Stars/Angels

"'...Look up to the stars, childe. Their limpid-eyed gaze marks and regardes us all. Those gentlebeings of the celestial firmament behold the deeds and misdeeds of all Gran Albionne's creatures. Our hearts are made plain to them, as tomes, we are, to such as they. Our pages, thrown-open, for their pleasure to read. No dark corner of our hearts is hidden from them. And the greatest of our hopes and aspirations are bright lit passages in the chronicle of each of us to their gaze...'""~ Frau Glauchus the Goode Wytch of Tulgeywoode Forest."In the homebrew world of Gran Albionne the absence of deities might seem to make difficult the presence of Angels and Demons and thereby, the character race of Aasimar and the Tieflings. There is, however, an explanation for their presence, their purpose, and a logic to their being.

The Stars are, as once-believed long ago, radiant presences on a tapestry of a firmament. A gentle, enveloping azure shroud that encircles or enwraps this world at a great distance above even the highest of mountains.

From on high, placed like embroidered spangles on a scarf or veil, they gently drift. Their bodies floating as though on gentle waters on the surface of this veil, as the fabric of the firmament lazily drifts through the ethereal, astral currents encircling the world. The Phlogiston that occupies all space between worlds, bouying and supporting this shroud encircling the planet.

( The metagame explanation for this in the D&D universe is this: ''This is nearly the ONLY world in D&D that has no Gods. Where Animism holds sway throughout the world and the Deities can find no foothold to establish their oppressive worship; cause their crusades and jihads; and otherwise plague motals with their jealousies, demands for adoration and punishing wrath. What allows this in the cosmology of D&D is the primordial magic of Gran Albionne's encircling mythal shroud. It is a literal thing as well as a metaphysical thing of legend and folktale. This veil of perhaps millions or billions of Imperial leagues of metaphysical silk orbits this world at great height, and its enchantment is such that so long as it is present, it hides from the sight of the universe's many gods, this world. Almost exactly as a cloak of invisibility does a mortal from the eyes of beholders on this world. '')

The stars are each greater spirits known to mortals as Angels or Celestials and they are the spirit-embodiment/avatars of a given CONCEPT of good. The angel Astariel is the Angel of wondrous starlight. The angel Rahaziel is the angel of righteous, cleansing resolve. The angel Siluriel is the angel of the antediluvian purity of unexplored forests, etc. There are lesser angels of kindness to children. Angels of charity to the old and infirm. Angels of pure hearted, true reform at the hand of the love of another. Angels of redemption. Angels of repentance and the turning to good from evil. Within the confines of their conceptual essence, their ability is theoretically omnipotent. If a thing needs be done that is within the strict conceptual confines of their purview, they may make it so, regardless of the level of magical power required to enact it.

( In metagame terms: Many Stars / Angels may cast Wish, Miracle or Alter Reality spells AT WILL, as a bonus action, a reaction or as an action. So long as the DM rules that the desired effect falls within their domain of coneptual influence. )

The Celestial Language: The language of these spirits is called Celestial. Its nature is that of song. The bright perfection of choral music. Notes and keys, tempo and melody are their nuance and pronunciation. Lyrical emphasis, their emotion. Their language is the language of creation. And they may speak things into existence. They may sing peace onto a battlefield. Exalt through voice a palace of alabaster to rise from a flowered meadow or lay low an Alpine mountainside with a dirge of destruction. Several angels in choral union may unite a nation or end an empire. Reform a land from waste to wealth.

Words of Creation:
( Sourcebook: The Book of Exalted Deeds, D&D 3.0 )

The Words of Creation are fragments of the language that spoke the universe into being. The language that is the precursor of the Celestial tongue. The stars of Gran Albionne remember some of these words. So great is their power that no mortal mind can comprehend most of these awesome words, and no evil tongue can speak them or bear their sound. A character must take the Words of Creation feat to be able to use these words in any way.

It is possible, though difficult, for Stars/Angels to communicate among themselves entirely using the Words of Creation. It has no words for evil concepts such as misery, despair, hate, and betrayal, while the subtlety of its terminology for beauty, kindness, and mercy is astonishing. It has no written form, and if transliterated into writing it loses all power and meaning.

Besides communication, there are four essential ways mortals have used the Words of Creation.

CELESTIAL CHOIR
The Words of Creation can be woven into song, forming music that surpasses any earthly melody and echoes the grandeur of the music of the heavens. A mortal singer who has the Words of Creation feat can use these powerful words to enhance his bardic music ability as detailed below. When a bard uses the Words of Creation in this manner, it is extremely draining, and the bard takes 1d4 points of nonlethal damage for each rank in Perform required to produce the bardic music effect he is enhancing.

For example, if Devis uses the Words of Creation to double an inspire courage effect (minimum 3 ranks in Perform), he takes 3d4 points of nonlethal damage. If he uses the words to enhance an inspire heroics effect (minimum 18 ranks in Perform), he takes 18d4 points of nonlethal damage upon the completion of the song. This represents the draining, tiring effect of summoning such power on the soul. It leaves no mark and is a bone-weary exhaustion as opposed to a bleeding or bruising wound.

