How to model: the Hand of Glory?

[FenrisUlf]

"Now fly open lock to the dead man's knock

Fly bar and bolt and band!

Neither move nor swerve joint, muscle, or nerve

At the spell of the Dead Man's Hand!

Sleep all who sleep, wake all who wake

But be as the dead for the dead man's sake!"

I've read recently in some of Manly Wade Wellman's books about something called the Hand of Glory (which was also used by a gang of insurance frauds/murderers in 1920's Philadelphia). Basically, it's the severed left hand of a murderer, which, after a process of enchantment that takes weeks, grants its user several powers, all of which work at once:

1) It paralyses the unprotected, leaving them incapable of movement ('unprotected' is a rather vague term, but some people seem to have been safe from the Glory Hand. In stories, it's usually a matter of knowing a countercharm or the proper prayer to say). Sometimes it makes those sleeping sleep even more deeply, sometimes it just paralyses them too. The user can also choose for certain people to be unaffected, typically his fellow robbers.

2) It opens all locks and doors, no matter how well built or locked they are.

3) It shows the way to any hidden treasure or wealth, no matter how well hidden it is. It's described as a beam of light comes out and shines directly on the hidden loot, sometimes even pushing dirt or stone aside to reveal it. But when the light goes out, the treasure is buried again.

I get the idea that it can be best built as an Independent OAF. Also, since the powers only work while it's burning, it should haev a time limit of some kind. The powers on my reading are:

A Mental Entangle with AoE Selective, possibly even small MegaScale (enough to cover a manor house) and some sort of limitation that allows people to escape its power if they know how.

Second would be a Transform, "Locked to Unlocked".

And the third should be a Detect, but with what adders? And how would I build the "Automatic Unearth" power? Tunneling Usable as Attack with some sort of limitation to represent what happens in the candles go out?

And I don't know if this would actually count for anything or just be creepy color, but the Hand supposedly can float when lit to accompany its wielder.

What with the Urban Fantasy book coming out soon, this seemed like a good time to discuss this. Thanks for any help.

[Curufea]

If I remember my myths correctly - it was the hand of a thief, not a murderer.

It has varying powers from opening locks, to keeping the holder invisible/undetected - it depends which stories you read.

[Captain Obvious]

I've always heard it was not just a murderer, but an executed murderer. Another detail I've heard several versions of is that it only works on sleeping people (keeping them asleep for the duration), or that it puts everyone in the house (owner of the hand excepted) to sleep.

As far as the detect goes, unearthing the treasure is a special effect. Maybe put Analyze on it, since the hand owner sees the treasure, and can tell, for instance, that it's a small bag of silver coins or that it's heaps and heaps of gold bars and gems.

[jtelson]

According to Frazer it's a dried and pickled hand of a man who was hanged and "If a candle made of the fat of a malefactor who had also died on the gallows was lighted and placed in the Hand of Glory as in a candlestick, it rendered motionless all persons to whom it was presented; they could not stir a finger any more than if they were dead."

So pretty much your basic entangle based on ECV

The chapter on sympathetic magic is pretty much a must read.