Ocean Man

Ocean Man is the nickname given by the people of Duilintinn to a benevolent member of the Fae living in the fresher waters of the Cuartalan Wetlands on the coast of the Eastern Sea.

## History

(copied from the Ocean Men and Ocean Man in Cuartalan Wetlands)

Nowadays, almost everyone in Duilintinn knows of the benevolent Fae being we call the “Ocean Man” and how his blessing ensures that all of Duilintinn’s major waterways are safe and clean for all who rely upon them.

However, once upon a time, no one except the people of the Cuartalan Wetlands were aware of the Ocean Man’s presence and power. After all, it’s much easier to assume that a river is naturally clear and safe to drink than it is to overlook how the destructive potential of water in a wetland was being tamed by some outside force.

Indeed, the Ocean Man’s first documented intervention among the peoples of the Mortal Realm was to magically coax the tides of the Eastern Sea away from the Cuartalan Wetlands in an attempt to protect the settlements of the region.

Unfortunately, the Fae being was ignorant of how
wetland civilizations thrived in a balance with the water’s life-giving and destructive properties. Assuming these settlements were being slowly flooded, the Ocean Man used his power to essentially “reclaim” the region and turn it into normal, dry land.

Obviously, the people living in the wetlands weren’t exactly thrilled by this.

Thankfully, this initial misunderstanding set the stage for open and genuine communication which had never before been seen between the Fae and mortals. The wetland peoples convinced the Ocean Man to return the tides in all of their power, and demonstrated how they worked as a community to stave off the danger while embracing the vitality of their ecosystem.

The Ocean Man respected how these people placed great pride in their ability to shape their environment, and in turn redirected his powers towards protecting these strange mortals from the forces of nature they could not control. While he could not stop the winter storms or spring melts that posed the most dramatic threats to the region, his power over the water itself allowed him to mitigate the damage that such natural disasters would cause.

Moreover, he offered his own understanding of the physics and properties of water to the people, hoping they would be able to use that knowledge to improve upon their ability to control the tides.

And thus, the Ocean Men were born.

Centuries later, the Ocean Men Guild still consists of those who seek to learn from the Ocean Man, those who wish to worship him, and those who simply make their living in his domain. This legacy makes the Ocean Men the oldest guild in Duilintinn, surpassing even the Guard Coalition by a *significant* margin.

While today, the Ocean Men is probably most known for its role in bringing accessible plumbing to all of Duilintinn’s large cities, a significant portion of their work is still centered in the Cuartalan Wetlands. Between continuing to foster the kingdom’s relationship with the Ocean Man and developing new cultivation and infrastructure techniques for the wetland ecosystem, the region remains the central focus of the guild’s efforts.

## Intentions

Ocean Man uses his magic to ensure that the waters of Duilintinn are clean and free of waterborne diseases. He also ventures south into Loch Domhainn and the two coastal outposts of The Watch (Domhainn Outlook and Iolla Beacon), where he sometimes escorts ships into the harbor and consistently protects naval patrols of Watchers, especially during the dangerous seafaring conditions of the winter months.

Ocean Man has informed King Sean that he is one of a small group of fae folk who wish to return all water of the mortal realm to its pure and life-giving nature. The two have worked together on a few occasions to raise funds and awareness towards magical and mundane means of providing clean water to the rest of the world.

## Worship

Despite simply being a member of the Fae Folk, many people worship Ocean Man as a sort of deity. A song has been written in about him, a guild was named after him, and people will often build small personal shrines in his honor.

The closest thing to a proper temple to the Ocean Man is the guild hub of the Ocean Men in Aghaboy, House Brody. In addition, the guild maintains a few smaller shrines near the coast.