Astrea

Creation and Role

Astrea was among the first five angels created by Xelene and Randia to stand against the rising empire of Celian Maleficium. While others embodied war and order, Astrea was forged as the embodiment of divine truth - a guardian against deception, manipulation, and spiritual corruption.

Where Maccius ruled with structure and Nilsa with precision, Astrea guided with insight. Her purpose was not only to fight, but to expose lies, uncover hidden rot, and cut through illusion with clarity and grace. Many mortals saw her not as a soldier, but as a prophet - her words carried weight beyond battlefields.

The First War and Her Fall

During the First War of Light and Darkness (19990 – 19984 BCE), Astrea fought with the rest of the celestial host to free the enslaved and oppressed people of Ebbavion. She wielded her radiant spear, Veritas, with unmatched elegance - piercing both flesh and falsehood.

Astrea specialized in magical detection, battlefield divination, and exposing hidden demonic influences. Wherever she walked, secrets unraveled, and corrupt nobles were struck down. She was instrumental in uncovering traitors among mortal courts - some say this alone prevented the war from ending sooner.

Her death came during a final push toward the heart of Viremalas, as she led a strike against one of Celian’s major warlords. Though she pierced the demon’s heart and scattered his retinue, she was overwhelmed before reinforcements could arrive.

Celian herself ordered her body to be chained above the gates of the City of Stone, as a warning to all who followed the light. The sight of her limp form, her broken spear dangling beside her, became a symbol of defeat so terrible that the angels began to retreat shortly after.

Her death shook the host - and left Nilsa devastated, planting the first seeds of doubt and rage that would later consume her.

Abilities and Combat Style

Astrea’s weapon, Veritas, was forged to resonate with truth. In her presence:

• Lies were difficult to speak, often unraveling mid-sentence.
• Enchantments and illusions flickered or failed outright.
• Her spear could deal bonus radiant damage to fiends and creatures attempting to deceive or conceal their true form.

Though not the most physically imposing of the angels, Astrea was an expert in battlefield reading - she could predict enemy movements, expose weaknesses, and dismantle false flag operations with near-prophetic accuracy.

Astrea’s gift lay not in force, but in clarity.

Legacy and Symbolism

Though she perished during the first war, Astrea became the soul of the celestial resistance. Her name was invoked by mortals and angels alike in the Second and Third Wars as a symbol of justice not yet fulfilled.

She is remembered as the first martyr of the heavens, her death marking both the cost of divine inaction and the power of unwavering truth.

Her spear, Veritas, was broken - its shards said to have fallen to the earth during her final struggle. Many truthseeking orders and knightly oaths in later ages are sworn on blades reforged from its fragments. Some believe her essence still lingers in those relics, guiding those who would defend truth in dark times.

Her chained image remains carved in stone across Ebbavion, often depicted not as a warning, but as a challenge:

“When truth is bound, even gods must rise to free it.”