Olhydra

Olhydra is the name given to his warlock patron by Castaway, a half-elf with very idiosyncratic beliefs and the self proclaimed "Sea Elf of Saltmarsh".

The name is mentioned only very briefly, in the post-captivity works of Comte Elegravain Meliagrace d'Valcroix of Odessa. Although primarily composer by profession, a scarcity of funds forced him to write a quick-turnaround adventure travelogue. In this work, ...., he describes his time as a reluctant adventurer and recalls encounters with a variety of characters, Castaway among them.

In his notes this "Sea Elf" claims to have been orphaned and raised by family of fae creatures known as theSeafolk and taught the ways of water, the flow of Olhydra. The name "Olhydra" appears in no other Mainland sources, although there are many accounts of those with a similar set of Patron-granted powers attributed to other Patrons.

Elegravin recounts a conversation with Castaway thusly:

For starters, Olhydra while often referred to as "she" is more a colloquial term and not the name of a "God/Goddess" or singular entity more so that Olhydra is water, is life, and in so is all of us. Thus Olhydra is not a God so much as the "God within" all living things. A primal universal force older than even the Eight Makers themselves, who pushed back the universal waters and tides of Olhydra to create the bubble that contains our world.

Olhydra is the oceans, the seas, the rivers and lakes, the rain and the mist and even the fog. She is blood, and sweat and mucus and urine and fecal and semen and tears and saliva. She is universal truth, the all and the nothing, both in total certainty and baffling mystery.

Olhydra is.

To a devotee following the "flow of Olhydra" is less a religion and more of a philosophy of how to move in both the physical and spiritual worlds. In the physical world it hinges on moving slowly and with ease, to find the paths of least resistance, to then find your level within the existing structure and then create new pathways to flow within. adapt to whatever form is around you.

On a metaphysical level they seek to "hear the voice of Olhydra" guide them and their actions to rely less and less on their own understanding and listen to the collective voice of all life in the universe. To truly "go with the flow".

In both cases a devotee of Olhydra will often strike at their enemies or at a problem only with overwhelming force without warning and before and after return once again to a seeming calm. Patience is indeed a virtue as water can wait...

Water always finds a way in.

This world of dry land and air and sky is but a bubble in an infinite ocean beyond the firmament above the clouds and the oceans beneath the earth itself.

All of this that is and was and ever will be on what we call a world is but a single passing pop to Olhydra but in the randomness and contradiction of our existence we have been given a gift of life and choice and free will to act and the obligation to always act in the ultimate service of life, of Olhydra.

Thus what best serves the greater cause of life? What gives life the chance to thrive? Is what a devotee would ask themselves as opposed to the morality of the situation. Note this definition of life does not solely apply to the so called goodly races alone but to all living beings.