Appearance:
(For the appearance of the head only. Angoriel's facial hair is only about half length of that depicted in the picture, however, and his eyes are azure.)
Standing an imposing 6' 5", Angoriel is of a naturally masculine and well-muscled build, being wide-shouldered and broad-chested both due to a hereditary tendency towards such an appearance and due to vigorous physical training. His hands are unusually rough-skinned and he has numerous pale scars on the front of his fingers and the palms of his hands, which appear similar to burn-scars. These scars are also present on his shins, stomach, chest, shoulders, sides and back, though the skin there is not as hardened with toil as that on his hands, and the scars there generally do not run as deeply.
During performances Angoriel has found that displaying his scars usually has a strong effect on the audience and instills a degree of certainty in them that the danger in his act is real, and so he wears nothing more than a pair of back knee-length trousers, going bare-chested and bare-footed; he will however tie up his hair in a little ponytail during performances, just so that it won't get in the way. Outside of these he has come to somewhat enjoy the fashions of Earth and likes to wear suit-pants in either gray or black, white shirts and either a gray sports jacket or a black vest. He usually goes without socks, but wears black Oxfords, and likes to don a gray fedora. If he knows that battle is soon to come, however, he will almost certainly forsake any of these clothes (possibly leaving on his leg-garments) and wear his armor instead, as described in the Belongings-section.
True appearance: Most of Angoriel's true appearance - that which could be compared to a demon's vilest aspect - is reminiscent of his human self, though certain rather extreme changes overcome his human features that transform them into a monstrous mockery of their usual form. For one thing all of Angoriel's hair-growth turns black instead of brown, and his skin turns ashen white, so pale that the blue of his veins stands out clearly through his skin. The only exception to this is the area immediately around his eyes, marking the outline of his eye sockets, which instead turns dark crimson. His irises also turn bright yellow, and his tongue grows by about half its length and becomes inhumanly pointed like that of a lizard.
His more obviously inhuman features are also those that makes him more powerful and dangerous in his true form than at any other time, however, these being the transformation of his arms and the emergence of his wings. As an angel Angoriel possesses wings similar to those of his kin, feathered and with an impressive span of nearly twelve feet, but unlike the common angel's feathers, Angoriel's are tainted black by his blood and sins. And as a demon, Angoriel's arms are warped and grotesque to behold; they grow significantly longer, with the upper arms alone increasing their length to 1' 8", the forearm extending as far as 1' 4", the palms of his hands coming to measure eight inches across and the length of all of his fingers more than doubling, adding another eight inches, bringing each of his arms up to a total reach of 4' 4". All the various parts of his upper appendages also become notably thicker, sturdier and stronger with this mutation, and each of Angoriel's fingers grows an inch-long jet-black hooked claw.
Full Name: Angoriel
Age: Appears around thirtyish; the actual duration of his life measures an uncertain number of centuries, somewhere between a half and a whole millennium.
Gender: Male
Species:
Although outsiders might arbitrarily name this species simply dark angels, this is what their peculiar bloodline of celestials have come to call themselves. Although they are akin to most angels upon coming into existence, the longer their lives drag on, and the more they fulfill the duty they are born into, the greater the difference between their breeds becomes. Their task is to serve the archangel Uriel, aiding him in his role as guardian, although the tartarus angels' specific charge is nothing less than Urbaniel; here they act as keepers of the realm, ensuring the continued imprisonment of those sentenced to such in the Underworld and at the same time deliver punishment to the damned souls.
Their actions and their presence so near the border between Urbaniel and Limblel have their own corrupting influence, but this is only part of what causes them to differentiate. What truly sets them apart, and what qualified them for their grim trade in a realm so far from where angels normally wander, is their very lineage: tartarus angels is a breed produced by their progenitors, Samael and Lilith; an ancient archangel and a primordial demon. As a consequence of this, these angels come into being with naturally low purity that enables them to move in the vicinity of demons with less likelihood of being recognized as what they truly are, and the chances of discovery grow only slimmer as they live, work and corrupt themselves. Another sign of their bloodline is that their form possesses twisted features reminiscent of the alternate manifestation of demons; features that may be concealed the same as those of angels can - or transformed like a demon's can, depending on how you look at it - , but which will be revealed along with their angelic traits.
Tartarus angels remark themselves by being neither particularly pure or corrupt, thus not offending sensitivities against such things, while they at the same time are severely affected by extreme purity and corruption alike themselves and can only be at peace in the company of those who are neither. This also places the powers of Light and Shadow beyond their grasp, limiting them to commanding only the elements, and although they possess the resistance to damage that is common among angels and demons, tartarus angels are somewhat affected by iron, though not as much as a true demon. Though they are impure they are not fallen angels; tartarus angels can also fall, and will inevitably do so and delve into their demonic nature if they observe their duty in Urbaniel for long enough.
