Ellen was pleased when Rathael looked suitably chastised over his behavior, and somewhat intrigued when he brought up the fact that his mother couldn't talk about the upper planes.  Some sort of magical effect was preventing her from discussing it?  Interesting.  People knew that other planes existed because, every once in a great long while, some extraplanar creature or other managed to slip through the cracks and into the material plane, but very little was known about what sort of places these other planes were.  Certainly, no one had yet managed to travel to other planes from this one, so for the average viewer of the games, the other planes were more of a theoretical, faraway place, rather than a concrete reality.<br/><br/>Of course, as a ghost, she existed on two separate planes at once, so for her, yet more planes of existence existing seemed to be a lot less far-fetched...<br/><br/>"I think I know what she meant, actually."  She couldn't help but comment, when the half-celestial began speaking of his mother's thoughts on Paladins.  "Paladins are held to some pretty high standards by the powers-that-be.  Admittedly, some of those standards are open to interpretation, like the one about acting with honor, but no matter what, we can't knowingly take any evil actions.  Not even for a good cause."<br/><br/>No, the ends never justified the means when you were a Paladin...  As far as Ellen understood, it was at least partly about setting an example for others to follow, inspiring others to lead more just lives by showing that it was possible to live without any evil at all...<br/><br/>"Of course, that doesn't actually mean we're incapable of doing so, and since nobody's perfect, mistakes do happen..."  Even the selection process wasn't perfect, given the occasional Paladin who willingly turned to evil and became a Blackguard.  Even the higher powers could apparently make mistakes...  "So, a Paladin who knowingly commits an evil act loses access to all the powers they've been granted as punishment.  Just like your mother said, we are watched."