Grease of Caccino
The Grease of Caccino is a sacred, jelly-like substance produced by the Cult of Verena that when applied to books and other texts renders them waterproof and impervious to decay.[1a]
History[]
Deep below the Temple of Verena hidden in the folds of the Irrana Mountains of northern Tilea, lies a corpse. According to the temple's records, it has lain there for almost 900 years, unchanging and unspoilt by the ravages of time. The local priests guard it carefully, for they believe it once housed the soul of the man who founded the temple, Caccino the Wise.
Once a year, the temple's high priest conducts a three-day ceremony that culminates in the "Sacred Scraping," during which the corpse is scraped from head to toe with a blessed blade. After several hours, the high priest will have gathered about a jar's worth of “Holy Grease,” a yellowish substance with the texture of jelly.[1a]
This grease has tremendous preservative properties, although it only seems to work on books, parchments, and similar repositories of knowledge. Jars of the stuff are worth incredible amounts on gold in the black markets of the Old World, although almost all of the proffered examples are fakes.[1a]