When the order came down from the Creator it had confused Hannah. Go to the place named Rhydin and study the place, the people. Learn and return. It was not of the Nine Hundred Planes, the realm that was under the protection of the Brigade and so she did not comprehend the need to deploy there, it was stranger yet that the Creator had made it clear that it should be she that did the work.
It was not that she thought herself above any task requested by the Creator, but lack of knowledge had made the decision feel odd, she was the premier Scout and usually her skills were best left to the jobs that were the most difficult to accomplish, little did she know when she set out that it was a very difficult task...
The town was adjacent to one of the outer Planes, the wall between the two had ruptured and anyone, with the proper skillset, could enter the Planes; this was unacceptable. Those born of the Planes knew the rules, had expectations of what would happen if they threatened the fabric of the worlds within, knew beyond any doubt that the Brigade would come if they dared break the Laws of the Planes.
The first lesson Hannah learned when she stepped into the Southern glen, a woodsy area within the borders of Rhydin, was that there were as many varied species in this place as could be found in the Planes and that they all reacted differently to strangers. The few week had been spent hidden, phase-shifted just enough that she could move freely without being observed while she made her initial sweep of the area. The first person she revealed herself to had been in her true form, that had been a mistake. The woman had crumpled to the ground crying in an unknown tongue but obviously supplicating herself to Hannah.
The first day of the second week had been spent learning the Common tongue, there were anomalies but all seemed to speak at least a little of what was called English. She could absorb that type of information quickly, but the usage of it was still a learning process. The rest of that second week had proved that there were many nuances to the language that she did not yet grasp as people screamed, cursed, or in a few extreme cases, attempted to attack her for stringing together words in an inappropriate manner. The conversations had gotten easier, and she had kept her wings phase-shifted to prevent a repeat of the woman?s antics. The words she had been speaking to Hannah were along the lines of a confession born of fear. ?Oh Lord, an avenging Angel, please I will change my ways. I only do those things to survive here! My sons needed to eat, the men, they pay for things...? Knowing the language hadn?t made that encounter any more palatable to Hannah.
Then there were the social conventions. So many little rules for conduct that it made her head swim. There was something... delicious about breaking some of those rules. The Laws of the Planes were ingrained, quite literally, in her body and soul, etched into bone and woven into soul; there was no disobeyance possible. Here? There were times that she wanted to take those social niceties and demonstrate to the populace that appearances were just a facade worn by monsters, worn by beings like herself.
Her purpose in life was to maintain a Balance on the Planes, she did not see people or actions as Evil or Good -- yes, capitalized for the emphasis she could hear in the words when spoken. They were actions that either did no harm to the Planes, ignorable, or did, subject to a form of punishment. This meant she came off as aloof, or detached at times. A woman had been mugged near where she sat meditating one day and she had done nothing to prevent the event, nor had she done anything to mitigate it. The woman was out alone, walking down an area that could be described as questionable, with things of value in plain sight. The woman had cursed her when she saw her sitting there, sword lying on the ground before her, had thought to come up to Hannah and scream... had thought better of it when Hannah lifted eyes full of silvery lightning set in a face that expressed her unwavering apathy for the strangers troubles.
Some of the social conventions seemed more restrictive when it came to the pleasures of the flesh. Those of the Brigade did not wed, despite the whispers that one or two had done just that, none of those rumours had been proven. Her loyalty was to the Creator, who would want a relationship with someone so brutally honest about such things? The Creator, and the Planes, would always come first in her priorities; she had existed for centuries and that one thing had never changed in her mind. But that did not mean that she didn?t possess passions that required attention at times.
He had an odd scent, human and not human, a mix of emotions that was bitter sharp to her senses and unique; his presence woke a hunger that she had nearly forgotten about -- so long had it slumbered. She had spoken of truths to him that she did not think he understood but he had tried and that counted for something, didn?t it? It counted toward satisfying those woken hungers and he seemed to enjoy the time lost. That was enough, she would steal the time from him that he gave and complete her task; a task that turned into something more pleasant than she could have hoped.
