Thiazzi

"I am the truth and the Way. I am master of fire. I am ruler of the Forest!" Thiazzi is a Soul Eater and one the main antagonists of Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, (which takes place 6000 years ago in prehistoric Europe during the Stone Age). He is the Oak Mage, appearing in Soul Eater and Oath Breaker, and serving as the main antagonist of the latter book.

Before Soul Eater
Thiazzi's past is mostly unknown. It's known only that he's from the Oak Clan - one of the Deep Forest Clans - and became of the Healers. At some point all the other members of his clan died of sickness, leaving Thiazzi as the last living Oak.

Soul Eater
During winter time, Thiazzi joins up with Eostra, Nef and Seshru in a new plot to take over the Forest. With one of the three Fire Opal shards in their possession, they locate a Far North mountain called Eye of the Viper that holds many demons. They intend to release the demons, bind them to their will and make all the Clans to submit to them.

Thiazzi helps Nef and Seshru in hunting down predators they require as sacrifices for protective spells against the demons. They capture Wolf and set out towards Far North with Torak and Renn in pursuit. While capturing Wolf, Thiazzi steps on his tail tip so hard that the unattended tip is affected by necrosis. The Oak Mage also enjoys tormenting Wolf beyond that.

When the Soul Eaters have gathered all the nine predators in Eye of the Viper, Torak takes the place of a White Fox boy brought in by Nef to serve as the Soul Eaters' acolyte and one of the sacrifices. He manages to fool the Soul Eaters who have hardly seen the White Fox boy's face. Torak begins hating Thiazzi nearly immediately after seeing the Oak Mage tormenting the young owl sacrifice (which Torak is forced by Nef to sacrifice). Thiazzi also seals the cave system's entrance with a boulder, forcing Renn to find another way out.

While Torak reunites with Renn and frees Wolf (in addition of cutting off his necrotic tail tip), the Soul Eaters slaughter two more sacrifices (a lynx and a polar bear). Thiazzi wears the bear's pelt while keeping away the predators' vengeful souls. After Nef informs of the release of the sacrifices, a fight ensues between the Soul Eaters and Torak, Renn and Wolf. Wolf jumps on Thiazzi and bites off two fingers from his left hand. Renn steals the Fire Opal and flees with Torak and Wolf, but not before Seshru opens the portal for a while and releases quite a herd of demons.

Thiazzi sets out with Nef and Seshru (along with Eostra's eagle owl) to reclaim the Fire Opal. They catch up Torak who's been separated from Wolf and Renn, and the furious Thiazzi is narrowly convinced by the others not to beat the boy to death. Nef recognizes the ceremonial knife Torak's father passed to his son, and the boy's identity finally dawns on the Soul Eaters. They make Torak take them to Renn who has the Fire Opal, but not before Seshru forcefully tattoos the Soul Eaters' mark on his chest. While this happens, Thiazzi holds Torak still.

When they reach Renn, she's about to jump into a crevasse in order to destroy the Fire Opal's power. Having lured a polar bear there with the scent of his blood, Torak spirit walks into it (making Seshru realize that he's a spirit walker) and battles the Soul Eaters. Wolf herds the released demons there with an arctic wolf pack, narrowly convincing Torak not to kill the subdued Thiazzi with the polar bear's strength. Suddenly Nef takes the Fire Opal from Renn and does the sacrifice herself to repay her debt to Torak's father. The demons follow her and end up sealed under the ice, the Fire Opal's power dying in the process. Seshru and Thiazzi flee to fight another day.

Oath Breaker
About an year later (with Seshru dead and another Fire Opal fragment destroyed), Thiazzi finds the last piece of the Fire Opal (which Tenris possessed) hidden underneath the altar of the Crag situated in the Seal Islands. He's caught in the act by Bale, Torak's kin from the Seal Clan. Thiazzi overwhelms Bale and throws him off the edge and steps on the young man's fingers, sending him to his death. Then he sets out towards the Forest, while Torak swears to avenge Bale.

Thiazzi paddles among the Forest's rivers towards the eastern Deep Forest. Torak, Renn, Wolf and Fin-Kedinn follow him. At one point Thiazzi sets a nearly invisible line across the river, with the pursuers getting nearly killed by it as they paddle among the river.

When they reach the Deep Forest's entrance, Torak spots Thiazzi entering. Recklessly he runs after the Oak Mage and sets loose another trap. The logs rolling down the Burning Hill injure Fin-Kedinn badly, forcing him to return to the Raven Clan. As Torak, Renn and Wolf travel in the Deep Forest, they slowly see how Thiazzi has caused roiling among the Deep Forest Clans lately.

