Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

The War in Heaven took place in WWI?!? So, Hell as such has only exited for 90 years, and all the guys writing about Lucifer's fall for the last 1600+ years were on cheap drugs?

 

Dude, if that is their theology, the JWs are deeply strange.

 

Well, they probably WERE on cheap drugs...

 

Er, I mean... think about it cosmically. These are divinities we're talking about... surely they can affect past present and future all at once - they're in a different synch to the rest of us...

 

 

No, I am NOT on said cheap drugs!

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Well, they probably WERE on cheap drugs...

 

Er, I mean... think about it cosmically. These are divinities we're talking about... surely they can affect past present and future all at once - they're in a different synch to the rest of us...

 

 

No, I am NOT on said cheap drugs!

 

King James Bible, 1611:

 

Isaiah XIV

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

 

 

Revelation XII

4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

 

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The New Testament was completed no later than the 3rd century at most, and probably earlier. The War in Heaven would have to have dated before then, or it would have been described as a prophecy.

 

If you think any of this has any real meaning at all, which you are certainly not obliged to.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Now, don't quote me (at least not extensively) but I think they said all the stuff in the bible talking about Satan's overthrow was.. foreshadowing. And prophecy. I'll do a quick google and see if I can nail some definates down.

 

-CraterMaker

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Now, don't quote me (at least not extensively) but I think they said all the stuff in the bible talking about Satan's overthrow was.. foreshadowing. And prophecy. I'll do a quick google and see if I can nail some definates down.

 

-CraterMaker

 

Their faith, their rules, but over fifteen hundred years worth of theologians and scholars of main stream Christianity would laugh at them.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

NEXT SUBJECT:

 

Trying to come up with an event, post-WWII and pre-2000, that would have pushed Saviel over the edge and into her self-imposed exile. I'm looking for something that would involve her coming down to stop a powerful supervillainous threat, and that hopefully will tie in with the CU. Reading through the books I have hasn't provided me with any ideas.

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

NEXT SUBJECT:

 

Trying to come up with an event, post-WWII and pre-2000, that would have pushed Saviel over the edge and into her self-imposed exile. I'm looking for something that would involve her coming down to stop a powerful supervillainous threat, and that hopefully will tie in with the CU. Reading through the books I have hasn't provided me with any ideas.

 

Takafones awakening. His march across America. His slaying of another Angel (I can't remember her name right now).

 

Destroyer's killing of Detroit, and of many of America's heroes.

 

The failure of the Heroes of WWII to save the victims in the death camps, the failure of the world's Heroes to save the victims of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot.

 

There's no shortage of real world Evil to draw on.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

I'm sorry for derailing the thread, Kristopher.. I'll jump back on board in just a sec..

 

Here you go, from the Watchtower site.. apparantly the date was 1914

----------------

There is another factor responsible for the huge increase in suffering in this century. Coinciding with the beginning of the last days in 1914, something happened to put mankind in even greater danger. At that time, as a prophecy in the last book of the Bible relates: "War broke out in heaven: Michael [Christ in heavenly power] and his angels battled with the dragon [satan], and the dragon and its angels [the demons] battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him."—Revelation 12:7-9.

----------------

 

Okay, back to your Angel.. I like the idea that the transition from Heaven to Earth re-organized your Angel (powers, mortality, loss of specific memories). Perhaps all you are left with are your convictions, and not your memories? It would add some roleplay twists, what with the regular angels who come by for coffee knowing, but being forbidden to enlighted a mortal (no matter how powerful) her past history.

 

Have to say, I like the Takophanes angle, too.. especially if he gacked an angel on his long walk..

 

-CraterMaker

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Takafones awakening. His march across America. His slaying of another Angel (I can't remember her name right now).

 

I was just reading the little blurb about her in Champions Universe. Her name was Archangel, and she claimed to have been given her powers by You Know Who.

 

If I use Takofanes, I'm not sure if I should get her involved in the second stand East of the Mississippi, or not.

 

Destroyer's killing of Detroit, and of many of America's heroes.

