Gabriel

Gabriel

The Archangel of Truth

Relatives	The Twelve Archangels of Creation (Siblings), Asmodeus (Sibling)
Languages	All
Affiliations	Mt. Celestia
Aliases	Archangel of Truth, He Who Sees Through All Lies
Species	Angel
Gender	Male
Eye Color	Gold

Gabriel is the Archangel of Truth and resides on the 6th peak of Mt. Celestia, Olympia. He is a major NPC in the Paragon Protocol and gives the party their first quest. As the campaign continued, he became a major antagonist and had his blood used to create the Passage of Souls.

Physical Appearance

Gabriel stands tall, statuesque, and immaculate. Their flowing hair, a cascade of pale gold that catches the light like woven sunlight, frames a face carved with serene authority. Above them shines a radiant golden halo glowing with celestial fire that casts no shadow. They have 3 pairs of vast immaculate white wings. They are clad in flawless white robes trimmed in gold when attending to their duties within Mt. Celestia, yet always where a pair of simple black gloves that clash with their white attire.

In his true form, Gabriel is a towering figure made of pure radiant light and covered in all seeing eyes.

Personality

Gabriel is a strict and disciplined archangel, with a strong hatred for anything of the lower planes. He sees himself and angels as the pinnacle of the creation of the gods, and believes anything below him is nothing but filth. If he had his way he would wipe the lower planes clean with holy fire, no matter how many innocents had to die in the process.

He despises most those who lie to get what they want, and himself refuses to speak a direct lie, mostly because he is incapable of doing so. But that does not mean he won't withhold information if that means he can more easily get what he wants.

His disdain for creatures below him is also his greatest weakness, as it leave shim vulnerable to cunning fiends taking advantage of his fiendish xenophobia. This hatred can also blind him, allowing him to be led into traps by creatures he greatly despises.

History

Gabriel was created at the very beginning of Quelmar as one of the first creations of the Gods along with their eleven archangel siblings. They were made out of the gods own blood and along with the other archangels went onto create the angels of the heavens.

Gabriel was given the commandment of truth, and was capable of seeing through all lies, punishing those who violated this great commandment and serving as an example for all mortals. Gabriel served as a Celestial Judge of Mt. Celestia, though as countless centuries passed, his judging of creation gave way to a disdain for mortals and all fiends.

When his fellow Archangel, Asmodeus, proposed the creation of souls to benefit mortals, Gabriel opposed this plan, seeing the divine power required as a waste since it was for mortals. Though Gabriel could not oppose the will of the gods. This turned into even greater resentment for mortals, and even more for the newly created Devils. Gabriel dreamed of a day when he could purge the "infernal filth" from the realms and rectify the mistake of the gods.

Gabriel would create two angels to serve as his direct lieutenants. First was Aariel, an angel he created by giving life to his own divine sword. She would serve as his right hand and his weapon on the field of battle. The next was Melody, a quiet and loyal angel who served as Gabriel's secretary in Mt. Celestia.

At some point in the early BR era, Gabriel was approached by the Archdevil Mammon, the Lord of Greed. The sniveling and avarice ridden devil convinced Gabriel that he could serve as a could spy for Mt. Celestia in the Hells, giving Gabriel updates about Asmodeus and other archdevils in return for Celestial Gold. Blinded by his own disgust of fiends and believing that he could easily manipulate Mammon, Gabriel agreed to Mammon's terms, and unknowingly gave Mammon exactly what he wanted.

As Gabriel's "spy," Mammon also shared with Gabriel his discoveries regarding the Paragon Principle, a universal law where a small team of determined adventurers could accomplish nearly any goal. With the principle as a base, Gabriel and Mammon created the Paragon Protocol, a system where Mt. Celestia could use teams of mortal adventurers to do what its angels could not. Over the next many centuries, both Gabriel and Mammon would make frequent use of the Protocol. Though many of Gabriel's attempts to use the protocol failed. This was due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the principle. many of the teams Gabriel would form would be made up of holy warriors and clerics with undying devotions to Mt. Celestia. What he failed to understand though was the a true "party" in terms of the principle required varied and unique adventurers with varied yet strong motivations. But Gabriel's own disdain for mortals made it difficult for him to see this.

The Paragon Protocol Campaign

In 925 PR, when the River Styx mysteriously dried up and all Demons had disappeared, Gabriel as the Archangel of truth was tasked by the gods to get to the bottom of what had occurred. While Gabriel was genuinely curious as to why the Styx had dried up, he was more interested in using this opportunity to get the revenge he so desired on the Hells. Since the demons were now gone, in his eyes there devils no longer served a purpose for heaven.

