The Hand of the Seldarine was an ancient elven fortress, long before the events of the Icewind Dale game.
Introduction[]
The fortress once served as the home for a tribe of sun elves (Ar'Tel'Quessir) under the leadership of the archmage Larrel.
After its destruction, its ruins became known as the Severed Hand – which the party of the Icewind Dale game visits in chapter 3.
Name[]
The name "Hand of the Seldarine" derives from two facts:
- The fortress was built to resemble a hand (see #Layout).
- The elves dedicated the fortress to their gods, the Seldarine.
Location[]
It is located in a snow-free valley in the southern part of the Spine of the World mountain range.
Layout[]
The fortress originally consisted of a base tower with four large floors, and on top of it five smaller towers, the "fingers" of the "hand".
| Part of the fortress | Use |
|---|---|
| base tower (floor 1, 2, 3) |
living quarters for most of the inhabitants[1] |
| base tower (floor 4) |
festhall, tavern, foreign quarters, store [2] |
| Corellon Tower | "officers tower": briefing room, war room, officer's quarters, arboretum |
| Shevarash Tower | "warriors tower": holding cells, training rooms, hippogriff stalls |
| Sehanine Tower | "weapons tower": weapon storage, weapon enchantment laboratories |
| Labelas Tower | "wizards tower": wizard quarters, library, astrolabe |
| Solonor Tower | "priests tower": shrine, church, priest quarters |
A bridge connected the third floors of Shevarash Tower and Labelas Tower.
Society & culture[]
The elves of the Hand were organized as a militaristic society under the command of archmage Larrel.
Most adults served as soldiers in some form, and were trained in a strict regiment of discipline and obedience (e.g. by Kaylessa).[3]
Castes of special status were:
- The priests of Solonor Tower, who tended to the population's spiritual needs.[4]
- The wizards of Labelas Tower, who were tasked with enchanting weapons in Sehanine Tower.[5]
- The officers of Corellon Tower.
- The bladesingers, a group of elite Fighter/Mages protecting the Hand (e.g. Lethias).[6]
- The hippogriff riders, who served as scouts.[7]
Their society also included a variety of other groups, such as engineers (e.g. Gelarith), merchants (e.g. Lehland), bards (e.g. Telanis), and children (e.g. Sehriya).
They also pursued knowledge and science. Their crowning achievement in this area was the astrolabe on top of Labelas Tower, a construction that allowed them to research stars, space, and time.[8] The library of Labelas Tower also stored much collected lore.
History[]
Founding[]
...
Alliance with Dorn's Deep[]
...
Break-up of the alliance[]
...
Downfall[]
...
Related Items[]
In-game lore books about the Hand of the Seldarine:
- Worship in the Hand of the Seldarine
- Code of Training in the Seldarine's Hand
- Hippogriff Riders of the Hand
- Lore of the Bladesingers
In-game weapons and equipment named after the Hand of the Seldarine:
- Long Sword of the Hand +3
- Short Sword of the Hand +3
- Staff of the Hand +3
- Composite Longbow of the Hand
- Shield of the Hand
- Elven Chain Mail of the Hand +3
- Robe of the Hand
- Arrow of the Hand +2
External links[]
- Hand of the Seldarine article on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms
References[]
- ↑ Revealed in Lehland's dialog.
- ↑ Revealed in Lehland's dialog, and by info-point tooltips on level 4.
- ↑ See e.g. Code of Training in the Seldarine's Hand, and e.g. the fact that Lehland describes the main living quarters as "hous[ing] the majority of the elven forces".
- ↑ See Worship in the Hand of the Seldarine.
- ↑ Revealed in e.g. Lehland's dialog.
- ↑ See Lore of the Bladesingers, and Lethias' dialog.
- ↑ See Hippogriff Riders of the Hand.
- ↑ Revealed in e.g. Lehland's and Kaylessa's dialog.