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The four elemental lords and the lord of air element.

Akadi is a goddess, the only female among the elemental gods. She is both a whispering breeze and a storm that blocks out the sun, and her form changes with the seasons. Her kiss can be moist and sweet, or bitter and cold. She moves along carelessly with sound and smell, but never stops to emphasize the importance of her journey to travelers along the way.

In religious art, she is usually depicted as a large, translucent blue woman with a pair of huge feathered wings rising into the sky behind her. It is said that her wings are the ones that fan the winds across the surface of Faerun.

Like all other Elemental Lords, Arcades is relatively aloof toward her followers on Abeir-Toril. Arcades's reactions are unpredictable, and to most mortals who were not raised on the Elemental Plane of Air, her responses may seem alien.

The relative inaction of Arcades and the other elemental lords has led to their existence being viewed as lesser powers in the Realms, and their followers being classified as heretics. In the Hordelands she is known as Teylas, and is considered a male deity of the Elemental Plane of Air. The difference between the female and male forms of the Lady of the Winds has no bearing on the faith.

Arkady seems to have a small amount of affection for her followers, but this thin curtain is mostly revealed when believers make lavish offerings (lighting expensive incense and letting the smoke drift toward her on the wind) - so it can be said that she only cares about them when she is bribed to please them.

While she is permitted to call upon Arcades to change or still the winds, provide favorable air currents, or bring gentle rain, she does not grant the prayer the power to raise or calm violent storms, for storms are the province of Talos and Umberlee (although she does occasionally exercise control over a brief but powerful whirlwind). She was not to be found in the Realms during the Time of Troubles.

Avatar of Arcadi
Arcades's avatar has only appeared twice in written records, on the planet Aber-Toril. The Queen of Air usually appears in the form of a huge whirlwind column, like a tornado that reaches from the earth to the sky, with no end in sight (although she can only cause tornado damage when she forms a whirlwind - see below for details).

Her voice can be as faint as a whisper in the wind through the trees or as loud as a sustained roar that can be heard for miles. She casts spells from the following spheres and schools: Sphere: Elemental Air, Healing, and Weather; School: Elemental Air.

Special Attack/Defense:
Arcades attacks with blasts of compressed air and spells. In any crystal system where she is present, as long as there is air for her to move around, Arcades can be considered a native of the Material Plane. This makes her immune to the adverse effects of spells such as antimagic field, protection from evil/good, and divine word on creatures from another plane.

Once per turn, Arcades's avatar can create a whirlwind that lasts for 1 rounds. Her whirlwind is 3 feet tall, 160 feet in diameter at the base, and 10 feet in diameter at the top (if she extends it to its full height).

The height at which Arcade's cyclone form is extended has no effect on the damage it deals, but if she is extended to half her maximum height, her top diameter is only 45 feet; if she is extended to one-quarter her maximum height, her top diameter drops to 25 feet.

阿卡迪旋风形态难以置信的狂风将瞬间杀死360呎内所有生命骰低于6的生物。生命骰在7-9之间的生物将被击晕昏迷1d4回合，生命骰在10或以上的将被晕眩1d4轮。在攻击中的幸存者将遭受4d8点伤害。

Flying creatures are instantly grounded by the arrival of Arcades' avatar, unless the Queen of Air Elementals reduces her winds to allow them to fly. She usually does this, as being knocked to the ground is an insult to all flying creatures (including herself). Creatures knocked to the ground in flight take normal falling damage unless Arcades chooses to cushion their fall.

At any time, Arcades can spend 2 rounds blending with the atmosphere to leave the battlefield or the Material Plane, where she disappears into the mist.

Other Apparitions
Arcades sends manifestations to the Realms more frequently than she does avatars, but even so, her manifestations are extremely rare compared to the frequency of manifestations of other powers. The Lady of Air may appear as almost any normal flying creature, and her voice is heard as a whisper on the wind. She often sends aerial servants to carry messages (or messages) to those she deems worthy (or useful). The rise of a breeze or a change in wind direction is often seen as a sign of her favor.

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All specialty priests, cathars, occultists, and shamans of Akadian receive religion (Faernian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. In addition to their required proficiencies, Akadian priests are strongly encouraged to learn Weather Sense and to learn the techniques of playing instruments that produce sound by vibrating the air (such as woodwind instruments, brass instruments, organs, and bagpipes).

Prior to the Time of Troubles, all elemental cults had clerics in their ranks. Currently, only specialty priests remain. It is unclear why Arcades has sought to convert his clerics to specialty priests over the years, though Arcades' church teaching states that the change was to allow specialty priests to focus on their master's elements, rather than other tasks. Since the Godswar, Arcades' orders have added a small group of occultists and a group of skitarii to carry out duties that have been adversely affected by the loss of Arcades' clerics. In primitive or nomadic societies, Arcades is often served by shamans.

It is rare for Arcade priests to settle in any one place, so few communities feel threatened or benefited by the presence of an Arcade priest. Arcade priests enter a town or city with the morning breeze, but are usually gone by sunset.

The philosophy of constant movement and wanderlust are so ingrained in the church of Arcades that few temples dedicated to the Lady of the Wind exist. These temples are usually circles of wooden poles, adorned with feathers and streamers that flutter in the wind. Priests of the faith travel throughout Faerûn, spreading the word of Arcades at every opportunity.

