The people of Athas are no strangers to hardship; their world threatens daily to burn out their lives. Yet these stout souls harbor fear, superstition, and paranoia, especially during the appearance of the sixfingered sign—a symbol that can cast whole city-states into turmoil.
The icon, which resembles an oversized, sixfingered hand, shows up scratched into doors, burned onto walls, or drawn in the sands of Athas. When painted, it is yellow or black. No one would ever claim to know where the six-fingered sign comes from, and anyone caught drawing the symbol would be castigated for inviting bad luck. Consequently, the six-fingered sign has a reputation for appearing mysteriously, as a portent of supernatural forces heralding approaching disaster, both natural and supernatural.
The six-fingered sign is one of the few superstitions that recur throughout the varied cultures of the citystates, and most denizens of the Tyr Region recognize it as a bad omen. For some, it is a warning, urging them to take action in hopes of avoiding calamity. For others, it is an indicator that it is already too late: The community has been marked for disaster.
Those who believe that salvation is still possible will attempt to divine how to avert the coming disaster. Some make offerings or sacrifices to their deified sorcerer-kings; others embark on violent rampages or stir up riots, interpreting the sign to mean that they must drive out or slay a person or group to stave off calamity.
Despite its commonly held supernatural origins, the sign is frequently the work of more mundane troublemakers. A disgruntled shopkeeper might scrawl it on a competitor’s door and then incite a mob to “deal with” the rival “before danger strikes.” A templar might pay agents to paint it on the walls of a suspected Veiled Alliance haven, ensuring that no bystanders will interfere when he or she raids the place. It is sometimes painted on the tents of dunetraders who cheat their customers, carved into the sides of slavers’ caged wagons, or burned into the doors of recently arrived travelers believed to have brought trouble with them.