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Anger of Angels
destroy all angel-descended offspring. When they banish an angel (by using banishment or similar spells) or slay angelic offspring, they are sure to mark the site of the deed with their symbol or make some announcement so word of their deeds and purpose can spread. Because angelic offspring are almost always born of mortal women (rather than angels in female form), the Brotherhood places much of the blame for the corruption of angels at the feet of mortal women. Women are not Adventure Seed: Brotherhood Revelation allowed to join the In a large temple of a lawful church well known Brotherhood, and quite for its stance against the mixing of mortal and often the mothers of angelangelic bloodlines, the high priest is revealed to be a member of the Brotherhood of Pure Spirit, ic crossbreeds are slain with nearly half the congregation being memalong with their progeny. bers of the cell under him. Because their activities Senior officials of the faith have not reprimanded him for his stance. Will this tear the temple are on the evil side of neuapart? Will the high priest form a public splinter trality, divine spellcasters of cult of his faith? Is an evil church responsible for the priest’s position? Or is a more infernal the Brotherhood who worsource to blame? ship good deities lose their spellcasting abilities when they make the transition to evil—a loss they usually blame on fiendish influence. Other members of the faith easily spot this condition, leading to the quick discovery of a cultist’s secret opinions. Because of this problem, the most fervent members of this cult (those who embrace the ideal of slaying the “tainted” crossbreeds) can more easily hide in neutral (nongood) churches, since neutral deities may have evil worshippers and therefore not necessarily lose their spellcasting ability.
Recruiting Leaders recruit within their own churches, trusting only people they know well enough with their secret agenda. Potential recruits must show devotion to the faith and the willingness to kill the beautiful offspring of angels for “the greater good.” Rarely does a cell grow above a dozen members unless its parent temple has 200 or more constituents because secrecy matters more than numbers. Only in religions where angelic crossbreeds are forbidden can members of the Brotherhood operate with the full support of their church.
Allies Because of its extreme views, the Brotherhood has few allies except its own kind. It gains tangential support from churches that persecute crossbreeds but rarely any open support. Evil churches have been known to fund Brotherhood cells secretly, furthering the cause of evil by removing the agents of good.
Enemies Obviously angels who have part-mortal families oppose the Brotherhood, as do religions that condone relations between angels and mortals. Even those angels without offspring object to the banishment of angels and the wholesale slaughter of angelic offspring.
Council of Wings The Council of Wings is an alliance of angels and fiends who have grown weary of the War between Heaven and Hell, but love the mortal realm and its inhabitants too much to simply stand by and let them be destroyed by their more zealous angelic and fiendish brethren. Agents of the Council intervene to protect mortal populations from harm and secretly confound the more warlike agents of Heaven and Hell.
Brief History The Great War has raged for thousands of years, and even immortals can get sick of too much of the same thing. Angels grow weary of watching their friends destroyed by enemy swords or corrupted into evil forms. When Zozoriel, Angel of Baptism†, watched her comrade Malchibiel, Angel of Friendship†, succumb to an evil magic item and fall from grace, she realized the Great War was futile and only caused mortal suffering. In the centuries that passed, she tracked down her friend, now called Malchiboth, and arranged a peaceful meeting. The two discussed the War, their broken friendship, and the future of the world. From these talks came the idea of a council of angels and demons who secretly opposed the War.
The Organization The Council has no permanent base of operations, as fiends cannot normally enter Heaven and angels attract too much attention in Hell. Instead they pick meeting places on the Material Plane such as the site of a great battle or an agreed-upon barren place where they can gather unobserved. By necessity, they make their meetings infrequent and small. Each member knows only a handful of others to prevent the exposure of all the members if one cell is betrayed. Council members leave messages for each other in code and contact each other through the use of sending spells and the Spiritual Contact† feat. Members: Approximately 100 Hierarchy: Cell-based Leader: None Religion: Any Alignment: Any (though most tend to be at least partly neutral) Secrecy: Highly secret. (Members know only a few other members) Symbol: Four wings (two angelic, two demonic) arranged in a cross formation
Hierarchy Though its founders are still part of the Council, they do not consider themselves superior to any other member. (Out of respect, the other members do look to them for advice.) All members of the Council are considered equal within it and have equal voting rights, even though some are low demons and one is an archangel.
