The Hand of Vecna can be obtained by killing Vecna in the Chaotic Quest, provided you don't digest or disintegrate him. It is one of the most powerful Artifacts in SLASH'EM. Although it is guarded by an army of L, Z, V and Vecna himself, most adventurers go through the trouble of killing them to aquire it. If you eat the hand, you will get 150-199 damage, so this is a Bad idea. The game will have the courtesy to ask if you're sure you want to eat a severed hand, though. If you survive the Hand scrabbling around inside you, you gain all of 40 nutrition points. Note that you can sacrifice the Hand at any time; this gets rid of it permanently, and thus is also a (somewhat less, admittedly) Bad Idea. Taking a dip in lava also destroys the Hand.