Level of Contamination: Horrendous; though Angoriel is not yet truly corrupt, his being is far from pure either.
Level of Glow: None; Angoriel lost his glow along with his purity.
Ability to Blend: Decent; with no glow to worry about hiding, Angoriel can focus his efforts on concealing his true appearance and assuming a more human exterior. His disguise tends to fail whenever he experiences strong emotions, however, resulting in the emergence of his hidden traits.
Most Used Power: From this angel's soul flows the chill of death and the cool of breeze alike, for Angoriel's greatest affinity is one that spans many elements; cold. Lowering temperatures is a basic, yet frighteningly potent ability, as substances condensate and freeze and life becomes and impossibility. Be it to cool a beverage or soften the heat of the summer sun, or quell flames or solidify a being's blood in their veins, cold is the power that is most commonly exhibited.
An ability that derives from this power of cold is the one for Angoriel to make himself impervious to fire by cooling his skin to unusually low temperatures. The downside of doing this is obviously that as long as Angoriel maintains this resistance to heat without him actually being subjected to a dangerously hot environment, he is simply making himself incredibly cold, the detrimental effects of which he is
not impervious to.
He also possesses some mastery in manipulating water and air, though this power is secondary to that of cold and mainly obtained due to these being the most common conductors of this.
Significant/Special Belongings: His old equipment from serving as keeper of Urbaniel, consisting of
an iron cuirass,
a pair of leather gauntlets,
a pair of iron greaves and a curious weapon unique to the tartarus angels, which is a forty-seven inch iron pole with three sharp hooks protruding from the end at a 120-degree angle to one another (like
this). Aside from this his only notable possession is a small "stone" that is continuously changing its shape, size, mass, color and hardness; a souvenir from Limblel.
The purpose of the cuirass and greaves is actually two-fold, as not only does it offer an additional layer of protection on top of his naturally steel-hard skin but also continuously burns him for as long as he wears it due to his intolerance to iron, causing him lasting pain wherever it is in direct contact with his skin; this is also the cause of his burn-scars. It is not because Angoriel enjoys pain that he does this, but because the armor prevents tartarus angels from accidentally reverting to their true forms even during heated combat, particularly since the back of the cuirass will act as an agonizing obstruction to the emergence of his wings, the halting of which will negate the transformation altogether. The gauntlets are obviously not meant to protect his hands from external threats in combat, since his skin his much more durable than leather, but to shield his hands from his own weapon, since its iron will also burn him at direct contact, potentially making it very difficult to wield the three-hooked pole properly.
Fighting Skills/Techniques: Having trained only in fighting while wearing his suit of armor, adding an additional layer of protection to his already highly damage-resistant skin, this remains the only way that Angoriel knows how to fight. Although he obviously cannot wear his armor during everyday business at the Carnival - nor can he comfortably carry his weapon with him, either - Angoriel manner of fighting is extremely offensively oriented, with near-complete disregard for his own well-being. When unarmed he is liable to try to move in as close to his opponent as possible; with humanoids he will savagely pummel the other with all of his considerable strength, focusing his attention on head and abdomen, while his legs are used mainly to try to lock the other's legs in place or at least causing the other to trip if it tries to move, or alternatively by directing a sweeping kick at the other's legs. Against more bestial opponents Angoriel is more likely to attempt to grapple his adversary, preferably maneuvering himself onto the other's back from where he will then either wrestle the other to the ground or strangle it, if he is able to do so.
When armed with his three-hooked pole, however, Angoriel prefers to delay his own attack until his opponent tries to attack him, first. During this time when the other likely lowers its defenses and leaves itself prone, he will use the pole in a way much similar to how one would use a more traditional hafted weapon, letting the heavy hook-head carry the momentum of his swings. He will try to anchor one or more hooks in the other's flesh, optimally lodging a hook behind the other's shoulder blade, a rib or lodging them into an armpit. Upon achieving this he will usually pull on it relentlessly, leaving the opponent vulnerable to his possible allies' intervention and otherwise just prevent it from performing any further attacks.
Obviously these primary modes of attack are unlikely to actually defeat an opponent (unless the opponent has a human level of strength and durability, in which case even these attacks are likely to kill it) and are meant mainly to distract, disarm and impose movement of his adversary. But at the same time as he is doing the aforementioned things, if Angoriel actually intends to kill his opponent, he will exert his power of cold over his opponent and thus progressively weaken it and eventually kill it.