 

I was answering these out of order, and really started thinking about the Dr. D idea, and an image came to mind, one that first came to me when rereading Kingdom Come...Saviel, walking, head hung low, out of the ashes and smoke of the nuclear strike, surrounded by the twisted bones of the fallen heroes and villains. (Those who've read KC might realize which panel inspired this image.) She has the right powers to survive that moment. We can use that basic image and move it over the the CU and the Battle of Detroit.

 

I imagine her agonizing, torn between her choices, on that day in 1992. Finally, enraged, she plunges screaming to earth, to Detroit, where she cuts a grim path through Destroyer's countless minions, most of whom are as chaff before the scyth. She's still fighting her way towards Destroyer's lair when the orbital blast hits, and she realizes that she made her choice too late to make a difference on that day. She is physically unharmed, and emotionally battered.

 

The failure of the Heroes of WWII to save the victims in the death camps, the failure of the world's Heroes to save the victims of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot.

 

There's no shortage of real world Evil to draw on.

 

There is, at that, unfortunately.

 

Ultimately, I don't think I'm going to find something in the CU history that I can refer to, and have people who read her background say, "Oh, that was her? Wow."

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

OK, CU p.66, "Archangel". A NY City Superheroine who claimed that God had granter her superpowers to battle Evil, ended up inspiring a small cult in the 70s. Takofanes killed her in 1987.

 

So, what if this girl had been visited by an angel, one that had granted her the power to battle Evil? And what if this led not only to her death, but to her damnation, as Takofanes trapped and enslaved her soul?

 

How would an Angel involved in the choice of this destroyed human champion react when her choice led to such a tragedy?

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Ultimately' date=' I don't think I'm going to find something in the CU history that I can refer to, and have people who read her background say, "Oh, that was [i']her[/i]? Wow."

 

So, stitch something together.

 

When I write a character to post to the boards, I think it's best to link to CU history, and to keep the points at a widely played level, in order to make the character useful to as many players and GMs as possible. Still, as long as the adventure hooks are there, the story (IMO) always comes first.

 

There are exceptions as well. If it's an epic villain, or a mentor hero, I don't wory about points much at all.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Okay, back to your Angel.. I like the idea that the transition from Heaven to Earth re-organized your Angel (powers, mortality, loss of specific memories). Perhaps all you are left with are your convictions, and not your memories? It would add some roleplay twists, what with the regular angels who come by for coffee knowing, but being forbidden to enlighted a mortal (no matter how powerful) her past history.

 

Have to say, I like the Takophanes angle, too.. especially if he gacked an angel on his long walk..

 

Right now, I plan on working that into her backstory somehow.

 

I really want Saviel to remember who and what she is. IMO, it makes her a more emotionally engrosing character.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Still working on her, still open to suggestions and comment. Thanks.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Well, here's the rough draft of her new backstory.

 

 

"In the Beginning..."Genesis 1:1

 

None can say with certainty where the legions of angels arose from. They appear in the texts of many religions, and each has its own explanation. And yet, Saviel's kin do not precisely match any one them, and their number includes many who are named not in religious texts, but in the poem and prose of the ages, and in apocryphal texts no religion claims as truth. Perhaps, then, there is magic in the soul of humanity, and their hopes and fears, their terrible and noble impulses, all have power. Perhaps Saviel is a force of nature, a concept personified, arisen whole cloth out of the cumulative power of human belief. She vaguely remembers coming forth into the realm of heaven, but as with all her kind, she cannot remember when or how. Much, however, has come to pass between then and now, and so it must have been in some distant and ancient past.

 

What is true, beyond all doubt, is that she is an Angel of War. In the legions of heaven, she was a lieutenant. Personally, she had never been in the presence of the One, but her orders were said to come ultimately from His will, through Michael and his generals and eventually down to her. The greater number of angels were not of the militant orders, but rather messengers and embodiments of faith, hope, joy, deliverence, mercy, healing, and peace. Even the angels of war took great joy in that heavenly realm, in the light of the One. Saviel never sang in their choirs, and never took part in their rejoicing. She drilled her troops and studied her deadly art with grim dedication. Her purpose was war, and she would be ready. But for a few minor actions against malignant old spirits, there was no fulfilment of her purpose.

