Into the Valley Gently

A long time ago, before the development of written language, or even before humans had developed any civilization beyond simple family groups, there lived a race of caretakers known only as the Druids. Their influence was widespread and lasting, even so far as to have humans create several groups in their name. With their magic, they protected and cultivated all things that were on the earth, under the leadership of Gaea, their leader. Of course, there were some among the Druids who believed that with their power they had the right to circumvent the natural order to aid their own ends, in opposition to the instruction of the goddess Delphinia. This second group was led by the one called Tellus.

Tellus and her group were outnumbered by the followers of Gaea, but she had a plan. Tellus enlisted the help of the humans, granting them power, and weapons, and the knowledge of fire and stone tools. The infighting and disruption to the natural order naturally attracted the attention of the gods, who sent their Angels to fight in this battle. They granted great aid to the forces of Gaea, but Tellus still won out, causing Gaea and her loyalists to flee to other worlds by means of places of power, using them to open portals over great distances.

Having emerged victorious, Tellus and her group of rebels didn’t have much time to revel, because, despite being rid of Gaea, the Angels didn’t cease their onslaught. Tellus and the humans withstood them as long as they possibly could, but eventually Tellus and the rest of the Druids fled or went into hiding, leaving the Angels with no opponent to fight but the humans. Largely speaking, Angels have no free will, and are meant solely to obey the gods, so, having been told to fight, they fought, regardless of their opponent.

Of course, to say that all Angels behave as mindless drones would be mildly hyperbolic. Certainly that was the intention, however, in addition to being bound to obedience, the most powerful among them were bound by oaths, not least of all was an oath to protect the innocent and the powerless. And in those days, the most powerful among the Angels was a group known as The Knights of the First Holy Order. It quickly became readily apparent to them that the humans not only weren’t the masterminds and held no malice, but also that the humans posed no threat to even the weakest of the Angels. They attempted to convey this to the other Angels, and to the gods, but they were ignored. This left them with only one recourse, and that was to protect the humans by the point of the sword. For the crime of using violence against other Angels, the Knights of the First Holy Order were cast down to live among the humans until such time as death took them. Despite this tragic outcome for them, they didn’t mourn it, for during the time it took the gods to sentence them, it put a pause to the fighting and shortly thereafter the gods realized that the Knights of the First Holy Order were correct and called an end to the fighting.

Of course before the fighting was called off, there were still some roving squads of Angels hunting down humans. The Knights of the First Holy Order decided that there weren’t enough of them to protect all of the humans, so they enlisted some of the more trustworthy humans, teaching them fighting and of the oaths which still bound them, granting them incredible power and would continue to do so, so long as they held firm to their oaths. These humans took upon themselves the moniker of the Knights After the Manner of the First Holy Order, because that’s what they were. Of course that only solved half the problem, as humans were still too trusting, despite the ongoing pogrom.

Much thought and care was put into how to solve this issue, as even after the Angels quit their violence towards humans, there would still be other creatures putting on human visages and affectations with ill-intent, such as demons, the fae, and vampires. After much agonizing thought and weighing of the options, the Knights of the First Holy Order came to a decision, a terrible decision that they would not have gone with had they found any other long-lasting option.

This decision was to contact the Vashet, a group of demon assassins, best known for their willingness to do whatever you paid them to do, be it murder or merely the exchange of information. They were also known for their surprising integrity, always keeping their word and holding fast to any deals or agreements that they made. They were also known for their incredible cruelty and lack of boundaries or scale, which is why nobody ever dared cross them.

Despite this cruelty and malice, the Knights of the First Holy Order turned to the Vashet as they were the only group who could possibly pull off the incredible task with which they were charged. They were tasked with ensuring that humans no longer blindly trusted everyone who looked even vaguely human. To this end, they instilled a deep seated fear into humans of anyone who looks not quite human. To wit, they created the uncanny valley.

When asked to help in this, Defauna, the liaison for the Vashet, is recorded as saying “We shall lead them into the valley of the shadow of death, and we shall lead them back out again, forever changed but unharmed.” That is what they promised, and that is what they delivered.