	THAC0: 14
Dmg: 1d8+3 (+2 Stone Maul)	Dmg: 1d8+3 (+2 Stone Maul)
The earth shrine was prepared by another long before Horth was born. Nevertheless, he has found his home here. Horth listens for cries for help, and investigates them immediately. Unless those in trouble are blatantly evil or are defilers, he dashes to the rescue. Afterwards, he'll heal their wounds and invite the travellers to his cave for food and water, and to tell them long, exciting stories about the wonderful powers of earth.
If he is attacked, Horth can activate four menhir/golems that were presented to him by an old preserver-friend, these he will use in a fight to the death.
==Ahpotex, a Shrine of Air==
Located west of the Lake of Golden Dreams in a valley of the Ringing Mountains is Ahpotex, a shrine of the spirits
of the wind. Ahpotex is a strange place, for a tribe of people live within several yards of the place, and they protect and are protected by the shrine's guardian, Alicious Strax. Alicious is a beautiful, young elven woman, about 100 years in age. She can frequently be seen soaring in a cliff glider among the rocky peaks of the valley with the Ahpotexans, the tribe that gave her shrine its name.
===The Shrine===
# The Village: Some of the people live in the natural caves that spot the cliff face. Others have carried wood and other building materials from the plains below to make sturdy apartments. One large building is situated in a natural chasm, and this is used for skinning and preparing carcasses for the cliff gliders. When not in use, the gliders are stored in a cave located about 100 yards from the village. There is always at least one guard.Only about 25 of the men and women of the village are old or fit enough to fight. Treat them as 2nd-level warriors adept with spears and short bows. They wear leather armor in battle.
# The Path: The path leads to a primary trail through the mountains. It is well concealed from the average traveler by a rocky landslide about 75 yards from the village. The Ahpotexans created this barrier so that casual travellers would miss their hidden home.
# Alicious Cave: Alicious lives in this spacious cave, but actually spends most of her time out on the ledge. She loves the feel of the racing, valley wind blowing through her long, silver hair. There is a hammock, a number of soft pillows made by the adoring Ahpotexans, and an ingot of pure silver worth about 950cp. Inside a pocket hidden in one of the pillows is a wind fan.
# The Shrine: The shrine itself is a rocky promontory behind Alicious's cave. The villagers often have marriages and rites of passage performed here; and funerals—their custom is to throw the deceased to the winds as a funeral offering.
 Alicious Strax
Female Elf, Air Priest	
Lawful Good 	Lawful Good
12th Level 	12th Level
Str 10 	Int 17
Dex 16 	Wis 18
Con 14 	Cha18
hp:31 	hp:31
AC 8 (Robes) 	AC 8 (Robes)
#AT1 	#AT1
MV:12 	MV:12
THAC0:14 	THAC0:14
Dmg: 1d6+1 (Longbow+1)	Dmg: 1d6+1 (Longbow+1)
Ahpotex is the name of both the shrine and the village, and there are about 40 humans who live here. Without exception, these villagers revere and honor Alicious. They often hunt together with their cliff gliders, and Alicious may invite friendly and adventurous characters to come along for the ride. Without her, the gliders often descend and force the riders to scale their way back up the cliffs, but Alicious's mastery of the winds, and the thermals that rise up off the tablelands, allow them to soar in and out of the valley for hours. Should a cliff glider separate from her, however, the rider will find himself descending rapidly from the sky.
==Fume, a Shrine of Fire==
An insane cleric lives in this place and he calls his shrine Fume. It is situated midway between Nibenay and Gulg. Warriors of the two cities constantly fight over the valuable agafari trees, but neither side is insane enough to trespass on Solzak's shrine at the top of the forest crescent. Occasionally, one side or the other has sought to enlist his aid—those who made the request were given a fiery answer.
Solzak watches over the shrine's eternal flame, keeping it continually fuelled with the slow-burning agafari. A single log burns for days, and the special oils prepared by Solzak can stretch the burning time to over a week.
Solzak does not like visitors—the wars of Nibenay and Lalali-Puy have poisoned him to guests. Still, Solzak welcomes anyone who is an enemy of either of these two nations. He also welcomes priests of other spheres, even those of water. Before the fire cleric settled on this land he had amassed a large fortune, and rumors persist that his cave is filled with magical treasures and gold.
===The Shrine===
# Entrance: The entrance to the fire shrine is hidden by thick foliage and requires a Wisdom check to find a passage through the brush.
# Obsidian Path: Fifteen oval, polished obsidian steps lead directly to and surround both sides of a shallow pit continually charged with flame. Solzak keeps the fire well fuelled with agafari logs.
# The Eternal Flame: This is the shrine itself. The fire here is always kept burning, and even a heavy rain will not extinguish it, though it would cause considerable smoke. Agafari logs covered with special oils burn for slightly more than a week before Solzak must once again replace them.
