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| The Hand of Naz | |
| Author(s) | Phil Amara |
| Artist(s) | Francisco Ruiz Velasco |
| Pages | 16 |
| Publisher | Dark Horse Comics |
| Published | November 11, 2001 |
| Binding | Graphic novel |
The Hand of Naz is the second and penultimate comic in the Tales of Sanctuary anthology.
Summary
In the land of Daken-Shar, a war rages on between the Army of Destruction (Ahjad-Den in the Barbarian language) led by Baal and the Children of Bul'Kathos. Only one Barbarian survives to this day, Renit. He has made a promise: the demon army shall never win the war. One day, he hears a scream coming from the ruins of a tower. Inside, he sees a women beset upon by Giant Spiders. He kills the creatures in just a few swings of his axe. As a token of her gratitude, the woman tries to heal Renit, but he says the creatures were no match for him, and that he hunts for the demons that slayed his comrades. The woman, who presents herself as Cairo, an apprentice Necromancer, whose master was also killed by the demons, says that she can help the Barbarian on his quest. She tells him of an ancient artifact of great power, the Hand of Naz. With it, Renit can raise a spectral army with which he can reach his goal, destroying the Demon Army. Renit agrees, seeing that vengeance is in his grasp.
They soon reach the Castle of Kanemith. The artifact they search for is hidden in a secret tomb beneath the castle. The two reach a sarcophagus inside of which a dead king wears the gauntlet. Upon removing the Hand of Naz from the tomb, the tomb shakes and Cairo says that their trespass has activated a curse. A wave of undead rise and attack. The Barbarian leaves Cairo behind to be killed by the monsters.
Wearing the gauntlet, Renit faces the demon army. He's not alone, the spirits of many warriors stand besides him. On his orders the spirits attack, tearing apart the demons. As the battle finishes, the spirit of the king from whom the gauntlet was taken comes towards Renit and kills him. Renit's spirit rises to join those previously enslaved by the Hand of Naz.
But the Barbarian awakens to see Cairo standing over him. She had resurrected him. The Necromancer lied when she said she was just an apprentice, she is a master, part of the Bright Circle, but she had not lied about her people being slain by demons. This happened when she was just a girl, not recently as she led Renit to believe. Cairo said that she trained for years to exact her revenge. When she learned about the ancient gauntlet she knew that this was her chance. The search led her to Daken-Shar, where she found Renit's people besieged by the demons. She knew that the Hand of Naz could only be worn once, but she didn't know why, so she decided to use Renit as a test subject. She lured him faking distress and took him to the location of the artifact. She had known of the undead guards of the tomb and that the Barbarian would leave her to die to pursue his own goals, but the undead were not a threat to Cairo. She left Renit to accomplish their common goal and for that she brought him back to the land of the living.
Now that the Necromancer knows what is the price of wearing the gauntlet, she takes her sword, and with its hilt breaks the jewel encrusted into the artifact. This releases all the souls trapped in the gauntlet, but gives her all the knowledge of all those that had ever worn the Hand of Naz. Cairo leaves saying that her and Renit will never meet again.
Characters
- Renet
- Cairo