Thiazzi's influence
The Oak Mage has kidnapped several children from several Clans (both from the Deep Forest and the Open Forest) to make them tokoroths, leading the Clans to blame each other. He placed a marking that set the surrounding area as that of the Forest Horse Clan, leading the Auroch Clan to burn it. Then he murdered the Forest Horse Mage, becoming the new Forest Horse Mage and presenting an arrowhead from the body. The Lynx Clan has sided with the Aurochs and the Bat Clan has sided with the Forest Horses (and the pacifistic Red Deer Clan remains neutral).

Thiazzi also murders the Auroch Mage, the clan not finding it out due to the mage's habit of living in isolation. He instills in the clans the teachings of the harsh Way, leading them to think that the other clans' ways to ignite fire are wrong, mutilate themselves for not following the Way and cut human hands (which has not been done since the evil times following the Great Flood). The insane and pyromaniacal Red Deer woman who calls herself the Chosen One spies on Torak and Renn on Thiazzi's orders.

Thiazzi declares as the Open Forest Mage the Sacred Grove to be secluded. There he kills predators with fire and places the bodies to hang from the ancient giant oak's branches. Torak faces him there and Thiazzi has the upper hand, but as Wolf drives a bison herd to pass though the grove, Thiazzi vanishes.

Unifier & warmonger
After the Chosen One sets loose a devastating forest fire and Torak is captured by the Forest Horse Clan and Renn by the Auroch Clan, the warring Deep Forest Clans gather near the Sacred Grove. In his disguise of the Forest Horse Mage, Thiazzi presents the speech rod of the Auroch Clan, claiming to have spoken with their mage and returning it as the sign of respect. Then he claims that both mages have received the same vision that declares that the Deep Forest Clans must no longer war among each other, but unite against a stronger enemy.

He preaches that the Clans outside the Deep Forest who don't follow the Way have caused all the misfortunes, reminding of the previous actions of the Soul Eaters (the demon bear, Tenris' plague, the demons released in the Far North and the flood in Lake Axehead) and placing the blame on the other Clans. Torak is brought forth and is unjustly blamed of igniting the forest fire, trying to bring forth Tenris' plague, removing the Soul Eaters' mark on his chest in order to hide his evil and being accepted back to the Clans after being branded as an outcast. His execution is narrowly postponed by a sensible old Auroch man who declares that the Auroch Mage must agree to the decision. Thiazzi says that both mages shall appear together tomorrow and should they agree, Torak will die.

That night Torak escapes with Renn's help, but he leaves her to hunt down Thiazzi, leading her to be recaptured. She convinces her to be taken to the Auroch Mage's secluded hut, leaving her and the disguised Thiazzi alone. He reveals himself to her after a while, and she tries to threaten him by saying that Eostra will come to punish him for keeping the Fire Opal for his own purposes. He decides to let Renn live until he has caught Torak. He destroys Renn's belongings before her, leaves glues for Torak to follow and takes her to the Sacred Grove.

The final confrontation
In the Sacred Grove Thiazzi drops the tied up an gagged Renn inside the big hollow yew. Then he leads smoke inside it, putting Renn in the danger of suffocation. Eventually Torak arrives to the Grove on a black forest horse's back. He breaks his vow to avenge Bale so that Thiazzi would let Renn go, but Thiazzi merely taunts him. The Oak Mage sets the surrounding junipers in fire that seals the grove off.

During the fighting, Thiazzi lets Torak think that Renn is inside the big ancient oak next to the yew, having set a ladder next to it. Torak climbs the ladder and after Thiazzi reveals his lie and Torak tells him that the Deep Forest Clans are coming to the grove, Thiazzi climbs after him. Renn who has managed to get out of the hole inside the yew, appears in its branches. Torak kicks the ladder against the yew, securing Renn's way down and sealing himself and Thiazzi to the oak. Disarmed Thiazzi chases Torak across the branches, eventually reaching the top branch. Renn throws Torak a burning brand of wood. He hits Thiazzi with it, but he Oak Mage is protected from the fire by the Fire Opal.

But as he brags about the Fire Opal, Eostra's eagle owl appears suddenly, snatches the stone and flies towards the High Mountains in the east. A burning ember sets fire to Thiazzi's hair, causing him to lose his balance and fall to his death.

Legacy
The Deep Forest Clans are made aware of Thiazzi's manipulations and they abandon the Way as eagerly as they took it up. The peace treaty is made with the Open Forest Clans, and almost all the children kidnapped by Thiazzi are found and taken under treatment. The Deep Forest slowly starts to recover from the forest fire and the Oak Mage's body is secretly buried in a hidden valley by the Deep Forest Clans. The Chosen One is captured and judged by Torak. After losing one of his tail feathers while fighting Thiazzi, Rip the raven grows a white one in its place, gaining the Raven Clan's respect for it.

Thiazzi's soul appears briefly in Ghost Hunter, summoned by Eostra and under her control through his hair the Eagle Owl Mage possesses. But he vanishes as the spell is broken.