# Solzak's Cave: Inside this spacious cavern, blasted from the earth by Solzak's own hands, is everything the fire cleric needs to survive. He has a bed made of dry straw, a few plates and bowls, and a smaller fire with a spit over it—the smoke escaping through a ventilation shaft in the top of the cave. The walls are smooth and have a black, polished look, a testament to the intense power of this fire cleric.
# Loose Stone: Solzak does have a large treasure, accumulated during his wandering days. It is hidden beneath a secret stone in the floor and consists of 305 cp, and 3 gold nuggets worth about 500 cp each. He also has a ring of fire resistance, oil of fiery burning, and a dagger +2.
 Solzak
Male Half-Elf, Fire Priest 12th Level 	Male Half-Elf, Fire Priest 12th Level
Lawful Neutral 	Lawful Neutral
Str 15 	Int 16
Dex 16 	Wis 17
Con 15 	Cha 9
hp: 40 	hp: 40
AC: 5 (Leather) 	AC: 5 (Leather)
#AT1 	#AT1
MV:12 	MV:12
THAC0: 14 	THAC0: 14
Dmg: 1d8+2 (Glassword, a gift from an old companion. See Chapter 8: New Priest Spells.)	Dmg: 1d8+2 (Glassword, a gift from an old companion. See Chapter 8: New Priest Spells.)
==Grace, a Shrine of Water==
Beneath the Lake of Golden Dreams is one of the most inaccessible shrines. Beneath the hot, clear waters of the lake is the entrance to Strallowshax's submerged cave. A dwarven cleric whose eyes and ears aren't as good as the;y once were, he should not be underestimated because of his age.
===The Shrine===
The yellow waters of the Lake of Golden Dreams are extremely hot. Characters who spend more than four rounds beneath its broiling surface will start taking 1 point of damage per round unless they have some sort of protection from the intense heat.
# Submerged Entrance: This is the only entrance into the shrine, and visitors often find a cistern fiend lurking near the entrance. Strallowshax hasn't bothered chasing the beast away since it tends to keep away visitors, and the vast majority of them are only troublemakers in the old dwarfs opinion.
# The Grotto: There are usually a number of giant eels in this small chamber. Strallowshax doesn't control them, but they are familiar with him and usually ignore him. With their hostile nature, they serve as both guardians and alarms, should anyone enter the caverns.
# The Shrine: This is the actual shrine of the spirits of water. No water creature will enter this chamber, so priests fighting with a cistern fiend or the giant eels are safe if they can dart into the shrine.
# Strallowshax' Cave: A vertical tunnel off the shrine leads to the guardian's cave. This part of the cavern is above the water level, but it is constantly humid due to the steaming water. Strallowshax has only a few meager possessions in these sparse quarters, but one of them is a small vial of universal solvent
 Strallowshax
Male Dwarf, Water Priest Chaotic Neutral	Male Dwarf, Water Priest Chaotic Neutral
12th Level 	12th Level
Str 16 	Int 15
Dex 12 	Wis 18
Con 18 	Cha 14
hp: 31 	hp: 31
AC: 8 (Robes) 	AC: 8 (Robes)
#AT1 	#AT1
MV:12 	MV:12
Dmg: 1d6+l (Bone Hand Axe) 	Dmg: 1d6+l (Bone Hand Axe)
==Shillisa, a Shrine of Silt==
On an island in the Sea of Silt due south of Draj there is a shrine of the deceitful and hungry lords of silt. The sentinel who lives there is a ruthless man who raids the coast looking for helpless souls to feed to his hungry and heartless paraelemental masters.
Kathak is a dreaded servant of the paraelemental lords, and rides a magical carpet over the greedy waves of oozing silt that is his domain. More than one parry of explorers met its end when this madman streaked in and carried them up over the sucking tides, dropping them as screaming offerings.
===The Shrine===
Kathak's home is a low lying island just off the southern coast of Draj. There is a hole in the ground that leads to a short burrow, and it is in this place Kathak researches his destructive magic.
Kathak's shrine is a tiny island protected by silt horrors and terrible golems made from the oozing stuff. Kathak is said to feed the sea in exchange for the energy he needs for his defiling spells.
# Entrance: The hole is about 5 feet in diameter and Kathak is well practiced in the art of streaking through the hole on his magic carpet at great speed.
# The Shrine: The island itself is the shrine, and any cleric of silt who stands on it is considered to be in conjunction with the paraelement of Silt. There is usually a gray or black silt horror present that feeds off the bodies Kathak dumps to the sea. The silt horrors are not under Kathak's control, and would eat him just as quickly as anyone else.
