Tsuguka

That one knows more than any book in their library, one of the younger mages whispered to another. Tsuguka would have once scoffed at such a notion. In their youth, they believed truth was a mineral to be mined from the great monoliths of The Crystal Highlands of Armaria. They spent decades cataloging the hum of every crystal, convinced that with enough data, the universe would yield all its secrets. But the data was just noise, a language without feeling. Frustration led them to a forgotten grotto where a pool of still water mirrored the spinning rocks above. They didn't cast a spell. They didn't consult a text. For the first time, they just listened. From the water, the octopus emerged, a being of pure curiosity. It has never spoken, but it teaches them every day what the monoliths could not: that some answers are not found, but felt.