Secrets

> You’ve gained an understanding of the world. You know something you shouldn’t. You can’t quite wrap your head around it, but it’s there, a tantalizing tidbit of knowledge. You mull it over as if you were tasting a fine wine, trying to guess its ingredients. You can either drink in the knowledge of this secret, or save it for later. If you choose to understand this secret, it will simply become knowledge. But in this enigmatic form, perhaps someone might be interested in it…
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A list of the secrets we have studied or had revealed to us through eldritch revelations:

* (2 - Reggie) Long ago, a hungry monarch built a castle. The monarch saw a light in the south, in the palace of the south's queen. In those days, hungry as the monarch was, that light provoked nothing but appetite. But she was too far to devour. Over time, their correspondence calmed the monarch, and when the time came for the monarch to depart, their appetite was transformed, like blood into tears.
* (3 - Riff) Long ago, a hungry monarch built a castle. The monarch sent messengers to the thunder-dragon in the roof, but the dragon ate them all. The monarch sent more messengers - shadows from the monarch’s cities, malleable and eager - but the dragon ate those too. Then the hungry monarch found the dragon's name, and the dragon had to listen. It didn't do either of them much good.
* (7 - Hans) Though they do not all sleep, devils still have dreams. Those of Dis and Phlegethos yearn to return to their fortresses and fire, and are often willing to take any risks to gain even the slightest chance of that freedom.
* (8 - Xylis) The devils won’t say where they get their ink from. No one quite knows. It is never seen until a contract is made. But its vibrant colour is unforgettable.
* (9 - Cosette) We think now of the Raven Queen, who rules the realm of death, / And how she sought to usher souls from one life to the next, / To give a new beginning when we draw our final breath, / And that her ebon talons cannot reach down to these depths.
* (10 - Cosette) The icy castle of Frostfound still stands as a living monument to a God’s shame. It has not been allowed to die. Some of those memories of shame have faded over time, becoming as incorporeal as their God, existing beyond texture, colour, and law. Though none would argue their potency has diminished.
* (12 - Hans) A vision appears in your mind. A dragonborn on the Material Plane strides through a dark alley and arrives in Anterrande. A bone devil chases a knight through hell. They tumble down a chasm and arrive in Parvaestus. A shadar-kai awakens in Varchas without a clue of how it got there. Hundreds of visions flash before your eyes. Hundreds of creatures pulled from their home planes to this one location. But there is one creature you do not see. One creature that did not arrive from a far-off place. And you understand the implication. You know the singular truth: shadow folk do not exist.
* (14 - Xylis) Just as Stone’s descendants still keep a small part of their history alive, so too do Salt and Storm. Salt’s true disciples number but one, though her loss is almost as great as Salt’s. Storm’s lineage is said to be strong and thriving, but nobody’s bothered visiting the roof to confirm that.
* (15 - Cosette) Knowledge of the gods is dangerous, both in its acquisition and its implications. Directly speaking to such a power would end us. Beyond death, we would simply to cease to be. Our minds cannot comprehend what the gods here look like, as we cannot think in the dimensions in which they exist. Our world is incompatible. This makes the gods feel safe. But knowledge *can* be transferred, even just snippets of truth. Pieces of the vast understanding they possess, the lattices of facts and perceptions of reality that makes up our pocket of this universe can be glimpsed, if only for a moment. When we manage these glimpses we terrify the gods, anger them, and draw unwanted attention to ourselves. We call these glimpses “secrets”.
* (16 - Cosette) Soul of Copper Heart's-Ease tonic, now just 13gp! Buy it in Nadir, Varchas, or Lendil! Or come visit our headquarters for a special offer! You’ll find us just north-west of Visage and north-east of Nadir. Remember, Soul of Copper keeps your soul your own!
* (17 - Cosette) The veil between dreams and reality is thinner here. By Nihal’s grace, dreams and nightmares can be pulled out through blood. Leeches and wells work best, respectively.
* (18 - Hans) Stone’s legacy continued after she moved on. Her people built Visage as a new beginning as the last remnants of Stone’s kingdom became one with the world around them. They built the face in memory of Stone, and some say, in her likeness. They made their new society as it once was, holding it in time as a living memory. They are gone now, though their ways are not.
* (19 - Cosette) The gods yearn to once again shape this world, but they are locked out. Many can only speak through stars and dreams. Others send their essence through the holes in reality, but only the smallest bits can make it through. The larger ones get… stuck, and require assistance to facilitate complete entry.