The Curios tab is an inventory sub-section in Windrose that stores collected notes, diaries, documents, and maps found during exploration. It is the reading room of the inventory menu: once a lore item is picked up, it is archived in Curios for permanent reference, even after the paper itself is consumed by a quest.
How to Access It
Open the inventory (default keybind Tab or I) and navigate to the Curios sub-tab. The tab is easy to miss: it sits alongside the main inventory, equipment, and crafting panels but does not have a dedicated hotkey. Community guides repeatedly describe it as "the tab that took a while to even find," because the onboarding does not call attention to it.
What Goes Into Curios
Journal notes. Including the seven Alexandre Exquemelin journal notes found at Traveller's Camps across every biome
Lore diaries. Fragments found in Ancient Ruins, Pirate Camps, and named dungeons; these tie into the Columbus's Book of Prophecies and Supernatural Forces plotlines
Quest-related letters. Notes such as the Letter to a Good Friend found in a Smuggler Camp chest, which starts the Underground Network quest line
Maps and sketches. Including the Blurry Sketch at Pirate Remains that begins Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest, and Blackbeard Treasure Maps looted from Blackbeard camps
Duplicate Pickup Behavior
If the game tells you that you "already have a note" when picking one up, the Curios tab is where to re-read it. This catches a common UI confusion: the game sometimes does not explicitly open the note on pickup after the first read, but the text remains permanently available in Curios. Players who cannot find a specific buried-treasure note or quest clue should scroll through Curios before assuming the pickup failed.
Tracking Your Own Journal Trail
There is no automatic checklist of which Exquemelin journals or Blackbeard map entries have been found. Players who want 100 percent completion of the journal trails typically keep an external tally or cross-reference community guides like the buried-treasure maps. The Curios tab confirms whether a specific note has been picked up, but not whether every note for a given trail has been found.
Practical Habits
Open Curios after every Traveller's Camp or Ancient Ruin visit to confirm the note or map was actually recorded
When a quest text references an item you cannot find in your main inventory, check Curios before assuming the quest is bugged; most quest-related readables live here
Re-reading Curios notes before a fast-travel jump is a cheap way to refresh your memory on a dig site description or lore clue, and it does not consume the note
See Also
Exploration — Curios tab context in the broader exploration loop
Alexandre Exquemelin — journal trail
Blackbeard Treasure Maps — Blackbeard map chain
Buried Treasure — how note reading triggers dig markers
Columbus's Book of Prophecies — lore thread that many Curios entries feed into