 

"And there was war in heaven..."Revelation 12:7

 

Time passed. Angels grew aware of mankind, and some grew jealous of the increasing attention that the One was paying to the "dirty little monkeys." Other angels grew restless with routine. Beginning with a few of the highest, whispers of rebellion spread, even to the angels under Saviel's command. Knowing of Saviel's grim focus and fierce disposition, the leaders of the rebellion sent her own protege, Coriel, to entice her to their side, thinking that she would embrace their call to war. They were mistaken. She spoke to Coriel not of war and strife, but of duty and loyalty and purpose, and he went away promising to consider her words. Saviel attempted to warn her commanders, and was chastised, accused of lusting for war and letting her imagination exagerate the discontent.

 

It was not long before she was vindicated. The rebellion struck quickly, and Lucifer's renegades were organized and thorough. Assassination and the taking of outposts by suprise were the order of the day. Angel slew angel, and many others simply collapsed in horror and shock at the truth of it. Even before the trumpets were sounded to raly the loyal, however, Saviel was at her grim task. Consumed with wrath and seething against betrayal, she struck down any renegade that she found in her path through the streets. So terrible was the sight of her that even many loyalist angels of peace would cower or flee as she passed by. As the loyalist militants recovered from the initial shock, they marshalled their forces, and war raged in heaven, until the final battle came to pass. On that day, Saviel's terrible rage and will focused on one objective: the enemy standard. As another fought his way toward the renegage general himself, she cut her way through the renegade host, until she came to the standard bearer himself. She struck Azazel down, shattering the standard and sundering his helm. The next stroke of her sword would have finished Azazel, but for the opposing blade that stopped it -- Coriel's blade. He attacked her in earnest, hurling curses and epithets. She returned his assault in kind, but in a cold rage beyond words, she said nothing. None dared interfere as master and protege dueled there on the battlefield, such was the fury of their engagement. Finally, though, by way of secrets left untaught and raw outrage, Saviel came to prevail. She would have struck the deathblow, but again, another's blade blocked her way. Turning to face yet another foe, she was but an instant from striking Michael himself, who stood holding Lucifer's crown in one hand, and his own sword in the other. She spoke to him through clenched teeth.

 

"I would kill him, Michael."

"You must not -- they are defeated. They will be cast out -- such is the word I have received. You have faught well in these dark days, but the time of strife has come to an end. Put down your sword, and rejoice that heaven in preserved."

"I feel no joy."

 

Green fire still burned in her eyes as her gaze passed over the broken Coriel, and as she walked away, shoulders slumped, the rage finally and slowly seeping out of her. Time passed, but the survivors of that war never looked at Saviel as they had before. In heaven and far below, it was known that no other had slain so many in the war. She came to be known as "The Standard Breaker" and "The Shatterer of Wings", but the appellation "Scourge of Heaven" has stuck with her to this day. There were those among the Seraphim, and the Cherubim, and the Messengers, who could no longer bring themselves to meet her gaze. As a creature of intense temperment and fierce disposition, she had never truly fit in amongst most of her fellows, and the war had only served to widen that gulf.

 

"The giants were on the earth in those days--and also afterward... They were the heroes of old, men of renown."Genesis 6:4

 

The myriad ages of men came and went in the mortal realm, and eventually a new age of giants and heroes came to pass, in a time of great evil and of great promise. Mortals possessed of greater and greater powers fought over the fate of their race. The forces of evil seemed always to be more powerful than the forces of good, and always held back by the slimest of margins. If such giants and heroes walked among men, if such powers were displayed openly amongst the mortals, if the Fallen themselves were taking ever-greater liberties, then Saviel saw no reason why an angel could not go forth unto the Earth, and fight the enemies of man as she had fought the enemies of heaven. Her requests were flatly denied. Heaven no longer interfered freely in the affairs of men, she was told. Some remembered her role in the war, and shuddered to think of her let loose on earth. Others remembered her role in the war, and felt gratitude for her grim service. And so, to ease Saviel's concerns and express that gratitude, they sent one of their own to a young woman in the place known as "New York", and blessed her with the powers of their kind, to battle evil. She took for herself the name "Archangel", and served well in her role for many years. Saviel's concerns over the ongoing war of giants and men of renown were somewhat eased, for a time.

