The Hand
"Listen, moron, I'm trying to drink, here. I don't want to listen to you yap questions at me. Ask me later."
"So what if this is the third time you're asking? Does this look like the face of someone who cares? (Sigh) Whatever: maybe if I tell you, you'll shut up. Or just go out and get yourself killed. Either way, I come out ahead. Well, where's my beer? I don't talk for free."
"About time, punk. Anyway, so you've heard about the oh-so-scary 'Hand of the Council' and you can't wait to go tangle with them. Yeah, I was that dumb once ... no, I wasn't. Well, you'll learn better."
"Are you trying to tell me what to do? I didn't think so. Pathetic: none of the younger generation has any balls anymore. In my day, a new-made Calabite wouldn't stop glaring until they put out his eyes ... damn me, I am rambling at the mouth. Right - hey, a smirk! Good on you. Now pick yourself off the floor and listen to your betters.
"Anyway, the Hand ... well, they're just strange, even for those losers up there. I mean, when the Eternal Sword or the Snakeskins or the Pests are around, you know why. Somebody's going to take the long ride, along with everybody in the vicinity who isn't squeaky-clean. Bad news, if you're that somebody, but, hell, if you aren't, no skin off your nose - besides, there's always a reason. But the Hand ... they don't even know why they're doing what they're doing. They get told, 'do this, don't do that, and make sure you wear purple socks all the time' - and they do and don't do and wear without even bitching about it. It's like they've got no free will at all."
"Jeez, stop whining. You've still got all your teeth, right? You deserved it, anyway. How many times have I had to tell you, parrot the BalProp, don't believe it? If those geeks up there couldn't get their underused brains to fire over every so often, none of them would ever come to their senses and flip the ubergeeks the bird on their way Down. It stands to reason that they've got free will: we've got more, but they've got some.
"But the Hand - it's like they don't at all when it comes to their jobs. I've seen five of them fight to the death to protect a puppy - and ten of them get soul-killed to make sure that the eleventh finishes pulling up a daisy. Asking them about it's a waste of time, too: they'll just look at you with those eyes of theirs and say, 'Because I was told to'. The really scary bit is, that really is the only reason. No, actually the fact that most of them can punch through steel is probably the really scary bit."
"So, what do we do about them? Me, I favor finding out what they want ... then getting the Hell out of their way, if I can. I don't mind taking the lumps for a bad cause, but getting a Force or three ripped off because I was trying to stop a bunch of angelic zombie badasses from smashing an empty school bus just ain't my style.
"But, hey, if you want to get involved, it sounds like that they're still at it. Go right ahead... but buy me another drink, first. Hell, just leave the wallet: you won't be needing it."
The Hand of the Council is certainly one of the more quietly disturbing organizations out there: whether it's more disturbing to angels or to demons is very much an open question. Obedience is a common trait among the Host, and so is fanaticism. Neither word adequately describes the ethos of the Hand.
Members of this organization (usually called Fingers) are all highly powerful angels: 16 Forces, a Will of 12 and several centuries of experience are the minimum requirements for membership. There is no particular Choir that dominates the Hand's makeup: Malakim and Elohim are merely the most visible members. They are not suitable for PCs: indeed, they are not even really suitable for NPC allies or adversaries. When not on their missions, they will perform other duties, but will drop them when the Order comes. When on a mission, they have no friends, no enemies. It is, indeed, almost as if they have voluntarily given up their free will for the sake of Heaven. Whether this is due to internal discipline or some sort of Attunement is unknown, and never answered by either the Fingers or the Council. There is no risk in asking such an impertinent question, mind: it is simply ... ignored.
Fingers of the Hand are all Servitors of Creation: new members transfer to Eli's service upon joining. The Archangel apparently has not abandoned all of his responsibilities: prospective Fingers go out into the world, and eventually come back as Creationers. The mental gyrations needed for certain of his colleagues to ignore this are amusing, in a detached way.
Such gyrations are needed, as the turnover of new Fingers is fairly steady. The Hand is used to enforce the will of the Council: while there may be more powerful Servitors out there, the group is unique in their ability to utterly subsume their own self-preservation for the sake of the mission. Any mission, no matter how absurd or pointless that it might be. Once an Order is given, it is followed to the letter and the spirit, with no hesitation, apprehension or later recrimination. The absolute trust that this implies is, frankly, staggering.
Naturally, such a resource is not casually used. Missions for the Hand require an Order, personally signed by at least seven major Superiors, who have demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Finger who is carrying the potential Order that he, she or it understands and agrees to the mission. While this may seem presumptuous, this policy originates from the Council itself: tragedies can - have - result as the result of a careless signature. Once the Order is signed, the Finger carrying it chooses those to perform the mission (which may include him or herself).
The missions undertaken by the Hand ... follow no real pattern. Sometimes the objective is clear, and sometimes it is only comprehensible to the Archangels themselves. Violence is not always a hallmark of a Hand operation, either: indeed, sometimes any violent activity is absolutely forbidden. The only common denominator is that each mission is considered to be somehow of vital importance by seven of the most powerful beings in the universe. This keeps Hand missions rare: getting seven Archangels to agree on anything can be ... complicated.
The general rule for combating Fingers who are on a mission is: don't. They do not have an unblemished record, but no Finger has ever been dissuaded or distracted from his, her or its willingly-assumed purpose by anything less than soul-death. This includes such normal deterrents as dissonance or disturbance. Such determination, mixed with their inherent abilities, make them hideous foes ... but you can always get out of their way.
It used to be said that no Finger has ever Fallen, but that became untrue three centuries ago. The fact was cold comfort to Hell. Essentially, an Ofanite Finger realized that his team's mission objective (the destruction of a particularly dangerous Balseraph of Fate) was holed up in Kronos' Archive, and wasn't coming out until the Fingers went away. Therefore, the Ofanite Jumped, made his way to Hell via an Infernal Tether ... and soul-killed his quarry. He then somehow made his way back up to Earth and the attention of an Archangel.
The Finger did not survive the Redemption process.
Needless to say, the Council has been careful to deny that particular option to future Orders... but it still shows the extent of the Hand's submission to the will of their Superiors. No questions asked ... or even thought.
Again, the trust that this implies is staggering.