Princes of the Apocalypse

Chapter 7: Monsters and Magic Items

This chapter presents new monsters, villains, and magic items. The monster section concludes with descriptions of the Princes of Elemental Evil, beings of overwhelming power and malice.

After the monster and villain descriptions are magic items the characters find during the adventure. Some of these are much like the magic items described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Others are elemental items, made using the power of the elemental nodes. Cultists of Elemental Evil make extensive use of these quasi-magical devices. The item descriptions conclude with descriptions of the four elemental weapons carried by the prophets of Elemental Evil. These weapons are unique magic items offering great power to those who wield them.

Monsters

Power-hungry humanoids see Elemental Evil as a principle deserving of worship and form cults around the destructive magic Elemental Evil offers. Evil creatures that come from the elemental planes are likewise ready servants of Elemental Evil. Finally, monsters of the Material Plane that have an affinity for one of the elements also fall under the sway of Elemental Evil, especially in areas where a strong elemental node is present. Earth cults easily ally with creatures such as bulettes or umber hulks, water cults ally with merrow and sea hags, and so on.

Monsters and NPCs by Challenge Rating

Monster	Challenge
Howling Hatred initiate	1/8
Crushing Wave reaver	1/2
Sacred Stone monk	1/2
Feathergale knight	1
Crushing Wave priest	2
Black Earth guard	2
Eternal Flame guardian	2
Fathomer	2
Howling Hatred priest	2
Hurricane	2
Oreioth	2
Wiggan Nettlebee	2
Black Earth priest	3
Dark Tide knight	3
Eternal Flame priest	3
One-eyed shiver	3
Skyweaver	3
Thurl Merosska	3
Windharrow	3
Burrowshark	4
Grumink the Renegade	4
Shoalar Quanderil	4
Stonemelder	4
Elizar Dryflagon	5
Hellenrae	5
Razerblast	5
Flamewrath	6
Miraj Vizann	6
Aerisi Kalinoth	7 (9 with lair actions)
Drannin Splithelm	7
Elemental myrmidon (Air, Earth, Fire, Water)	7
Ghald	7
Bastian Thermandar	8
Marlos Urnrayle	8 (12 with lair actions)
Gar Shatterkeel	9 (13 with lair actions)
Vanifer	9 (12 with lair actions)
Olhydra	18
Yan-C-Bin	18
Imix	19
Ogrémoch	20

Princes of Elemental Evil

For the most part, the elements that make up the world are indifferent to good or evil as mortals understand the concepts. Creatures such as fire elementals can be dangerous and destructive, but they have no particular aim other than to exist. However, some of the primordial powers of the elemental plane are tainted with true evil. These are the princes of Elemental Evil, old and jealous elemental beings that despise the world of living things. Each of the princes is a unique elemental lord of terrible power, and each commands the loyalty of many lesser elementals that have likewise been corrupted by their evil—as well as mortal worshipers who likewise seek to scour the world with the wrath of the elements.

Each prince of Elemental Evil is a unique being unlike any other elemental, or any of the other princes. Some embody the combination of elements—for example, Bwimb, the Lord of Ooze, or Cryonax, the Prince of Evil Cold. However, the four princes most strongly associated with the cult of Elemental Evil are malicious embodiments of the four base elements. They are:

Imix, Prince of Evil Fire (the All-Consuming Fire, the Eternal Flame)
Ogrémoch, Prince of Evil Earth (Tyrant of Black Earth, the Mountain of Doom)
Olhydra, Princess of Evil Water (the Crushing Wave, Well of Endless Anguish)
Yan-C-Bin, Prince of Evil Air (the Shadow of the Four Winds, the Howling Hatred)

Forces of Destruction

The princes aren't concerned with spreading wickedness among mortals or making any kind of order or philosophy dominant in the world. Their evil is blind, destructive, and hungry. They hate the way the world is made and the natural laws that constrain their favored elements. They resent the gods who shaped the world, and the mortals for whom the world was shaped, especially mortals who seek to impose their will on the elements. The princes unleash natural catastrophes at every opportunity, and gladly crush or devour mortals to assert their mastery over the world.

Uncooperative

While the princes of Elemental Evil share a love of destruction and hatred of mortals, they don't cooperate with each other. Each is concerned only with advancing his or her own favored element. At best they are indifferent to each other, but each prince hates the prince representing the element opposite to its own (fire and water, or air and earth), and often goes to great lengths to block its enemy's efforts or destroy its enemy's followers.

The Elder Elemental Eye

While the princes of Elemental Evil act independently of each other, there is a mysterious force that seems to link them together: the Elder Elemental Eye. Some sages believe that the Eye is a dark, primordial god that corrupted the elements in the beginning of the world, giving rise to each of the princes. Others hold that the Elder Elemental Eye is a binding force—a common fate, or perhaps a curse—that ties the princes together. Whenever one aspect of Elemental Evil takes root in the world, the other three soon follow, and the four cults are often found together despite their mutual antipathy.

Elemental Nodes

The princes of Elemental Evil seek to spread their power by sowing the seeds of elemental nodes throughout the world. Elemental nodes are places in the Material Plane that are suffused with energy from the Elemental Planes. For example, a subterranean magma chamber or a swamp with flaming gas seeps might be an elemental node of fire. Elemental nodes are like beachheads for the elemental princes, places from which they can reshape part of the world to their own tastes and wreak destruction on whatever is nearby. When an elemental prince succeeds in establishing a node, it channels its power—and its elemental minions—to that spot, spreading Elemental Evil like a cancer in the firmament of the world.

Worshiped by Cults

The princes of Elemental Evil are indifferent to mortal followers. They aren't gods and don't crave worship, but evil mortals find that Elemental Evil is a ready source of magical power and lends itself to destructive uses. Cultists often gather near elemental nodes and attempt perilous rituals to tap into the power of Elemental Evil or attract the attention of one of the princes. These fell beings don't hear prayers or grant spells, but they can serve as sources of power to those who learn to draw on their might. More often than not, the princes of Elemental Evil wind up destroying the mortals who called on them. Until they do, clever (or crazed) cultists can do a great deal of harm with the elemental power they borrow.

Magic Items

Player characters find many strange new magic items over the course of the adventure, including relics of the long-lost dwarf kingdom or Besilmer and devices created by the evil elemental cults.

Elemental Magic Items

Elemental power has allowed the cults to have more magic items than is normal for groups of their size, yet there still aren't enough magic items for each cultist to have one. Every member of the air cult, for example, would love to be able to soar on the wind, but only certain members have a magical ability or an item that confers that blessing.

The cults have some special items that harness the power of the elemental nodes themselves. These items rely on energy siphoned from a node, and some of them must be recharged inside the appropriate type of node, as noted in the items' descriptions. Otherwise, such an item ceases to function. Adventurers who recover a node-fueled item will, therefore, only be able to recharge it when an appropriate node is nearby.

Relics of Besilmer

The following items were crafted by the dwarves of Besilmer for their king, Torhild Flametongue.

Elemental Weapons

Each of the four prophets who leads a cult of Elemental Evil is armed with a mighty elemental weapon. These potent objects are infused with the essences of the Princes of Elemental Evil. In addition to the weapon's obvious usefulness in battle, they serve as keys that allow the prophets to channel the power of the elemental nodes and rip open the boundary between the planes. The weapons also bring out the worst in their wielders, twisting their minds toward evil ends.

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