My Homebrew World: The Heavenly Choruses of Angels

The servants of the good and neutral deities of the Nine, the Heavenly Choruses of Angels are a strictly hierarchical ordering of certain classes of celestial. Some chaotic deities maintain their own chorus in addition to the general choruses.

This article is a work in progress, but I am putting it up for the benefit and collaboration of my players.

The Heavenly Choruses

The Chorus of Blazing Glory

The Chorus of Blazing Glory is the body of the Seven Archangels in service to the Nine. The evil gods have their own retinues of fiends. These angels are Solars, but may possess distinctive and powerful abilities.

Ceraman

Title(s): The Timekeeper of the Heavens, Judge of the Nine

Alignment: Neutral

Domain(s): Balance, Clockwork, Justice, Prophesy, 

Associated Paladin Oaths: Watchers

Ceraman is said to guard the sanctum of time, protecting its flow and seeing that it remains in proper order. The location of the sanctum is unknown, even to the gods for they know that Cernunnos or Culsani might cause irreparable damage in a moment of jest or spite. Demons seek to destroy the passage of time, throwing the universe into chaos like the infinite Abyss, while devils desire to use the power to subjugate all free creatures to their will and corrupt their souls. Ceraman only emerges to act as the neutral arbiter of justice on behalf of the Nine. It is said he was the judge when Asmodeus was cast out of the heavens.

Dalquiel

Title(s): The Doorkeeper, Guardian of the Way

Alignment: Lawful Good

Domain(s): Grave, Mercy, Travel

Associated Paladin Oaths: Ancients, Devotion, Guardian, Safeguarding, Silence, Watchers

Dalquiel is the angel who oversees and guards souls on their journey to the afterlife in the upper realms with the Nine. He is constantly in struggle and working to counter the schemes of fiends that would steal or divert these souls on their path and send them to the lower realms to become tortured thralls in the legions of the damned. 

Eda

Title(s): The Waves and the Wind, Storm of the Endless Stars

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Domain(s): Arcana, Portal, Speed, Tempest, Travel, Void

Associated Paladin Oaths: Elements, Thunder, Sanity, Silence

It is said Eda lives at the center of a storm that exists simultaneously on all worlds and planes. That she represents a singularity of chaos held in control by direction of the gods, else much of creation would be undone. 

Lakratel

Title(s): The Light in Darkness, Commander of the Hosts of Glory, Master of the Choruses, Archangel of the Armies, The Radiant Marshall

Alignment: Lawful Good

Domain(s): Apocalypse, Dragon, Justice, Knowledge, Light, Martyr, Order, 

Associated Paladin Oaths: Battle, Conquest, Eagle, Glory, Purification, Radiance

Lakratel is the leader of the armies of the Nine, and leads their eternal war against the powers of darkness on all worlds. He is ever present in history and legend at the forefront of the armies and battle during each epoch. It is said he fought alongside Asmodeus before the betrayer’s fall from grace. Lakratel has no tolerance for betrayal after this, and casts out or destroys any traitorous angel in the many hosts.

Mivi

Title(s): Tamer of the Song, Composer, Trumpet of Creation and Apocalypse 

Alignment: Neutral Good

Domain(s): Apocalypse, Creation, Mercy

Associated Paladin Oaths: 

Revered as the great muse by many bardic colleges and troubadours, Mivi is said to have been born in the gods’ song of creation and will sound the trumpet signaling the end of all things. 

Nakrav

Title(s): The Grower, Lover of Life

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Domain(s): Life, Nature

Associated Paladin Oaths: 

Nakrav sees to all green and growing things drawing upon the elemental energies of Caturix for growth. He is a gentle defender of plants and animals, revered by some Druidic circles who do not worship old or forgotten gods as a nature deity.

