Angelic bestiary

A detailed catalogue of the angelic choirs of Tales of Cross. It covers the 9 canonical choirs (Pseudo-Dionysius adapted), the 7 named Archangels, the choir of the Angels (at present the regular intermediary), the Hashmal subgroup (technical revelation) and the parallel regional manifestations of the schismatic gifts.

"The angels are two things in one: the comfort we receive and the fire we must never ask for." — Pontifex Coronatus II, Sermon of the Vigil of the Seven Candles, 1812.

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The 9 Choirs (canonical structure)

Supreme Triad — Those Who See God Directly

1. Seraphim (seraphim)

• Traditional form: six-winged figures, in perpetual flame. They sing the Sanctus eternally before the Throne. When they appear in a vision (extremely rare), what is seen is a flame with a vague humanoid shape and too many eyes — the seer forgets the exact form within seconds.
• Function: flaming love, pure adoration. They do not govern, they do not carry messages. They exist in order to love God.
• State in 1890: total silence since before the Cataclysm. There is no record of an apparition to a human since the analogue of 1700.
• Why: an iceberg-question. Hypotheses: they are occupied in an adoration that cannot stop; they are in mourning; God withdrew them to Himself.
• Appearance in a tale: extremely rare. If one appears, it is the sign of the end of an age or the beginning of a new one.

2. Cherubim (cherubim)

• Traditional form: four faces (man, lion, ox, eagle — the Ezekiel analogue) + four wings + wheels of fire. Guardians of the mysteries.
• Function: divine knowledge. They carry the Throne. They guard the cosmological mysteries.
• Canonical appearance in Cross: Cherubim appear in the depths of the Seals — not flying, not speaking, merely present. Tradition interprets that the Cherubim go on guarding the Seals from within, even though the Earth perceives them as broken. That is why Hell did not come out entire — only as much as the earthquakes allowed.
• Sightings: Hashmalite miners in deep galleries occasionally report "seeing too many eyes in the walls" — possible Cherubim. Those miners always die within a few months. The Commission of the Angels keeps 23 recorded testimonies.
• A disputed theological tradition: some hold that Hashmal is an operational manifestation of the Cherubim (Ezekiel 1:4 connects hashmal to the divine chariot of the Cherubim). The Curia officially denies it — Hashmal is an order of the 9th choir, not an emanation of the 2nd.

3. Thrones (thrones / ophanim)

• Traditional form: wheels (Ophanim) — spheres covered in eyes, in eternal rotation. They carry the throne of Judgement.
• Function: cosmic justice. They apply the divine sentence.
• State in 1890: total silence. A disturbing implication: if the Thrones of judgement fall silent, who judges?
• Canonical implication: official theology holds that the Judgement has been postponed until the end of the Cataclysm. Heretical theology holds that the Thrones stopped because post-Cataclysm humanity is already in permanent judgement — all life on the continent of Cross is a living purgatory.
• Appearance in a tale: never. If a Throne appears, something has ended in Heaven.

Intermediate Triad — Those Who Govern the Cosmos

4. Dominions (dominationes / kyriotetes)

• Traditional form: a tall humanoid figure, with sceptre and orb, in silver-blue robes.
• Function: they regulate the cosmic structure — seasons, tides, cycles. They receive orders from the Thrones and transmit them to the Virtues and Powers.
• State in 1890: partial silence. Rare, brief apparitions, in dreams to mystics. Always incomprehensible (they show abstract geometric schemes nobody deciphers).
• Canonical speculation: the Dominions go on regulating the liturgical calendar. That is why the feast of the Intervention (23 June) always falls with serene weather, even when storms surrounded the city days before. An indirect sign of activity.

5. Virtues (virtutes / dynameis)

• Traditional form: a young figure, male or female, with a lily in one hand and a sword of light in the other. Long hair. White robes.
• Function: physical miracles. They heal, multiply, stop fire, raise the dead (rarely).
• State in 1890: active. Reduced frequency compared with the pre-Cataclysm age, but present.
• Canonical manifestation: miracles attested by the Commission of Confirmed Miracles of the Clerical Order (~3-5 canonised miracles a year across the whole continent). Types: inexplicable cure of consumption, paralysis, partial demonic possession; food multiplied in a monastery; a storm that ceased over a procession.
• Communication: indirect. Prayer through an intercessory saint → the Virtue acts. Not conversable.

6. Powers (potestates / exousiai)

• Traditional form: a winged warrior figure with armour of light + a flaming sword. Red wings (combat) or blue (vigilance).
• Function: cosmic combat against Hell. Informal captain: the Archangel Mikahel (in operational demotion to coordinate the choir during the present war).
• State in 1890: active in cosmic combat. They do not manifest to humans.
• Central canonical implication: the war against Hell continues on the cosmic plane far beyond what is seen on Earth. Every terrestrial demonic victory is preceded by a defeat of the Powers on the cosmic plane. Every human victory on the frontier corresponds to a simultaneous cosmic victory — implied, not seen.
• Indirect signs: inexplicable storms that scatter Pactuary Hosts; lightning over fronts of combat; a brightness in the sky during a battle in Limes Orientalis.

Lower Triad — Those Who Serve the World

7. Principalities (principatus / archai)

• Traditional form: a crowned figure, with a sceptre, robed in the colour of the nation it patronises.
• Function: patron of a nation, city, people.
• State in 1890: almost total silence. Before the Cataclysm, every city had its intercessory Principality. After the Cataclysm, most nations lost their Principality — it did not die, it fell silent.
• Central grimdark implication: the nations are alone. There is no "angel of Aurum Roma" or "angel of Velinia" today. The Order officially denies it — it maintains that they have merely fallen silent under trial.
• Some cities have chapels dedicated to the "Forgotten Principality" — a ritual of collective prayer to the silenced entity.
• Canonical exception: Königsmark still has an active Principality (according to the Royal Church of the North). The Roman Curia denies it. The Nordic population swear they saw the Principality of Königsmark in the field during the War of Reichshamn (1840).

8. Archangels (archangeloi) — the Seven

Fuller detail below. The choir central to the project.

9. Angels (angeloi) — the present canonical intermediate choir

Fuller detail below. It includes the Order of the Hashmal.