The Hand of Ma-O
The Admiral was not expecting it when one of the officers that he was expecting to see thrust his hand against his forehead. At once he fell, knocked out, upon his desk. The hand thst touched him was not a human hand but a Hand of Ma-O, and the officers were disguised Children of Ma-O, who dressed him in a captain's uniform and walked him out between them, telling the sailors at the gate that he was drunk and that they would prefer it that the secret was kept from his fellow officers.
Full Item Description
It is a false hand with a long handle for the real hand to be held whilst inside a sleeve. The winter version is covered with a leather glove, whilst the summer version looks very real. Both versions have a small brass symbol on the palm.
History
The despised cult known as The Children of Ma-O occasionally found it worth its while to kidnap people they disliked rather then to kill them. Sometimes this was to get a big fat ransom payment, not something that one could generally get from a dead body. Sometimes it was to get top-secret information from somebody that could help the cult, such as where witnesses against it were being hidden before trial.
And occasionally kidnapping someone turned out causing even more chaos then just killing them would have done. Some of their targets were well guarded, so smuggling even a cosh or a knife in, let alone ropes and something to act as a gag, was impossible. Which was when one of the cults inventors made the prototype Ma-Os Hand.
To the naked eye, unless looked at closely it looked like a normal hand, wearing a brown leather glove against the cold. But on the palm was a small brass symbol connected to a tiny piece of tassite that acted as a mini thaumatech battery, and the symbol, when pushed against somebodys head, would cast a spell that would knock them out for about twenty minutes and leave them disorientated for periods of between an hour to twenty-four hours, dpending on the person's build, size , state of health, age, and gender.. Then they could be smuggled out, either by disguising them, wrapping them in a carpet or some trick of that sort, or pretending that they are drunk or ill and walking them out.
The downside is that they cannot be interrogated until their mind has recovered-torture wont work, magic will just shred their mind beyond repair and asking them nicely does not work as they cant speak. Therefore there is a window of time where it might be possible to rescue the victim.
Magic/Cursed Properties
If the symbol touches the head it causes the trouble noted above. If it touches an unprotected arm or leg, it numbs it for up to an hour. Even an armored arm or leg can be given a nasty shock for a few seconds, enough maybe to make a weapon fall from the hand or a person fall on one knee for a few seconds. Those carrying this are careful not to injure themselves with it by mistake.
It has ten charges before it needs to be recharged by someone with knowledge of the magical arts.
Plot Hooks
Somebody who knows how to set off a Conversion Warhead has been kidnapped with the help of this device and the PCs have X number of hours before the secret of how to set it off is learned by the Children of Ma-O and the Warhead is set off inside a big city.
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? Responses (3)
If its powered by a battery, how long can it operate before it needs to be recharged?
Apart from that question, this seems to be a neat enough sub. Its logical and useful, ready to be used by anyone planning to abduct someone. Would the cult sell one of these devices to criminal elements?
Most likely, yes, as long as they were sure that the device would not be used against them.
This is a pretty good item, I like the functionality of it. I think the drawback of leaving the victim insensate and unable to be interrogated until it wears off is a super touch. There is a Tassite Stub, so you can link that if you want. The plot hook is a bit out there, and kinda distracting from the sub. I would suggest a couple of more basic kidnapping, spy, and espianoge like hooks.