This is all in his human form, of course, and while this is how Angoriel will usually fight, there are times when he must fight as his true self, in the event of which he discards all pretense of humanity and surrenders to his demon-blood. With all the strength he possesses in this state, Angoriel is liable to brutally assault his opponent with his claws and otherwise engage in a fighting style solely reliant on his vigor, his mobility and his reach.
Weapon of Choice: His three-hooked iron pole, the weapon of tartarus angels called hampol.
Job Title & Description: The Fireproof ManAlthough Angoriel obtained regrettably few skills during his time as a soldier guarding the borders of the Underworld suitable for a Carnival-performance, he has found that it is quite possible to shock and impress most audiences simply by demonstrating his ability to endure the touch of flame, though obviously he would not reveal to them that he uses his power to make himself impervious to their heat for as long as he stands amidst them. The exact details of his act vary a little from one performance to the next, although one act is rarely much different from the last, as he struggles to find things to do that is suitable for his purposes. His most common acts are those of walking on burning coals, leaping through rings of fire and often failing intentionally, as well as generally just exposing himself to naked flame. He will often feign stress or pain at the various parts of his act to make it impact the audience more strongly, although the likelihood of him actually getting hurt by it is almost nonexistent as long as he has the protection of his powers and durable skin.
Beyond this he will usually help a hand wherever such is needed provided that he does not specifically dislike the one requiring assistance.
Number of Souls You Have to Collect: 500000
Number of Years You Have to Collect Souls: A thousand years.
What Was Your Wish?: For the tartarus angels to be freed from their gruesome occupation and gain the freedom to choose their own fates.
How Many Souls Have You Collected?: 22416
How Long Have You Been at the Carnival?: Fifty-six years.
How the Collection of Souls has Affected Your Character?: Although he believes that he has not been affected by this grisly task due to him being used to the similarly dreadful duty of tormenting damned souls, Angoriel ultimately truthfully say that it has not changed him. While he consciously still regards his victims with detached indifference and rationalizes the action by thinking that he is used to doing much worse, and that the people he is doing it to probably deserve it anyways, he is in fact haunted by it more and more with every day he spends at the Carnival. Angoriel was originally convinced that all the creatures but angels were vile things indeed due to him having only seen those of them condemned to walk Urbaniel, but being at the Carnival and seeing more and more of the other species has taught him otherwise, and as his understanding of other beings deepens, so does the weight of the thousands of souls he has already collected. He has started having nightmares about the people he has branded, or in a few cases downright murdered, and his hesitation in doing what he must to fulfill his contract with Mr. Seil grows with every acquaintance and friendship he makes.
But while Angoriel can mostly convince himself that he does not care about those who fall prey to him, he cannot feign indifference towards the act of collection itself. His loathing toward treating souls like a commodity or a collectible, and of aiding a demon in doing so nonetheless, grows only stronger as time goes by and his regret of his own actions deepens.
Personality: Painful as such a cliché is to make, it remains a defining trait of Angoriel that he is inflicted with a terrible duality in his mind, and is driven by the benevolence of his angelic blood and the malevolence of his demon blood alike, and suffers from this internal conflict almost constantly. He often thinks long and hard before he speaks of acts, trying to sort through his instincts and emotions to learn whether he should act upon one of them or stick to being strictly rational and disregard the choice between purity and corruption altogether. This is often the case, and although he is an inwardly highly emotional person who is strongly affected by what others say and do - often in several different ways at once - he usually try to outwardly hide his feelings and the distress these cause him behind a facade of logic.
Although he is trapped between the influence of good and evil, Angoriel wants and tries to be a good person in many cases, and while he is hardly the sociable sort and never one to voluntarily join large groups of people, he enjoys talking to people whose presence he can actually tolerate and will go to great lengths to help those he considers deserving of such. He is easy to anger, however, and while he does not give in to his ire easily and almost always attempts to suppress his rage rather than give in to it, he becomes more and more impulsive and reckless the angrier he gets, and thus grows increasingly liable to turn to violence. He is a very patient man as long as someone is not doing something that Angoriel is particularly opposed to, however, so unless someone is intentionally trying to anger him or is doing something unusually cruel, his irritation will usually stay on manageable levels.
While he does not see eye-to-eye with all of the other people at the Carnival he does feel kinship with them due to their common bonds, and so he will often go out of his way to help or comfort even people he does not particularly like as long as he can even be in their presence at all without suffering major discomfort from this. He believes strongly in honor above all and admires people who act with honorable motives and cherishes innocence, but at the same time scorns weakness and naivety. Although he would not readily admit so to anyone he genuinely enjoys fighting, and finds it particularly exhilarating if his opponent seems to be stronger than himself.