His scouts had learned that a single demon remained, the Demon Lord Ratatrosk, and was last seen on the first layer of the Hells, Duumal. Initiating the Protocol, he first sent down a team of mortal clerics and paladins to retrieve the Demon, but who all met violent deaths at the hands of Bel, the Pit Fiend. After this failure, Gabriel sent out Melody and Aariel to gather a second team of mortals, those maybe not devoted to heaven, but mortals he believed he could manipulate and control. These mortals included Aivan Factorovich, Nyrgoth, Balaam, Aliria Servine, Sylphine Nightfall, and Endine di Valpadana. He had each of them hisked away to Mt. Celestia and promised them each a divine miracle in return for their service. He gave them the mission of retrieving the demon and to bring them to Mt. Celestia. To achieve this he gave them a celestial collar they could use to control the demon and access to the Cerulean City, a fey planar port.

During their mission, Gabriel would repeatedly send visions checking up on the party, chastising them for mistakes and demanding the return of the demon as soon as possible.

When the archdevil Dispater invaded the Material Plane with Iron Devils, Gabriel finally took this as his opportunity to act. he led his angelic armies on a campaign to confront the Iron Devils all across Quelmar, claiming that this was a war of infernal aggression, and took no measures to limit mortal casualties, preferring to take a scorched earth approach. Eventually Gabriel's armies were able to breach into the first layer of the Hells where Aariel confronted the party who were attempting to fight Bel at the execution of Elytria. Aariel demanded that the party give over the demon, but the party, now calling themselves the Hellraisers, refused. The party gave up their chance at a divine miracle because Ratatrosk had told them of a way to restore the Styx, and the party believed Gabriel would rather continue with his war then restore the Styx.

Gabriel's armies continued, laying waste to Duumal and eventually reaching the iro walls of Dis where they began to lay siege to the city. After the death of Dispater at the hands of the Hellraisers, Dis' defenses fell, allowing Gabriel's armies to begin laying waste to the city. He attempted to pursue the Hellraisers, only to be halted by the adventurer Balaam who fought of Gabriel and gave his fellow party members time to escape. But for this actions, Gabriel coldly executed Balaam in the burning streets of Dis before he and his armies would level the city.

Gabriel's armies would continue, going layer by layer of the Hells, killing as many devils as they could, until they eventually reached the sixth layer of the Hells, Malbolge. here they became embroiled in the war between the archdevils Philani and Delphyne, and the fiendish dragon Barroth the Unredeemable. Here Gabriel and his angels would engage the draconic forces of Barroth.

When the Shattered Mountain was released into the Hells by the Ordained, Gabriel did not worry about the threat it posed. He saw it as a benefit that the Shattered mountain would wreak destruction throughout the Hells and Material Plane, but did not actually believe it was strong enough to actually assail Mt. Celestia and the gods.

While Gabriel was in pitched battle against Barroth, he was suddenly pulled into the Astral Plane to the Ruby Headwaters by the Hellraisers who planned to use Gabriel's blood to recreate the River Styx. Following Gabriel through the gate to fight alongside him was Aariel and Melody. But forcing his way through the gate as well, was Barroth who sought to continue his battle with Gabriel. During the battle, the Hellraisers managed to kill both Aariel and Melody, sending Gabriel into a rage and revealing his true divine form, hoping to burn out the eyes of his enemies. But even the power provided by his true form was not enough, and Gabriel was defeated by the party.

But they did not kill him. Instead they bound his body within the heart o the Ruby Headwaters. using the newly created Sword of Mortem, Aliria Servine impaled Gabriel upon the blade, letting his divine blood issue forth. Performing a ritual using the divine blood, Aliria turned Gabriel into the new source point of the replacement for the River Styx, the Passage of Souls. Forever more would Gabriel's body be trapped, alive and broken, his blood continually transforming into the mists that would form the passage.

Gabriel Reveals His True Form

Languages

Gabriel can speak all languages, but refuses to speak any other then Celestial and Common. If he had his way Celestial would be the only language in the realms, but he knows that to operate he must sometimes debase himself and speak the language of mortals.

Powers and Abilities

Gabriel wielded the divine powers of an archangel. He fought with both his blessed sword, Aariel, and wielded a bow which could kill any opponent with a single shot. When he revealed his true form, any creature who looked upon him would risk having their eyes catch fire in their skulls. In this form Gabriel could fire beams of pure light and call down heavenly fire that made creatures vulnerable to radiant damage.

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