[ANGEL INFORMATION]

[Lazarus Carter]

A N G E L S

In stark contrast to the huge demonic population of Inferis, it was only recently on-site that Angels made an appearance... in Hell.

Fundamentally, Angels are different on many a level from Demons. For starters, God keeps a much tighter leash on his subordinates and those who dwell beyond those pearly gates than Lucifer does; whilst the Devil treats his so-called “people” with a set of moral freedom of an ideology of ‘do whatever the fuck you want’ within what is by nature a dog-eat-dog world, Angels are far more refined and structured. Whilst not out-and-out morally restricted, there’s a zero tolerance policy on insubordination; betray God, and he’ll condemn you to Inferis, which will in a sense make you a newer fallen Angel bound to Hell. That’s the long and short of it.

Typically Angels are somewhat more morally correct, and keep a bead on what they’re doing, but some are so rigidly driven to follow the word of their Lord that it becomes almost obsessive, and clearly unhealthy. Not only this, divine command often doesn’t take some of the finer variables into account, such as collateral damage and other casualties – provided the job’s done, God really doesn’t care what his Angels do within Inferis.

Exalted beings created for the sole purpose of servitude, they, as can be figured out relatively easily, are not native to Inferis, but many are just as archaic as the Archdemons; some older and indeed timeless in themselves. The war that Lucifer has over many an eon declared upon Heaven and his old master, along with various disruptions and fluctuations in the power balances within Inferis – alongside the pre-emption of the Devil’s plans following – have caused the Angelic Host to take action, by in essence inserting and stationing a portion of their forces into Inferis proper, with their own airborne Angelic strongholds known as “Skyhavens”.

Whilst Demons are oft created from the souls of dead mortal beings with a particular moral reprehensibility to them, Angels are fashioned from the hands of God themselves, each particular one; and this means that they have a duty to follow the Angelic Host. Additionally, some of the more pious and devoted of souls and scholars are crafted after death into an Angelic presence, but the most prolific of Angels are all crafted by God himself for a specific purpose and to be drafted into the Host.

This means that all Angels are devoted to the cause of the Host. “Leaving” them would cause a supernatural occurrence for said Angel to be ripped of their rank and title, and cast down into Inferis as a fallen Angel. Essentially, again, a Demon. Long story short: NO FREELANCE ANGELS. The Host can interact with other parties if required for a mutually beneficial agreement; and indeed their bone to pick is not with the Demonic population of Inferis, but simply with Lucifer and his masses of followers – this doesn’t mean that Angels are restricted when it comes to where they can RP and with whom, simply that their duties should first and foremost belong to the Host.

When it comes to Earth – regular Demons are unable to traverse the barriers between Inferis and the mortal dimension without a human host, or a Ritualist; however Angels can freely cross this barrier, and walk on Earth in their mortal form, much like Archdemons. They are however restricted in that additionally they are bound from using their powers on Earth – but Angelic influence, just like Demonic influence, has played a large part in human history, and will undoubtedly continue to do so.

Within biblical scripture, one of the most famous physical attributes of most Angels was their ability to fly, possessing man-sized feathery wings bound to their back. Whilst this is not a requirement for your prospective Angel characters, we recommend that you take it on for a more traditional look; most Angel Forms will end up looking somewhat more humanoid than Demon Forms, and to provide something of a differentiation for your Angel, the wings are there. Additionally, they act as free flight, which is always fun!

Whilst Demons speak in their own dialect shared by many who both summon and hunt them, Angels have a far more archaic language remembered by very few. Many Angels can of course speak English too, and Latin is close to given – being around for billions of years grants you this – but the Angelic language itself is lost to the ears of the world. Some Archdemons and older Demons, and even scholars remember it, but humanity has all but lost knowledge of Angelic – the beautiful and elegant language it is.

The estimated number of Angels stationed now within Inferis under His command are substantially less than the Demon populace, and invasion forces that dwell there simply for the purpose of proximity. Lucifer doesn’t see fit to eliminate them because they provide something of a source of entertainment; after all, even the most haughty Demon in all of Hell enjoys a good fight every now and then. However, the Angelic Host should by no means be underestimated purely on the grounds of forces’ sizes.

As a final point, similarly to the organised Demons – considering many of them prefer a more free-roaming and anarchic structre – the rigidly-structured Angels have seven top commanders at the height of their hierarchy who are leading the forces, each one in possession and direct command of these “Skyhavens”. They are the seven Archangels – similarly to the Archdemons, they are canon positions, and can be investigated further below.

IMPORTANT! Please don’t directly reference God in history that would be considered the last 2,000 years. We try to play Him here as being as detached from recent history: so if anything with your Angel concerns an encounter with God in the past 2,000 years, please use an Archangel or a more ambiguous and less direct holy essence instead.

NOTE: ANGELS CANNOT BE USED IC TIL MARCH 2012 SITE TIME.

A N G E L S / M O R T A L F O R M

Similarly to Demons, Angels have Mortal Forms. These act as holsters for the more unwieldy of Angels, or those who occasionally prefer subtlety. Again, identical to Demons, Angels’ Gear cannot be used in the Mortal Form – but as they are permitted to have weapons alongside that, those weapons themselves are. However, in contrast, whilst Demons’ mortal forms were purely for transportation, Angels’ mortal forms ARE for walking amongst the denizens of Earth and retaining subtlety; for whilst Demons require possession to traverse dimensional barriers, Angels in themselves, with the divine blessing of the realms’ omnipotent creator, do not.

TL;DR: Angels cannot use their Angel Forms on Earth, only their Mortal Forms.