Biography & How You Came to be a Member of The Carnival?: One would think that when your father is one of the oldest and most powerful of the archangels and your mother is a primordial demon and nearly everyone else around you are only descendants of those who were your siblings that you would receive some kind of special treatment among your kin, that you would be regarded as superior somehow, as the prince that you really are, but alas, no such luck for a tartarus angel, for among the homeless angels who bear the demon blood within them there are no princes or peasants, no early or late generations, and never any special treatment; all are tartarus angels, brothers and sisters to each other and either strangers or enemies to all others. This was the only birthright Angoriel received when he came forth from his parents' unholy union as their umpteenth child, and was given to the care of his brethren immediately, never even knowing his parents' faces or voices. He was born, and then he was thrown into Urbaniel, to be trained as a soldier to serve Uriel as a keeper of the Underworld.
And this was the only life Angoriel ever came to know. He was trained as he grew up, never knowing a true childhood, and then he joined the ranks of his brethren in fighting demons and fallen angels, and in tormenting damned souls. It was a task that discouraged thinking and feeling, that pushed the self into obscurity and left only duty, which was probably why so little of note happened during this time. Angoriel could not even tell you if he spent five hundred years just fulfilling the task he had been given, or if it was actually a thousand years; keeping track of the days in Urbaniel was difficult in and by itself, shrouded in eternal darkness, and when each day is the same as the last, time loses all meaning. He never thought much about what he was doing back then, and never desired anything else, because this was the only life he knew.
The truly remarkable things that happened during this time of his life were few and easily recounted, and left memories sharper than any other in Angoriel's mind. His first unusual experience was when he was still in his youth, still convinced of his own invincibility and easily influenced of his greedy and spiteful demon-half, when he as many other tartarus angels had before tried to run away from his duty and escape his fate by fleeing into the lands beyond the borders of Urbaniel; Limblel. He had heard the tales of others who had tried and failed to make their way through this hazardous realm but had been convinced that he was the exception, that he could best the ever-changing nesting ground for nightmares when no one else could. Obviously he was wrong; barely had he crossed into Limblel before he realized just how much worse this realm was than Urbaniel. To this day he has been unable to recall what exactly happened back then, for all he remembers is flying back to his brethren, chilled to the bone and pale as a ghost, with his eternally morphing stone clutched in his hand. The cold fear that pierced his heart that day stayed with him ever since, and even now Angoriel is filled with intense dread at the very thought of going near Limblel.
The second notable step forward in Angoriel's life was doubtlessly the day he first heard tales of a demon who lived outside of Urbaniel, married to an angel, who lead an entire small army of misfits from all across the realms bound to his will through infernal contracts. "The Wish Master", they called him, supposedly capable of making any wish come true if one was to pay a price of servitude and souls. Although Angoriel's initial reaction was the same as that of his kin - namely the derision against those weak enough to rely on others felt by a person who has been brought up to thinking that you either live strong or die weak - the thought of the Wish Master stuck with him, tempting him, as it doubtlessly did many others if they heard such a story. Not that Angoriel ever thought that he might one day seek out the Wish Master and sign such a contract - he was a demon, after all, and thus the sworn enemy of his kind - but the idea of any wish potentially coming true was too enticing to simply put out of his mind.
And then, finally, came the day that derailed the life Angoriel had lived for monotonous centuries, for upon this day one of his elder sisters, one who was a dear friend of his, disappeared... and just several days later she returned, claimed wholly by corruption and given to the evil she had spent her entire life fighting. Seeing one of the few people in his life, and one he cherished nonetheless, having fallen despite only ever serving her purpose faithfully tore away the veil from his eyes and made him realize that this was the inevitable fate of his kind as long as they were bound to serve. How many of the demons and fallen angels they had fought, he wondered, were his own kin who had run out of time and succumbed to the taint of their blood and deeds?
This realization was what finally made Angoriel question his life, and like rings in the water the revelation spread through his awareness, sifting through his memories and making him see them all in a different light. Unlike most of his brethren Angoriel was not resolved to continue his duty for as long as he could; he would gladly give his life out of loyalty, but he could not accept sacrificing his purity for this vain task. He remembered the Wish Master then, and understood that now he finally had a wish that was worth servitude and souls to make come true; to save himself and his brethren from this gruesome destiny that was forced upon them from the moment of their conception. And he had been to Limblel and survived, as few of his kind could claim to have; he was confident that he could find the Wish Master.
So Angoriel deserted his duty and traversed the realms until he found Mr. Seil - or maybe Mr. Seil found him - and the contract was signed. As it turns out, it is much easier to forfeit one's freedom once one has realized that one has never been free. For fifty-six years now Angoriel has been with the De' Seil Carnival, collecting souls, performing as best he can and serving the Wish Master, but he has only just begun to serve the time he traded for the freedom of his family.
Sugary poison.
