Thief's Hand Introduction and Practice for Dummies
The Thief's Hand is a device in the shape of a giant hand seen in the ruins. This is its guide for beginners, though the wording is somewhat informal.
Thief's Hand Introduction and Practice for Dummies
Origin Many may know that the Thief's Hand is the avatar of Zagreus, the Trickery Titan... or at least it was. But mortals like us will never fathom the machinations of the Titans — Why do they have to make a hand every time it manifests? Why do they leave the hand behind every time they depart? And what does the hand's final gesture, with its middle finger raised, mean? Perhaps only Cerces has the answer to these questions.
But compared to that slippery Titan, these stone mounds are much more stable — they don't roll around in foul mire, nor do they sow chaos for sheer pleasure. Also, sheesh, these things used to fly in the sky, causing the earliest Georios craftsmen to laud its "potential" as soon as they laid eyes on it. After an arduous process of soul reforging and intent transference, this Thief's Hand was crafted.
The only serious issue was that the stone control panel was so heavy. It could only be processed in the city and then had to be transported out upon completion. What else can we do? We had to spend thousands of Balance Coins to rent a dromas just to transport it. And when we got there, those lumbering lug nuts couldn't even fit through the ruins' gate. We get kicked by them if we try to force them through the gate. As the one in charge, I had to unload the goods and personally pull and drag them inside. My poor back was creaking from all that work. Please don't let it summon Thanatos. Bah, I digress.
Operation If you are reading this operational stone slab, it means you must be a hero among heroes. If it was some other ordinary person, even if they memorized the procedure like the back of their hand, getting this up and running may still have been a tough feat. But even if you're an exemplar, you'd still need to memorize the following instructions well, or between the Thief's Hand and yourself, one of you would surely end up damaged.
There are two parts to this operational stone platform. The first is the platform itself — there are several bumps on the surface, and they all can be pressed down. Their respective functions are forward, backward, and... other very intricate functions. They'll be introduced in the upcoming chapters.
The other part is this ball. Usually embedded in the platform, it will hover when activated. When you are using it, place it in your hand and hold it like you would an egg, then rotate it, and the Thief's Hand will follow suit.
Sounds simple, yeah? But you can't just focus on the stone platform. You have to keep your eyes on the Thief's Hand. You'll know how hard it is once you use it, especially if you're too used to using photostones in the city. Letting someone like that mess about with the controls is no different from scattering a swathe of dirt across the platform — a dromas dragging its tongue across the controls will do better than them.
There was someone who confidently thought they had the chops and wanted to give it a try. The result? As expected, it was like that person had some grudge against the west, knocking down six walls in that direction with the hand, and almost broke the hand. It was such a mess that even Zagreus would have second-hand embarrassment. And they didn't even want to admit they sucked, either. They kept saying the controls were designed badly and not meant for humans.
Nonsense. That hand was made by a Titan — if it wasn't for Georios' craftsmen, ordinary mortals wouldn't even be able to lay a finger on this divine relic.
I'm warning you again: Be extremely careful when controlling it. If you trash a hand, then we lose one hand forever. No one alive can make them anymore.
Troubleshooting Sometimes it doesn't obey commands and flies everywhere., even if you've made sure that you haven't been drinking ambrosia and that Thanatos hasn't set their sights on you. Don't worry. This problem is inherent with these hands. Even the craftsmen can't explain it.
There's probably nothing we can do to fix it, either. It was made by Zagreus, after all.
You can try the following solutions: 1. Just wait for it to let out whatever it's got pented up and settle down. 2. Grab something hard, cut the hand with it, then pour golden blood into the hand. Give it a few hours, and the hand should be as dexterous as new. Additional note: I mean cut the Thief's Hand, not your own hand.
Appendix All right, that's the end of the beginner's chapter, but it'll only be enough to teach you the very basics of the Hand's controls. You'll need to thoroughly review the entire manual several times over before you start operating it for real, though.
You must be thinking that you've understood nothing at all so far and that you should just read the second half of the manual ASAP.
That won't do. By Janus, that's the whole point of being a "beginner" — taking things one step at a time.
But I get your frustration — you want some consolation, don't you? Take a look at this then.
The Advanced Chapter's discount code: Hygilos is as cunning as Zagreus.