Here's how I want to represent the highest divine beings in my campaign setting. Basically using one one diety and buff up his angels and give them personalities.
The Numbness and Partition of the Angels.
The Great Deity tasked the angels to their roles to maintain the order of the world. Each angel in their divine contract had to perform their duties or face degradation into nothingness. With no free will, the angel were forced to do whatever task that was given to them. Move every cloud, plant every tree, and conduct every songbird for century after century. But slowly many began to resent their endless work or simply grow bored with it. Some even grew jealous of the mortals and their ability to choose their own fate. Bound by their contracts with the Great Deity and their lack of free will to choose their contract, they had to make sure their duties were taken care of. The angels became lax and careless in the duties, performing only the minimum. This low performance did not destroy them but it left them weak and insensitive. This loss of power and care became to be called the Numbness.
Some angels contracted mortals and beasts to perform their duties for them to counter the Numbness. These beings were raised up to almost divine heights and granted supernatural power. This resulted in the creation of beings like the fey, dragons, demons, and the undead. But these beings of free will felt no pain when their contracts broke and they ignored their duties very quickly.
With the failure of the raised ones obvious, many angels went back to their duties by themselves. They feared for their own destruction and gained additional work from the ones they raised. But a large of angels persisted to break away from the Numbness. They sought to break from their contracts or gain free will in order to escape the Numbess. Some even wished to do both. And they succeeded.
The 4 types of angels.
The Archangels.
The angels who stayed to their tasks and chose to remain unchanged petitioned for power to negate the actions of their twisted breathe became the Archangels. They seek to carry out the will of the Great Deity and destroy those against it. They have no name but each of has a leader symbolized by one word or phrase in each language. The one most active in the mortal world are:
Noon, the archangel of light.
Noon and his angels are the new angels of protection. They are the enemies of darkness and guardians of the faithful. They oppose devils at every opportunity and support the order of nature. Noon used to be a fiery battle angel and his order of paladins are suicidal zealots.
Midnight, the archangel of death
Midnight's angels bring the souls of the dead to their final place of rest. They also shield those who take risks that may shorten their life and destroy those who wish the extend their lives. Midnights's hatred of the undead caused some to believe she was creator of the undead as failed ushers of dead spirits and wishes to destroy her guilt.
The Guardian, the archangel of knowledge.
Often in the form of white sphinxes or birds, The Guardian and his angels whisper thoughts into the minds of mortals. They slay those who wish to tell lies and hold secret information. Most priests and scientists call the Great Deity to send The Guardian for insight and wisdom.
Reveille, the archangel of the wild elements
Almost lightning strike, gust of wind, and ocean wave is caused by a follower of Reveille. He washes away the bloodshed of battle and hides the footsteps of battle. Warriors ask him to watch their duels. Reveille often send angels to slay demonic and aberrant creatures. Some say he created dragons because of their mastery of the elements and love of fighting.
The Devils
Angels who voided their contract with the Great Deity could not stay in the Astral Sea. The Sea slowly rejected them and these angels left for the mortal world. But the natural world ejected them back into the Sea. So these angels warped a section of the sea to allow them a place to reside. They chose the place where the soul of the most foul mortals lay. But this foul place in turn warped them. They became devils, those without will but no purpose. They must follow the divine laws but hold no power over them.
Eve, the black devil
The former angel of light grew tired of brightening the skies. She and many other angels bound to the Sun and Moon voided their contracts and left the sky. Midnight hides those who need secrecy and attempt to dim Noon's light.
Sunset and Nightfall, the devils of war.
Sunset the devil of destruction and Nightfall the devil of conquest exhort their followers to destroy and conquer. Each soul they convince to committed evil, increases the size of their foul hell. They collaborated to create demon as soldiers for war but the demons were too destructive to control.
The Titans
Free will is not a gift angels normally have. They had to do what ever contract the where given. Some angels did not like this and begged for the ability to choose contracts. So the Great Deity granted them this gift and sent them to the earth.
Daybreak, the fickle giant.
Daybreak was a death angel but he never enjoyed it. He decided to be a titan instead. Daybreak tires every century or so switches elements every hundred years. He is ironically a death titan at the moment.
The Seasons.
Four former archangels were in charge of changing the seasons. Each was given a season and created their climate year after year. The Season grew bored after a few thousand years. They at first elevated some humans into the fey to do their work as they rested. The fey swiftly rebelled and the Seasons had to go back to work. They pleaded with the Great Deity to be able to alternate seasons and become titans.
The Starlights
What happens when an angel has no contracts but has free will? His body loses the constraints that hold it together and explodes into a twinkling masses of divine energy. Angels need something to do. That's what they were created for. So these poor angels lose their bodies and float to the skies. Starlights shimmer in the night sky warping the world as they wish.
Gubba the creator.
Formally the angel of knowledge named Morning, Gubba's job was to inspire scholars. He got sick of it and decided to remove bonds to contracts. After destroying his body, Gubba spends his days creating monsters, forming pacts with warlocks to destroy his creations, and watching them fail.
Dusk-to-Dawn
Dusk-to-Dawn is called crazy by most. He accidently stood near Gubba when he destroy his link to the Great Deity and Dusk-to-Dawn's link was shattered as well. His sorrow for his lose body drove him to madness. His sorrow for his loss mind drove him to create the mind flayers. The flayers eat the minds Dusk-to-Dawn wish he still had.