It was not that she thought herself above any task requested by the Creator, but lack of knowledge had made the decision feel odd, she was the premier Scout and usually her skills were best left to the jobs that were the most difficult to accomplish, little did she know when she set out that it was a very difficult task...
The town was adjacent to one of the outer Planes, the wall between the two had ruptured and anyone, with the proper skillset, could enter the Planes; this was unacceptable. Those born of the Planes knew the rules, had expectations of what would happen if they threatened the fabric of the worlds within, knew beyond any doubt that the Brigade would come if they dared break the Laws of the Planes.
The first lesson Hannah learned when she stepped into the Southern glen, a woodsy area within the borders of Rhydin, was that there were as many varied species in this place as could be found in the Planes and that they all reacted differently to strangers. The few week had been spent hidden, phase-shifted just enough that she could move freely without being observed while she made her initial sweep of the area. The first person she revealed herself to had been in her true form, that had been a mistake. The woman had crumpled to the ground crying in an unknown tongue but obviously supplicating herself to Hannah.
The first day of the second week had been spent learning the Common tongue, there were anomalies but all seemed to speak at least a little of what was called English. She could absorb that type of information quickly, but the usage of it was still a learning process. The rest of that second week had proved that there were many nuances to the language that she did not yet grasp as people screamed, cursed, or in a few extreme cases, attempted to attack her for stringing together words in an inappropriate manner. The conversations had gotten easier, and she had kept her wings phase-shifted to prevent a repeat of the woman?s antics. The words she had been speaking to Hannah were along the lines of a confession born of fear. ?Oh Lord, an avenging Angel, please I will change my ways. I only do those things to survive here! My sons needed to eat, the men, they pay for things...? Knowing the language hadn?t made that encounter any more palatable to Hannah.
Then there were the social conventions. So many little rules for conduct that it made her head swim. There was something... delicious about breaking some of those rules. The Laws of the Planes were ingrained, quite literally, in her body and soul, etched into bone and woven into soul; there was no disobeyance possible. Here? There were times that she wanted to take those social niceties and demonstrate to the populace that appearances were just a facade worn by monsters, worn by beings like herself.
Her purpose in life was to maintain a Balance on the Planes, she did not see people or actions as Evil or Good -- yes, capitalized for the emphasis she could hear in the words when spoken. They were actions that either did no harm to the Planes, ignorable, or did, subject to a form of punishment. This meant she came off as aloof, or detached at times. A woman had been mugged near where she sat meditating one day and she had done nothing to prevent the event, nor had she done anything to mitigate it. The woman was out alone, walking down an area that could be described as questionable, with things of value in plain sight. The woman had cursed her when she saw her sitting there, sword lying on the ground before her, had thought to come up to Hannah and scream... had thought better of it when Hannah lifted eyes full of silvery lightning set in a face that expressed her unwavering apathy for the strangers troubles.
Some of the social conventions seemed more restrictive when it came to the pleasures of the flesh. Those of the Brigade did not wed, despite the whispers that one or two had done just that, none of those rumours had been proven. Her loyalty was to the Creator, who would want a relationship with someone so brutally honest about such things? The Creator, and the Planes, would always come first in her priorities; she had existed for centuries and that one thing had never changed in her mind. But that did not mean that she didn?t possess passions that required attention at times.
He had an odd scent, human and not human, a mix of emotions that was bitter sharp to her senses and unique; his presence woke a hunger that she had nearly forgotten about -- so long had it slumbered. She had spoken of truths to him that she did not think he understood but he had tried and that counted for something, didn?t it? It counted toward satisfying those woken hungers and he seemed to enjoy the time lost. That was enough, she would steal the time from him that he gave and complete her task; a task that turned into something more pleasant than she could have hoped.