"The great black tortoise of Chinese mythology, sometimes called the Black warrior of the North. Representing the North and the season of winter, it is one of the four Ssu Ling, or "Spiritual Creatures," that stand at the four corners of the Earth.

The others are the Lung Wang (Dragon) in the East; theFeng Huang (Pheonix) in the South; and the Ki-Lin (Unicorn) in the West. The Black Tortoise is usually depicted as both a tortoise and a snake with the snake coiling around the tortoise."

~Source: Literature- Zell Ravenheart, Oberon, "A Wizards Bestiary/by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Ash "LeopardDancer" DeKirk" New Page Books, 2007