Winter's Hand

The Winter’s Hand is a mercenary group in Carufell. They mostly contract with nobles and the royal family. They provide any service a noble could want from acting as bodyguards to cracking down on villages who don’t pay taxes. The Winter’s Hand helps guard the royal castle in Tarabrenth. They have a rivalry with the Legion of the Dancing Winds.

In AeP 447, the Hand was called upon to collect taxes for the Baron of Tellish. A group of twenty was dispatched to the Northern town of Curaheim. Only a small group made it. They found the town occupied by Drel’Mareath. Under the guidance of several new recruits, the town was recaptured.

History
The Winter’s Hand was founded before the Unification Crusades. They played a pivotal role in the conflict. The province of Kerriisk hired them to fight against Silvia MorCaiden in the West. However they were not actually defending the province itself. After Silvia MorCaiden defeated Kerriisk, The Hand fought on her side and helped her unify Carufell. After all of Carufell was conquered, they helped the MorCaiden family maintain their rule.

-See Of Shields, Stories, and Hammers: Part Two

The Winter’s Hand helps with security of the Royal Castle. They also helped barons with local security. In the winter of AeP 447, they allowed an artifact to be stolen from the Castle in order to make the palace gaurd look incompetent. Ritaak gave Alekiai a key to the secret passage to the castle from the tunnels.

-See The Tale of Storms and Clay

In AeP 447 a group of twenty Winter’s Hand, under the command of Captain Boris Virili, was dispatched to Curaheim to collect taxes for the Baron of Tellish. The group included four new recruits, Deryl, Tarron, Valera, and Zonah. A few days prior to reaching Curaheim, the band was caught in a blizzard and attacked by White Badgers. The survivors split up leaving the recruits with Jessie and Zek. That group of six continued to Curaheim to find it occupied by a Drel’Mareath army under the command of the Dawn Priest. Five other Winter’s Hand members were captured by the Drel’Mareath. The other nine including the Captain, were killed. The band of six help cause an uprising in Curaheim, working with the townsfolk to kill the Drel. Once the town was freed, the Dawn Priest fled and was eventually killed by the four recruits. Only two of them returned to Tarabrenth, the other two choosing to head North for the mountains instead. The other surviving Hand members regrouped in Curaheim and returned to the capital.

Organization
The Winter’s Hand is made up of companies of one hundred members. Each company is led by a Captain and a Second. Under some occasions several companies will be assigned to one job. The person chosen to lead them is a Highcaptain. The leader of the Winter’s Hand is called the First.

Oftentimes small groups of the Hand would be hired. In this case a company would be chosen and either the Captain or the Second would lead the smaller group. The other would remain with the rest of the company and temporary second in commands would be chosen. Any travelling group would also have a designated cartographer. The groups also had standard protocols. One such protocol was invoked by Jessie when the hand split on the way to Curaheim. She directed her group to their destination knowing that any other survivors would also make their way there.

Rivalry with the Legion
The Hand mostly contracts with nobility and others who can pay their high price. The Legion mostly helps poorer people since they are forbidden from helping governments except under extreme circumstances. Often these goals are in direct competition. More than once there has been bloodshed between the two groups.

Internal Culture
The Winter's Hand functions almost as a sovereign power with their own customs and culture. Part of this includes trying to undermine lords and place more martial responsibility on the Hand. Ritaak was a Captain who worked to embarrass the King’s soldiers and thus earn more respect for the mercenary group. Another part of this includes acting with dignity and maintaining the name of the Winter’s Hand. They have a solid reputation, often establishing relationships with trading outposts and villages. One such outpost was run by Evan Ter and frequently used by the Hand as they traveled out of Emparum and into Tellish. The Hand also has their own anthem.

The Hand has a special way of dealing with new recruits. Any rookies on a mission are assigned to keep watch at nights and set up camp. They also have to walk in the back of the column when moving. More experienced members of the Hand will play pranks on the recruits until they feel like the rookies fit in. One classic prank isto lure a recruit on watch out into the woods claiming there is a bear. Then they trap the recruit in a pit and bury them neck deep in snow. Someone tried this on Tarron during his first trip with the Hand. However Zonah kicked the veteran in the ass, earning the respect of the Hand and stopping future attempts at pranks.

Leaders
Ritaak was a captain in AeP 447.

Boris Virili was a captain in AeP 447. He died on the an expedition to Curaheim

Mercenaries

 * Deryl
 * Jessie
 * Tarron
 * Valera
 * Zonah
 * Zek

Former
Thèandìl joined the Hand when she was a teenager. Because the Nurmendemar were forbidden from taking up arms by the Order of the Burning Palm, she sought to test her combat skills elsewhere.

Alekiai was a member of the Winter’s Hand. After the revival of the Nurmendemar he gave up his commission and returned home. According to Ritaak if he stayed he might have been a Captain by the age of thirty-five.

Larin was a member of the same company as Alekiai. The two were married, and left at the same time.

Appearances
Campaigns
 * 1) Of Shields, Stories, and Hammers
 * 2) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session One: The Blizzard’s Bite
 * 3) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session Two: The Grip of Frost
 * 4) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session Three: The Winds that Blow
 * 5) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session Four: The Sunshine’s Lost
 * 6) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session Five: The Force of Cold
 * 7) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session Six: A Host of Force
 * 8) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session Seven: In Frozen War
 * 9) The Tale of Storms and Clay Session Eight: Beneath the Cold