 

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sack-cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood..."Revelation 6:12

 

Then, an ancient evil awakened, and came forth from the depths of the earth to plague the world once more. Archangel was among the first to oppose Takofanes, and was slain with alarming ease. Overcome with grief and rage, Saviel broke down into tears for the first time in her long existence. Nearly incoherent, she railed at her fellows. She had wanted nothing more than to oppose evil as it manifested upon the earth, and instead they had burdened an innocent mortal girl with power, and sent her to die a terrible death. She demanded to know what had become of Archangel's soul, but none could tell her. The crushing realization of what had happened to Archangel was more than even Saviel could take, and it was the blow that finally drove her into a dark and terrible sadness.

 

"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger..."Ezekiel 25:17

 

Saviel sat, alone, as five years passed upon the earth. She watched, unmoving, as the heroes and villains of the age fought. Then came a terrible day, marked on much of the Earth as July 23rd, 1992. As a superhuman battle larger and greater than any before raged below, a dark forbiding came over Saviel, and she felt a spark inside her return. She arose, and went directly to the gate that lead to the mortal realm. The guards, however, would not let her pass, and they sent for others. As she argued with them, she could hear the distant sounds of battle in her ears, and knew that every moment she delayed was a precious moment wasted. She heard good warriors dying, and innocents dying, and it turned her dark sadness into anger until finally she threw aside the nearest guard, and cast such a baleful glare upon the rest that they fell upon themselves to be away from her.

 

Without looking back, she launched herself towards Earth. Dropping out of the sky, she landed with such force that she drove a crater into the asphault of a Detroit street. Fully manifested, green fire blazing in her eyes and wings of light spread out behind her, she summoned her sword and, after a few moments of observation, waded into the fight. The enemy was as wheat before the scyth -- some ran, some fought, and she cut a terrible path towards her ultimate foe, whose position she had noted before leaving Heaven. Two of the powerful costumed villains came forth to stop her, and she cut them down, leaving one dead and the other badly injured. She had no time, as an undefined but increasing sense of urgency drove her forward. Finally, as she was about to reach the fulcrum of the battle, when a great light appeared above her. She had barely the time to make herself immaterial before the power of the stars crashed down around her, reducing all that it touched to nothing and igniting a firestorm around it as it moved across the city. Thousands of souls were cut loose all around her, and the screams of both the dead and the living filled her ears.

 

Epilogue

 

One of the first news crews on the scene after the Battle of Detroit caught a few moments of tape that would play over and over in the weeks to come. A young woman, with wings of light like feathers and haunting green eyes, dragging a sword of fire in one hand, and carrying a small child in her other arm, walked out of the fire and ashes of Detroit. As she handed the child to a fireman, she could be heard saying "I was too late. I'm sorry." before lifting off into the smoke-filed sky.

 

Saviel never returned to heaven.

[zornwil]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Pretty cool!

 

Have you read the Spectre incarnation by Ostrander? Some parallels there in Spectre's own veangeful rage.

 

I would wonder if Saviel wouldn't have been cast out for her burning fire and the hatred it holds? She certainly fought on the correct side, but perhaps God would not like her motivation, too selfish/personal/emotional/hate-filled?

 

Anyway, I wouldn't really change anything, I like this version quite a bit. The only thing I'd do is ensure her connection to divinity is stripped even though she retains the powers to the degree an angel on Earth would.

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Very, very well done. Her power level will need to be very high to fit that back story, and something in the construction will need to be used to explain why she has not already tracked down and destroyed Tak or Doc D; maybe her power is fading away from heaven, leaving her "only" at 750 or so points? Or some kind of psychological reluctance to intervene that breaks down under stress?

 

Very good back story. Should be easy to fit a character like this into adventures.

[zornwil]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

I would suspect that some of her divinity would be stripped when she left heaven, limiting her powers. I think sort of like how it's implied with Loki and Bartleby in Dogma.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

I've been doing a lot of reading online, looking up references and passages, reading articles and arguements about the nature of angels. It's an amazingly diverse set of opinions and ideas.