# Silt Golem: This terrible creature protects his master and the shrine above. Whenever it hears movement on the island above, it is instructed to climb out of the hole and prevent anyone but Kathak from entering or casting spells. Treat the silt golem exactly as an Athasian sand golem.
# Kathak's Cave: Kathak lives beneath the island in a deep burrow. Magical equipment stolen from caravans and or bartered from the thieves of Draj can be found bubbling, burning, or otherwise cooking on his laboratory table. His bed is a pool of silt covered with a heavy quilt, and a number of bones are lying about the floor, Kathak has a taste for raw meat.Within the pool that serves as his bed, a number of treasures can be found. Most of the items cannot be used by Kathak, but he keeps them around to trade with the elven thieves he employs from Draj. Anyone searching can find 3,400 cp, a magical broadsword + 2 (+4 vs. creatures of fire), 2 potions of healing, and a ring of water walking.
 Kathak
Male Elf, Priest of Silt, Defiler Chaotic Evil	Male Elf, Priest of Silt, Defiler Chaotic Evil
12th Level 	12th Level
Str 15 	Int 18
Dex 19 	Wis 16
Con 15 	Cha 12
hp: 31 	hp: 31
AC: 8 (Robes) 	AC: 8 (Robes)
#AT:1 	#AT:1
MV 11 	MV 11
THAC0:15 	THAC0:15
Dmg: Wand of magic missiles, 90 charges 	Dmg: Wand of magic missiles, 90 charges
==Mount Solace, a Shrine of the Sun==
Limrick the Mad suns himself on a large, white rock high atop Mount Solace in the Mekillot Mountains, overlooking the desolate town of Salt View. The residents there occasionally ask the crazed cleric for aid, but very cautiously, and only when the sun is low in the sky, or during a light drizzle.
By night, or in times of gloom, Limrick becomes a pouting, sober man. Other times, Limrick basks beneath the sun's rays, laughing to himself with pure joy and feeling the penetrating beams fill him with power. Sometimes, Limrick feels that the power is too much for him to handle and he cannot help but begin casting spells to relieve the pressure.
 Limrick the Mad
Human Sun Cleric 	Human Sun Cleric
Chaotic Neutral 	Chaotic Neutral
12th Level 	12th Level
Str 10 Int 17 	
Dex 16 	Con 14
Wis 18 	Cha 18
hp: 31 	hp: 31
AC: 8 (Robes) 	AC: 8 (Robes)
#AT1 	#AT1
MV: 12 	MV: 12
THAC0: 14 	THAC0: 14
Dmg: 1d8 (obsidian long sword)	Dmg: 1d8 (obsidian long sword)
===The Shrine===
Limrick s shrine is a large white boulder resting on a cliff on Mount Solace. Here he sun bathes, watching the tiny beings of Salt View with humor. Sometimes he is afraid that the shadow of the mountain is blocking their enjoyment of the sun, so he casts sunray or blistering rays "help em out'
# The Basking Rock: This is the shrine itself, and limrick spends the hottest hours of the day here. Only rarely does he leave his rock to visit the "little people" who live below him. He is always amazed at how much the villagers of Salt View have grown from the time he leaves his shrine to the time he gets to the village. "Sun makes em grow, ya' know?"
# Grove: This tiny grove is Limrick's home. He has a hammock tied beneath an overhanging rock, and this is where he sulks on those rare occasions when rain drops make their slimy presence known to him. Limrick has no treasure, his greatest jewel arcs across the violet-green sky of Athas every day.
==Groomsh, a Shrine of Magma==
Within the bowels of the volcano bordering Lake Island lurks a fierce, terrible cleric named Thyraximus. This crazed priest patrols the island looking for sacrifices for his terrible lord, knowing that to let the molten rock go hungry is to yield to the dim-witted earth spirits. He coaxes the magma up with powerful spells, dances insanely as it splashes in the deep silt around the island, and vanishes.
Thyraximus is quite insane, and won't hesitate to attack anyone he catches on Lake Island. He claims to hear the voices of his patrons screaming inside his head, telling him to push the fiery rivers up and out The screaming is worse when the inevitable failure occurs. He is always looking for ways to increase the surrounding temperature or to fuel the fire in the liquid rock. He believes that throwing in combustible materials (like PCs!) is a viable method. Only clerics of fire or magma have a chance of speaking to him, and even they are slain if he they will not help to keep the lava heated.
His shrine is deep within the largest volcano on Lake Island, near the source of the ever erupting lava pool. He must use his ability to ignore the element if he stays down there for any length of time. Fortunately for him, the benefits of the shrine are in effect whenever he stands anywhere on the face of the volcano.
===The Shrine===
# Entranceways: The volcano is honeycombed with carved passageways, courtesy of Thyraximus and the antloids that live above him. It would be easy for a character to get lost in this searing maze of death.
