Akadi

Akadi ( was the embodiment of the element of air and goddess of elemental air, speed, and flying creatures. As an immortal being of freedom and travel, the Queen of Air she instructed her followers to move as much as possible from place to place and from activity to activity.

Description
Akadi was both the whispering wind and the turbulent tempest, sweet and moist at times while bitter and cold at others, her form changing with the seasons. In religious depictions she was often portrayed as a giant, blue, translucent woman with huge feathery wings that trailed away into the clouds. The Lady of the Winds was revered in both male and female aspects in different parts of the world, and the distinction between these representations made no difference to her faithful.

The Queen of Air's avatar usually appeared as a tall column of swirling winds, reminiscent of (but not actually) a giant tornado reaching into the clouds. Her voice could range in volume from the slightest breeze to an insistent squall audible for miles in every direction.

Personality
Akadi's reactions were difficult to gauge, for she demonstrated almost alien behavior towards most mortals not native to the Plane of Elemental Air. Like the other elemental lords she was relatively uncaring towards her Torillian followers, yet did seem to have some small degree of affection for them. This was most often displayed when large offering were made however, so it could be argued that she only cared when bribed.

Activities
Akadi's wings were said to send the winds across Faerun's surface. She carried many sights and sounds along the journey, but never stopped to make clear the importance of her travels to others. While she could be appealed to alter or stop the wind, or to provide good flying currents and gentle rain, she would neither stop nor create true storms, for such things were within the domain of Talos and Umberlee.

Relationships
Akadi had many allies, including Quorlinn and Syranita, but she was enemies with Grumbar, the elemental god of earth and a fellow greater power. The archomental Yan-C-Bin wanted to challenge her power, but in truth Akadi had no superiors among aerial beings.

The elven goddess Aerdrie Faenya was also reported to be an aspect of Akadi.

Worshipers

 * See Church of Akadi

Akadi, like all the elemental gods, with the exception of Kossuth, had a very small following. Being a greater power, she did not care much for her group of followers, and usually required a fitting sacrifice. One example was the burning of incense that was carried to her on the winds, a necessary action before she would recognize her followers. Appeals to Akadi could affect or change the winds, such as producing a strong current of air or creating a bout of rain, but would not bring about or end more severe storms, which lay within the portfolio of Talos, or if at sea, Umberlee.

Traveling across the extensive lands of Faerûn, listening to the howl of the many winds, spreading the word of Akadi's glory, and spontaneously choosing to act upon the interests of the moment were the most common of the activities that the followers of Akadi took part in. Occasionally, clerics of Akadi became absorbed in something called a "life experiment", an absolute goal of either a useful or personal manner. For example, one cleric might have been devoted to raising sleeker and faster hawks or running hounds, another might try and deduce how orcs accommodated to powerful windstorms, or perhaps a cleric with a more unique attitude might try and deduce a design for artificial wings on cats.

Clergy
Before dawn, clerics of Akadi prayed for their divine spells so they were able to chant their incantations on the morning winds. The church of Akadi did not have many official holidays, and there was only one holy day of the order, which was Midsummer. Worshipers gathered in the Shaar, at the ruins of Blaskaltar, where the first shrine to Akadi was constructed. The ancient shrine itself was lost to many years of erosion by wind and rain. The chant of heroes of their faith was spoken, while new names were added to the list of those who had died during the past year.

The priests of Akadi were divided into two primary philosophies according to the manner in which they spread her dogma, though were otherwise similar in their practices. The Whisper worked quietly, trying to discreetly bring about change, while the Roar were those who openly preached the Lady of Air's dogma.

Orders
The priests of Akadi were often arranged into small sects, which followed either the Whisper or the Roar. They included:
 * Knights of the Wind's Four Quarters: a crusader order that carried out quests for church elders or fought with the followers of Grumbar
 * Companions of the Summer Wind: An order of good mystics
 * Disciples of Spring's Breeze: An order of neutral mystics
 * Alliance of Midwinter's Teeth: An order of evil mystics
 * The Azure Guard: An elite guard of a dozen female air genasi fighters who served as Akadi's proxies on the Elemental Plane of Air.

Worship in Zakhara
On the continent of Zakhara, Akadi was called one of the cold gods of the elements. As they were seen as uncaring for human affairs, they were considered opposed to the Land of Fate's pervasive culture of Enlightenment. Only a few Zakharans were willing to worship a cold god in order to gain power.

Worship in the Hordelands
Within the Hordelands, Akadi was known as Teylas, also called the Lord of the Sky and Lord of Storms, and was the God of Heaven to the nomads of the steppe.

Teylas monitored the nomads and herdsmen of the great steppes, sending rain and blessings to protect them from evil spirits. He also sent savage storms when he was angered to strike at his enemies.

History
Akadi was considered one of the four elemental deities, a god who remained unchanged by history and the passage of time.

After the Spellplague of 1385 DR, Akadi was reported to be not a true goddess but a primordial, a member of an elemental race once in competition with the gods before they were driven away to Abeir. As one of the few primordials who did not war with the gods, Akadi remained in power on Toril.

Over the course of the Second Sundering, Akadi left Toril for Abeir. However, she still seems to have a presence in Faerûn.

Publication History
Ed Greenwood initially used Misha, one of Michael Moorcock's elemental gods as found in the original Deities & Demigods, as the elemental lord of air for his home Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. (In fact, Misha still appears as an apparent misprint in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set's "Cyclopedia of the Realms" booklet (1987) on p. 18.) As Greenwood indicated in his article "Down-to-earth Divinity" in Dragon #54 (October 1981), Moorcock's elemental gods "may later be replaced in [his] universe by "official" AD&D beings as these are published". Akadi first appeared in the original Manual of the Planes (1987), and was featured as one of the elemental lords for the Forgotten Realms in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set's "Cyclopedia of the Realms" booklet (1987).
 * Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977–1988):

Akadi was described in the hardback Forgotten Realms Adventures (1990), the revised Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1993) in the "Running the Realms" booklet, and Faiths & Avatars (1996).
 * Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989–1999):

Akadi appeared as one of the major deities of the Forgotten Realms setting again, in Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001), the Deities web enhancement, and is further detailed in Faiths and Pantheons (2002).
 * Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000–2007):

Akadi appears in the fourth edition as a primordial, not a god.
 * Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008–2013):

Akadi is listed as a deity in the Faerunian pantheon in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.
 * Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (2014–Present) :