Rindriaze

Title(s): The Executioner of the Gods, The Angel of Death

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Domain(s): Apocalypse, Death, Grave, Judgement, War

Associated Paladin Oaths: Balance, Battle, Conquest, Justice, Silence, Vengeance

Rindriaze is the weapon of the gods against evil. She is known in many cultures, and in other aspects is worshiped as a deity in her own right. She dispatches vindicators and other angelic servants to slay the foes of good when their efforts exceed the bounds decreed by the gods. Why certain evil beings are allowed to live on is a mystery known only to her and the gods.

Chorus of the Moon-Bathed Crescent

The Chorus of the Moon-Bathed Crescent is the order of Planetars that serve the Solar Archangels in the Chorus of Blazing Glory and the Nine Gods. It is said that there are nine hundred and ninety nine members of the Chorus of the Moon-Bathed Crescent. When a member dies, the Archangels select a member of the Chorus of Innumerable Stars that is advanced to the Chorus of the Moon-Bathed Crescent. These angels can intercede for mortals, and a sampling of those most well known to the Church is provided below:

Narkesi

Title(s): Demon Hunter, Bolt of Truth

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Domain(s): Demonology 

Associated Paladin Oaths: 

Narkesi is an Angel dedicated to destroying demons, hunting them across the planes, and studying their ways to destroy them. She leads a cohort of lesser angels that follow this path and guides mortals that walk the fraught path that skirts of the edge of madness by studying and attempting to destroy the power of demons.

Nithtari

Title(s): The Redeemed, Rebuker of Devils, The Gem Among Snakes, The Risen Angel

Alignment: Lawful Good

Domain(s): Atonement, Justice, Knowledge, Life, Light, Martyr, Mercy

Associated Paladin Oaths: Glory, Perfection, Purification, Redemption, Watchers

A tiefling woman, St. Nithtari stands as a symbol of transcendence. St. Nithtari rebuked her family in the name of the Nine. Her family were devoted disciples of Asmodeus. Nithtari was martyred by her uncle, the evil Lord Karcius, a powerful Illrigger said to have been dragged down to the Hells for his failures, but left to live on in eternal torment as a Dread Knight (Monsterous Menagerie). St. Nithtari herself is said to have so humbled Wontor that he persuaded Lucan to relinquish her soul from death and made her a Planetar angel of the Chorus of the Moon-Bathed Crescent. Thus some of her devotees revere both her aspects as a risen angel, and a martyred saint.

Chorus of Innumerable Stars

The Chorus of Innumerable Stars is composed of countless Devas comprising the Heavenly Legions. They serve the Archangels and Chorus of the Moon-Bathed Crescent. These angels do not generally act as intercessors on behalf of mortals, but will appear as messengers of more powerful Choruses. Their armies are said to be organized in tens and hundreds and twenties in their legions and cohorts, and fight alongside the gods from the beginning of time to the present and until the end of time. Other angelic beings like Valkyries also make up specialized cohorts of the Chorus of Innumerable Stars.

Chorus of the Flaming Blaze of Dusk

The Chorus of the Flaming Blaze of Dusk is unlike the other Choruses. It is the Chorus of angels that have had their physical form destroyed, but their immortal spirit has not been destroyed. These angels appear like shining spirits of light in the image of their physical bodies, and dwell in the heavens. They can still defend the heavens alongside their living comrades, but are confined to their world, and their souls can be destroyed forever by magical weapons.

Chorus of the Silent Grave

These are the followers of Dalquiel, who bring the dead and dying to the afterlife and guide them upon their path through the worlds to their eternal rest. They are solemn and quiet in aspect. Angels, celestials of all types, and chthonic scions are all part of this chorus.

Chorus of Fallen Glory

This Chorus is not often spoken of, but is the term to reference those angels that betrayed the Heavenly Legions and fled into the Hells after Asmodeus, along with all fallen angels until the present. These are the worst of traitors and most bitter enemies of the gods. Their names are secret and often not known by the Church for the good of all mortals. It is whispered that some of these have become devils and demons through twisted and dark magic.