Tally Tiddlepot

“Who is Tally Tiddlepot?” the children often ask. Some say Tally is a clever girl who climbed the Skyshield Peaks to talk to the winds. Others insist Tally is a bold boy who wrestled the Flux Dragon with nothing but a wooden spoon. And still others say Tally is neither, or both, or something else entirely—because Tally is whoever the world needs them to be.
One thing is certain: Tally Tiddlepot is a friend to all who dream, wander, and seek the better way.

Folk tales and children's stories are often more of a shared language than any attempt to create a common language. Tally Tiddlepot is an ancient myth, a series of stories with the same main character, told to children all through Fractis. While details often vary, the stories are clearly meant to inspire children to work toward a better future, and often come with a moral lesson or some kind of warning, just like a fable should. The ubiquitous spread of the tales has lead to Tally being an icon of different cultures, and also a quick way to show common ground, even among adults, by simply making a reference to the character.

Historical Basis

No adult thinks that Tally Tiddlepot was ever a real person. The stories about their exploits are too wild to be believed, too obviously the whimsical imaginations fit for a child. What scholars are more interested in is the origin of the tales themselves, and when they started to become tales of Tally.
The earliest recorded mention of Tally Tiddlepot is from none other than Teryn Solavar himself, making reference to one of the tales as the source of his desire to unify the world. This means that by about 400 PV, Tally Tiddlepot was already a cultural icon of some sort, with numerous stories purported to be about their adventures. As it would take at least two generations to have such a firm hold on children, the first tales must be even older than that.
Many of Tally's stories are set after the Sundering, and others are ambiguous about their setting. This would tend to point to them as being made to keep children entertained in the harsh times of the Dark Ages, and possibly as warnings against local threats. Most scholars also believe the original stories were likely about local or unnamed characters, and Tally was later insert into the stories to give a familiarity to children. It's very possible some of these parables predate the Sundering, and are only known now in their current form after appropriating Tally. The rapid spread of the stories to other Fragments, and their popularity there, makes it hard to determine if the name itself is from before the Sundering. None of the Primori or Glacivarn who were present before the Sundering remember these tales, but as they are largely told in human communities, that is unsurprising.

Variations & Mutation

Numerous variants of the Tally Tiddlepot stories are spread far and wide, but even in the same region, variations exist. As the quote above implies, Tally's gender even flips between stories at times, even in the same region, and in other tales it is left ambiguous. They are always courageous and young and often curious, but little consistency exists between stories. They are usually armed with something innocuous that isn't normally considered a weapon, with a wooden spoon being the most popular, but some variants arm them with a whisk or broom or other household utensil.
The actual stories vary less, but details are often very different between regions. In Tally Tiddlepot and the Starberry Quest, for example, the fruit itself is sometimes renamed, and the various challenges posed are presented by local animals in a region, replacing the raven with an owl, or the wandering thicket with an oasis.

Cultural Reception

While no scholar is certain of the origin of the tales, they're so very popular that just about every culture on Primor's Cradle claims to be the origin of the character... and a few on other fragments, even! They're beloved by almost all humans, and other species often find the fascination rather peculiar, though their reaction is usually bemused curiosity rather than bafflement or dislike.
The more canny scholars notice that the tales often revolve around cooperation and working together with others. In a world as fragmented as Fractis, with cultures severed from one another for centuries at a time, this sort of message goes a long way toward easing tensions. Many credit it for the more hopeful and optimistic outlook that the younger generation have, and the themes of exploration have certainly resonated even into adulthood.

In Literature

Children's books with these stories are somewhat rare, since literacy rates still do not support them, but a few small runs have spread a couple small collections across Fractis. They are generally the equivalent of collector's items, kept by adults more for bragging rights than used by children.
Scholars have started to treat the stories more seriously in recent generations. A compiled tome of Collected Stories of Tally Tiddlepot has reached four editions now, and while it is still somewhat rare, large cities will generally have access to several copies if they have any sort of library program. A companion volume offers critique and analysis of each story, including annotations on known widespread variations and theories of origins of each tale. While it is not a deep subject of study, it has become a popular one for lay scholars and specialized sages interested in how word of mouth operates.

In Art

While art depicting Tally Tiddlepot is common amongst children or to illustrate the rare story collections, serious art about a children's character is far less common in the rough and sometimes too pragmatic world of Fractis. This does not mean it doesn't exist, and murals or simple carvings depicting Tally or their adventures are very common in smaller villages or in poorer neighborhoods of cities.
The most notable piece of art lies in the old village of Tallystead, which has a statue of Tally erected in the middle of the village center. The village is quite old, and may even date back to the first recorded instances of Tally Tiddlepot, a fact that the village takes great pride in. They are one of the many villages that claim to be a home to the legendary stories. Alas, the statue of Tally in Tallystead is rather androgynous, so even if that is the true origin, it does not help clear up the age old debate about Tally's gender.