A N G E L S / S K Y H A V E N S

Skyhavens are the homes of Angels inside Inferis. Due to their nature as openly hostile to all organised Demons beneath Lucifer, they’re somewhat of an endangered species – so being freely dispersed throughout the lands isn’t a great idea. Thus, each of the seven Archangels has been dispatched with a “Skyhaven”, a floating, airborne battle-ready headquarters for each of the seven wings of the Angelic Host in Inferis. Each of the seven Skyhavens hangs in the air high above a specific sphere of Inferis. They’re treated similarly to Bastions in that they are the base of operations for Angels in those areas, and are highly defensible, and with only the exception of plot or Events, off-limits to all but Angels and the choice few invited within by the Skyhavens’ patrons.

Skyhavens themselves are often as large as towns or even cities, and they are quite typically grand and elegant places, each with a specific feel to them. Most Angels are welcome to travel from Skyhaven to Skyhaven without any real discretion.

The seven Skyhavens and their respective spheres of Inferis are as follows:

• Exalted Citadel (Michael) – The Spirelands
  
• Akashic Repository (Gabriel) – Tarpit Enclaves
  
• Astral Pavilion (Raphael) – Forlorn Ashland
  
• Station of Retribution (Akrasiel) – The Great Undercroft
  
• Empyrean Sanctum (Ramiel) – Entropic Chasm
  
• Elysian Oasis (Uriel) – Stygian Tundra
  
• Twilight Court (Saraqael) – Regal Necropolis
  

A N G E L S / D E M O N S

Angels by general ruling aren’t massively fond of Demons, but are somewhat flexible. Their directive is only to eliminate Demons loyal to Lucifer; and whilst many will perceive them as a foreign, hostile, and absolute force invading, and by nature jump them, Angels, as a general rule, will not inherently attack Demons unless provoked. Demonic life is a natural part of Inferis. However, if your Angel is particularly rough around the edges or outwardly less tolerant than some others, they may be more openly hostile – this is up to you. But, essentially, being an Angel does not mean you have to try to kill every Demon you see. Unless you want to.

A N G E L S / G E A R

Angels’ specific in-character abilities are called Gear. Similar to Apparatus, they function in almost exactly the same way; you have complete freedom with them, but we encourage you make them more specified and less broad in the same way there are restrictions with other skill types. However, Angels, along with Templars, get the least amount of abilities outright; only gaining one per level, which means they cap out at a total of 4 Gears. Archangels, beginning, similar to Archdemons, at Level X, begin with 5. However, this is in place for a reason; naturally Angels have a specific advantage being that they can all fly if you so choose, and additionally have access to a wide breadth of weaponry – see below.

All Angels have access to a vast array of holy weaponry additional to their Gear, which is why you are typically dissuaded from making Equipment Gear. We don’t encourage your going completely overboard with this: but it’s perfectly fine to give them a few more solid tricks up their sleeves as opposed to Angels’ oft-intangible abilities.

A N G E L S / S O U L E N E R G Y

Again; Angels are not bound to or natives from Inferis, however – they function, whilst present, on many of the laws of this realm similarly. As a primary point, all of their abilities, as a substitute for more heavenly currencies of power, thrive too on soul energy, though typically convert it into more familiar forms beforehand. So don’t think that Angels’ abilities are all that foreign; whilst blessed and celestial, typically bearing more of an advantage against demonic life, they still run on the same wealth of energy as Demons, Demon Hunters, Ritualists, and Templars.

A N G E L S / F A L L I N G

As an explicit rule, Angels that fall due to immorality are by definition considered Demons. There are a very - very - few exceptions to this rule which are only permitted by myself and other admins, in that Angels can in some VERY extenuated circumstances fall and become human - they lose all essence of their Angelic power though may retain some memory. The only time that this may happen is where the instance that causes an Angel to fall is ironically linked to humanity; an Angel of Death who spared a soul she shouldn't have and thus was doomed to live a mortal life knowing her time would come in penance. Things like that. If it's anything drastically different - don't ask. You're a Demon.

A N G E L S / A R C H A N G E L S

Finally – much like the organised and non-anarchic Demons being lead by the ten Archdemons, the Angelic Host – all angels – are lead specifically by the Seven Archangels. They are listed below – each Archangel has their own dominion over a Skyhaven, under which many Angels will dwell, and whilst they do not have preset powers like the Archdemons, do have certain “titles”, which should dictate something thematically. If an Archangel player wishes to have their abilities in line with these titled themes, they should feel free.

The Seven Archangels are God’s seven most trusted Angels, the ones most fitting to the task of surging into Inferis and bringing the fight to the Devil himself. They are strong, with power rivalling the Archdemons; however it should be known that they, similarly, are not entirely unkillable. Additionally, much like Archdemons are rewarded with their own branch of elite guard Specialised Demons, Archangels get a subsect type of Angel specified to act as their elite troops or bodyguards. The leader of the Archangels is Michael, and his player is Alastor (staff account Alice the Chopper).

Once more, Archangels are considered canon positions and should be only requested by willing, devoted, and active members.

• Michael (Al) - Angel of Protection – Exalted Citadel
  
• Gabriel (Rob) - Angel of Revelation – Akashic Repository
  
• Raphael (Envy) - Angel of Health – Astral Pavilion
  
• Ramiel (Dread) - Angel of Hope – Empyrean Sanctum
  
• Akrasiel (Ross) - Angel of Retribution – Station of Retribution
  
• Uriel (Ammy) - Angel of Salvation – Elysian Oasis
  
• Saraqael (Kenny) - Angel of Law – Twilight Court