They often preach the joys of Arcade's freedom, but rarely stop to argue semantics or principles with those who wish to, choosing instead to continue sowing the seeds of Arcade and continue to "go where the wind blows." This tendency to talk too much has led to more than one Arcade priest being dubbed a "windbag" - both literally and figuratively.

The priests of Arcades are divided into two factions: the Whisper and the Roar. This is not a hierarchy within the church, or even a division between those who are parochial and those who are more adventurous. Rather, it is a division of philosophical action.

Those priests who follow the Windtalkers usually work behind the scenes, rarely showing their faces to members of the Church of Arcades. Members of the Windwhistlers, on the other hand, are more open about their involvement in the affairs of Faerun. The heterogeneous and decentralized nature of the Arcades' activities means that they are rarely seen as a threat of any kind in Faerun, although some personally ambitious members of the church sometimes wreak havoc in a particular area. Arcades' priests are mostly organized into "covens," which consist of a particularly charismatic Arcaden and a small group of followers. The membership of such a small group will change and flow over time, as group politics will cause some members to rise in status, others to fall in status, some to leave in disgust, and some to start new cults in distant new places at the inspirational words of their leader.

This organization is very unstable and often confuses outsiders, as they can never be sure who will be in power within the next ten days to fulfill agreements and contracts. Because of this serious problem in the faith, most Arkadians have a reputation of being "untrustworthy".

When the time comes for the Akkadian to fulfill his promise, the most common answer is: "I'm sorry, but that's not my job anymore" - if you can still find the Akkadian who made the agreement with you in the first place.

Novices of Arcades are called Fledglings. They are promoted to full priests in a personal ceremony (usually involving flight) overseen by at least two senior clergy. In ascending order, the common titles used by the priesthood are: Winged One (full priest), Air of the Goddess, Breeze of Light, Zephyr (senior priest), Misttal, Sirocco (leader of a large "order"), Whirlwind (leader of a very large order or very experienced priest).

Priests who have slain or utterly defeated an enemy of the church (usually a high priest of Grumbar or a powerful earth-based creature) may add the prefix "High" to the beginning of their title. Specialty priests of Arcades are called airwalkers.

doctrine:

The teachings of the Arcadian Church amount to a doctrine of finding self-enlightenment, believing that one can only find truth in things that interest one, and once interest is lost, all opportunities for further exploration of one's soul will also leave this activity or place.

Therefore, the believer must move from activity to activity, place to place, pursuing his or her personal dreams or set of interests, and growing in the changing experiences that each new day brings. This church pays little attention to resistance to its teachings, assuming that such obstacles will disappear with time.

Few things are important enough for the church to dedicate itself to a particular cause. The only position the Akkadian faith maintains is that its members and its priests should never be imprisoned or imprisoned; such situations quickly lead to depression and death among followers of the faith.

Novices of the Faith of Arcadia are commanded as follows: "Eternal Arcadia is change incarnate. Each new day reveals a new side of her to us. Strive to be as flexible as she is. Pursue whatever interests you in turn.

Look at problems from as many perspectives as possible to arrive at the most creative answers. See life as an art form and recreate new life around you every day, and you and Arcade will benefit greatly from it. It is the birthright of every living thing to move and fly freely in the breeze of life. Fly, spread Arcade's words, and show the living vitality she brings through your words and actions.

Daily Activities:

Most priests of Arcade spend their days listening to the wind, traveling under the stars of Faerûn, pursuing their own interests, and telling others of the glory of Arcades. The faith favors magical ships, which can carry the word of Arcades to distant lands. Some priests are almost completely obsessed with practical or esoteric "experiments in life."

For example, some priests might delve into the study of how to breed faster, sleeker-coated falcons or speedier hounds, others might decide to see how orcs adapt to the fierce and strange storms, and still others might spend countless hours trying to give cats artificial wings. Once a project becomes no longer fun or interesting, no matter how much time has been invested in it, the priests of Arcade will drop it like lead and move on to some new activity.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies:
Every day is an event for the Arcades, who often rise before the sun to whisper prayers in the morning breeze and stay up late to watch the moon rise over Faerûn (or glide through the fading heat of sunset) before blithely reciting their evening prayers.

The Fellowship of Flight is a celebration performed by specialty priests of the Cult of Arcades when their abilities have reached a level of proficiency that allows them to call forth an air elemental from the Elemental Plane of Air. The ceremony begins with an hour of solemn prayer, after which the elemental is called forth. When it responds, it returns to her kingdom accompanied by sweet scents, chants, scattered petals, and hymns to Arcades.

On Midsummer, the church holds its only calendar festival. To participate, all believers who are able to do so must travel before the tenday of Midsummer. They gather at the ruins of Blaskaltar in the Shaar, which contains the first known shrine of Arcades in Faerun, though it has been lost to the hands of time and the seasonal changes of wind and rain.

Here, all present chant hymns of praise to the heroes of the faith, adding new names to the hymns in memory of those who have died in the past year.

Main worship centers:

Few permanent temples to Arcades have ever been built. Her many shrines are tended by traveling priests who rotate through the countryside—leaving the shrines when their replacements arrive. The most sacred site of the Arcade faith is the hilltop of the First Shrine of the Queen of Air, located in the ruins of the city of Brascart on the Char.

The building disappeared many years ago; however, the faithful still gather here every year to remember the history of their church and its great members, so that they will not forget the past and be doomed to repeat it. (End of this chapter)