Makis [Mah-keese] was born to a human fisherman's daughter and a Triton tide-hunter who disappeared into the waves before Makis was even born. He was raised on a salt-crusted pier by his grandfather, a stern, rugged man. Makis spent his youth hauling heavy lobster pots and mending torn nets under the hot sun, growing up into a quiet, contemplative lad. He grew a thick beard that pure Tritons could never grow, and his pale skin looks more like the shallow coast than the deep ocean. His grandfather taught him the hard trade of a surface sailor, showing him how to predict storms, read the winds, and brace behind a heavy shield when a rogue wave struck the hull. His solitary hours were shared with a local gnome tinkerer, who taught Makis the sharp, quick syllables of Gnomish over plates of fried fish. Fascinated by the boy's Triton blood, the old gnome showed him how to shape the coastal winds using formal wizardry, gifting him a few precious cantrips.

Everything changed the winter the old man died. In the quiet weeks after the funeral, the primal Triton blood dormant in the young man's veins began to violently awaken. He found himself commanding the water in his washbasin and listening to the whispers of the sea birds, realizing he had an instinctual connection to the ocean. Left with nothing but his grandfather’s old ironwood trident and battered shield, Makis walked down to the lawless docks to sign onto a pirate crew. He didn’t care about finding his absent father or hunting for legendary treasure. Makis just stepped aboard to survive, ready to use his grandfather's shield training and his own new druidic magic to carve out a living on the sea.