The Hand

Located in the Dunwald, at the northermost end of the mountain chain that cuts the Waldthil in two, the Hand is a tall mountain shrouded in legends. Its five abrupt pinacles, which dominate the river valley of the Aufig, have given its name. Although there is a low pass between the thumb and the forefinger, it marks the effective eastern border of the Dunwald kingdom.

Legend has it that the Hand is the remnant of one of the Giants that once roamed the Rith. The myth is dismissed by most, yet there is still some who believe in it and even have formed a small sect, of little significance.

Cultural influence

Although the Hand myth is extremely unpopular, it has left its mark on the people that live under its shadow. Every year, the day the harvests end, a great festival is held and a pilgrimage is done to a small Wöfali shrine near the pass. The festival, named accordingly the Festival of the Hand, is often seen as the beginning of the new year, although the official calendar has it beginning in spring, when the trees are born again. During that pilgrimage, the common folk generally ask for prosperity, peace, and cool winters, but the most desperate ones may climb up the stairs leading to one of the fingers to seek repentence, healing or vengeance, for that is the way of the gods.

What a great sight it must have been! Truly, the Rith must be quite large if it ever had to accomodate such gigantic creatures, whom we say were thousands of feet high. And look at what remains of it now ... a broken hand eroded by the ages.

An old woman