Chapter Six
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Organizations Angels are classified into orders or “choirs” (discussed in Chapter Three: The Campaign) and organized into larger groups according to what deity they serve.
n addition, several unusual organizations in the mortal realm concern, were started by, or are composed of angels. These groups—the Brotherhood of Pure Spirit, Council of Wings, Heaven’s Hands, and the Society of Godsblood—are the focus of this chapter.
I
Brotherhood of Pure Spirit The Brotherhood of Pure Spirit is a religious cult that believes angels should not be contaminated by consorting with mortal beings. These extremists hunt down and kill angelic crossbreeds (aasimar and half-celestials) and banish the parent angels back to Heaven to be purified. Believing themselves good, they destroy many innocent lives in the pursuit of their goals.
Brief History The Brotherhood dates back about 100 years to Jagrin, a slightly mad cleric tasked with repairing the damage caused by a fallen angel named Tarzakhiel. In researching what Tarzakhiel had done, Jagrin found that the angel once had a mortal lover and mortal offspring. The cleric fixated on this element in the angel’s history, blaming the angel’s fall on this “taint” even though it had occurred years earlier. Jagrin took it upon himself to eliminate this “threat” to Heaven’s purity and organized a small crusade to slay the offspring of any angels his group found. Though cast out of his church for his deeds, Jagrin survived long enough to create splinter cults in several different religions, and now the Brotherhood transcends his original faith, poisoning the minds of otherwise good individuals.
only confide their special interests at cult meetings. Though much of what they do is evil, members of the Brotherhood see themselves as redeemers of angels in danger. While in theory such an organization might be outright evil, because the Brotherhood only recruits members from within good churches, the cult walks a fine line between neutrality and evil. Members: Unknown. (Most temples are probably free of this cult, but its level of penetration into otherwise good temples is unknown.) Hierarchy: Cell-based Leader: Varies Religion: Varies Alignment: LN (most common), N, LE Secrecy: Highly secret (members only know others within their cell) Symbol: Pair of white angelic wings floating above a parapet (representing a barrier between the mortal and angelic world)
Hierarchy All members of a cell defer to the cell leader, who may be a cleric of any rank within the temple. Other members are treated as equals, even if their rank or social position outside the cult is very different. In the rare times when cells join together, the lesser-ranked leader defers to the one with the greater rank within the church. Below is a sample cell leader. Balefor (LN human male Clr5) is the survivor of a cell from another temple in a distant city. He came to his current temple after his old cell was broken and scattered, and decided to begin recruiting shortly after establishing himself here. As he was the first person recruited by the leader of his old cell, he feels confident in his ability to lead a cell in the Brotherhood’s “purification” of angels.
The Organization The cult is organized into cells that are each led by a charismatic (and possibly demented) member of the clergy. Any particular cell is usually a secret suborganization within a temple, with members of one temple’s cell unknown to those of another cell except in unusual circumstances. The members of the cult act like normal members of their faith when not engaged in cult activities and
Motivation and Goals The Brotherhood teaches that the only way to ensure Heaven’s victory is to make sure its followers are pure. Breeding with mortals degrades an angel’s pure spirit and weakens Heaven. To accomplish their goals, members of the Brotherhood feel they must purify all angels that have tainted themselves by procreating with mortals and
