Within a higher realm there exist races of beings that were created before time to serve as Divine Agents in maintaining the Great Works. They go about their countless activities unseen by most in the fleshy world. Yet, since the dawn of human history, there have been recorded tales of these celestial creatures, these Angels. They have been among humanity since the time of Adam and Eve. They cast us from the Garden of Eden, but remain our watchers and protectors.
Long ago, the earth was without form; there was no space, or time, or matter, or energy, then God caused the act of Creation, the Big Bang. With the Creation came all the things known to us through science, but many other things came into existence as well, including the release of both positive and negative energy forces. From out of this positive force came the angels. Angels and demons were once one race of beings, but some of them were corrupted by the negative force and became demons.
At the dawn of time, all the demons were angels who served the divine. Things changed with the Fall from Grace. Some claim there were angels who were insulted and angered by God's command that they serve as caretakers of humanity, which they deemed as an inferior race. The Battle in Heaven raged and one-third of the angels were cast into the Pit, the great abyss ruled by the first of the fallen, the Morningstar himself, Lucifer.
They exist in religions throughout the world and have many names- angels, the watchers, the chariots of the gods, the morningstar. Every human culture in history has believed in the existence of life after death. Angels, too, are a common belief throughout history and among many different cultures which had little or no contact with one another. Angels appear in Aryan, Mithraic, Manichaean, and Zoroastrian myth and run down through the ages in Persian, Judaic, Christian, and Islamic beliefs. Even before religions existed there were universal ideas concerning higher forces among even Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, and Australopithecus. Steles found in the city of Ur in the Euphrates Valley, about 140 miles from ancient Babylon and settled around 4,000 B.C., featured winged angelic figures from one of the Sumerian seven heavens. An ancient Egyptian tomb painting features a winged Isis enfolding worshipers under her wings in the sleep of death. Around 300 A.D. paintings of angels began appearing in the Roman catacombs, flourishing during the reign of Constantine the Great (306-337 A.D.). Still, the angels are not tied directly to any one religion as a whole, for, like all things in Nature, they exist beyond the boundaries of particular religions and are no more Christian, Muslim, or Hindu than are the rocks, sky, trees, or animals.
The dragons were simply the earthly tools of the Creation, not true powers unto themselves. The manitou now fill the role of the dragons, who fell through their own hubris. The angels, while deeply involved on an unseen level, played a tremendous role in the creation of Nature. Now the angels serve primarily as the protectors of humanity, acting as unseen teachers, guides, and defenders. It is their duty to guide souls toward wisdom, love, compassion, and understanding.
These beings possess great powers and live mostly within a higher spiritual realm beyond living human understanding. The angels exist without form, space, and dimension on one level, being simply the thoughts and words of God. Yet these beings are capable of earthly manifestation for extended periods of time and are somewhat indestructible. They use their supernatural powers primarily in their efforts against demons and their dark servants.
Down through the ages the heavenly host (all angels collectively) have done as they have been instructed, operating under the innate urges and intuition which serve as their commands from the Divine. Angels know, in some unknown internal way, the roles they must play in the Cosmos, unlike most humans. Yet, like most humans, angels possess freewill and are filled with their own desires and inclinations, which sometimes conflict with their heavenly urges. This internal conflict has lead to the fall of a few angels since the Battle in Heaven. Still, freewill allows the angels to serve their Lord out of love, and they can do so with creativity, determination, and enthusiasm. Most angels enjoy serving God through their missions, but not all are so happy in doing so.
Above all else, angels are individuals- some cruel, some kind, some giving, some selfish, some deceitful, some truthful, some worldly, some naive, some introverted, some gregarious, and so on. Though most lean towards good qualities more so than bad ones, most do have personality quirks and faults.
With the release of the demons in recent history, some angels have kept very busy working against them, trying to save humanity. Most angels continue performing their normal duties, letting the eldritch worry about the demons, but there are some angels that seem chosen to fight the darkness.
The demons were once like the angels, but their own hubris brought about their downfall. Still they serve a great purpose in that they provide balance and entropy to the universe. While some demons claim they seek the destruction of everything and other just wish for all to suffer as they do, most claim they merely seek an end to it all, a great Unmaking. Only the efforts of the angels can direct the eldritch to the true secret of these dark beings.
