The Water Masters

Do you ever stop and really think about the water here in Incaras, City of Mercenaries ? Yes, it comes from the aqueducts and goes to public fountains, baths and private fountains, and the public water cisterns at the Watch stations. Of course there are the weekly water rituals the Church of the Powers perform blessing the fountains and aqueducts and offerings for the spirits of water. The Wall Watch patrol along the towering aqueducts that sprawl across the city. But where does it come from? The water? We are on the top of a plateau in the scrub lands. Do you see windmills? How do they pump it up from the mountain? The secrets of it are kept by the WaterMasters. They maintain the water supply. Important for everyone and kinda secret. You never heard of the before have you? Everything else goes to the The Mayor's Master of Highways and the Clerks to maintain the aqueduct and fountains and pipes and all.


The WaterMasters are a semi secret organization within the Church of the Powers. It is priests and shamen of Elemental water, Karakyl- the blue Warden of the South and Water, and Gods with dominion over water. They have the job of maintaining the water supply of the city. The waste of the fountains, baths, wash and launderies, houses and tenements, of street sweeping and rainfall that all go to the sewers and flow down the sides of the plateau, forming a small river that merges into another and makes a bigger river with barges and small boats.

But what do they do?

Simply: they summon, bind, maintain and appease water elemental spirits that produce the huge volume of water demanded by the city.  They also maintain the aqueduct infrastructure.

Logistics

Logistical Support

The elementals are given regular rituals of appeasement and binding. Offerings and thanks are offered in monthly water celebrations. Many sizes and varieties of Water Elemental beings and spirits now inhabit the waterways and aqueducts. The fae and others patrol and monitor the waterways, keeping out malign entities and securing the favor of the now resident elementals.  Crafters, smiths and masons maintain the waterways, cisterns and water towers under the public works overseen by Tribunes.

History

The first official buildings on the plateau were the Shrine of the Watcher of the Ways and the Church of the Powers that Be. But there were old ruins. A few ponds and amongst the ruins some cisterns. This appeared to satisfy the water needs of the temple. The temple drew scholars as well as dedicated followers, monks and priests. They offered education to all who wanted and could afford it. Eventually the university formed- again drawing from the existing water sources. Then came the mercenaries and small traders to supply the needs of the school, temple and mercenary companies. Water started to become an issue. Explorers found a small lake deep within the mountain. But extracting it would involve hundreds of feet of pipes and pumps. The scholars of the University, engineers and spell casters of the mercenaries and the Temple discussed and debated. A group of mages, priests and shamans broke away to form a water guild. They created, summoned or brought forth water that they sold at a high cost to any who paid. They also attacked any who threatened their position. Within a generation the demands had grown and the water guild became the most powerful entity on the plateau. Incara of Werglyd gathered a secret council of merchants, traders, priests of the temple and mercenary leaders. They agreed to break the Water Guild which was too confident in their control. Incara proposed a unified front and making water a public resource for all. The new water supply would be built centrally and distributed by raised aqueducts. But first the combined companies of mercenaries, priests, adventurers and traders in magical goods initiated an attack on the Water Guild. The fight was furious but short as some within the Water Guild realized they were likely to be slain or sacrificed defending the Guild to allow Higher Ranked Guild Masters to escape. In the end the Water Masters were established - partially staffed by priests of the temples. Partially by mages and Shamans, monitored by The Invisible College of Magic and scholars of the university, Mercenary mages and lastly Fae of the Water Elements. It is said that other secret forces were also involved. One rumor says that the Necromancer of the Black Tower has laid out a curse on any who threaten to disrupt the water supply.
Earth Mages, Dwarven workers and many craftsmen raised the aqueducts and water storage towers. Then Water elementals were raised and bound to the water system - to produce water and to keep it fresh and clean.