The Keeper of Secrets

The Keeper of Secrets is a information broker recently arrived in Barovia. "S" exchanged a secret in return for information relating to the Shadow Rift. "S" found the creature's whispers hard to tolerate.

The Keeper of Secrets is a strange entity native to the Plane of Shadow. It entered Ravenloft seven years ago, when Loht opened the Obsidian Gate, and has taken a lair within Barovia near the frontier with Nova Vaasa overlooking the Shadow Rift.

The Keeper captures the secrets brought to it on the wind. It occasionally passes on some of this information in exchange for a secret of greater rarity.

Statistics

Type: Aberration

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Blindspot (Ex): The Keeper is unable to be seen by any magical divination, including scrying and fortune telling. This has protected it from Count Strahd and his Vistani minions.

Creature of Darkness (Ex): The Keeper is composed of shadowstuff. When in complete darkness, it is solid—visitors can hear its clicking footsteps and feel the occasional brush of a feathery antennae or slimy tendril. In any kind of light, however, it is invisible and incorporeal, although its whispery voice can still be heard. In direct sunlight, the Keeper takes 1d4 points of damage per round.

Maddening Whispers (Su): The Keeper’s lair is filled with the quiet susurrus of its trapped secrets, all of which are desperate to be told. The constant, quiet whispering can drive visitors mad; they must make a Madness save (DC 14) for every ten minutes spent in the Keeper’s lair.

Secrets (Ex): The Keeper has captured many secrets in its lair and sometimes shares them, but if it particularly prizes a secret, it will lie to ensure that it is the only creature that possesses that knowledge. It also takes pleasure in revealing secrets that humiliate or cause harm. To determine the chance the Keeper knows a particular piece of information, the DM must decide how widely known the secret is, and then roll to see if the Keeper lies. If it doesn’t, the DM must roll again to determine if the Keeper knows the information. If the petitioner exchanges a secret of greater rarity for the knowledge, reduce the % Lie by 10. The content of the secret is unimportant compared to the rarity; the Keeper prizes a unique magical spell as much as knowing who stole a peasant’s goose. Because the secrets are brought to the Keeper on the wind, the information must have once been spoken aloud for the Keeper to know it.

[PRODUCTION—PLEASE ALIGN THE FOLLOWING INTO A TABLE] Rarity % Lie % Known Common 10 45 Uncommon 20 60 Rare 30 70 Very Rare 40 80 Unique 50 95 [END TABLE]

True Seeing (Su): The Keeper of Secrets has permanent true seeing. If dispelled, it can recast the spell as a free action.