Idle Hands

The undead monstrosities colloquially known as ‘Idle Hands’ are hated and feared by adventurers and necromancers alike. In their most basic form these foul creatures resemble oversized and decayed severed arms, the very parts of their victims that the abominations covet. However, unlike their macabre but mundane look-alikes ‘Idle Hands’ have grossly distended veins protruding from tears in their flesh, which dart and move with a malign intelligence, providing both offensive and ambulatory capabilities. Worse still, individual Idle Hands coalesce through time, forming gross amalgams held together by prehensile veins. These amalgams often take on forms which are mockeries of still-living creatures, forms which grant them new and unexpected abilities.

Idle Hands, formally known to scholars as the Fists of Deshar, are thought to have been first birthed by Deshar Keelbrood, the creator of other monstrosities such as the Mockulus. A renegade priest of life and healing, Deshar Keelbrood turned to darker arts in his attempts to prolong his own life. Later known as the Lord of Mould, Deshar sought to create life from death and was hated by both lawful paladins and practitioners of necromantic magics alike. Although long dead, Deshar remains a boogeyman for necromancers, no doubt because many of his creatures still prey upon and subvert others’ undead creations to this day and stubbornly resist the control of other practitioners of the necromantic arts. Some necromancers go as far as to seek out and destroy any extant copies of his penned works, which they see as a threat to their Art.

Despite his demise, Deshar’s Idle Hands remain a threat to travellers and adventurers, infesting isolated sites of death and slaughter. They have an unexpected and keen intelligence, and have been known to pretend subjugation at the hands of a necromancer in order to gain access to his creations, which they dismember in secret and infect with their own unholy life force before turning on their ‘master’. Their most documented method of attack is to play dead and lie in wait for the unwary. Ambushing Idle Hands will swarm their intended victims, grapple them with their unexpected strength and immobilise them whilst they slowly dismember their victims. They show little interest in their victims besides harvesting their limbs, leaving them to die from shock and blood loss. Survivors have reported following hand-drawn messages for help which draw them away from their companions, which suggests that at least some Idle Hands display a truly startling level of forethought and intelligence. Needless to say most authorities respond with overwhelming force to even unreliable reports of these fearsome creatures as small colonies of Idle Hands can swiftly multiply and become a true menace.