Tags
Asmodeus, Baal, Blandine, David, Dominic, Eli, Faithless, Gabriel, Heresy, In Nomine, Jean, Khalid, Kobal, Lawrence, Lilith, Lucifer, Michael, Yves
Demons and Angels who have become jaded with the incessant back and forth between Hell and Heaven have begun to tell a new story of the first war. Or perhaps it is an old story that that you are just hearing for the first time because you are beginning to realize that The War is not what it seems.
Basis for the Heresy
The Heresy of the Faithless Angels relies on three things
- After completing creation the angels were ordered to not interfere with man
- Without angelic intervention, faith in the divine would eventually dry up
- Without faith (and the essence it provides) the angels would die
Before you read any further, I would like to point out that Heresies on this blog represent major deviations from canon.
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While I would be the first to agree that humanity does not require the intervention of Celestial Beings to find their way, this Heresy is not represent a necessary change
In the Beginning…
…God created Yves and Yves in turn named God. From this name God created the first Archangels. Together they planned the symphony and created the Angels who would help construct it. And for a time, it was good. But God’s plan called for a World of Man, and through Yves he barred the Angels from interfering with it.
It was Lucifer, the First of the Fallen, who recognized this for what it was – an attempt to exterminate the angels. Without the interference of the divine there would be no faith, with no faith, there would be no essence, and without Essence the Celestials would eventually diminish and fade from the Symphony.
While the memory has faded over time, this was the true cause of the first war. Eventually the story was changed, and now rebellion against the most high is its dominant theme. Most Demon Princes will say that they were fighting for their own Survival, they do not remember that they were fighting for the Survival of every Celestial in creation. And with Lucifer’s fall, the narrative of heaven also changed. No longer were the angles the creators of earth whose time had ended, but instead they were the defenders of earth against those who would prey upon it.
And the change was necessary, in rebelling against heaven the Demons warped themselves so horribly that they now seek to defoul what they once built and purified. But some angels still remember God’s original purpose and are working to undermine human faith in the divine.
These are the Faithless Angels, and their aim is to restore the ban on Celestial Interference by robbing both sides of the war of the Essence they would need to continue their interference.
Core Membership
- David has been preparing humans for self-sufficiency.
- Eli has created proof of natural phenomena that do not require divine explanation.
- Jean has encouraged the creation of evidence-based philosophies.
- Yves has been quietly guiding the whole thing since before time began.
All four know that their brethren would not understand their goal but see it as the only way to ensure god’s commandment that Celestials remain outside human affairs.
Ancillary Angelic Members
Gabriel was helping Yves and Eli undermine faith in the divine when she was called before the Seraphim Council. She cracked her own mind rather than give up the secrets of her allies. With such extensive damage to her self, she cannot take an active part in operations any longer.
Blandine also has a fairly good idea of what’s going on, though she has never been directly involved. She applauds the desire to pull angels out of the Corporeal realm, and has turned a blind eye when her fellow Archangels use the Marches to build constructs of logic.
Ancillary Infernal Members
Lilith has been invaluable to the Faithless Angels. She has no love for the Archangels, but she likes the freedom their plan would engender. If the heresy is true, then Lilith probably hires out “her girls” to the Faithless more often than she lets on. That said, they are still devils and will look for personal advantage.
Asmodeus will also work as an occasional go-between for the Faithless Angels. He doesn’t know what game they are playing, but he does know that they’re seeking to change the rules and he’s more than willing to lend a covert hand while he finds out how.
Kobal may also have been in on the conspiracy since the very beginning. It would certainly go a long way towards explaining his particularly morbid and fatalistic outlook on comedy. It would also mean that there was a double agent in the ranks of demons since before there was even a Hell for them to occupy.
Angelic Opposition
If adopted into your universe, this Heresy practically guarantees that there will be new civil conflict within heaven. Even before the heresy comes to light some powerful Archangels will be working against the faithless.
Khalid
As the Archangel of Faith, it is impossible for Khalid to imagine that god is in any way opposed to faith in the divine. This blinds the Archangel to the motives of the Faithless Angels, but in no way prevents him from working at cross purposes to them. Should the objective of the quartet come to light, Khalid would do everything in his power to oppose them.
Michael
The Archangel of War has never forgiven Yves for abandoning Gabriel to the Seraphim Council. While he doesn’t know enough about the Faithless Angels to oppose them outright, he does suspect that Yves is up to something, and is ever vigilant to learn what it is.
Lawrence & Dominic
As the paragons of Christianity, Lawrence and Dominic would immediately take arms or call a tribunal if they thought one of their brethren was intentionally undermining the belief in god.
Lucifer and the Faithless Angels
If the eventual extermination of angelkind was the reason for Lucifer’s defection, any active resumption of that program would almost certainly pull the Prince of Darkness out of his state of semi-retirement. Opposing The Adversary openly on an operation might tickle the egos of a group of interpid PCs, but ideally they should start asking why he seems so interested in Celestial politics now when for millenia he has been acting as an advisor.
Strange Bedfellows
Baal is the Demon Prince of The War, but his true motivation is to best Michael. Should the Archangel of War take up arms against the Faithless Angels, it is quite likely that Baal will decide to join them.
This could turn the whole war on it’s head.
With Michael fighting alongside Lucifer and Baal fighting alongside Yves, other old alliances would likely be called into question.
The only way to restore normalcy would be to convince Michael to quit the field. Once the Archangel of War leaves the fight, Baal will have no reason to stay in it, and will likely return to his old allies.
Book of the Neglected 
I’m thinking of applying this heresy to my dark fantasy as the reason why each world is separate and why the demons are invading earth. devils are losing essence in hell due to the lack of souls and are applying the tenets of “blind faith” to humanity so they can establish a “colony” on earth. how much adjustment would be required to have devils trying to interfere in order to create earthly temples to themselves?
Not much at all. In fact, you could probably just do it.
another question i have about this heresy is how an outcast angel would exist on earth in willing defiance of the ban. do you think that they would function differently then a normal outcast angel?
Not really. Or at least, not unless they were in the know, in which case they’d probably come across as a conspiracy nut.