 

Based on a lot of references, though, it seems that angels aren't always depicted as being completely beyond human scale. Jacob wrestling with the being that some say was an angel, the crowd in Sodom threatening the angels, etc. So, I've been thinking that depicting the typical angel at around the midpoint of the superhuman scale, say 500 to 600 points, would be enough to do them justice. I think we forget sometimes just how powerful the typical 350 point superhuman really is in comparison to most of the human species. Saviel is currently just shy of 850 points, which makes her significantly more powerful than the typical angel.

 

I've been thinking that some of what she's depicted doing, such as looking down upon the earth and hearing the sounds of battle & death in Detroit, was because of the nature of heaven, and is not an inate power she possesses. This would cover some of the loss of power that zornwil and OddHat were mentioning.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Very, very well done. Her power level will need to be very high to fit that back story, and something in the construction will need to be used to explain why she has not already tracked down and destroyed Tak or Doc D; maybe her power is fading away from heaven, leaving her "only" at 750 or so points? Or some kind of psychological reluctance to intervene that breaks down under stress?

 

For the same reasons other superheroes haven't been able to track them down, I suppose.

 

EDIT: There's nothing on her character sheet right now that would let her track them down any easier than any of their other enemies. The "earthwatching" she does in the backstory text is something that's inherent in her home reality, not her own being.

 

Very good back story. Should be easy to fit a character like this into adventures.

 

Thanks.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Another Question:

 

Would you expect a character of this sort to have a long list of Martial Arts maneuvers, or just several CSLs?

[zornwil]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Personally, CSLs, unless you develop a specific "angel-fu" fighting ability. If you did, I'd think a lot of it would be flight-based with some wings-oriented maneuvers (many of which wouldn't even apply to human targets).

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Another Question:

 

Would you expect a character of this sort to have a long list of Martial Arts maneuvers, or just several CSLs?

 

To quote myself: "12d6 and a high CV are all the Martial Arts you need."

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

I'd expect a western Angel to have high Dex and maybe some CSLs, not a full martial art. However, Piers Anthony's Incarnation of War gained a huge list of Martial Maneuvers along with his power, so you could go either way.

[Marketeer]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Derailing this somewhat...

 

I realize that you have already laid down a backstory, but I wanted to play around with the title "Scourge of Heaven" for a bit.

 

The imagery associated with a scourge is a punitive one, associated with redress or discipline.

 

Saviel is also an Angel of War, in a war that has yet to finish.

 

Perhaps her exile isn't vengeance-driven so much as penitence-driven? Casting herself out for a perceived failing on her part?

 

And since she's The Scourge of Heaven, she's right--she has failed in some fundamental way, and is not worthy or should not return until she has redeemed her failing? Perhaps she's scourging herself, as it is not in her nature to let things go, even if she wasn't at fault in a human sense?

 

Just tossing out ideas--with Angels (and Demons) who have "Words", I like to try and tie their Words to their concepts as tightly as I can.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Derailing this somewhat...

 

I realize that you have already laid down a backstory, but I wanted to play around with the title "Scourge of Heaven" for a bit.

 

The imagery associated with a scourge is a punitive one, associated with redress or discipline.

 

Saviel is also an Angel of War, in a war that has yet to finish.

 

Perhaps her exile isn't vengeance-driven so much as penitence-driven? Casting herself out for a perceived failing on her part?

 

And since she's The Scourge of Heaven, she's right--she has failed in some fundamental way, and is not worthy or should not return until she has redeemed her failing? Perhaps she's scourging herself, as it is not in her nature to let things go, even if she wasn't at fault in a human sense?

 

Just tossing out ideas--with Angels (and Demons) who have "Words", I like to try and tie their Words to their concepts as tightly as I can.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

"Words"? In Nomine, right?

 

If you read the very end of her backstory, there's a moment when she does express failure and regret, so there is a bit of that element in there. But the title "Scourge of Heaven" was given to Saviel by her brethren because of their awe and unease.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Very, very good backstory!!

 

Now lets see some more of your characters!

 

-CraterMaker