The Hand of the Gale is the militant arm of the Tethuric Church, tasked with the protection of holy sites, containment of forbidden artifacts, enforcement of ecclesiastical law, and elimination of arcane threats. They are often referred to simply as “the Hand”, and are considered both the executioners and enforcers of the Church’s will.
The order draws its name and spiritual mandate from Tesh, the masculine aspect of Teu, god of the Trine. Tesh is associated with forceful wind, discipline, judgment, and the taking of life. As such, the Hand represents the cleansing breath of the divine—swift, precise, and unyielding.
Structure and Hierarchy
Members of the Hand are inducted from childhood or recruited from military ranks deemed ideologically stable. They undergo rigorous training in weaponry, discipline, scripture, and obedience. Emotional detachment is seen as virtuous. Pain is expected. Doubt is a weakness to be bled out through ritual trials.
Ranks are not publicized, but are understood to follow a strict internal order:
- Chisel-Ward – initiates and frontline soldiers
- Galesworn – full members who have taken blood-oaths
- Skybinders – squad leaders and ritual executioners
- Vane-Chaplains – priest-soldiers with both martial and theological authority
- The Fifth Finger – five highest officers of the Hand, each overseeing a jurisdictional sector
- The Gale Itself – the title given to the supreme commander, often reporting directly to the Jury of Bishops
Duties and Jurisdiction
The Hand of the Gale operates with near-total autonomy when acting in defense of Church interests. Their authority supersedes local law in matters of:
- Recovery and containment of magical artifacts
- Guarding and maintaining holy sites and sealed vaults
- Elimination of arcane practitioners, heretical sects, and forbidden researchers
- Oversight of ritual executions
- Escort of high-ranking clergy into volatile regions
- Rapid deployment to emerging spiritual anomalies
They are not peacekeepers, and rarely intervene in civic affairs unless ecclesiastical threats are identified.
Known Facilities
One of the most heavily guarded locations under Hand jurisdiction is the Vault of Wonders, located beneath the Shrine of Tesh. Said to contain a vast array of ancient relics and artifacts, the Vault is completely inaccessible, even to the Church who controls it (because it is said to be guarded by ancient magic).
Other known installations include:
- Black Spiral Cloister (confiscation holding zone)
- Red House of Langurth (execution site and reliquary)
- The Hall of Inhales (tactical planning wing)
Doctrine and Belief
The Hand does not worship Tesh as a god of rage or cruelty, but as the pure distillation of judgment. Tesh is the cutting wind, the necessary collapse of diseased structures. To them, mercy is maintenance, not forgiveness. All things must be corrected. They believe the world is forever trying to rot from within—and it is the Hand’s role to carve away decay before it spreads.
Members are not permitted personal belongings beyond ritual blades, sanctioned vestments, and Church-issued sustenance. Names are kept, but family is forsworn. Some volunteers are chemically or ritually sterilized to preserve emotional neutrality.
Relationship with Other Church Orders
- The Jury of Bishops issues direct orders to the Hand and authorizes large-scale actions.
- The Daughters of Ethura often provide post-conflict care, tending to the wounded or presiding over the dead after the Hand departs.
- Relations with the Archive of Enen are formal and limited. The Hand retrieves; the Archive stores.
- The Hand and the Arkaeni share a long and quiet animosity. Though the Arkaeni are not officially outlawed, many of their recovered texts and artifacts were taken from sites the Hand once scoured—and any evidence of unauthorized magic typically results in immediate seizure.
Public Perception
To most civilians, the Hand is a distant threat and holy rumor. They appear when something is wrong, and they do not explain themselves. Their presence is a warning, their withdrawal a sign that the world is clean—for now.
The breath of Teu comes swiftly, and only once.