Cults of the Dragon Below

The **Cults of the Dragon Below** are various cults that worship the dark forces of Khyber and beings from the underground realm.

In modern times, cultists seek to release beings such as daelkyr, rakshasa rajahs, or demons or gain power from those same beings through sacrifice or devotion.
Most cultists practice in secret as society at large shuns such worship.

## History

The cults have existed since the beginning of time in one form or another. There have always been those who choose to worship Khyber, the Dragon Below, in order to gain power or in hopes of some dark promise being fulfilled.

Worship of the Cults of the Dragon Below are strongest in the western regions of Khorvaire, especially the Shadow Marches. These regions suffered most during the Daelkyr War, and bear the greatest scars from that ancient conflict, both physical and psychological.

## Cults

Cults of the Dragon Below are not a unified religious doctrine. The large majority of these cultists are mad and dangerous, and they turn towards forces society shuns for personal power.

Many followers of the Dragon Below are insane, holding strange beliefs as aberrations being beautiful creatures that will reward them for their devotion.

Cults may worship aberrations, daelkyr, or other fiends of Khyber and their masters from the First Age.

The city of Sharn has at least three active sects of Cults of the Dragon Below.

### The Aashta

The Aashta clan is one of three half-orc clans native to the Shadow Marches to have developed the Mark of Finding and forming House Tharashk. The Aashta and lesser clans in service to them are rumored to be bound to the Dragon Below.

The Aashta clan contains cultists of the daelkyr Kyrzin, the Prince of Slime.

Karr'Aashta, House Tharashk inquisitive of Deathsgate in Sharn is a member of the Aashta clan, and a follower of the Dragon Below. Sul'aashta Steelbane is a hunter of the Aashta clan, who hunts warforged and ventures into the Mournland, driven to defeat the warrior of steel and stone that haunt her dreams.

### The Closed Circle

The Closed Circle is a defunct wizarding guild of Sharn. They were destroyed by the other magic guilds of Sharn—the Esoteric Order of Aureon and the Guild of Starlight and Shadows—for delving too deep into the occult following their research into the daelkyr.

A mind flayer named Chyrassk, along with a small force of lesser aberrations from Khyber, have established a presence in the former Citadel of the Closed Circle in the undercity district of Khyber's Gate. It has been sharing the secrets of symbionts, grafts, and unique discoveries made by the Closed Circle with its followers.

### The Cults of Slime (Gibbering Cults)

Members of these cults follow the daelkyr Kyrzin, the Prince of Slime. These clans, also known as Gibberers, revere and tend to gibbering mouthers. They feed their elders and the infirm among them to the beasts as a mad form of preservation–their practices dictate that the souls of those consumed are preserved within these entities.

### The ir'Edar Brood

The Duke of Passage, Jalnar ir'Edar, and his daughter Melys ir'Edar lead a cabal of almost 60 cultists in the city. His family is rumored to be prone to madness since a distance ancestor first took a half-orc from the Shadow Marches for his wife. Duke Jalnar ir'Edar now seeks untold heights of arcane magic in a mad quest to reclaim glory for Aundair that he believes has been lost in the last ten years.

### The Family Finch

The Finch family who live outside Zarash'ak.

### Overlord Cults

The Cults of the Dragon Below can be used as witting or unwitting pawns for the whims of the Lords of Dust or their Overlord masters.

In the Webs of Zarash'ak, the mad goblin Jhugaar delivers sermons about the rise of the Voice in the Darkness.

In Stormreach, the Overlord known as the Scar that Abides stirs strife and resentment among heirs of the dragonmarked houses.

## RMSS/RMFRP Conversion

Priests of these cults are usually Warlocks (see the Channeling Companion, page 24), and priests using the Earth Template (see Channeling Companion, page 27).