Appearance
Thiazzi is a very large man. His face is hard like a ground burned by the sun. His cruel eyes are as green as a raw leaf. He has a a long tangled yellow-brown hair and beard. His teeth are yellow due to his habit of chewing spruce resin.

His clan tattoo is situated on his left hand's back. Like with the other Soul Eaters, he has a three-pronged black fork tattooed on his heart. Wolf bites off two fingers from his left hand in Soul Eater.

In Soul Eater Thiazzi wears massive reindeer pelt clothes, but his clothing changes much in Oath Breaker.

In his disguise of the Forest Horse Mage, he wears a long horse pelt cape and a mask worn by the clan's mages. It's carved wood and resembles a horse's face with its length, mane made of horse tail hair, eyes painted ember red and the open mouth adorned with black feathers. He hides his left hand and his real clan tattoo in a long sleeve.

In his disguise of the Auroch Mage, he wears a hooded leaf cape and a nettle-made necklace adorned with spruce resin peaces. He hides his size by hiding under leafs and sprigs while talking with Renn before he reveals himself.

Under both of these disguises he wears on his chest a wreath made of acorns and mistletoe with foggy white berries like blinded eyes. He keeps the last Fire Opal shard in a small bad in the wreath's center. In his final confrontation with Torak, he takes away his cape and shows himself to wear many pelts gained from many predators (like a fox, a lynx, a wolverine and a bear) to give him strength.

Personality
Thiazzi is the most sadistic and violent of the Soul Eaters, enjoying frightening and hurting any living creatures, whatever they are children or animals that can't fight back. He can hurt both physically and psychologically, like when he destroys Renn's belongings before her eyes and even snaps in two her beloved bow. He also provokes Torak into rage by taunting him of Bale's murder.

Thiazzi is quite arrogant and haughty, trusting his own power before anything else. He's not as interested in Torak's power as a spirit walker as the other Soul Eaters, probably thinking that he doesn't need it when he has the Fire Opal. At most he views Torak's power as a bonus, and is more interesting in having Torak killed.

Thiazzi desires in Oath Breaker to become the soul ruler of the entire Forest, leaving Eostra out of it despite his fear of her and better knowledge. He instills in the Deep Forest Clans the teachings of the Way that has traits from customs unpracticed since the dark times following the Great Flood. It includes dismembering and self-mutilation, killing predators with fire and having certain ways to ignite the fire. Thiazzi claims that being sacrificed for fire is the most magnificent death a hunter can receive.

In both of the books he appears, Thiazzi claims that the World Spirit is on his side, like the other Soul Eaters. He claims that the Clans are weak for stepping out of the Way and that he will put an end to all the disagreements, clan totems and clan mages, with him as the soul ruler.

Thiazzi knows how to sow discord, as he shows throughout Oath Breaker. He can create lies out of truths as he does with the previous actions of the Soul Eaters and Torak while uniting the Deep Forest Clans he had driven to fight each other. While sadistic, he can focus on the task at hand when needed.

According to Fin-Kedinn, Thiazzi was eager to learn the minds of trees, like the other Deep Forest inhabitants.

Powers and abilities
Thiazzi's special ability as a Soul Eater is his great strength. He's referred as the strongest man of the Forest. In Soul Eater, he pulls a boulder five times his size as if it was merely a willow curtain.

He uses the largest knife and ax Torak and Renn have ever seen. He also uses a whip, using it to skillfully disarm Torak.

While in Soul Eater Thiazzi comes off as a brute, he shows his full cunningness in Oath Breaker. He skillfully builds several traps and manipulates entire clans to fight each other and then to unite.

When Thiazzi possesses the last Fire Opal shard, he can control fire while remaining safe from it.

When Eostra summons Thiazzi's spirit in Ghost Hunter, the Eagle Owl Mage describes him as "mighty as the oak, the strongest one".

Trivia

 * In Norse mythology, Thiazzi (Þjazi) is a powerful storm giant who could disguise himself as an eagle. He captures Loki after tricking him, keeping him in air and demands one thing in exchange for his freedom: Loki must deliver Thiazzi the golden apples that give the gods of Asgard (Ásgarðr) their eternal youth and their caretaker Idunn (Iðunn). Loki rules Idunn with her apples outside Asgard, allowing Thiazzi to take her away. After the gods press the truth of Idunn's disappearance from Loki, they force him to bring her back. In hawk's form Loki takes Idunn after turning her into a nut, but Thiazzi follows them. The giant flies through a wall of flames set by the gods of Asgard, hits the ground and the gods kill him.
 * Thiazzi happens to be related to Torak, because Torak's maternal grandfather was from Thiazzi's clan.
 * According to Michelle Paver, Thiazzi lets his hair grow long because he believes that it holds part of his strength. In the past, shamans and witch-doctors have also held this belief in order to prevent their power from draining away. This belief ultimately proves to be Thiazzi's undoing.