Isaac Cortazar

> The past still poses as many questions as our future. We must not forget it.
>
> Isaac Cortazar

Portrait painting of Prof. Cortazar issued by the museum.

Isaac Cortazar is an archaeologic anthropologist, mainly responsible for the discovery of an ancient race in 1271 named N'Arhayat. This great discovery fell mostly under the radar as, shortly after, the events of *Splinter Fall* unraveled, taking the world by storm and leaving his findings in the shadows.

He is also the current curator of the **Hedween National Museum**, where he now spends his days, continuing his studies into uncovering more about the ancient people and providing his services to both scholars and visitors.

## Personality

Despite his initial stern look, he is a very caring individual, often engaging in enthusiastic conversations with the students and children who visit the museum daily. Although spending most of his time alone in his study, it is clear to see that he would much more enjoy giving lectures to the youth about his passions.

He is not against splinters, believing they can do good in responsible hands, however, since this is not often the case, he holds a more conservative view on the matter, wishing for a simpler society with a deeper cultural focus.

## History

Isaac was born in Ky’Aisa to a loving and caring family. Although living on the edge of poverty his parents thought him how to act correctly, how to respect others and how to be a great man, hoping he would become someone better than them. Throughout his life he has always pursued vast knowledge, showing a great interest in history and engineering, eventually breaking off with the latter, in search of a deeper understanding of the past.

He studied in **Altava Academy of History and Arts**, where he graduated with distinction. Hoping to be a lecturer he volunteered into many academies throughout Argentum but never found much success due to Argentum's focus being on innovating for the future and "burring" the past.

Eventually, in 1243, Isaac left his home and ended up moving to Hedween in search of new old findings in a different place. Despite being received as a foreigner and facing his dose of discrimination, he managed to reach a wider audience and found himself studying and working in the national museum.

In 1271 he landed upon his biggest discovery, an ancient temple hidden deep within a cave in the northwest region of Hedween, belonging to a previously unknown race of humans, the N'Arhayat. He has been learning about them since.

## The Star Engine

A few years after his position in the museum settled, Isaac came face-to-face with a very old relic dating back around 1500 years, believed to be a tool used by a predecessor of the witches, a sort of energy catalyst. The artifact was kept in great condition by the museum, however, nobody truly knew the history behind it, as it made no sense with previous cultural footprints of said people.

The catalyst seemed to vaguely react to energy sources that came in contact with it but would very quickly malfunction, ruining the energy source in the process. After countless attempts to incite a meaningful reaction the relic was deemed as broken due to it being so old, this was until Cortazar found a possible way of re-activating the relic.

During one of his travels home to support his mother, the professor managed to sneak out a used Argent Core through a black market contact that owed his father. Using his old engineering skills he managed to successfully connect it to the relic finally getting it to work. The result was a thin energy beam that shot out in a single direction, this would consume great amounts of energy to keep functioning so it had to be turned off shortly after turning on.

After extensive testing it was concluded that the relic could have been used as a tool or weapon that discharged very precise beams of whatever energy source fueled it for practical applications like soldering or glassblowing, however, the beam could only be discharged in a single direction - north, hence the circular output indentation; it was assumed that this was due to the magnetic poles of the planet. This conclusion didn't sit well with Cortazar since it was just a fancy way of giving up; there was no chance that a tool with such purpose was that big or consumed this much energy. A civilization from centuries before couldn't possibly have harnessed an energy source so powerful to power such a basic tool.

As he carried the artifact to a storage facility, Isaac decided to turn the device on one last time, as he pondered its secrets. On doing so he noticed something different - the beam had shifted a few degrees to the west, this was evident because safety protocol regarding the artifact stated that anyone handling the device should stand perfectly south to avoid injury. That's when it struck him, he had just stumbled upon the most powerful compass ever, it made no sense for it to require such power but Isaac, curious as he is, decided to follow the light, turning the device on and off at distant intervals so as to correct his position. From the beam's movement, it was now clear to him that it was leading him somewhere.