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Modern Fantasy: Angels

So, I’ve being playing in this setting for a while.
It is modern fantasy, centred mostly on angels (they call themselves celestials) and having demons as main foes but also featuring vampires, werewolves and other nighty creatures.

Is this setting, angels are not a direct creation of any god, instead, they were once human beings that were chosen at the moment of their death by some ‘unknown’ being. Think in the four winged beats in the book of Revelations.
Some of the ‘chosen’ were good folks who lived their life well and were chosen to continue their work in the afterlife, while others were sinful people who begged for forgiveness with last breath and given a chance to redeem themselves (their vices are purified during the process).

Initially they live in another dimension, inaccessible to mortals (called Eden, for now), but frequently they come to the material world where the fight against the demons take place (a more subtle kind of fight).

Once they enter in the mortal reign, they take a shape that echoes their soul: how their truly see themselves. Some would have an appearance similar to how they were at the moment of death while others would see themselves younger, older or slightly different.
Their appearance can change, due to some powerful trauma that affect their soul. One who once was young and strong might appear old and frail after being defeated by a powerful foe, barely escaping before being obliterated, therefore, killed for good.
Yet, they cannot change their appearance at will since they cannot simply see themselves differently.

Still, it is not only the body that is 'made' from the soul, but also their attire. And here is where it comes the ‘catch’.
As our most common image of angels, they do have wings, wings that are concealed most of the time. When they come out (in those fights were being subtle is no more in play), they do not sprout out of their back as I believe is the common way, instead, the wings are disguised as a coat, jacket, jumper, etc. The colour of the feather being directed reflected in the colour of the jacket.

The do have to take full form when they use their most powerful ‘powers’, i.e. the wings have to be visible. But sometimes, just a fraction is needed causing a trench coat to sudden have a texture of feathers.

..
As I said, I've being playing with it for a while, and the wings = coat/jacket is a recent addition. So, what you guys think about it? Reasonable or does clothes made out of 'spiritual energy' too lame?

A feedback would be mostly welcome. Thank you all. :D
 

Darkblade

Troubadour
I am going to raise my questions by taking your post apart. Please do not interpret this as hostile, it's just the most efficient way to address my inquiries and criticisms. By all means if you have good answers planned in your text use them.

So, I’ve being playing in this setting for a while.
It is modern fantasy, centred mostly on angels (they call themselves celestials)

Why do they call themselves that? Why don't they just refer to themselves as Angels? That is an added layer of complication that may not be needed.

Is this setting, angels are not a direct creation of any god, instead, they were once human beings that were chosen at the moment of their death by some ‘unknown’ being. Think in the four winged beats in the book of Revelations.

You contradict yourself a here. The angels of Revelations (and the Bible as a whole) are distinctively not human. If you're going to reference the Bible while using things like Angels you are better off sticking as close to the source material as possible to avoid pissing people off. You'd be better off either distancing yourself from the Bible or going with the traditional servants of the Abrahamic God.

Some of the ‘chosen’ were good folks who lived their life well and were chosen to continue their work in the afterlife, while others were sinful people who begged for forgiveness with last breath and given a chance to redeem themselves (their vices are purified during the process).

Since they are 'purified' in the process of becoming angels, are the personalities that they had in life altered? How much of who they were in life remains?

Initially they live in another dimension, inaccessible to mortals (called Eden, for now),

Combing two of my previous points, why reference a completely non-Angelic part of Biblical lore like the Garden of Eden? If you are going Biblical just call it Heaven. If not find a non-Biblical name. Don't make things unneededly confusing for the reader.

but frequently they come to the material world where the fight against the demons take place (a more subtle kind of fight).

What kind of subtle fighting? Are both sides trying to influence VIPs on Earth? Are they directly battling within people's souls (a concept the Bible calls spiritual warfare)? Are they just fighting where people can't see them?

