Ma-O the Water Deamon

Appearance

In his actual form, he is truely frightening to behold. His form is that of a massive tentacle like that of a Kraken, but made of seawater and half a mile long, with the width of the largest seven masted ship in the Company's navy. His head is in the shape of a crococodile, and it is made of seafoam except the eyes and teeth, which are composed of large chunks of glowing amythest, each of which is large enough, were it in the hands of a wizard or witch of Acqua, for a major spell to be cast.

He rarely takes this form however, as it is both tiring for him, and might well bring down the anger of the Great God Jove upon his head. Whilst he prefers to send water elementials to do his bidding, he can also appear as a man or a black stallion without saddle or bridle. In either form, he leaves small puddles of water behind with every step he takes.

He likes sacrafices of all birds and beasts of the air and most of all humans-most highly prized amongst them, are virgin females.

He hates dry land of any kind, and the dry land dwellers, although he has no dislike for the peoples of the sea.He hates ships and their passengers and crews,who he sees as tresspassers, and he constantly shakes the seas to try and sink them with storms and incites sea creatures and the undead to attack them, which is why the seas of Acqua are so dangerous to shipping. The only humans he does not hate are those few who worship him in secret and keep him fed with sacrfices of various kinds.

History/Background

According to the early myths of both the Jovian and Ulmanian worshippers, Ma-O was the second child of Jove and Ulmania, and almost from the start he did not get on well with Acqua, constantly teasing and tormenting him. When Jove discovered that Acqua was homosexual and turned red with rage, Ma-O thought the time was right to murder his brother.

Jove was not that angry, however, and ordered Ma-O to stop. When Ma-O refused, Jove beat him badly, shrinking him and stripping him of most of his powers, and hurling him into Acqua to live as a deamonic parasite within him.Since then Ma-O has lived in secret, hoping one day that he will regain enough strenth to fight Jove and slaughter Acqua.

Only once in the past thousand years has he arisen from the seas in his true form, when the Archmage Bela Kun, who lived on Rothar Isle, perfected a long spell that would uncover every worshipper of his to the public gaze. Ma-O was only in his true form for five minites, but it was enough to submerge the island below the waves and exterminate the Archmage and all the people and animals who lived there. He allowed some people on a nearby ship to escape unharmed, so they could spread the story of what he had done. Since then no mage or witch has tried to cast that spell.

Since then he has largely left it to the cult known as the Children of Ma-O to cause as much trouble on land and sea as they can, in the hope that he will gain enough strength to kill Acqua and fight Jove on an equal level, and finally get his revenge for what was done to him. He gains strength from death, misery and pain, but (apart from that of his few followers) happyness, good health and new life weaken him at the same time.

Special Equipment

His sword, although he gave it to humans a long while ago because they could do more harm with it then he could.

Roleplaying Notes

Ma-O has a dislike of women in paticular that he finds it hard to conceal, whatever form he is in. He is rich with the unclaimed treasure of the seas. He is also arrogant and bad tempered.

Plot Hooks-Please could you get me a...?

The PCs are offered a huge sum of money for an artifact. Unknown to them Ma-O sent them on the task, so that he has the vital object he needs to take his true form and ascend to the heavens to fight Jove, destroying Acqua in the process along with all life on it.

Clear the beach!!

The PCs learn somehow that Ma-O is going to destroy an island, and they have X amount of time to try and get everyone to evacuate. This can be played in *real time*.