In Nomine: the Mile Higher Club Characters: the Archangels

See the sidebar on your left--Calling them "non-player characters" does these guys a disservice. These are the characters that I as a GM get to play. Certainly I have to bend their actions and motives a bit to tell a good story, hold them back when they're itching to get into the action, but they do itch. These in particular have motives, lives, pasts, secrets, friends, and even lovers. Without them there would be no story, so take a minute to love them as I have. --BF

But here, on this page, you have the big guys, the Mile Higher Club's interpretation of the canonical Archangels.

the Archangels

Michael, Seraph of War
... The Corps, his special forces (directs to a separate page)

Novalis, Mercurian of Flowers
Khalid, Elokite of Faith
Janus, Ofanite of Wind
Laurence, Malakite of The Sword
... The General's Guard, his Malakite squad
Gabriel, Ofanite of Fire
... Soldekai, Chamberlain of Fire
Dominic/Dominique, Seraph of Judgement
Eli, Mercurian of Creation
Marc, Mercurian of Trade

Michael, Archangel of War

While he may have stepped down from Commander of the Host, Michael is still War and still fights the war on his own terms. Pigheaded, individualistic--unbeatable and rightly proud.
He's working on something big, something he's felt the need to hide from Laurence.
(the below reflects only what is significant to the MHC plot, and is not exhaustive)

Allied: Janus, David
Associated (or with mixed feelings towards) Yves, Laurence, Gabriel
Hostile: Dominic

Inspirations include Gerard Butler as Leonidas in "300"

He is the Wind of Change, with a martial bent. If he's involved with Michael's plan, it has the potential to upset the War sooner or later.

Allied: Michael, Gabriel, David
Associated: Yves, Novalis, Ihi'Velga, the MHC
Hostile: Dominic (fiercely), Laurence (with less enthusiasm)

Inspiration is a personal friend, myspace user strangerinthepark

Laurence, Archangel of the Sword

While he may be Commander of the Host, Laurence is still painfully aware of his relative youth and inexperience. While he's prone to doubts about his own effectiveness he is still a commander, and speaks firmly and decisively. He can also be gentle when the situation calls for it, chivalry and mercy being also part of the Sword. Mindful of Michael's experience he's nonetheless a pupil of the late ascended Uriel, still Pure in so many ways.

Allied: Dominic
Associated (or with mixed feelings towards): Michael, David, Yves
Hostile (or at least condescending): Janus, or otherwise any Archangel who is mad or otherwise impure

For my muse here I'm using Kenneth Branagh in Hamlet, to reflect youth, doubt, authority, and a certain moral attitude.

The General's Guard

is the more formal name of Laurence's notorious squad of Malakim. While Michael's Corps will go into a completely unknown situation to interrogate demons, this Guard usually has spent some time investigating. They arrive with certainty. As often as not they're going to settle matters with an errant angel, though they've sometimes been known to show up and bestow honors in the field. Meticulous, unforgiving, and most of all incorruptible.
They occasionally serve as ceremonial guards for Laurence himself or his favored servitors.

Gabriel, Archangel of Fire

A thing of terror and beauty, Gabriel is Fire. There's a fine line between the wonderful heat of sitting close to a bonfire and the pain of being burned by it, and for her angels that line is never crossed. A Firebird is never so happy as when he or she lays her head on the coals like pillows and looks up at the flames dancing. This inspires them, and it is their breath. Lesser beings fear the fire, and are to be pitied, gently mocked, for their fears.
Gabriel's favored appearance isn't only a break with the past, it is a reflection of her spirit. She is grudge, righteous fury at doing what she was explicitly told by the Lord himself and then being called a heretic for it. Heretic??? She didn't chose the message, merely delivered it as he/she had always done. Fire may be patient but she no longer remembers charity.
Even mad (angry? crazy? Some mix of the two?) Gabriel is wise. She lets the young Malakite handle the daily affairs of her house, saving her passions for what she loves to do and letting him handle what she needs to do.
She rarely makes appearances even to other Archangels so it is difficult to describe what she looks like. Easier is describing what her presence feels like--terror or bliss or both, depending on the line between heat and burn.
And then I played her for awhile, let others play her and this always humanizes a character. In my mind I call on a personal friend (for whom sadly I lack any publicly available pictures) a woman who is both impulsive and unstoppable. Watching "X-Men" on cable the other day it struck me how much she resembled Jean Grey.

Soldekai, Chamberlain of Fire

Eloquent and soft-spoken, this Malakite has his Archangel's house in impeccable order. This is no easy task, and while he has to prioritize one never feels rushed in his presence. Getting that presence is far easier for Archangels and Fire's angels, it's true, and few others can get an audience. A humble and dignified servant, he has little patience for the rumors of his ascension to Archangel.
Despite all these responsibilities, he is often found watching over the lip of the volcano into the Marches.

Allied: Anyone openly supportive of Gabriel
Associated: Janus, Blandine, Khalid, the MHC, sometimes Michael
Hostile: Dominic, Ihi'Velga

Inspiration: There's something about the efficient, male, Victorian/steampunk secretary/sidekick figure that just seems correct here. I can't name him exactly, but I can picture him quite well. From the "Brass Goggles" site:

Dominic/Dominique, Archangel of Judgement

Arguably the villain of the story, Dominic is probably the most misunderstood of all the Archangels. He must maintain the soundness of the troops, the virtues in each of them that all of them are fighting for. Dominic plays hardball, even when he's being kind. Leniency, he believes, leads to indulgence. Sometimes indulgences are good but, as the Church has learned, sometimes they lead to corruption. Others perceive him as merciless, but he knows that allowing one to hang oneself is cruelty, not mercy. Recently he has taken to a feminine appearance, a curvy woman's body under his traditional cowl. You can see her shoulders, her hips, her caboose, but not her face nor her legs. She is still a Seraph, and her form reflects her thoughts rather than hides her nature.

for my muse, I'm using Jennifer Lopez in "The Cell", where her looks were generally more symbolic than literal. I've yet to find the exact picture in my mind's eye, so for now, a little coffeehouse doodle I did.

Eli, Archangel of Creation

Inspiration: Tommy Chong from "That 70's Show" among other things, Parry from "The Fisher King"
Missing in action, his servitors are constantly on the lookout for "ELvIs sightings". Crazy? Wise? Since when have the two been mutually exclusive? One thing's for certain: he isn't dead. Creation--population--has been bursting at the seams. Did Eli go to ground to work more feverishly, or did he simply stare too long into the sun? And hey, did we mention there's a war on?

Marc, Archangel of Trade

As conceived and played by Rocket Man

"To me, Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne fits Marc extremely well, and not just because he's a businessman who happens to look smashing in Armani. Like Wayne, those who don't know him may dismiss him as a lightweight, more concerned with style than substance. But you only have to get close to feel the steel underneath. He's the executive who's confident enough with his employees to talk "angel-to-angel" without either one forgetting who's boss; the sharp negotiator who's hapy to have you underestimate him right up to the moment the contract is signed.
"He is honest. He is fair. But he is not stupid. And if you didn't read the deal carefully before agreeing to it -- well, that's hardly his problem, now, is it?"