diff --git a/skald/src/narrate.rs b/skald/src/narrate.rs
index cd697eb..98418c1 100644
--- a/skald/src/narrate.rs
+++ b/skald/src/narrate.rs
@@ -65,12 +65,16 @@ pub async fn run(
     let run_id = Uuid::new_v4();
     let output_filename = format!("{}-{}-{}.wav", chapter.story_id, chapter.n, run_id);
 
-    // Engine + version threaded from the voice row's source/license
-    // pair. lj_speech-style PD voices live behind f5-tts; kokoro_*
-    // voices live behind kokoro. Future: a dedicated voices.engine
-    // column to make this explicit.
+    // Engine + version threaded from the voice row's source. Three
+    // engines on Lucy currently:
+    //   kokoro_*    → kokoro 82M
+    //   tortoise_*  → tortoise-tts
+    //   anything else (lj_speech etc.) → f5-tts
+    // Future: a dedicated voices.engine column to make this explicit.
     let (engine, engine_version) = if voice.source.starts_with("kokoro") {
         ("kokoro-82m", "0.9")
+    } else if voice.source.starts_with("tortoise") {
+        ("tortoise-tts", "3.0")
     } else {
         ("f5-tts", "1.1.20")
     };
@@ -91,14 +95,20 @@ pub async fn run(
     // the Kokoro server only ever sees real voice ids. Only kicks
     // in for kokoro-routed renders; F5 voice-tag handling isn't
     // implemented and any tags pass through unchanged.
-    // Two pre-processing passes (kokoro only). Order matters:
-    //   1. Speaker voice substitution rewrites [voice:slug] → [voice:kokoro_id].
-    //      This must run BEFORE pronunciation overrides so we don't
-    //      accidentally try to respell character slugs.
+    // Two pre-processing passes (kokoro + tortoise — engines that
+    // parse [voice:X] dialogue tags). Order matters:
+    //   1. Speaker voice substitution rewrites [voice:slug] → the
+    //      engine's named voice id. Must run BEFORE pronunciation
+    //      overrides so we don't try to respell character slugs.
+    //      Tortoise: characters with no tortoise-voice mapping
+    //      gracefully fall back to the narrator voice server-side.
     //   2. Pronunciation overrides word-substitute proper nouns
-    //      (Pripyat, Dyatlov, etc.) with English-readable respellings
-    //      so Kokoro's small phonemizer doesn't mangle them.
-    let gen_text = if voice.source.starts_with("kokoro") {
+    //      (Pripyat, Dyatlov, etc.) with English-readable
+    //      respellings. The respellings are kokoro/misaki-tuned but
+    //      pass through tortoise's g2p_en well enough to apply.
+    let routes_to_engine_with_voice_tags =
+        voice.source.starts_with("kokoro") || voice.source.starts_with("tortoise");
+    let gen_text = if routes_to_engine_with_voice_tags {
         let voiced = substitute_speaker_voices(
             &pool,
             chapter.story_id,
@@ -373,13 +383,18 @@ async fn apply_pronunciation_overrides(
     Ok(out)
 }
 
-/// Pick the engine base URL for a given voice.source. Voices whose
-/// source starts with "kokoro" route to KOKORO_URL; everything else
-/// routes to F5_TTS_URL. Each env var has a LAN-default for Lucy.
+/// Pick the engine base URL for a given voice.source.
+///   kokoro_*    → KOKORO_URL
+///   tortoise_*  → TORTOISE_URL
+///   anything else (lj_speech etc.) → F5_TTS_URL
+/// Each env var has a LAN-default for Lucy.
 fn engine_url_for(source: &str) -> anyhow::Result<String> {
     if source.starts_with("kokoro") {
         Ok(std::env::var("KOKORO_URL")
             .unwrap_or_else(|_| "http://192.168.0.5:7794".into()))
+    } else if source.starts_with("tortoise") {
+        Ok(std::env::var("TORTOISE_URL")
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| "http://192.168.0.5:7795".into()))
     } else {
         Ok(std::env::var("F5_TTS_URL")
             .unwrap_or_else(|_| "http://192.168.0.5:7792".into()))