Old Man (CTL)

Near the heart of Arcadia, the Old Man rules his Well of Tears, capturing and stabling a myriad of Darkling servants.

Description
Water is a chancy thing, even in the mortal world, but the silent wells of Arcadia hand out blessings and curses with equal ease. The Keepers of these wells are powerful among the Gentry, able to call rain, or banish it, able to swallow boats and rise in furious floods. They have no mercy.

The Old Man is one such Keeper, his great staring eyes always running with tears, his voice low as storm clouds and his payment for wishes granted seventh-born sons. The Lost who’ve made it back to the mortal world have found a name for him in books: Tlaloc, the Rain Singer.

His realm is far, far below the surface of Arcadia, in the sunken tunnels and water-filled caverns that hide from the pale Fae sun. He hoards treasures: Aztec gold, lapis lazuli carved like leopards and the bones of infants. Those who serve him in the black waters swim like frogs and fishes, and die like them, too, if dragged too quickly to the dry air.

His Changelings
The Darklings here guard his precious things, like the golden-eye fish of wisdom, and suffer terrible temptation for it is said that eating the flesh of the Rain Singer’s fish will reveal the secrets of the Hedge, allowing safe passage back to the mortal world. The servants here take on the aspects of their master: huge frog eyes, a gulping hunger for drowning victims or beautiful flowing hair that can entangle the unwary. Webbed hands and frogskin, iridescent scales and fishbone combs, jewelry made from Aztec treasures thrown down to placate the gods are among the trappings found among these fae. The sky is the distant, silver surface of the water, and their home the cool waters of Arcadia.