Still, it is not only the body that is 'made' from the soul, but also their attire. And here is where it comes the ‘catch’.
As our most common image of angels, they do have wings, wings that are concealed most of the time. When they come out (in those fights were being subtle is no more in play), they do not sprout out of their back as I believe is the common way, instead, the wings are disguised as a coat, jacket, jumper, etc. The colour of the feather being directed reflected in the colour of the jacket.

Why is the image of Angels as viewed by medieval artists their only form? Since you are not using angels of Christian lore you don't have to constrain yourself to their popular image. Cultures all over the world have benevolent spirits that are Angel like, including but not limited to Hindu Devas, Muslim Djinn, Chinese Dragons and Japanese Kitsune.

Beyond that I think you have a pretty solid start to an Urban Fantasy story, keep it up.
 
Ok, I really don't have all the answers, which is actually good, find them will help improve it.


Why do they call themselves that? Why don't they just refer to themselves as Angels? That is an added layer of complication that may not be needed.

You contradict yourself a here. The angels of Revelations (and the Bible as a whole) are distinctively not human. If you're going to reference the Bible while using things like Angels you are better off sticking as close to the source material as possible to avoid pissing people off. You'd be better off either distancing yourself from the Bible or going with the traditional servants of the Abrahamic God.
In universe, the celestials see those winged beasts creatures as the true angels, something that came down from the creator which they accept could be more them one. They knowledge about it is fairly limited. All they know is that such beings 'aid' them from time to time, and sometimes 'show' them, either by a vision or a sense, what must be done.

As author, I'm Catholic myself and therefore heavy influenced by the bible and I really would like to take a bit or two from it. The four winged beasts I mentioned was more to use a 'ready' description than to create a new one. This is a part that I don't think will come into the story itself.

Since they are 'purified' in the process of becoming angels, are the personalities that they had in life altered? How much of who they were in life remains?

I think it is better use an actual example to express my POV.
That is this celestial, Cassiana, who was some sort of serial killer, her victims would just seem being chosen at random and would be shot dead with a single close ranged shot. When she died, in a natural disaster she came to the realisation of how she wasted her life (I won't enter in the details of it here) and the suffering she caused.
Once 'reborn' as celestial, she kept all her memories, her feeling of guilt but she won't have the impulse to shot innocents anymore as she did before her death.
That said, her trait or impulsiveness still exist. If confronted by a vampire or even by a cultis in league with demons she would kill them in the fastest and surest way possible.

The purification part is that they do not feel that sinful urge any more. True some may still fall to old ways, but is something uncommon, almost unheard of.

Combing two of my previous points, why reference a completely non-Angelic part of Biblical lore like the Garden of Eden? If you are going Biblical just call it Heaven. If not find a non-Biblical name. Don't make things unneededly confusing for the reader.
Here, Eden, is just a provisional name. It might be because the some believed this dimension to be it and the name catched. Other celestials from different backgrounds would call it differently. Some even call it astral plane.
Mostly, the use of Eden is related to the use of the four winged beasts: a ready description. Their plane is a place of 'perfect harmony', where they go to rest, to purify themselves if they feel their fight is beginning to corrupt them, etc.

What kind of subtle fighting? Are both sides trying to influence VIPs on Earth? Are they directly battling within people's souls (a concept the Bible calls spiritual warfare)? Are they just fighting where people can't see them?
Most of the times it is a sort of spiritual fight. They cannot afford to expose themselves directly in the actual world. They would call too much attention upon themselves if they did and become easy targets for their foes.

That said, that are times when they would go for more direct action. And the way they would choose who to fight a know foe is directly related to how they lived their lives.
Cassiana, for example, would follow or attract her target to a secluded area and would shot them. Her bullets being made of her own willpower and soul would cause damage to demons and those affected by it. If the demon possessing a human is weak, he would be 'exorcised' that way, stronger ones would resist more.
If it is a demon in human form, it translate in raw damage, again, how much damage depends on how strong such foe are.
If her shot hits a innocent, it won't hurt, maybe will enlighten them to be less selfish but no harm done.

