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Description
Continued from Ranger Class and related to Priest Class , Warrior Class , and Last Son ...

Regarding how human or inhuman Black Hand is: she doesn't have her mother's ability to control or compel reptilian creatures or read their minds and experience the world through their senses, but she does have a certain affinity for them. Reptiles seem to generally like her (as much as reptiles are capable of "liking" anything) almost as if she's one of them and she can get a sense of their intentions. How much influence she might have beyond that I'd never decided. Black Hand was (is) just a foot note after all. Like her mother she can change her coloring to a certain extent, but didn't learn that ability until young adulthood. That's another reason the Ceridwen texture by Saiyaness works so well for this character. I'd imagined Black Hand having scaly, black extremities - forearms and hands, calves and feet, maybe claws - but the options Ceridwen presents are great. They're otherworldly without the need for anything more extreme than slit pupils and sharp canines. I can actually use all options for Black Hand, even the "natural" ones because I like the idea that the closest Black Hand can get to looking human still makes her stand out from everyone around her, people who are all shades of earthy red and coppery brown while she's as pale as moonlight.

Getting back to Black Hand's story...
She never succumbed to the madness afflicting her inhuman mother's kind or the insanity of her human father's family, but Black Hand did have very aggressive, almost predatory impulses she struggled to keep in check. Aside from that, she was a compassionate and empathetic person, more like Older Brother, and in raising her Blood Moon hit on the idea to focus all sides of Black Hand's nature into ranger-style training. It kept her active and gave her purpose. She used her gifts to help and protect people which she desperately wanted to do, but didn't have to be around them all the time. A lot of teachers saw to Black Hand's education and training and when they felt she was ready Blood Moon gave her the twin axes that had belonged to Older Brother. Black Hand wasn't very good at duel-wielding them, however, so she just used one at a time.

Later, once she a little more mature and well-established as a ranger, Black Hand met a sailor from the Western (Pacific) Ocean, blown way off course - from one of the Polynesian cultures. During the course of early adventures they fell in love, became inseparable, and were together for a very long time. But eventually it became clear that Black Hand aged much, much slower than humans, remaining young while her lover grew old and eventually died. After his passing Black Hand became deeply depressed, crawled into a cave, and fell into a coma-like state. Blood Moon tried to wake her adopted daughter, but couldn't. However Black Hand didn't appear to die, so Blood Moon had the cave turned into a small, hidden temple or crypt and watched over her.

Many years after, when Last Son came to Blood Moon for help, it was to this crypt that she took the young man to get the axes. Black Hand was still there (not dead, but dreaming - ha! Cthulhu reference) like Sleeping Beauty and Last Son was entranced by her. He vowed that if and when he came back from his quest he would return the axes and try waking her. Whether or not that happened, I don't know.

See what happens with my footnotes? I swear this is why I never get anything finished.

Description
Continued from Ranger Class and related to Priest Class , Warrior Class , and Last Son ...

Regarding how human or inhuman Black Hand is: she doesn't have her mother's ability to control or compel reptilian creatures or read their minds and experience the world through their senses, but she does have a certain affinity for them. Reptiles seem to generally like her (as much as reptiles are capable of "liking" anything) almost as if she's one of them and she can get a sense of their intentions. How much influence she might have beyond that I'd never decided. Black Hand was (is) just a foot note after all. Like her mother she can change her coloring to a certain extent, but didn't learn that ability until young adulthood. That's another reason the Ceridwen texture by Saiyaness works so well for this character. I'd imagined Black Hand having scaly, black extremities - forearms and hands, calves and feet, maybe claws - but the options Ceridwen presents are great. They're otherworldly without the need for anything more extreme than slit pupils and sharp canines. I can actually use all options for Black Hand, even the "natural" ones because I like the idea that the closest Black Hand can get to looking human still makes her stand out from everyone around her, people who are all shades of earthy red and coppery brown while she's as pale as moonlight.

Getting back to Black Hand's story...
She never succumbed to the madness afflicting her inhuman mother's kind or the insanity of her human father's family, but Black Hand did have very aggressive, almost predatory impulses she struggled to keep in check. Aside from that, she was a compassionate and empathetic person, more like Older Brother, and in raising her Blood Moon hit on the idea to focus all sides of Black Hand's nature into ranger-style training. It kept her active and gave her purpose. She used her gifts to help and protect people which she desperately wanted to do, but didn't have to be around them all the time. A lot of teachers saw to Black Hand's education and training and when they felt she was ready Blood Moon gave her the twin axes that had belonged to Older Brother. Black Hand wasn't very good at duel-wielding them, however, so she just used one at a time.

Later, once she a little more mature and well-established as a ranger, Black Hand met a sailor from the Western (Pacific) Ocean, blown way off course - from one of the Polynesian cultures. During the course of early adventures they fell in love, became inseparable, and were together for a very long time. But eventually it became clear that Black Hand aged much, much slower than humans, remaining young while her lover grew old and eventually died. After his passing Black Hand became deeply depressed, crawled into a cave, and fell into a coma-like state. Blood Moon tried to wake her adopted daughter, but couldn't. However Black Hand didn't appear to die, so Blood Moon had the cave turned into a small, hidden temple or crypt and watched over her.

Many years after, when Last Son came to Blood Moon for help, it was to this crypt that she took the young man to get the axes. Black Hand was still there (not dead, but dreaming - ha! Cthulhu reference) like Sleeping Beauty and Last Son was entranced by her. He vowed that if and when he came back from his quest he would return the axes and try waking her. Whether or not that happened, I don't know.

See what happens with my footnotes? I swear this is why I never get anything finished.