# Antloid Nest: A natural hive of antloids live here and move throughout the volcano. They have become friendly with Thyraximus, but that courtesy wouldn't extend to anyone else caught wandering in their tunnels. The spot marked with an "X" is the chamber of the queen. There is an assortment of treasure here, taken from those who strayed too close to the antloid's nest (types J, K, N, U.)
# Thyraximus's Cave: Thyraximus has little treasure, but he does posses one item of immense power, a ring of 2 wished The cleric found this ancient artifact in his youth, and the symbol of fire etched upon it convinced him to find a mentor to teach him the power of fire. What he found was a cleric of magma looking for someone to take over his maddening position, and Thyraximus has been chasing lava flows ever since.If he had any idea of the power of the signet ring he wears, he might have appeased his insane lords long ago. Still, the ring is his holy symbol, and he must be dead or helpless before it can be removed.Originally, the ring had three wishes, but Thyraximus unwittingly used one of them years ago. He wished that he could withstand the incredible heat of the shrine below, and the ring instantly granted him this power. Clever player characters will notice that Thyraximus is immune to the shrine and guess that this is a ring of fire resistance. It isn't, so anyone else who wears the ring would have to specifically wish for that ability.The fire cleric doesn't have a bed, but there are a few small bones and scraps of meat here.
# The Shrine: A narrow, natural ledge hangs out and over the central pool of lava that fuels this volcano. The heat is extraordinary, and anyone unprotected will burst into flames in a matter of seconds. Obsidian stones mark a meditation circle just above the fiery ooze, and is the only surviving, visible decoration. Magma clerics natural abilities to withstand heat do not work this close to the source, so they must use their ability to ignore their element, or other magic, to visit the shrine.
 Thyraximus the Crazed
Human Cleric of Magma 	Human Cleric of Magma
Lawful Evil 	Lawful Evil
13th Level 	13th Level
Str 16 	Int 10
Dex 18 	Wis 10*
Con 18 	Cha 6
hp:52 	hp:52
AC: 8 (Robes) 	AC: 8 (Robes)
# AT1 	# AT1
MV: 12 	MV: 12
THAC0: 14 	THAC0: 14
No. of Attacks 1 	No. of Attacks 1
Dmg: Tempered Obsidian Sword	Dmg: Tempered Obsidian Sword
: * Thyraximus Wisdom was 19 when he pledged himself to the elemental plane of magma, but their incessant pleas have driven him mad
==The Rain Tree, a Shrine of Rain==
In the thickest part of the Forest Ridge, just above the salt flats of the south, is a huge tree that may be more ancient than the sorcerer-kings themselves. It is always dripping, as if it from a recent rain. A halfling cleric named Purhas protects this tree from potential danger, and hangs defilers from its dripping limbs.
===The Shrine===
The tree and the grounds surrounding it to a distance of 10 feet is the actual rain shrine. Any rain cleric who stands in this space or on the branches of the tree is considered to be in conjunction.
Purhas protects the forest and all that live within its con-fines. He is known to be kind, unless provoked, then he displays the vengeance of his dying paraelement masters. Once enemies have been killed in combat, Purhas hangs them from the soaking branches of the tree that marks his shrine.
# The Rain Tree: This ancient tree stood here when Athas was as green as the rain tree's leaves. Anyone speaking with it can confirm that Athas once was green, but the tree does not know what caused the destruction, or even when it happened. It does know that it is beginning to like the taste of flesh and blood as they seep down through the soil and into its gnarled roots. This may alarm some, but the tree is not evil, it is simply making use of an available resource. A druid or priest of earth would understand this immediately.The tree is has a slightly magical quality, but this is only due to the create shrine spell cast by Purhas. It will not protect it from fire per se, but the perpetual wetness makes it extremely hard to burn.
# The Death Branches: These two strong limbs are used to hang the rare defiler or trespasser who dares to endanger the halfling's shrine. Some forest beast eventually comes to devour the meat, but the dripping blood and wasted flesh only makes the ground around the Rain Tree more fertile.
# Purhas's Nest: Purhas sleeps and rests in a wet and slimy bundle of leaves, midway up the tree. The nest is full of holes so the water drips down continually, bathing the little priest in constant rain.
 Purhas Sympabane
Halfling Rain Priest 	Halfling Rain Priest
Lawful Neutral 	Lawful Neutral
12th Level 	12th Level
Str 9 	Int 17
Dex 18 	Wis 18
Con 14 	Cha 15
hp: 32 	hp: 32
AC: 6 (Robes) 	AC: 6 (Robes)
#AT1 	#AT1
MV: 12 	MV: 12
Dmg: 1d6+1 (bone spear +1)	Dmg: 1d6+1 (bone spear +1)