Remiel's defining point is his compassion for other creatures, and his gentleness when dealing with them. "The Compassion of God" is not a meaningless title, with him, as he was partly designed to be this way. His kindness tempers the angry flair that some of his siblings can get into, when riled, and Remiel is used to providing the "voice of reason" in an argument. Sometimes, his kindness is a double-edged sword. Though he always tries to provide the best advice that he can, he can sometimes err on the side of understating things. And unlike several of his siblings, who don't lie at all and hit everyone with blunt truth, Remiel is more than accustomed to the concept of the "white lie" and sometimes tells a few. As such, he's sometimes the most "human" of the Archangels. He makes mistakes, but he's willing to admit to most of them. Though his older siblings might want to think that they are infallible and always know the right thing to do, Remiel knows that they're all just guessing at this point.

As the above suggests, he's a little more flexible in his morality than some of his siblings. Though he never strays to a truly dark place, Remiel chooses to be supportive rather than judgmental. He's friendly with several of his Fallen kin, even though this is frowned upon, especially for an Archangel, because he can sympathize with their position. He can't approve of it, as he is completely supportive of humanity and their being treated fairly, but he can understand why his Fallen kin feel the way that they do. Because of this ability to sympathize, he's picked up quite a few human friends along the way — and has felt the dismay of when they've died, leaving him behind. But ultimately he views death as a neutral act, because of one of his closest siblings being the Angel of Death. He knows that Azrael treats those he gets well, and that he can visit them anytime he likes. So while death is not a wanted event, he sheds no more tears over it as he did when he was a much younger Angel.

Remiel tackles many of his issues in this somewhat zen-like way, which occasionally leads to others thinking that he doesn't care. While his caring is indeed one of his dominant personality traits, he doesn't get upset over very much, anymore. He has a slightly goofy, mellow nature, which often disarms others into forgetting what he is. This isn't on purpose, but he's pleased when others are relaxed around him instead of fearing (incorrectly) that he'll Smite them at any moment. Remiel's thousand years on Earth have taught him a lot about human behavior, customs, and the trickiness of truly free will.

This is not to say that angering him, and getting him riled up, is impossible — just difficult. At his core, Remiel is very much an Archangel, one of the oldest creatures in Creation, and his simply being tired led to him dwelling on Earth and starting to drift from his family at large. He still has an intense sense of loyalty to his family, but now it's to them as individuals rather than an idealistic view of their purpose, as he once held. This same loyalty carries to his friends, in a lesser but still very strong capacity. Hurting those he loves — and he's very open with his affections — is a decent way of angering him. And it's not exactly a good idea. As his siblings will tell you, long ago Remiel once slew an entire army in a night while acting on his Father's orders.

He might seem to be somewhat of a floppy, gentle puppy, but behind that kindness is an old creature who will defend humanity at any cost.

On the surface, the world Remiel comes from is normal and much like our own. The year is 2012, and the events pass by much like our own. As far as the general public is concerned, at least. The Earth was, in fact, created by a singular God, the process watched over by his eight Archangels. The Earth is not the only world that he created, but it's His favorite and as a result the Archangels were assigned to watch over it. They do so from Heaven, which the Angels off-handedly describe as being "up the stairs" from Earth (it, too, exists in a pocket dimension). But one of the Archangels, Lucifer, disagreed about the Earth being so important. He, and a few Angels who supported him, decided to show his Father just how awful the Earth was, by inciting hate and misery within the human race, as was his special talent with emotions.

His Father was, to put it lightly, displeased. A certain Flood was set into motion, and Lucifer was cast down from Heaven — along with all of the Angels who supported him. Lucifer created for himself a realm, the Abyss, where he could bring the worst of humanity as they died and torture them for all eternity. Some of the Angels, the Fallen, kept their angelic ideals but either served Lucifer or the Abyss in some fashion (though they were not allowed back into Heaven). And some of the Angels, who would later be called Demons, succumbed to the Abyss' seductive power entirely, becoming little more than Lucifer's attack dogs. In order to take his souls, Lucifer brutally attacked one of his brothers, Azrael, the Archangel of Death, and stole some of that reaping ability from him. (As a result, Azrael no longer speaks of his brother. Somewhat understandably.)