What do you all think?
The Numbness and Partition of the Angels.
The Great Deity tasked the angels to their roles to maintain the order of the world. Each angel in their divine contract had to perform their duties or face degradation into nothingness. With no free will, the angel were forced to do whatever task that was given to them. Move every cloud, plant every tree, and conduct every songbird for century after century. But slowly many began to resent their endless work or simply grow bored with it. Some even grew jealous of the mortals and their ability to choose their own fate. Bound by their contracts with the Great Deity and their lack of free will to choose their contract, they had to make sure their duties were taken care of. The angels became lax and careless in the duties, performing only the minimum. This low performance did not destroy them but it left them weak and insensitive. This loss of power and care became to be called the Numbness.
Some angels contracted mortals and beasts to perform their duties for them to counter the Numbness. These beings were raised up to almost divine heights and granted supernatural power. This resulted in the creation of beings like the fey, dragons, demons, and the undead. But these beings of free will felt no pain when their contracts broke and they ignored their duties very quickly.
With the failure of the raised ones obvious, many angels went back to their duties by themselves. They feared for their own destruction and gained additional work from the ones they raised. But a large of angels persisted to break away from the Numbness. They sought to break from their contracts or gain free will in order to escape the Numbess. Some even wished to do both. And they succeeded.
The 4 types of angels.
The Archangels.
The angels who stayed to their tasks and chose to remain unchanged petitioned for power to negate the actions of their twisted breathe became the Archangels. They seek to carry out the will of the Great Deity and destroy those against it. They have no name but each of has a leader symbolized by one word or phrase in each language. The one most active in the mortal world are:
Noon, the archangel of light.
Noon and his angels are the new angels of protection. They are the enemies of darkness and guardians of the faithful. They oppose devils at every opportunity and support the order of nature. Noon used to be a fiery battle angel and his order of paladins are suicidal zealots.
Midnight, the archangel of death
Midnight's angels bring the souls of the dead to their final place of rest. They also shield those who take risks that may shorten their life and destroy those who wish the extend their lives. Midnights's hatred of the undead caused some to believe she was creator of the undead as failed ushers of dead spirits and wishes to destroy her guilt.
The Guardian, the archangel of knowledge.
Often in the form of white sphinxes or birds, The Guardian and his angels whisper thoughts into the minds of mortals. They slay those who wish to tell lies and hold secret information. Most priests and scientists call the Great Deity to send The Guardian for insight and wisdom.
Reveille, the archangel of the wild elements
Almost lightning strike, gust of wind, and ocean wave is caused by a follower of Reveille. He washes away the bloodshed of battle and hides the footsteps of battle. Warriors ask him to watch their duels. Reveille often send angels to slay demonic and aberrant creatures. Some say he created dragons because of their mastery of the elements and love of fighting.
The Devils
Angels who voided their contract with the Great Deity could not stay in the Astral Sea. The Sea slowly rejected them and these angels left for the mortal world. But the natural world ejected them back into the Sea. So these angels warped a section of the sea to allow them a place to reside. They chose the place where the soul of the most foul mortals lay. But this foul place in turn warped them. They became devils, those without will but no purpose. They must follow the divine laws but hold no power over them.
Eve, the black devil
The former angel of light grew tired of brightening the skies. She and many other angels bound to the Sun and Moon voided their contracts and left the sky. Midnight hides those who need secrecy and attempt to dim Noon's light.
Sunset and Nightfall, the devils of war.
Sunset the devil of destruction and Nightfall the devil of conquest exhort their followers to destroy and conquer. Each soul they convince to committed evil, increases the size of their foul hell. They collaborated to create demon as soldiers for war but the demons were too destructive to control.
The Titans
Free will is not a gift angels normally have. They had to do what ever contract the where given. Some angels did not like this and begged for the ability to choose contracts. So the Great Deity granted them this gift and sent them to the earth.
Daybreak, the fickle giant.
Daybreak was a death angel but he never enjoyed it. He decided to be a titan instead. Daybreak tires every century or so switches elements every hundred years. He is ironically a death titan at the moment.
The Seasons.
Four former archangels were in charge of changing the seasons. Each was given a season and created their climate year after year. The Season grew bored after a few thousand years. They at first elevated some humans into the fey to do their work as they rested. The fey swiftly rebelled and the Seasons had to go back to work. They pleaded with the Great Deity to be able to alternate seasons and become titans.
The Starlights
What happens when an angel has no contracts but has free will? His body loses the constraints that hold it together and explodes into a twinkling masses of divine energy. Angels need something to do. That's what they were created for. So these poor angels lose their bodies and float to the skies. Starlights shimmer in the night sky warping the world as they wish.
Gubba the creator.
Formally the angel of knowledge named Morning, Gubba's job was to inspire scholars. He got sick of it and decided to remove bonds to contracts. After destroying his body, Gubba spends his days creating monsters, forming pacts with warlocks to destroy his creations, and watching them fail.
Dusk-to-Dawn
Dusk-to-Dawn is called crazy by most. He accidently stood near Gubba when he destroy his link to the Great Deity and Dusk-to-Dawn's link was shattered as well. His sorrow for his lose body drove him to madness. His sorrow for his loss mind drove him to create the mind flayers. The flayers eat the minds Dusk-to-Dawn wish he still had.
What do you all think?
