The Thrice-cut Belt

The thrice-cut belt is the supposed symbol of the clandestine Red Hand - a shadowy organization that secretly manipulates world events whilst remaining undiscovered and unhindered by those who futilely vie for what they believe is power, whilst being nothing more than puppets to the true masters of the continent.
A belt with three aurite-gilded stripes is known to be worn by the lord of Thallas since ancient times. The conspiracy theory, however, proposes a different reason for this attire and makes a direct connection between the leadership of Thallas and the Red hand: According to them, the three gilded notches on the belt signify the three Sarnian cities that were conquered by Thallas, which is supposedly both the Red hand's place of origin, as well as its headquarters ever since its conception.
As far as secret symbols go, the thrice-cut belt denotes one as a member of the Red Hand, an agent only pretending to be part of normal society, whilst in truth working to further their master's sinister agenda. Believers in the conspiracy theory are known to actively look for people with these markings and either avoid them, or, in the case of brave, would-be truth-seekers, openly harass anyone who would wear such a piece of clothing.
The most notable event tied to the imagery of the thrice-cut belt was the so called Bloody Inquisition, when Radal Barnoss, a powerful Reventine lord and firm believer in the conspiracy, launched a brutal campaign across his region in order to eradicate the supposedly growing Red Hand presence in his domain. The whole disaster supposedly started over Barnoss noticing several belts with notches in them and being taken over by suspicion that eventually lead to him persecuting and killing everyone he believed to be connected to the secret society, whether they wore a notched belt or not. The streets of his estates and villages ran red with blood and his largest town of Velcrest fell into turmoil. Finally, the emperor himself had to organize an expedition to deal with Barnoss and eventually trapped him in his castle at Rommenald, where a long siege began. As starvation and fear of the paranoiac lord as well as the emperor's punishment gripped the garrison, the officers wanted to surrender to the besiegers, only to be denied by their lord. Finally, guard captain Ghen Lavarn assassinated his lord, ending the siege and the entire Bloody Inquisition. The region, however, would never recover from the damage and many would quote this incident as proof of the Red Hand's involvement and a reminder of what happens to those who defy the order.

Item type

Clothing / Accessory