The Angel of Love

"People who speak about the Angel of Love as though it cared about people don't understand it at all. Angels are Anima - they don't care about you, or anyone. They care about the bond they create, and will anchor it to any two spirits that are conveniently at hand. Thankfully, they are quite rare, given the chaos they leave behind them."

— Arvandus, Court Wizard of Creoda

The Angel of Love is an entity which sown chaos and joy in the Great Ring for as long as people can remember. It has many faces, and will adopt different methods depending on which persona it is currently inhabiting, but it always has the same aim - to create and nurture bonds of attraction, infatuation, and romantic love. As an Angelic Anima, the Angel of Love is sustained by the formation and strengthening of bonds between Pneumas - this particular angel has specialized in forming this particular category of bond.

A Native of The Spirit Realm

Like all angels, the Angel of Love is one of the Anima, creatures native to the Spirit Realm. Anima are difficult for people to understand, as they don't have identities in the way most people imagine. Natives to the Spirit Realm are creatures of purpose and meaning, but do not think, remember, or plan. When they interact with beings from other realms, they may temporarily inhabit an Eidolon that is consistent with their nature, but this is more of a costume than an identity. This also makes it hard to tell how many Angels of Love exist - when one of these creatures interacts with people, it is likely to adopt an existing persona, and trying to determine if it the same Pneuma within is difficult, and often can only be inferred by the entity's actions.

Joy and Chaos

Whatever guise the angel adopts, the consequences of its visitations are the same - it uses whatever tools are available to create and nurture attraction between sophonts. This is not as simple as simply creating magical love (although that is one arrow in the Angel's quiver) to create the kind of strong bond that will nourish the Angel, it needs to have more substance than a fleeting spell can provide. The Angel of Love will manipulate the circumstances around its target to push the two (or more) targets towards each other, and create fertile ground for attraction, infatuation, and love.

But the Angel has no regard for the scale of their disruption, or the consequences. It is questionable if it is even truly aware of them; it may not have the capacity to understand the ramifications of its actions. If it sees an opportunity to create a bond that destroys a friendship, that's fine. If flooding a village will result in a couple spending more time together and entangling their emotions, the Angel might shatter a dam. For every story of happy, joyful unions created by the Angel, there is another about the destruction and chaos it leaves in its wake.

Species

Anima

Realm

The Spirit Realm

A Thousand Faces

Here are some of the identities the Angel might adopt to interact with creatures of the Dream and Physical realms. Each is associated with a particular culture, and when inhabiting that Eidolon, the Angel will adopt specific strategies and actions connected to that persona.

• Kama: Among the Naga, there are creatures known as Kama, who appear as rainbow shimmers in the shape of parrots. It is frequently hard to see them at all, except a glimmer out one's peripheral vision. The Kama will invisibly perch upon a person's shoulder and whisper to them the name of their future beloved, and encouragement for finding and pursuing them. Most of the time, the target of a Kama's attentions is not aware that they are there.
• Pothos: A minor spirit among the Kaphtori and Kaphtori Aethry, Pothos is associated with wine, and will linger in places where they can encourage drunken encounters that may blossom into something more lasting.
• Akunishi: A spirit of matchmaking found in Yanjin mythology, this version of the Angel will use its magic on the parents of its targets, using them to push people into a relationship where they might develop romantic attachments.