Temple of the Black Hand

Hidden away in a remote valley in the mountains to the east of Fal Carth in north east Miredor lies a temple of iron and basalt which has lain undiscovered for centuries. A succesful raid by mercenaries which slew the senior priests before they could destroy their records has led to the following revelations:

• The Temple is between 1500 and 2000 years old although there are indications that the two lower levels may be older and belonged to a previous building on the site.
• The Temple was built using imported materials and slave labour from Central Sudland.
• The Temple is dedicated to the worship of Malgoth and appears to come under the patronage of one of his powerful servants.
• It is not just its remote location which has protected its secrecy it is also protected by magical wards which make it immune to magical detection.
• The organisation of Those with the Black Hand has also been structured so that only the few outside of the most senior clerics and magic users know where the organisations headquarters was sited.
• For much of the Temple's history it has not actually interacted much with the rest of Miredor, except for recruitment and spying. In these times its main focus has been of foul breeding experiemts one of which was enhancing the capabilities of Men and Orcs.
• A permanent Teleportation Circle in the basement, now destroyed, allowed the transfer of goods and personnel between the Temple and unknown destinations in Central Sudland
• The Temple spied not just the governments of the Seven Dominions but on other dark cults such as Cult of the Long Night, the Blue Flame adherents of the Servants of the Real Fire and even 'Count Neelaf' himself. There is no evidence the Temple ever cooperated with any of these other factions.
• The supposition that there were six senior clerics/magic users at the Temple proved to be correct. Two were absent from the Temple on the day of the raid and are assumed to be still at large. Most of the Temple's secret cult members and sympathisers at large in Miredor have, however, been apprehended.

A full examination of the Temple's records will take years to complete but may produce further interesting discoveries.