History
Background
The secruyu was well understood long ago, when the Forbidden City was inhabited. Never an especially common
species, it has largely faded from public awareness.
Lore
Plenty of tall tales involve paralysis taking hold of unwary visitors to the Forbidden City, who may wake up with something chewing its way inside them. Whether the stories associate that risk with a lizard, as opposed to a snake or scorpion or ghost, is a matter of chance. One common story involves an explorer who escaped the
ruins, only to be killed when a brood of secruyu ate their way out of his camel.
Some apothecaries and assassins in Amol-Kalit know the uses of secruyu venom. It's not necessarily a secret, just rare.
References
The Burning of Elbion - a necromancer uses an undead secruyu as a
weapon.
Play the Hand of Fate - a small bottle of stabilized secruyu venom is a wager in a high-stakes card game.