Reading scopeB3-C34
Only material established by your chosen chapter is included. Books share one continuous novel timeline; game progression is separate.
Species / Organized Faction
The Purple Hands
In the main novels
Book 1
The basin after the boss
The hand-filled basin is first encountered in the shadow of the Stump, whose size and violence dominate Dude's understanding of the space. Smaller moving hands also occupy the pipes and platforms, and Hex's own independent behavior makes simplistic assumptions about all hands increasingly unhelpful. Defeating the Stump is not the same as emptying the basin of its inhabitants. Nor does it erase the possibility that those inhabitants have plans of their own.
Book 2
A border built from wreckage
When the group returns while tracing its precarious water supply, the basin has changed. Scrap mesh, cable and panels form a deliberate barrier across the catwalk. Dead pale hands are displayed along the top. The purple hands occupy commanding positions and halt nearby pale workers with signals; those farther away continue until another supervisor signals them. Purple markings ring the service opening. The route is no longer just dangerous terrain. It is territory with a visible authority and a warning about unauthorized crossing.
Hex negotiates with relatives who may not be relatives
Hex approaches the boundary using the same vocabulary of gesture and objects the group has been assembling at home. One hand allows Hex through, but refuses passage to the companions travelling with it. The decision could be kinship, a classification rule or a political calculation; none is confirmed. On a later visit, small objects become diplomatic offerings. A ceramic bearing attracts genuine interest. The scene treats these hands as parties who can reject a bargain, accept a token and control access. Calling them 'middle management' is funny because it is too close to the observable truth.
Workers and scouts
The basin is not populated only by purple leaders. Pale hands continue sorting and hauling, while rats watch from strategic positions and move when signaled. Some appear to function as patrols around the perimeter. It would be premature to define the exact ranks of a hand society, but the distinction between working hands, purple commanders and associated rats is demonstrated in action. Their organization survives without the Stump as an obvious central boss.