Again, how they manifest their power is tied to how they were as human. A medieval warrior would use a sword or spear, an alchemist would manipulate elements, someone with druid background would use their surrounding nature, a preacher would hit their foes throughout his words.

Why is the image of Angels as viewed by medieval artists their only form? Since you are not using angels of Christian lore you don't have to constrain yourself to their popular image. Cultures all over the world have benevolent spirits that are Angel like, including but not limited to Hindu Devas, Muslim Djinn, Chinese Dragons and Japanese Kitsune.

Beyond that I think you have a pretty solid start to an Urban Fantasy story, keep it up.

Well, that is something to think about it. Their form in mortal realm is one that it should be closer to human. I really have to work out better their true form.

And to be honest, the wings are mostly rule of cool. :D

Thanks for the feedback and I apologise if some of my answers sounded a bit arrogant. I hope this addressed your questions well and also that it may arise more: question lead to answers, answers lead to a better story.
 

Darkblade

Troubadour
In universe, the celestials see those winged beasts creatures as the true angels, something that came down from the creator which they accept could be more them one. They knowledge about it is fairly limited. All they know is that such beings 'aid' them from time to time, and sometimes 'show' them, either by a vision or a sense, what must be done.

In that case, then why are the Celestials okay with being called Angels on Earth? If they know there are beings that are more literally angelic it'd make sense that they wouldn't want to be mistaken for them.



I think it is better use an actual example to express my POV.
That is this celestial, Cassiana, who was some sort of serial killer, her victims would just seem being chosen at random and would be shot dead with a single close ranged shot. When she died, in a natural disaster she came to the realisation of how she wasted her life (I won't enter in the details of it here) and the suffering she caused.
Once 'reborn' as celestial, she kept all her memories, her feeling of guilt but she won't have the impulse to shot innocents anymore as she did before her death.
That said, her trait or impulsiveness still exist. If confronted by a vampire or even by a cultis in league with demons she would kill them in the fastest and surest way possible.

The purification part is that they do not feel that sinful urge any more. True some may still fall to old ways, but is something uncommon, almost unheard of.

I see where you are coming from with this one. Are you intending for Cassiana to be a primary character? With a backstory like that it might be difficult for readers to emphasis with her and the amount of angst from being a repentant serial killer would be quite excessive, if justified.
 
Cassiana is just part of the group (and I used her here just to illustrated what I mean with purification). The backgrounds seldom came to public knowledge. The ones who knows about another celestial past wouldn't speak about it as a matter of respect. It do not need to be said that it doesn't come to mortal knowledge. Even the very existence of angels/celestials is known only to a feel trusted, who know to refer to them as celestials if at all.

Which is also the reason they do not bother correcting mortals.

Ok, here I must clarify, most of times where they take a more 'angelical' form they do it only when it is extreme necessary and with no witness around. If someone happens to see them, they would 'disappear' when it would be safe to do so (ie, when their absence wouldn't put the mortal in risk).
 
Hi,

I like angels, and I've used a few different ideas of them myself in my books. So I don't really have an issue with your version of them. One thing I would say though is that I have trouble with those who have lived terrible lives suddenly transforming on the death beds into them. Even if the change is traumatic I couldn't see them as being the same as the others. Surely the angst from having been as they were would weigh them down in some way. The regret and sorrow for what they'd done?

The other question I have is that since you've carefully left out God in your work - something I understand as a writer since the moment you bring him in you tend to cross a line from fantasy into preaching almost - where are they getting their orders from? Why are they suddenly doing good works if no one's told them to? Who gives them their orders - such as not being seen by people? And they have to have orders because otherwise even if they all wanted to do good works, they would do them in different ways. Some for example might think appearing on telly in their "angelic" form would persuade more people to the right path.

Also weren't the four winged four faced "angels" actually seriphim and cheribum?

Cheers, Greg.
 
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