Are there any books/rare books in any of the games mentioning them? they were one of the coolest things in morrowind. My Nerevarine could destroy the tribunal gods, hircine, and the great devil dagoth ur with ease, yet the hands killed me when i tried to attack them. I think the Hands could stop all the evil threats including alduin, dagon, and dagoth ur on their own, their just too lazy. Btw how come Vivec doesn't have His Hands? i know he has the armigiers but still having a few His Hands would make his palace a lot safer.

I would imagine their ingame power level is disproportionate to their actual power leve.

And no, they could not have stopped Alduin, Dagon or Dagoth because there were very specific circumstances which allowed them to stopped.

I do believe thier power was from Almalexia herself, so once she was It makes sense for the power to vanish.

Sotha Sil would have His Hands. Vivec would have His&Her Hands.

But they didn't because, well, it just wasn't their style. It was Ayem's style.

Vehk had the Ordinators, Seht was a very private fellow.

Vivec had his Bouyant Amigers if you want to think of anything like the hands. Sotha Sil had his Dwemer like constructs, but neither one of them really needed a personal security force on level with the hands. Almalexia to me always seemed like the one that was most interested in a show of power. She wanted to be loved and feel loved. Where Vivec was happy rulling from a palace at the far end of his city where none could enter, Almalexia positioned herself in the middle, where all could enter. They just couldn't get into her chambers.
Sotha Sil just went away into his own city, where none could find him, and lived apart from the rest.

As for their actual power, they are described as some of the, if not the most lethal warriors in Morrowind. It is entirely possible that one of these guys would have done what the CoC did, they would not have been able to complete the Nerevarine prophecies however nor that of the Dovahkiin, simply because they weren't Dragonborn/foreigners who came to Morrowind.
However, they are no where near as powerful as Almalexia, Sotha Sil, Vivec, Dagoth Ur, Alduin or Mehrunes Dagon were.... Couldn't be.

attacking almalexia in her palace surrounded by her hands is probably the hardest battle in morrowind i'd say. a pity none of the newer games require a very tactical approach to the toughest battles. If your just a pure warrior and run in with your daedric sword and armour in morrowind you get owned

Vekh, I suspect, would be of a certain mind to believe that if you were able to steal into his chambers and best him in single combat, having you subsequentlly pummeled by a contingent of overzealous bodyguards would just be unsporting.

Don't forget that Almalexia was more than just a little bit paranoid after having lost connection to the Heart. Vivec didn't need guards because of having actually achieving godhood through other means, and Sotha Sil was safe because only ALMSIVI knew where the Clockwork City was located.

The hands also acted as her go to agents and servants in all things. Vivec seemed to have a more hands on approach to things, where as Almalexia, if she wanted something absolutely done, would send one of her hands. Theirs something rather intimidating about seeing a hand arrive in the middle of a situation.

I don't remember if this was a canon book or from a Mod, but i remember reading a story about a group of High ordinators turning on Almsivi and commiting some kind of crime, Almalexia gave them permission to leave the city and be exiled never to return garanteeing them that the High ordinators would not stop them. the half dozen or so rebel High ords accepted and made their way to Mournhold's gate without any problems but there were met by a single Hand, that fight was almost over as quickly as it started, with the hand slautering them all with ease.

BTW they are said to be the most terrible and leathal warriors in all of Tamriel, not just morrowind.

The hands had been around long before Almalexia lost her connection to the heart.


True, I misspoke (or wrote whatever).

I also remember that story, don't think it's from a mod. But I can't seem to find it, anybody else have any idea what it's called or whether it's from a mod or not?

Found the story, but can't find it's source.

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/?p=books§ion=137896

The Hands were Almalexia's bodyguards, just that. As others said, Vivec had the Bouyant Armigers, but they were a military order. Their job was to excort pilgrims and fight House Dagoth forces. Most Armigers belonged to House Redoran. The Ordinators were too, a military order (duh) and most of them were Indoril.
Sotha Sil might or might not have had bodyguards. Personally, I think he didn't. His not the type to need companions.

Anyway, the Hands were overopowered. Almalexia would have been no match for one of them.
It's safe to assume that at least some of them were her lovers. It's said the Hand Alma has you kill was so. (This bit is from the Trial.)

Tamriel's deadliest warriors. This episode: the hands vs Ysgramors 500. Who would win?
I think the hands are probably the coefficient US Marine Core.

