Malakim

Malakim embody the purity of Heaven's honor and the swiftness of its wrath. No one has the right to be as openly arrogant, painfully tyrannical, frequently cruel and generally destructive as the Malakim are -- except them.

Resonance
The Malakim's resonance is honor, a framework of integrity even more sacred than their own lives. They can see in a human the purity of his nature and the virtue of his principle -- how selfish or selfless that person's nature is -- as well as whether he tries to rise above it or allows himself to sink beneath it. A perceptive Malakite can always spot the weasel in a crowd. A human in a jam who runs into one of these angels can relax, because within 30 seconds he'll be either out of trouble or on his way to the security of the next life.

Everything is deadly serious to the Malakim, who feel called upon to make as much of a difference as possible. There is a war going on out there, people are dying, and the Malakim demand discipline, respect and honor from their servants and their peers. While they don't have time to straighten out every wretched human being they come across, neither do they shrink from correcting someone whose honor is obviously lacking.

Of the other Choirs, the Ofanim accept the urgent seriousness of the Malakim with the least grace; they are eager to give a Malakite's honor a metaphorical wedgie just to see how starched his mental underwear really is.

Dissonance
Naturally, the greatest dissonance for a Malakim is dishonor. He would rather have his Forces ripped from his soul one by one than shirk his duties, real or imagined.

There are no Fallen Malakim; they enjoy the hell out of their jobs. A Malakite would tell you this is evidence that they are incapable of Falling, but other angels -- without denying a Malakite's strength of character -- speculate that it's more a sign of how serious they are about policing themselves. (See Archangel Dominic for more information.)

But with the ability to recognize honor comes the desire for it in one's own self. Each Malakite has his own separate code of honor, based on personal principles of right and wrong, that he expects to be followed -- which can make meeting new Malakim very interesting. A Malakite will take no fewer than four Oaths (see p. 00) toward his code of honor; most have more, but two things are constant.

First, a Malakite will never suffer an evil to live when the choice is his. If you see a Malakite tell a captured demon he can live if he cooperates, you've just seen an angel lie to some poor bastard demon who's about to die.

Second, a Malakite will never surrender in a fight, nor will he allow himself to be captured by the armies of Lucifer. Surrendering to Hell would be to dishonor Heaven. Death is preferable. Most Malakim have lived through corporeal death hundreds of times. They're used to it.

Manner and Appearance
In their celestial vessels, Malakim appear as shadowy human figures, large black wings glinting with purple in the light. Like the Cherubim, Malakim don't go for anything elaborate in their human vessels. Their clothing is purely utilitarian, but they seldom care to wear anything not made of real animal skin, preferably from animals they hunted and killed themselves. Malakim do not care about being politically correct.

Those Malakim who stoop to simple personification think of themselves as heavy bass drums, setting the rhythm of the Symphony with the work of their strong hands and cold hearts.

Even though their actions may seem ruthless, their motives are beyond question. But out of feelings of caution and self-preservation, the other angels watch the Malakim carefully . . . and try to stay on their good side.

Malakim Game Mechanics

Choirs of Angels -- Seraphim | Cherubim | Ofanim | Elohim | Kyriotates | Mercurians | Grigori