As they return to camp, Hexla says to the others, "It may be a bit awkward, but one of you should hold her body close to drive away the cold. It will be the best thing for her she."<br/><br/>Quietly, she also speaks to Rhea.<br/><br/>"Your a cleric right? I don't know what she saw, but something really disturbed her. It may also help if you speak with and give her some assurance from your deity. This places really can get into your head sometimes."<br/><br/>She quickly starts gathering some fuel and building a fire. While she works, she speaks to the group. While it is precautionary, it does not seem to be a lecture, more advice to the uninitiated.<br/><br/>"You must be careful on the planes, just because mortals can survive on them doesn't mean that it's easy or that everyone can manage it on the same plane. Belief and ideas are powerful out here. Baator isn't a place where lawful evil souls go, it is the entire idea of lawful evil made tangible. Different locations and creatures within the plane are themselves different variations and representations of ideas within that broad category. If can mange this place because of my own beliefs and philosophies. In the primary trading city of the planes, the City of Doors, Sigil, there are political groups known as Factions. Or if you are being more blunt, philosophers with clubs. The different planes react to the way people on them behave so each faction tries to curry political power by convincing people their way of thinking is correct. The more people believe, the strong the idea becomes and the more power the Faction has. Personally, I stay out of the politics, I seek meaning, as do many other factioneers, but that is besides the point right now."<br/><br/>"What is important is that I am part of the Faction known as the Fraternity of Order. We believe that in understanding Rules, Laws and Axioms we gain knowledge of universe and the power that comes from it. Think of it like a legal code. By understanding the code, we can understand how to use it as well. Its not the same, but many Baatezu believe something similar and their society is obsessed with legalities as well so that puts me on an even footing with one aspect of this plane's alignment. You put a Xaositect, who believes in Chaos and unpredictable action, in the same position and they'll never make it."<br/><br/>A few questions later, and she dives into a deeper discussion of the Factions. She explain her own Faction, as well as their closest allies the Harmonium, who believe in peace through order at any cost, and the Mercykillers, who believe that Justice must be pursued and transgressions punished. She also spoke of those who opposed the Fraternity, the Xaositects who believe the universe is chaos and the Revolutionary League who believes all organized groups like the Factions are inherently corrupt and loose sight of the truth. Apparently the Fraternity is also on shaky terms with a Faction known as the Doomguard, who believe in entropy and that the universe is steadily (some say slowly, some quick) falling apart, as well as the Bleak Cabal, who hold that reality is meaningless, there is no order to reality and no purpose to anything. Other factions are more neutral to one Hexla's people. The Athar believe the gods, which she calls Powers, to be frauds, just as flawed as any mortal albeit more powerful and not worthy of worship. Paradoxically, some of their closest allies, the Believers of the Source, believe that everyone has the ability to become a God through patience and reincarnation and that even the Powers themselves are but another step in a greater chain. There are the Dustmen, who say that this life is not true life but a deathly shadow of it and that attachments must be released in order to achieve True Death, and in so doing return to True Life. The Fated believe that that everyone makes their own fate, that those who work hard will earn what they deserve and that what is freely given should not be taken. The Free League despise being called a faction, believing that no one holds the absolute truth of things, so everyone should follow their own path. The Sign of One holds that the multiverse exists because the mind imagines it. The Society of Sensation is contends that things can only be known by experiencing them and always seek new experiences. The Transcendent Order holds that action without thought is the preset form of thought and that one should not think, but feel. Hexla also mentions that there are many other, smaller groups known as Sects as well. Like the Factions, they have a personal belief, creed or philosophy that defines. They are smaller, however, and tend to influence only one plane instead of many.<br/><br/>The conversation does seem a bit odd and out of place. It only occurs to you afterwards that as someone obsessed with knowledge and codification, explaining part of how her world works may be a coping mechanism for the strange effects that her home had had on Melody. By the time she is done, a good sized campfire is going to warm up Melody and for Sweetwater to cook upon.