The Great Ak is the Master Woodsman of the world, ruler of the forests, the orchards, and the groves. He is one of three beings to whom all other immortals are subject, the others being Kern the Master Husbandman and Bo the Master Mariner. These three see everything and know more than the sons of men. The Master Woodsman carries an ax and has a grizzled beard which he rubs when he is thinking. His old servant is named Nelko. When Claus grew old and was near death, the Great Ak called a Council of Immortals and asked that the Mantle of Immortality be bestowed upon the Patron Saint of Children.