The Black Hand: Changing Brightport From Within (SC'20)

Written by Steve Tremblay

Spoilers Below!

What follows will contain spoilers for the Dungeons and Randomness podcast, particularly relevant to Arc 2 and 3 but recently revealed on the newest episodes (Arc 3 - Episode 025 and Arc 3 - Episode 029)

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For the last 100 years the city of Brightport has been controlled by 3 trading houses that solidified all imports and exports and somehow managed to make the city a safer place. This tenuous agreement revolves around each having one of the Golden Statuettes that symbolize being an equal partner within the city. Until just a few years ago, the Houses hadn't changed since the inception of the system but at that time it was a leadership and name change, the system remained in place.
Later that year (1263), a woman returned to the city after some time away. While she and her family were gone, something horrible befell them and her return was not on a whim. Her newfound goal was to make those in the city pay for what happened to her and her family.
The woman was Lauren Graves: mother, wife, murder victim.
Sometimes, staying dead is harder than staying alive. Finding herself crawling out of the mud of her shallow grave, Lauren was confronted by the demon lord Darmock who had given her a second chance...for a price. Part of that second chance was being given power and the potential for even more to be used to bring ruin on those that had done her harm.
Since then, now hidden from view using the moniker "The Black Hand" for both herself and to identify her organization, Lauren has been steering business away from the Houses to fund her revenge. She has carved out a percentage of city business that would equal or exceed that of a single House partly by reinvesting with local businesses and supporting citizens of Brightport with employment opportunities. Many locals believe that she is the future of the city and has its best interests at heart.
The Black Hand's plans for the city have not yet been revealed, but rest assured, the status quo will not survive whatever she has planned for Brightport's 75th year celebration!

Lauren by M. "Crowbar" Henry

Lauren Graves aka The Black Hand

For much more information on The Black Hand, see the NOW AVAILABLE! book The Adventurers Guide to Theria vol. 1: Ellara