Handlens Key
Revealing Secrets
Reveal what is hidden.
Open what was locked.
Followers of Dismas wield the Handlens key as his religious icon, symbolising his domains of secrets and thievery. For the curious detective it exposes the truth, for the cunning rogue it opens any lock, together allowing anyone to reveal the secrets of the world.
Revealing Secrets
Handlens Keys are a combination of a magnifying glass and a skeleton key, often coming with a protective case to avoid the lens from getting smudged. Their size and shape may vary, as no consistent design exists amongst followers on what they key must look like.
As such, every devotee has their own take on it: elaborate icons bejeweled and adorned with iconography, simple master keys, even ones carved from Human bone.
Religious Value
Followers of Dismas hold the Handlens Key as a sign of worship, a tool to represent his values. Not only to reveal the world's truths, but to also allow those truths to be open to others.
Many keep one on their person, either in pocket or around their neck, to both act as a tool in their daily lives and a way to present their beliefs to others. Those more devoted to his cause even get the key tattooed on them, if not use magical tattoos to conceal a real key on their skin.
Its close ties to the god of thieves and secrets also makes it rare for one to be seen outside of a follower's grasp. Any copies that end up elsewhere either got handed down by a devotee or were somehow stolen.
To show who the key belongs to, signatures get edged into them to indicate the owner. Anything from initials of their name to even encoded markings, even arcane signatures for those capable of casting spells.
Secret Messages
The key not only serves a religious value amongst the followers, but also may carry messages between them. Many versions have hollowed centers allowing small notes and items to get smuggled around.
Fabled Keys
Fabled thieves and detectives across history worshipped Dismas somewhere in their life, and in turn left behind their own Handlens Keys. Designs that are not only unique in appearance, but in their capabilities.
One legendary Handlens Key is the Truthseeker, once held by the legendary inquisitor Nicolas the Truthful. With it he saw right through people's lies, uncovering any secrets they withheld from him. Another is the the Inbetween Key, whose usage of Voidglass allowed it to open gateways right into the Void. Nobody knows who its original owner was, with most legends going they appeared one day to plunder an entire town and vanish the very same night.
Nice article. I love the music that goes with it. And it is very fitting for the god you mention