I am not the best of storytellers, but I will tell you the history of this Order as I can recollect it..

Ah, the history of this Order goes back generations....

Ancient times:

It was started long ago, by a rogue sylvan profiteer by the name of Dar'Faerdan, which translates to "Black Wanderer" in the human langauge. He wandered the lands selling weapons and other tools of war where ever he could find a conflict. This was during the First Unification War of 665 BA, and there was plenty of hatred to fuel. Eventually, this trade in weapons turned to even darker trades. Followers of Dar were hired for political killings and spying. This small group, nearly a cult in their secrecy, stayed low and went unnoticed for over 500 years, becoming secret suppliers of weapons to the Dwarf-Sylvan conflict and the Second Unification War. Even after so many years, the Order included no more than 50 individuals, and was responsible for its brief downfall. In 117 BA, all of the members contraced the Yellow Pustulance and, due to their lack of trust in outsiders, died. This is probably good, for around this time the Darshak Theocracy arose, and would have destroyed the order anyway.

Modern Times:

Their meeting house, a small underground rock-lined building, had been build a few miles outside of the Human city of Vestor. This city had been tiny when the meeting house was first built, but after the Acendancy arose, population growth swelled the city. By about year 100 of the Acendancy, the rural areas of Vestor came close to reaching the last building of the Order, which had survived for those 200 years. A human, no one knows who, stumbled upon the opening to the building while plowing his fields. Inside lay a treasure trove of papers and items describing the Order. This man was no simpleton, and he quickly realized how much wealth could be earned. Patterning his own guild from the papers that described Dar'Faerdan's, he set about an enormous task. Gathering theives, merchants, assassins, and businessmen, he founded the Order of the Hand and set up its principles. In these Acendancy times, there was much security and policing of all lands, so they had to be careful. Mobius could not be everywhere at all times, and could not possibly know what they were doing. Agents of the Order could be anyone, and they spread themselves thoughout the provinces as merchants and wanderers. The ranking system was set up, and membership in the Order increased twelvefold as is gained influence. Mobius my not have known about the Order, but he was not blind, and soon his agents were informed of the Order's doings. Mobius, wanting order in all things, saw this as a threat to his power and set about banishing all those of the Order that he could get his hands on.

Now:

I was one of these banished. I was careless in my duties and eventually found myself dealing with an Acendancy agent. I am lucky in that Mobius will not kill anyone, but his agents take this to the limit and punish the body so much that you do not want to live. After this punishment, I was banished like so many others to these isles. The trip and punishment have taken a huge toll upon my body, and I am not nearly as strong as I was on the mainland. I hope to someday regain my strength and return to the mainland to help the Order topple Mobius and his wretched Acendancy.