Categorisation: Utilised (LOST)
Date of Loss: September 1936
Description:
The Mummified Hand of Roanoke (the “Hand“) is a severed, dessicated right human hand, permanently clutching an ornate quill presumed to be of late 16th-century origin.
The artefact exhibits paranatural qualities when activated through ritualistic procedures involving the spilling of human blood onto the quill. Once activated, the Mummified Hand of Roanoke autonomously transcribes written predictations of future events in what has been described as an archaic but legible script.
The predictions generated by the Mummified Hand of Roanoke vary in scope and detail. Several predictions written by the Hand are cryptic, irrelevant or lacking in enough detail to be of use to the majority of users. Sometimes however the Hand has provided precise, detailed accounts of future events including the names of indiviudals and places, as well as timings, that would allow for a specific outcome to occur. How the Hand chooses or carries out these predictions is unknown. .
History:
The Mummified Hand of Roanoke is the first paranatural artefact to be recovered by the Equinox Institute, having been found by John White (“White”) during his investigation of the Lost Colony of Roanoke in 1590. At the time, White had no idea as to the paranatural powers of the Hand but, disturbed by what he had discovered, brought it as proof to Sir Walter Raleigh of the strange events he had experienced.
The actual paranatural powers of the Hand were not discovered until nearly a year and a half later. How its powers were discovered remains largely a mystery but Raleigh and White eventually discovered that the hand was capable of transcribing the future when blood was spilled openly onto the quill embraced in the mummified hand.
Knowing the value of such an artefact, the assembled group used the Hand as a means of demonstrating to Queen Elizabeth I that there was much to be valued and feared in the existence of the paranatural. When the Hand scrawled out the location of the Madre De Dios, a large and wealthy Portuguese treasure ship, the Queen along with Raleigh arranged a six man-naval squadron to set out to the new world to intercept the ship. Nearly eight weeks later, Raleigh and the Queen received the news – the Madre had been found and, after a fierce battle, been captured along with its many chests filled with precious jewels, coin and cloth.
Convinced of the value of the group’s work and the threat posed, Queen Elizabeth I secretly appointed the group to be her advisors on the paranatural and in doing so – the first iteration of Equinox, the School of Night, was born.
The Hand would be used by Equinox and its predecessors for several centuries as a means of transcribing the future. The Hand’s scrawlings were not always useful but on more than one occasion, the Hand managed to events with such detail that the Institute was able to take steps to prevent or ensure the situation came to pass.
Unfortunately the Hand was taken from Equinox’s custody in 1936 during the coup by members of the Pact Britannia. Despite attempts to find and locate the paranatural object in the wake of the event, Equinox has never been successful. Still, rumours continue to circulate that Hand still exists, now guarded fiercely by the Pact as “evidence” of their legitimate right to rule as Britain’s foremost paranatural society. No useful evidence regarding this claim however has ever come to light.
The Hand In Play
The Hand serves as a paranatural phenomena that is crucial to Equinox’s origins and which is widely known about within the organisation. Players are encouraged to carry out investigations into the Hand’s locations, as well as research into its historic uses, during the course of play.