Master Wu

the orcs struck without warning, and only by skill did I manage to escape. With no hope of returning to our temple, I hide in this empty camp and devise new methods of making stronger uniforms. Maybe one day our improved garb will save a Brother's life. The silk from the giant spiders has proven to be stronger and lighter than I had dreamed. It requires but two silks to make a swatch, and one swatch is enough for any part of raw silk uniform but the tunic and leggings. Thinking of a way to improve the silk. I recalled the words of Master Tho many seasons ago. He waved a bottle of kiola in front of me and proclaimed, "This is both drink... and weapon. Raw silk has many desirable properties, Apprentice Wu, but when cured with kiola... there is no better battle uniform for a Brother of the Silent Fist..." I wonder now what other wisdom I would have learned if he had no fallen asleep. Heeding his wisdom, I have tried mixing various amounts of kiola with the silk during the curing process and have found the results encouraging. The cured silk is much stronger and lighter than the raw silk, unfortunately sometimes it takes more silk to make cured armor than the raw

impervious to our bare hands. A side benefit is that the gauntlets would emit light, a boon in this dim forest known as Lesser Faydark. On note I should make is the method by which the nearby centurions make whips. It appears that they carefully trap a wolf

and cover my lightstone. The orcs will be patrolling soon.

The History of the Hand - A Gift From the Heavens

During the Age of Turmoil, Quellious, the Goddess of Tranquility, imparted a portion of the Plane of Tranquility to create the demi-plane of Serenity. Where Tranquility governed the overall state of peace and calm of Norrath, Serenity was created to focus on the personal, inner peace of one's mind and soul. At this time, Quellious came to Master Wu the Enlightened, the only mortal at the time to achieve true enlightenment through a lifelong dedication to tranquility. She raised Master Wu to demi-god status and charged him with the stewardship of the Plane of Serenity and to serve as her emissary of Peace.

Then the invaders to the Planes of Power came. The lesser planes began to blink out of existence as their energy was needed by the greater planes to withstand the assault of the power-hungry mortals. With heavy heart, Quellious came to Master Wu and told him the energy of the Plane of Serenity was needed by the Plane of Tranquility in order to survive and that she would have to reclaim it. Wu knew that this had to be, but asked Quellious for just a small portion of the energy that he may create a planar artifact to further the cause of Serenity among the mortals. Quellious agreed to this and Wu set to work.

Master Wu created the Hand of Serenity, a special katar made of five blades. Although it functioned as a weapon, its purpose was much more as a teaching device than an instrument of destruction. Each of the five blades represented an aspect of Serenity and had its planar symbol etched onto it: Peace, Order, Balance, Harmony, and the central, greatest blade Tranquility. With just an expert's touch, the five blades could fly open like a fan to demonstrate each individual concept, or swing together to form one harmonious and stronger blade.

Master Wu took the Hand of Serenity and descended to Norrath in order to bestow it upon mortals. He entrusted the blade to the monks of the Ashen Order at their refuge in T'Narev and instructed them that they were to champion the cause of Serenity. They must be the teachers of the world.

The Hand of Serenity was protected by the Ashen Order from generation to generation, used in teaching and instructing in the matters of peace and serenity. It wasn't until the Battle of Defiance at the closing of the Age of War when the Hand would be carried into battle to fight alongside the forces of good. During the raging battle, the Hand of Serenity struck the Avatar of War with such cosmic force, the katar shattered into its five blades.

Following the great clash, the elders of the Order realized that Serenity was truly missing from the world. They decided that to best spread the word of Peace, Tranquility, and Serenity that they would each take one of the five shattered blades and go out into the world to spread the word of Quellious. They designated a time when they would all come together once again just as the blades would when they were whole. However, when that time came only one of the elders would return to the humble walls of T'Narev. That elder would set out again to the lands of Kunark to find the others. He was never seen again...