The Ventris Collection
Ventris, the emissary and legend of Vecrissa who simply does not exist was fabled to have created the book of all secrets. Early in his life he realised that the smallest piece of throwaway information can actually be quite valuable if given out at the right time in the right place.
Naturally he realized that in fact keeping this information would require meticulous record keeping as he was but a man. This led him to buy a pocket book from a market on Agartha, a simple thing of leather and paper, he spent many days enchanting it. Risking his life he managed to steal several artefacts from a magical college to enchant it to never run out of paper and only reveal itself to those chosen by Vecrissa.
In the beginning it would hold small scraps of information "General Adeko prefers red wine" and so on, small things to help with negotiations and blackmail. Soon after that it began to hold more interesting information, things that could destabilise governments. Knowledge is power. Now Ventris had the knowledge, he had the power and he intended to use it to gather more secrets.
Obviously, Vecrissa is not just about secrets but also about torture, Ventris was skilled in that regard too. What better way to extract secrets by peeling the flesh back from someones arm in inch wide strips, a technique he called "peeling the lotus". Suffering was found to be the quickest way to loosen a tongue, and as the suffering grew so did the contents of the book.
Years passed and the book became more powerful, inexplicably a government could fall overnight when a King abdicated for no particular reason, or a gate left unlocked at a particular time let an assassin in. Of course, Ventris was far too clever to ever even be suspected, secrets and torture, he managed to keep secret even his own existence.
Unfortunately for those who came into contact with him, it meant their deaths, but he would write a line in the book mentioning the name and the circumstances of the death, it was only polite. Rarely an occasion would arise where Ventris would decide to use the book for good, he maintained although Vecrissa was an evil god it didn't mean he couldn't save an orphanage or protect a group of individuals. No mistake should be made though, he was and may possibly still be one of the most powerful and devastatingly sadistic people in all the Crucible.
An important lesson to be learnt is that there are no records of this book, it is rumoured that only the most powerful beings in the known worlds know of it, and they know to steer clear of it. Merely mentioning it tends to bring about a reaction, a famous CEO boasted about having seen it once, it was then revealed that the CEO was infact a pederast, and he was promptly murdered by mob justice. Even now, the occasional secret will be released from the book, and a government will topple, or a merchant lose business, and some silently will curse at the misfortune and not know how there secrets were found.
...but of course, Ventris does not exist, this book does not exist, and anyone looking for the book also does not exist, and absolutely do not count the first capitals.
The Ventris Syndicate will not be held responsible for any disappearances or financial ruin after reading this article.
Item type
Book / Document
Owning Organization
Brilliant!