Divine Hands

## General Overview

Divine Hands are legendary weapons wielded by the Norse Gods before they received their more iconic weapons from the dwarves of Nidavellir. They were casted out from the gods after it was revealed they were part of the Ragnarok prophecy. Each weapon is fitted with the respected thematic powers of the god/goddess that held it.

## History

The Divine Hands were made by a smith named by Odin, The Hands of Steel, a golden dragonborn whose breath was so hot, he forged his weapons using only his own fire. The Hands of Steel created Divine Hands for the Aesir, Vanir and even the Jotun gods alike 2000 years before the main events of Lost Mines. The production of the Hands were ceased after the creation of Freyr's sword (Sumarbrandr). The Norns declared that this blade would be a crucial piece to the events of Ragnarok and it's very creation will doom them.

After this revelation, Odin decreed to the Vanir and Aesir to discard their Divine Hands and commissioned new ones from the dwarves. The Hands themselves were scattered amongst the Nine Realms after the gods literally threw them from atop of Asgard and they landed all over the branches of Yggdrasil, many of which landed in Phandelver. That would not be the end of the Divine Hands however, since later in history it would be the very weapons themselves that would influence the course of history.

### Notable Historical Individuals:

* Notre Damus: Frigg's Eye of the Future
* Judge Jude: Forsetii's Scale of Justice
* Einstein: Mimir's Thinking Cap
* Joannes of the Arc: Tyr's Breastplate of Courage and Freyja's Crushbow
* Kratos the Brutal: Leviathan Axe
* Hamilton and Shakespeare: Bragi's Scroll of the Arts (Poetry section)
* Emperor Nero: Loki's Spider Sceptre
* Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent: Sif's Harvest Helmet

While many of these individuals are not native to Phandelver and are not even part of Norse myth (ie Nero) the Divine Hands somehow influenced the flow of history by individuals who wielded them.

As for the Hands of Steel, no one really knew what happened to him after the gods banished him for the creation of Sumarbrandr, many people who knew about the legend believed he died after 2000 years. Some think he's still alive. This was proven true after he was discovered under the Dragon Lord's Tower in Glory Hill city by the current Heroes of Phandelver in the Steel Chamber of the Under Glory. The Hands of Steel, aka Drakeni Blackwig, is the grandfather of Osiris Blackwig a current member of the Heroes of Phandelver. Coincidentally he is also a former member of the 2nd generation of the Heroes of Phandelver.

He is currently residing in Tribe of All, substituting for Osiris as he ventures out to stop Ragnarok in the main story.

## Abilities

Divine Hands abilities are built around the Norse god who wielded them. The Hands were incredibly powerful when a god held them, it required no effort to reach their full potential and needed no charges. But when mortals and demigods wielded them, it's more complicated than that. They require practice and effort to get more abilities, and sometimes more bonding to get them. Abilities are categorized to 6 levels, with level 1 being the base and can be used without a charge all the way to level 6 where it can only be used once a day.

**Level 1 Base:** Normal abilities and damage that come with the weapon once attuned to it.

**Levels 2-5:** More powerful abilities that require charges that replenish everyday. All themed around the domain or the themes of the god it was made for.

**Level 6:** The Divine Hands ultimate ability that requires it to be recharged for a day after one use. This unleashes the full potential of the gods power relative to the mortal who holds it.

### Attuning to one

Divine Hands are very strange as you can tell, and not just anyone can hold it. If one is not properly attuned and does not meet certain criteria, it will not work for them. Sometimes bloodline to the god or goddess it belonged to will be a leading factor. Having a trait that is a major contributor to its power will allow it to be wielded, like feeling great love or lust while holding the Crushbow since it is Freyja the love goddesses' weapon. Divine Hands that have no worthy wielder will be considered "Deactivated".

How a Divine Hand chooses who's worthy or not is still a bit complicated, but a lot of the time its pretty straight forward.

