Hand Occult

The Hand Occult is a secretive organization dedicated to the god Wael. They deal with the flow of knowledge, as they hide as much as they make available to others.

Background
The Hand Occult is an inner sect of elite Wael priests, authors and scribes writing under pseudonyms who attempt to control the flow of esoteric knowledge. Most scholars don't take them too seriously, seeing them as bizarre and silly. However, some academics believe there is a more sinister side to the Hand Occult.

The Hand are primarily a coalition of scribes and writers who circulate information through popular books and periodicals—most notably Almanac of the Eastern Reach—For Colonists, Explorers, and Curiosity-Seekers. While they go to great lengths to distribute the written word from their publication houses, they put as much effort toward buying out or intimidating competitors into silence. The Hand has even gone as far as sabotaging technology that could mass produce knowledge, such as the printing press.

Organization
By their own history they were founded in part by Weyc Heldr. Following leaders have been known as "the weyc". Little is known of their inner workings, however they appear to work in decentralized cells, much like the Leaden Key.

Although they possess no true central location, The Halls Obscured is an important place to them. Librarians and scribes that devote themselves to the Hand at the Halls lose their identity overtime.

Knowledge manipulation
As evidenced by their works in the The Halls Obscured, the Hand Occult has successfully obfuscated and manipulated history. Beyond changing the written word, the Halls contain items and living subjects that the Hand believes should be "redacted" from Eora.

Two of the most extreme examples are the erasure of the archmage Fyonlecg and capture of the mage Bekarna. None of the members of The Circle of Archmagi recall Fyonlecg, and none of the spells he created bear his name anymore. Bekarna's knowledge of astronomy revealed a river of essence, knowledge that Wael wished to keep hidden. The Hand kidnapped her and kept her in The Enclosures.

Related items

 * Hand Occult Robes
 * Missives of the Hand Occult
 * The Weyc's Wand

Trivia
The group may be a reference to the irrelevant phrase "as if an occult hand had...", which is an inside joke used by a group of journalists that call themselves "Order of the Occult Hand."