Ysgramor and his 500 Companions took over major portions of land when they arrived. Think they got the Her Hands beat.

That, and the fact that their professional Mer slayers.

A great and noble profession, I may add.

Yes it's tough one. But I'm not so sure. The hands have a pretty wicked arsenal. they're not just elfs. Let's just say high ordinaries are like the elven Spartans. Remember Juergen wind caller and the tongues on red mountain. The chimer defeated them and the orcs and the dwarves. But some crazy stuff happened during that battle.

By the way does anyone remember which of the 36 lessons talks about the battles with the tongues?

Also, there are 501 of them...

Hands though were kind of cheating, sure they were said to be master warriors in their own right, but what tiped the scale for them were the Divine enchantments placed not only on their armors and weapons, but on their bodies themselves. Hard not to be a badass when some godess "concole comands" you to have insane stats regardless of your equipment. a number of their attributes (strength, speed, endurance) were closing on the 150 and 200 mark and they had resistances to nearly all types of magics including constant effect reflect abilities.

I woud not say they are cheating. A Thu'um user can be pretty damned badass. I would say they are even with the Hands of Almalexia in terms of combat prowess. Given all that they have going for them. Of course we have no idea of Her Hands were imbued with Divine Enchantments that were maintained or that were just one time things. Enchantments do not disappear with the creator afaik.

I dissagree, Thu'um is no more impressive than regular magic from what i've seen or read. Less so even as magic has unlimited potential, at all. Nords might consider it sacred and incredible, but keep in mind that these are people that tend to shun and stay away from magic as a whole. I'd imagine people more accostumed to magic the thu'um would be much less impresive. I can't imagine it being anything more than a curiosity to a real mage. Just some other form of magic.

Consider what 175 strength or speed at 150 would mean in a real life setting when 100 is normally the maximum a mortal can achieve. Or the ability to resist or even reflect magick (which considering all other magic counters seem to work just fine against Thu'um, in fact perticularly so, i would think reflect would work just as well)

The Hands had inhuman strength, speed and attributes, as well as inhuman skills with a sword and armor, this on top of their magical resistances. What difference would it make if their foe yells a fire ball at them rather than launches it at them from their hands?

As much as I would want to agree with you that Her Hands are the best. See my name. I just do not agree. It is also unfair to compare attributes when their is not an equivalent in Skyrim. No strength or speed stats. The Thu'um is also incredibly versatile. If we are assuming Her Hands are the best Warriors+ Divine enchantments then it is only fitting we pit them against a Thu'um master(not dragonborn though lol). Attacking with two weapons at incredible speeds? Summon a Dragon . Aura Whisper to detect your opponents way ahead of time. Basically teleporting from one place to another with whirlwind sprint. Ice Form. Frost Breath. Fire Breath. Unrelenting force. Ghost form. Disarm. Dismay. Marked for death. Slow time. STORM CALL!!!

I say it would be pretty even. The Thu'um master would likely struggle to project their Thu'um in a way to reach the Hand but the Hand would also struggle with the versatility of the Thu'um as well.

Next on Deadliest Warrior...lol

It doesn't matter though if these stats exist in skyrim, what they represented remains the same, a hand was nearly twice as strong and the stronges a mortal could become. They were much faster than the fastest a mortal could become, the had far greater endurance and thus could take a greater beating than even the most durable mortal could. That's what those stats represents.


Sure it is, but stardard magic is much more so.

sure, go ahead, though to point out, Almalexia refers to her hand that you have to beat in the Tribunal main quest as a master war wizard, not just a master warrior. They weren't just good with swords and armor, they were masters of art of combat, including magical ones.

Here you are pointing to an individual skill completely unrelated to thu'um or "thu'um masters" it something some one good with dual wielding can do. and in regards to speed, a hand is well above what any mortal can achieves, without magic.

Can be done with regular magic, nothing special or unique.

They shoot forward fast, with little control or finess, and again, something that can be done with normal magic, neither unique or special either.

All can be done just as easily and just as well with destruction magic. Again, nothing special.

Prety good, but can be resisted with simple magica resistance spell, which the hands have imbued into their very being.


Dragon Call is something unique the the dragonborn though, not something just any thu'um master can do so it doesn't count, but even then, if town guards can take down a dragon...

storm call this is the real trump card for a thu'um master, and perhaps the biggest threat the hand would have to face, but simple resist lightning takes most of it's punch away.

1,000,000 cliff racers verses every ones favorite red dragon!!!