White Hand¶
Contested
This page is named in the open question Hobard's captors and property.
"I resisted the torture, but was unable to resist those haunting eyes …" — Hobard, after his captivity (S061)
The White Hand is "a little known new guild which seems to have its origins in the Warrens (name is assumed to be derived from the white clay mined there), but has recently been trying to expand its territory into Spillwater (esp Dockside)" (S103, S104). It is a front. The Hand is "ultimately led by a Lamia (Lamystra)", and "their Warrens lair spills into the Underdark where more powerful minions of Teneb'Urat are gathering: Gorgons, Quetztls, Naga and other Serpentfolk" (S028, S061). The cast list calls it simply a "Gang in the Warrens, backed by minions of Teneb'Urat" (S068).
Also called: the Hand.
Reputation¶
"A rising, rival gang within the Warrens. They are very secretive and little is known about them. Although it is no secret that they operate in and from the Warrens, their name is actually better known and more feared in Spillwater" (S105). The rival gangs "treat The White Hand as a minor rival gang, but they actually know little about them" (S061).
Masters¶
Lamystra, head of the Hand, is "a Lamia … also a priestess of the Sun", and her own superior is Saeviul, "High Priest of the Tenebrians. Located in their city" (S068). Members seen at the gang's headquarters in the Warrens include a Sun Priest; "they dress in red robes with a yellow sunburst … one of the Kalari sects" (S038). The Tenebrians, servants of the Elder God of "snakes, venom and darkness" (S068), have their city "across the lake and further into the underdark" beyond the Warrens' Lost Mines (S065); the Underdark page describes it.
Aims¶
"Some of his minions have awoken and are seeking to free their master" (S028). The Tenebrians "just want flesh to populate their city" (S039), and wanted the Warrens for two things: "1) ready supply of minions and converts. 2) They need to start a significant dig at the pit (for the Runestone) which will draw attention", for one of the Runestones of the prison of Vixseranyol lies beneath the Pale Pit (S038). In the mines they hold, captured peasants face four fates: "Tenebrian transformation (the strong and willing ones are selected for this)", the fungus farm after a failed transformation or death by overwork, or, as punishment, to be fed "to the snake god while the other peasants watch" (S065).
Methods¶
The Hand fights by infiltration. It "has actually infiltrated both other gang's and has them fighting each other to weed out the rest" (S061), and sought to "leverage" the Drowned Ring "into an all-out war with the Stone Syndicate" (S028). It "released a Monster(s)", a Moleworm, "a large burrowing earth-snake/earthworm with corrosive acid for blood, paralytic venom and an appetite for blood", into the Warrens "to undermine the other gangs" (S028); Berek knew it as "a beast loosed in the Warrens by the Hand" (S062). When the Syndicate elected a new overboss, many crews reported offers to join the Hand, and the winner, Dunstan, was accused of being bought by "his White Hand backers" (S038).
Allies¶
The Hand "have an agreement with a member of the Circle of Eternity (Valtor), and the Circle wants more influence with the underworld of Proturas. They know about Teneb'Urat but are confident they can keep a lid on it" (S028). The Tenebrians mean to betray the Circle, "working with but against" it, and Valtor helped them at the Pit believing "he is the one driving for the destruction of the Runestone" (S061, S038). The campaign notes draw the circle wider, to "the alliance between Tenebrians, Valtor, White Hand and Cutters" (S039). Lamystra had Valtor lure enemies into an ambush by the Crimson Watch (S038).
Hobard¶
The Hand's best-known captive was the relic dealer Hobard, whose crew had stolen the blood of Vixseranyol from the Circle's expedition. The Hand "captured Hobard for stealing it and to force a confession about who he gave it to (Marcella)"; once he talked "they released him to the Stone Syndicate .. who plan on killing him for sport" (S061). He did not know why the Hand wanted the blood; the original buyer, he learned, "used the White Hand, and their contact was Valtor" (S061).
Setback¶
When Dunstan's bid for the Syndicate failed, the Tenebrians, who "assume they are taking control with DUNSTAN", went into hiding. Berek reported that "the White Hand is smashed for now and their plans in disarray" (S039). Lamystra made a feigned "pilgrimage" to the Shrine of Anariel south of the city: "she didn't actually go" (S039).
Gap
No source says what became of the White Hand after 834 AL, when the Stone Syndicate and the Drowned Ring were dismantled, or how large the gang was.
Earlier accounts¶
The earlier story-arc notes have the Hand learn that Hobard stole the blood for Dala Stonefoot, not Marcella, and release him to the Drowned Ring (S028). See the open question named above.