In Heaven, the remaining seven Archangels stood vigilant over humanity, trying to keep the world in balance — and keep human souls out of the Abyss. This task was made much more difficult by the fact that other things had survived the great flood, too. Monsters, spawned in part by humanity's terrible fall, who began to fill the books of legend. The activity of these creatures is closely monitored by less powerful Angels, who report to one of the Archangels; if one kills a human, they themselves are killed. Heaven watches things closely. The herald of the problems that Lucifer caused before the Flood was an abrupt swelling in the monster population of the world, and none of the Archangels want that to repeat again.

Mostly in part because, for a long time, their Father has been in a completely different part of the universe and they can't reach him. Not only that, but Lucifer has not been heard from in a very long time and there are rumors that a few of the Fallen are looking to usurp him. It's an uneasy time.

✣ A R C H A N G E L S

Created before the universe, the eight Archangels were God's first children. They were his proudest works of art, before he created humans, and are the most powerful creatures in existence — aside from their Father, of course, and certain Constants. Archangels, in their true forms, are vast, metaphysical, and cannot be looked at by a mortal without that mortal perishing. Because of this, the Archangels were the first to take human form when interacting with humans. Archangels can only be killed by other Archangels, and permanently injuring them is impossible by mortals. An iron blade dipped in human blood will cause them agony, but the damage will heal. In the absence of their Father, the remaining seven Archangels have full control of Heaven and their younger and less powerful siblings. Archangels have large, feathered wings that they can hide from the view of less powerful creatures, the appearance varying between them. Michael, Barachiel, Gabriel and Lucifer have six wings each. Uriel, Sariel, Remiel and Azrael have four. Archangels all carry very powerful Divine Blades, the 'flaming swords' of legend (though the fire is a giant exaggeration; they're just hot to the touch).

✣ A N G E L S

Beings created by God to watch over their Father's mortal creations, living and otherwise. They were created after the building blocks of the universe, but were around long before humanity was. Most Angels are not nearly as powerful as the Archangels, and as a result their true forms are not lethal to gaze upon. (They're still quite unsettling/terrifying, of course; their common greeting was fear not for a reason.) These days, though, most Angels simply take human form, when away from Heaven. It's easier. Unlike Archangels, Angels can be injured and killed by mortals — though it's not exactly a walk in the park. Once the Angel has been surprised and subdued, which takes time and effort, they must be killed by an iron blade dipped in human blood. The human blood is symbolic of them failing to protect a human life, their most sacred duty as outlined by their Father. Angels have two wings, and, like Archangels, the appearance of the wings is unique to each Angel. They're quite large and can be hidden away from human view. An Angel can always feel the presence of another Angel, even a more powerful one. Angels wield Consecrated Blades, which are less powerful versions of Divine Blades.

✣ F A L L E N

The Fallen are Angels who rebelled with Lucifer, but managed to keep their angelic minds and their wings. They're particularly strong individuals, though they're less powerful, on the whole, than Angels. Fallen are (for the most part) still very ordered, and form ranks within their numbers like they did in Heaven. Their leader is Lucifer, though he's been missing for some time. Fallen still have a shred of their old selves left, unlike Demons, and so they tend to be less evil and chaotic. But in many ways, they're much more dangerous. Not only are they more powerful, but they have the bulk of Demons at their beck and call. Each Fallen carries themselves as though they were still one of God's consecrated warriors, despite how tarnished they are.

✣ D E M O N S

Demons are Angels who fell too hard and too fast to keep a firm grip on their minds, losing themselves to the evils that had been washing over the human race right before the Flood. Servants of the Fallen, Demons are much more numerous but much less powerful. While still more than a match for humans, they're firmly aware of their station in life — for the most part — and take savage joy in whatever evils the Fallen allow them to do. All they remember is that humans are to blame, somehow, for their station in life. As evil as they are, they view humanity as worse still.

✣ C O N S T A N T S

Entities who are personifications of a force or idea, brought to life by the popularity of the concept or by its sheer age. Death, for example, is a Constant, and a particularly powerful one at that. Constants cannot be killed, due to how they came to 'life' of their own, but they can be locked away or injured. Not that this is a wise thing to do, in most cases.

✣ M O N S T E R S

All of the monsters in this particular world are human-shaped, as they were spawned from the sins of humanity, though some of them stretch that definition. Most of them attempt to live normal lives, to escape the notice of Angels who police their numbers. The moment that they show their true selves to humans, or take a human life, they become Wanted by Heaven.