“If people keep walking away from me, I just need to find people who can’t walk away.”
Tazzy of Shelldarra – The Unyielding Scholar of the Source
From the moment Tazzy hatched, her boundless curiosity was both a gift and a nuisance. While other young turtlefolk of Shelldarra took their time absorbing the world at a measured pace, Tazzy was different. She didn't just learn, she devoured knowledge. Her mind raced faster than her legs could carry her, her hands always scribbling in notebooks filled with questions, theories, and half-finished sketches of whatever had captured her interest that day.
When the elders of Shelldarra assigned her path, to study the most enigmatic force in the world, the Source, it was as if the stars had aligned just for her. While other Worldkeepers pursued subjects like rare flora, arcane smithing, or celestial navigation, Tazzy had been chosen to chase something far more elusive, something shrouded in mystery, controversy, and danger.
Her journey across E’fa Sylviath was relentless. She sought out sorcerers, mages, scholars, and legends, pestering them with an endless stream of questions. Some tolerated her, bemused by the sight of a stocky turtlefolk practically vibrating with excitement, while others found her insufferable, especially the secretive sourceweavers who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. But being brushed off was no deterrent; if anything, it only made Tazzy more determined.
That’s when she turned her attention to the sourceweaver prisoners. With chains binding them and no doors left to slam in her face, they became her reluctant audience. She bombarded them with questions, filled notebooks with their fragmented answers, and pieced together a puzzle that no one else had the patience, or audacity, to assemble.
She documented everything:
The way Source tingled in a user’s fingertips before it flared to life.
The exhaustion that came after casting powerful spells.
The way some claimed the Source was a gift, while others saw it as a curse.
It was a little cruel, perhaps, to subject already broken people to her relentless questioning, but knowledge was knowledge, and Tazzy was not one to waste an opportunity.
But then, the world shifted.
The Wendigo's attack changed everything.
For the first time in her life, Tazzy felt helpless. A scholar with no way to stop the destruction unfolding before her, no answers that could save the lives lost that day.
She realized then, books and interviews weren’t enough. If she truly wanted to understand the Source, she couldn’t just study it from the sidelines. She needed to go where Sourceweavers were sent. She needed to be in Fort Joy.
So, she did what she did best: she pestered.
Dallis the Hammer was unmoved. Bishop Alexander listened but didn’t understand. But Asudur Grayspire, ever the pragmatic mind, saw the value in what Tazzy was offering. Knowledge was power, and if this turtlefolk scholar could unravel the mysteries of the Source, then perhaps it would give them an advantage.
And so, against all odds, Tazzy of Shelldarra boarded the ship to Fort Joy, not as a prisoner, but as a seeker of truth.
Now, amongst the prisoners, being the only one without a collar, she scribbles in her notebooks at night, her bag of holding clutched tightly in her arms like a child holding onto a treasured toy. Inside, over a hundred books filled with everything she’s learned so far, and soon, many more to come.
Because Tazzy isn’t just here to observe.
She’s here to unravel the Source itself.
And she won’t stop until she has all the answers.