angel

Angels are the entities that serve as divine servants of the gods. Angels vary wildly in form and function, some appearing to be little more than mindless creatures that operate purely on instinct, while others are intelligent, independent creatures with their own personalities, wants, and desires. The precise form of an angel depends on the realm it originates from, as each pantheon of gods creates their angels according to their own needs and desires.

Physical Description

Angels run the gamut of appearances from mundane to utterly alien. Each pantheon has its own angels, in various forms and classes as required by the pantheon. For some pantheons, all of their angels are identical, serving as simple servants or protectors of their domains. With other pantheons, each angel is wholly distinct, customized according to the whims of their gods.

Powers and Abilities

Angels are typically extremely powerful, able to draw upon the full might of the god or pantheon they serve. How this power manifests depends on the portfolio of the god they serve. Most angels cannot be killed simply, requiring extremely powerful magic or enchanted weapons to harm. They are always completely immune to magic wielded by priests of the gods they serve, including any items blessed by those same priests. Even if destroyed, angels reconstitute themselves in the domains of their gods after a period of time. It is only through the direct action of their gods that an angel can be permanent slain.

Duties

Pantheons employ angels for a variety of purposes. The most common is as guardians of the afterlife. They protect the gates of the afterlife, preventing intruders from entering and keeping the souls of the dead from departing. In paradises, they often act as servants or helpers for the dead, providing them with whatever they request. In purgatories, they act as the inflictors of suffering upon the damned, often being known as devils in such cases. In other cases, they serve as messengers for their gods, delivering prophecies or instructions to mortals. Other angels may serve as psychopomps, escorting the souls of the dead to the appropriate afterlife.

Fallen Angels

While legends and folklore abound with stories of fallen angels, such creatures are exceedingly rare or simply misnamed. Most understand a fallen angel as an angel which has rebelled against its gods and been cast out or cursed because of it. However, rebellion against a god requires self-awareness and free will, something most angels lack. Even in cases where angels do have free will, they have been specially crafted to be servants of the gods and would be highly unlikely to want to rebel.
Many stories of fallen angels are simply misunderstandings of the divine heirarchy by mortals. The angels serving in purgatory are often thought to be fallen angels, but they are actually just angelic servants with different duties. Similarly, people often believe demons to be fallen angels, but the two are completely different supernatural entities with no relation to one another.
However, this is not to say that fallen angels are impossible. Some deities do have angels with free will and very rarely one of these angels will come to find their gods unworthy of service. Perhaps the angel serves the pantheon and finds serving gods with opposing spheres to be hypocritical. Perhaps it finds compassion for a mortal it is punishing in purgatory. Perhaps, even, it finds itself tempted by a demon. In these cases, the angel will often be transformed physically, taking on an appearance resembling those of a mortal and stripped of many of its powers. It is then left to wander the mortal realms until the end of time.

Type

Metaphysical, Divine