Use of The Words of Creation doubles the effect of several bardic music abilities:

• Inspire Courage: Double the morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear and the morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls (+2 at 1st level, +4 at 8th level, +6 at 14th level, +8 at 20th level).

• Inspire Competence: +4 competence bonus on skill checks.

• Inspire Greatness: Gain 4 bonus Hit Dice (d10s), the commensurate number of temporary hit points (apply the target’s Constitution modifier to these bonus Hit Dice), +4 competence bonus on attacks, and +2 competence bonus on Fortitude saves.

• Inspire Heroics: +8 morale bonus on saving throws, +8 dodge bonus to AC.

For bardic music abilities that require a Perform check (countersong, fascinate), the Words of Creation grant the bard a +4 sacred bonus on the check. The Words of Creation also increase the saving throw DC for the suggestion and dominate abilities by +4. The Words of Creation increase the bard’s effective caster level for the song of freedom by +4.

CREATION
In accordance with their original purpose, the Words of Creation can greatly enhance any process of creation. If they are spoken as part of the casting of a Conjuration (Creation) spell, the duration of the spell is Permanent, but without increasing the spell’s level.

Spells with an instantaneous duration are not affected.

If they are spoken while using any Craft skill, they grant the crafter a +4 sacred bonus on the Craft check. These uses of the Words of Creation do not deal nonlethal damage to the speaker.

EXALTED POWER
The Words of Creation help energize good magic items and spells. If used in conjunction with a good spell that has a verbal component, the Words of Creation increase the spell’s effective caster level by +4. If used when creating a good magic item, the Words of Creation increase the item’s caster level by +4 without increasing the cost. Both caster level increases are considered sacred bonuses.

Using the Words of Creation to enhance a good spell deals 1d4 points of nonlethal damage to the caster per 2 spell levels (none for a 0- or 1st-level spell, up to 4d4 for a 9th-level spell).

Using them to enhance a magic item deals no nonlethal damage, since their use is measured out over a long period of time.

TRUE NAME
Each creature has a unique true name among the Words of Creation. No mortal is familiar with the countless true names of every creature in the world, no matter how extensively she has studied the Words of Creation. Nevertheless, a character familiar with the Words of Creation can research a specific creature’s true name if she has access to legend lore and either contact other plane or commune.

Researching a true name is similar to researching a new spell. It requires one week per 2 HD of the creature and an expenditure of 1,000 gp per week. The character must cast (or have cast on her behalf ) legend lore once each week, but the material component cost is included in the research cost. At the end of the research time, the character must cast commune or contact other plane. Then she makes a Knowledge check, using the specialty appropriate to the target creature’s type (arcana for a construct or dragon, religion for an undead, and so on). The DC for this check is 10 + the creature’s Hit Dice.

If the check succeeds, the character has discovered the creature’s true name. If it fails, the character must go through the research process again if she wants to keep trying.

Once a character has discovered a creature’s true name, she can exercise her power over that creature in a number of different ways. • She can impose a specific compulsion spell or effect. • She can reduce the creature’s spell resistance by 4 or reduce the amount of its damage reduction by 5 for 1 minute. • She can summon or teleport on the creature from or to anywhere. • She can compel service from the creature as with a planar binding spell.

Each of these actions requires a full-round action, which includes speaking the creature’s true name and a binding incantation in the Words of Creation. Uttering the incantation deals 5d4 points of nonlethal damage to the speaker. The character and the creature do not have to be in the same area or even the same plane—it is possible, for example, to reduce a creature’s spell resistance before using planar binding to summon it to the Mortal Realm.

Star / Angel material components:
Under proper events or circumstances, a Star ( Angel ) might gift a mortal with some remnant of itself. This physical talisman of their celestial power stores and bestows additional holy magic when used as a material component for the creation of a magical item or in the casting of a spell. These following are just some of the items that have been bestowed upon Mortals.

Angel Radiance: Captured in glass by a special process known only to the Stars themselves, the radiance of an angel is a potent component. Used as a component for a banishment or dismissal spell, or a dispel evil spell used to drive a fiend back to its home plane, a phial of angel radiance increases the saving throw DC by +10. It also grants the caster a +10 bonus on her caster level check to overcome the target’s spell resistance. Angel radiance sheds light as a torch.

Angel Blood: If a spell to which this component is applied deals damage, the spell deals an extra +2d8 points of damage to an evil target. The celestial who gave the blood must still be alive for this to function. The blood of a star is a powerful alchemical substance. It can be formed into a poison that inflicts 5d10 radiant damage to evil creatures. Also, if a spell to which this component is applied requires a Fortitude save, the saving throw DC is increased by +4.

Angel Feather: A spell to which this component is applied has its effective caster level increased by +4. A spell to which this component is applied remains prepared even after being cast. Casters who do not prepare spells gain no advantage from this component. If this component is used when casting detect good or detect evil, the caster learns the number of evil auras and the power of the most potent aura, and the power and location of each aura in the first round of concentration.

Angel Hair: A spell to which this component is applied has its duration doubled. If a spell to which this component is applied requires a touch attack (melee or ranged), the caster receives a +1 sacred bonus on the attack roll. A spell to which this component is applied has its saving throw DC increased by +1.