### Curses

The differences between a god and a mortal wielding it, besides the difference of power, is the fact that the mortal is slowly cursed the more they hold it. The Hands of Steel did not intend for this, but also didn't intend mortals holding it.

While many of them are very straight forward like slowly freezing if holding it too long or going mad, others are more complicated and sometimes determine the fate of the wearer. There's no rhyme or reason, its just how it is.

### Concealment

All Divine Hands are designed with a concealment feature to hide from enemies and to negate the adverse effects of the Divine Hand. When concealed, their abilities are powered off and cannot be used when concealed. Luckily the Hands of Steel considered fashion as an aspect and designed it so the Hands conceal to an accessory that the wearer can choose and easily access, like a ring or belt.

## Divine Hands that have showed up in the main story

### HoP Generation 2

* Xue Long: Odin's Eye of Wisdom
* Hands of Steel: (unknown)
* Gunilla: Thor's Belt of Hammers
* Mr. P: Andvari's Ring
* Black Spider: Loki's Spider Sceptre
* Finbar: (unknown)

### HoP Generation 3

* Osiris Blackwig : Sword of Summer "Jack Black" (Freyr)
* Elaine Blackwig : Web of Lies (Loki) & Pouch of Infinity (Ran)
* Cry : Crushbow (Freyja)
* Kaine : Hook of Justice (Tyr)
* Lo Long : Leviathan (Niddhogg & Fenrir)
* Hitori Tamashi : Torchshot (Surtr)
* Panupa : Blade of the Tree Dragon (Nidhogg)
* Silk : Harvest Helmet (Sif)
* Danabelle : Boot of Vengeance (Vidar)
* Mr Hunky Dory : Instrument of Disharmony "Lucille" (Bragi)
* Diana : Storming Fury (Thor)

### Four Horsemen

* Joy Morningstar : Starpocalypse (Aurvandill)
* Modurk the Remorseless : Gorehammer (Aegir)
* Kindel Inferno : Blind Blazer (Surtr and Hodr)
* Leonan Crestfist : Blizzard Bow (Skadi)

### NPCs

* Charlie Fierro : Biteback (Vidar)
* Soleil Caldera : All-furpose Coat (Aurvandill and Skadi)
* Dante Inferno: New owner of the Crushbow

### Villains

* Jon Miscellaneous : Poet-pyrus (Bragi)
* Black Spider : Spider Sceptre (Loki)

## Trivia

* Kindel's Divine Hand is the only known Divine Hand that was not created by the Hands of Steel, but by herself.
* Only 2% of the population know about Divine Hands, while 0.01% actually owns or held one. This was revealed by Soleil during her research onto the subject.
* Charlie Fierro is the only known person alive who has been able to wield 3 Divine Hands at once. They no longer are able to, they are back to 1 Divine Hand.
* Black Spider's Divine Hand was hidden in Jotunheim after his "death" and reclaimed later after the current Heroes traveled to Jotunheim.
* Even though the Hands of Steel disappeared for 2000 years and joined the 2nd generation of the Heroes, he never referred to himself as the Hands of Steel, instead Drakeni.
* All of the Hands of Steel's creations are marked by a symbol which resembles a "HoS" in the shape of a fist, as a sort of workmanship mark.
* Divine Hands are normally designated to one god, but sometimes one belonging to two or more will appear. Usually happens when Drakeni is drunk.
* While the Aesir and Vanir discarded theirs, many of the Jotuns did not.
* Divine Hands were originally conceived when I, the writer of this article and the DM, made a one off joke referring to the Magnus Chase Series written by Rick Riordan. This being Jack the Sword of Summer. Full name changed to Jack Black for copyright reasons
* Leviathan was a parody of the Leviathan axe from God of War 4.
* It's possible to destroy one, even though they are indestructible. This happened once in the main story when Jack was snapped in half by a struggle between Osiris and Surtr
* Dante was able to activate the Crushbow's full potential by giving in to his emotions for Silk.
* Credit to original creator, me, DoctorJay03