The drowned secrets

There is a myth, which became widespread in the Age of Forced Oversight, around the time Ruiseadh was alive and the 1st War of Ætereal Mist was still a thing.

General information

Apparently, if you eat a great fish you will gain great knowledge. There are multiple versions of the myth, differing in what the fish exactly looks like. In some it is a catfish, but others just say that it had whiskers around its mouth, so it could be a sturgeon, a barbel, a burbot and a carp among many. The place of the encounter of the fish of wisom is debated as well. The sturgeon lives either in the lake or in a great river as does the catfish, but the barbel lives under the waterfall and the burbot inhabits a deep lake but only in winter.

Echtòr sat by the campfire eating a small catfish its small eyes all white from the fire. They presented Ruibheadh a myth, which was later passed on as "the drowned secrets", which told a story of gaining great wisdom when one eats a great catfish.
"But the fish on the spit is small..." said Ruibheadh
"Well, you have to start small. Too much knowledge could kill anyone." they shared the catfish with Ruibheadh but after one bite they replied it tasted muddy.
"Well, it's a matter of perspective," replied Echtòr. "The taste grows on you over time and after a while you don't notice it at all."

The many versions

Version 1

Upon a time, when people lived simple lives of safety surrounded by nourishing lakes and rivers, there was a giant lake, which was said to be as deep as the roots of the mountains itself. It was said that whatever got under the surface would be remembered by the Caretaker of Thoughts and Memories. Over time people gave offerings to the Caretaker whenever they wanted things to be remembered for eternity. As time passed many have indeed been remembered but many were instead forgotten or have been lost to the offerrers and to the world itself soon after they were given to the Lake.

One night, when the eye of the moon was open wide, a person came by the shore to take a boat to the central, deepest part of the lake to make an offering. When they reached the place they saw a star shining deep in the lake and growing bigger by the heartbeat. The gigantic white fish with whiskers as long as the body itself, as long as several of the boates combined.

And when the person threw the offering, the fish opened its great jaws and swallowed the gift full, then swam back into the depths and as it did, the memory of the offering slowly faded with it, until it was gone. The person knew they offered something, for theat was the place and time to do it, but they knew not of what was offered.

The next time, when the moon's eye was half-closed they repeated the experiment and this time, the memory faded as well, but it did so slowly.

The next time the moon's eye was closed and it seemed that the memory of the offering lived on, almost as if it was not accepted.

But when the eye of the moon opened again, it seemed as if the shape of the offering in the memory started to become weaved out of mist and the smallest touch by the thought of it caused it to loose shape and any meaning.

On time, when they were walking the shore of Lake (Lake Memory?) by the sunlight, they saw a fisherman coming shore with todays catch and releasing some fish back into the lake. Some has hard scales on their backs and small whiskers by the mouth, some seemed almost blind, with only small eyes, their skin greyish white like pure ash.

"Why are you releasing them? Aren't they of the best of a kind?" the person remembered that the large, scaled fish was worthy of a king's table and was wondering what prompted this behaviour.
"It is an old custom of us fisherfolk. Those, who depend of the generosity of the Caretakers shall not harm their children."
"What do you mean by Caretakers? Isn't there only one?"
"Alas, idiot, there are many, and each governs their respective part of the day, and each governs their respective part of the time. The deepest memories are those, who are lost and have become the secrets of the world. The shallow ones are those, who are seen and understood by all and have become common knowledge. One is not to harm the children of the Caretakers, for then the world would hold no secrets, becoming bland. One is not to harm the children of the Caretakers, for then the world would have no memory of its doings. One is not to harm the children of the Caretakers, for a life with no memory of the past and no secrets is like food with no nourish nor taste."

The person nodded, seeing some wisdom in the old man's words, but the thought has become a seed which swiftly took root in the persons heart. If they would hunt the Caretaker, then the knowledge and all secrets of the world would be theirs and with the power of secrets they would make a life worthy of a ruler.

So one night, when the moon's eye was fully open, they once again took the boat to go the the center of the lake but this time took the spear with them. and when the time of the offering came, they waited for the Caretaker to come to the surface. And when they did, the person plunged the spear deep into the flesh of the fish. But as they did, within the streaks of blood, the tip of it seems to vanish along ith the memory of it, until the person held but a fragment of the wood the spear once was.

"What is it that you desire by killing me?"
"I... I am to possess the secrets you hold and become the king of this land" and with that they took out the sword to cut the fish.
"What good would that make, my lord? Every day people offer me countless gifts and tokens of memory to safekeep. Should I be dead, what will ahppen of them?"
"That is none of my concern, said the person and raised the blade to serve a blow"
"It could be, if you could hold on to it. Why rob the secrets of the dead, when the secrets of the living could be yours and yours only?"

The man pondered and saw wisdom in the Caretakers words. With secrets of the living they could have more influence on the living, more so than using the secrets that have passed with lives of those who shared them.
"Your offer is generous, but there are no means by which I would gain that power"
"There are secrets in this world, my lord, and I am an expert on secrets, that are mine and mine only to hold. If you wish so, you could take my place. But it is only, when you wish for it deeply, that you will be able to succeed."
"What I would need to do, then" the offer picqued the man's interest.
"Dip your fingers in the blood that came from my wound and smear it near your heart. Then take the spear wood and push it against the bloody spot and say the words 'With pain and blood I with you share, I vow to hold the thoughts in care'."
And when the person did everything as said they felt a sudden surge of pain coming from the closing wound and the world felt as if it lost all colours, painted only with the moonlight. They tried to step back but with the flip of their tail they only raised big wave.
"Now, you have to be careful." said the man in the persons voice "The first step is always the most difficult." They, or him? removed the wood stained with blood and gave it to them. "Go on, my lord. Take your first secret"

The man (or fish?) opened their jaws and swallowed the wooden tip whole. It felt as if they were looking at the eternally black sky and within it but a single bright star. And when they focused upon the star, they would see every detail of the ritual and of what has happened in the passed moments.
"You have gained a great power, my lord."

The person understood the power but their hunger for filling the empty space was insufferable. And so they attacked the Caretaker within their own body and with them filled the space with innumerable stars. But as they focused on the many stars before them, it felt as if the night sky became brighter and brighter with a single light outshining them all. The eye of the moon was too bright to bear and in the same time burned inside as if the sun itself was being the cause. "You and I are share a secret, my lord. And it is ours, and only ours to share."

Version 2

There was a lake called the Lake of Memories where great fish lived. It was said that whoever eats the fish from the Lake will absorb the memories they guard, becoming a holder of that secret. One day a person came and caught a small fish and ate it, gaining a small piece of knowledge. then they caught a bigger fish form somewhere deeper gaining even bigger knowledge.

And day by day they caight bigger and bigger fish gaining more and more knowledge until there remained but one, the biggest of them all. And when the man caught it and ate it, there was no secret in the world they did not knew.

And so, the man became the greatest sage in the world, changing the flow of rivers and founding great cities, thus creating the world we live in today.

"There are no big cities around here. Is this story really true?
"Well... there is a grain of truth in every story. Eating fish is good for you. And if you would to know all the memories in the world, you would become a great sage. Also, time is a fleeing thing. Cities rise and fall, rivers appear, change courses... even die. What remains is but a memory of what has passed. And people's memory is a fleeing thing."

— Ruibheadh talking to Echtòr by the bonfire