Snapping turtles are cantankerous beasts prone to biting anything that provokes them. And then there are the Gargantuan ones…
Young villagers come across a kappa fishing by the river. He promises them a boon if they catch him a half-dozen snapping turtles for his soup. Agreeing might lead the villagers to becoming patsies for his pranks…or the boon may be the thing that launches their careers as adventurers.
An ingredient for a vital ritual potion is a gland found in the stomach of a giant snapping turtle—but the solution’s magic will be spoiled if the turtle is slain in the process. Someone will have to both survive the trip down the turtle’s gullet and manage to cut a way out—an effort hampered by the turtle’s armored stomach.
The new prodigy at the Academy of Magic, Amelie Wyvernrite, stuns everyone by calling a snapping turtle as her familiar. But given that an oracle has pronounced that a doom lies upon her, her choice (and the turtle’s offered Fortitude bonus) may be a fortunate one.
—Pathfinder Bestiary 2 273
Snapping turtles inhabit still lakes throughout Gladia and the islands of the Swirling Sea. They can be called as familiars, but those who do are usually stereotyped as shy and temperamental.
Shores of Swords 