Editing Mual-tar (section)

==Mual-Tar's Cults==
Cults to the Thunder Serpent are concentrated in the Elemental Chaos, the World, and the [[Feywild]]. It is most popular with storm giants and their storm titan masters, but any race with an affection for the power of storms is willing to fall in with Mual-Tar. [[Human]]s, [[orc]]s, [[eladrin]], [[goliath]]s and degenerate [[dwarf|dwarves]] are some of the more common Thunder Serpent cultists, but there are also myriad [[yuan-ti]] worshippers as well - after all, those [[serpentfolk]] never met a snake-themed Power they wouldn't worship.

Because of Mual-Tar's mental degredation, cults to the Thunder Serpent are eclectic even by the standards of Primordial Cults in general, as their deity cannot hope to communicate its true desires or pass on real commands - some of these cults even see Mual-Tar more as a tool to exploit for power over thunder and lightning than an actual figure of worship.

'''The Hammer and Chisel Society:''' Meeting each month on the nights of the waning crescent moon, the hooded and masked members of the Society are a bunch of anarcho-hedonists who believe one should break free of the chains that bind people to certain expectations  of behavior and social mores. Hidden behind their masks and hoods, the Society can cast away those morals and customs that restrict their freedom! ...Which ultimately boils down to partying themselves until they pass out, but hey. This may sound harmless, and ordinarily it would be, but as you've probably guess, the hedonistic front is only the outer layer; the inner circle are Mual-Tar worshippers, who take the Society's motto of "Break the chains!" all too literally, performing rites and blood sacrifices to help empower Mual-Tar so it may free itself.

'''Stormfury Orcs:''' Though most orcs are loyal to [[Gruumsh]], the very nature of the God of Destruction's teachings leads many to supplement or replace this worship with reverence to [[Demon Prince]]s and [[Archomental|Primordials]]. The Stormfury Orcs are a tribe of plains-dwelling orcs who have chosen to venerate Mual-Tar instead of Gruumsh, which they express by gathering in massive armies whenever a thunderstorm brews upon the plains and run with it, attacking whatever settlements and homesteads the storm happens to batter in its wake. They can be distinguished by their practice of scarifying their faces and arms with lightning designs.

'''The Forest Temple of Sarpacala:''' Deep in a remote forest region prone to violent storms stands a ruined temple, dating back to the [[yuan-ti]] empire of Zannad. Still inhabited by descendants of the now-fallen empire, these serpentfolk have forsaken their racial god [[Zehir]] to instead venerate Mual-Tar, seeking his freedom through dark rituals that they believe weaken the Thunder Serpent's chains.

'''Eldresh, Bralani of Autumn Storms:''' This ambitious and greedy [[eladrin]] noble takes her title from her magical connection to the power of autumn storms, a rare variation of the more common Bralani of Autumn Winds. In truth, the source of her power is her worship of the Father of Storms, Mual-Tar itself. Unlike most cultists, Eldresh has no particular loyalty to the Primordial; she seeks Mual-Tar's power for her own goals, specifically overthrowing the ruling council of Mithrendain, and thinks that other cultists make useful allies towards this goal.

'''The Thunder Temple:''' In the depths of the Elemental Chaos stands the greatest temple to Mual-Tar that still exists, a palatial shrine that houses the most important and powerful cult of the Thunder Serpent known. Unfortunately, the three leaders of the cult have different visions of how best to lead, and their constant infighting and machinations leaves the cult acting erratically at best. ''Tarsharan'' is an ancient blue dragon who, having witnessed the wave of storms that occured when Mual-Tar's first chain broke, has become enamored of the storm's destructive potential; he wants to free Mual-Tar and unleash devastation upon all creation. ''Murandrae'' is an efreet karadjin who was exiled from her house for forsaking [[Imix]] in favor of Mual-Tar; she wishes to use the cult and the freed Primordial to conquer the [[City of Brass]] and make herself Calipha of all Efreeti - to this end, she is known to communicate with both the yuan-ti of Sarpacala and the Hammer & Chisel Society. Finally, ''Shar Malam'' is a Bluespawn Godslayer, a blue dragon-blooded abomination created by [[Tiamat]] of epic power and even greater ambition. This entity has no reverence for Mual-Tar at all; he wants to use the cult as a weapon for his own goal of destroying [[Bahamut]] and [[Tiamat]] both in order to take their place as God of Dragons. He considers the Stormfury Orcs to be something of a pet project, and often conjures storms to direct them to targets of his choosing.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Archomentals]]