On the Origin of Malakim

[Matthias Wasser]

3) The Host who transformed into the Dark Choir were "always already" Malakim, in that they were primed to Resonate at the Malakite chord of honor and expurgation. It's just that that chord wasn't humming through the Symphony until the Fall.

4) God saw which angels would be psychologically capable of existing apart from Her; those which could not, but were about to Fall anyway, were transformed into Malakim.

5) The wave of dissonance roiling through the Symphony at that moment destroyed a good fraction of the Host; God simply reassigned their Words and Forces to the newly-created Malakim.

6) Any angel who takes the Oaths the first time it has the opportunity to do so becomes a Virtue; Uriel swore volunteers to them in rallying counterrevolutionary troops, and all other opportunities come when new angels enter existence by Fledging, Redemption, or creation. (Although Oaths are freely taken, Archangels have middle knowledge of whether the souls they bring into being will choose to take them or not.)

7) The history you have been told is a Lie; Malakim have always existed.

[Methariel]

Originally Posted by Matthias Wasser

3) The Host who transformed into the Dark Choir were "always already" Malakim, in that they were primed to Resonate at the Malakite chord of honor and expurgation. It's just that that chord wasn't humming through the Symphony until the Fall.

[...]

6) Any angel who takes the Oaths the first time it has the opportunity to do so becomes a Virtue; Uriel swore volunteers to them in rallying counterrevolutionary troops, and all other opportunities come when new angels enter existence by Fledging, Redemption, or creation. (Although Oaths are freely taken, Archangels have middle knowledge of whether the souls they bring into being will choose to take them or not.)

7) The history you have been told is a Lie; Malakim have always existed.

The first two sound interesting and are - conceptually, at least - close to each other. They touch possibility no. 1, too. I like them.

No. 7 reminds me of the friendly philosophical chat I had with that tall guy who had almost radiant blond hair and so bright blue eyes. It was a pity that the place we were talking at was faintly smelling of brimstone the whole time... ;)

M.

[ISNorden]

Hmmm. I've always ruled that only God can cause other Choirs of angels to become Malakim, and that He did so in response to the affected ones' outrage at the Fall. That does raise the question of why Michael wasn't transformed, as the original post asked; I think it had something to do with the Words that Uriel and David represented. The absolute holiness of Purity and the unified strength of Stone faced a greater threat from Lucifer than the already divisive, competitive nature of War.

However, at least one rule implies that angels can gain the Malakite resonance by choice; a Master of Divine Knowledge (upper-tier servitor of Destiny) may choose to add the abilities of a second Choir, but is bound by that Choir's dissonance conditions as well. Of course, the few Destinians who get promoted that far would need to take a Malakite's Oaths in exchange for their secondary abilities.

Can newly fledged angels begin as Malakim? The core rules imply that yes, they can; God always needs new volunteers with the same incorruptible code of honor that Uriel, David, and Laurence pledged to follow.

Can ex-demons become Malakim on Redemption? It's theoretically possible in my campaign, under three exacting conditions:

1. He must have suffered through some dramatic moral outrage that drives him to correct the wrongs Hell tempted him to commit before. Simply wanting to get even with his old Prince isn't enough; he must resolve to stamp out any corruption caused in the name of Hell, whether that means killing demons or steering normals away from a Fateful choice in the wrong direction.
2. He must take the usual four Oaths expected of other Virtues: two that are the same for every member of the Choir, and two related to his new Superior's Word.
3. God must accept the Oaths as valid--yes, this means a Divine Intervention on the Redemption check. (Choosing a Malakite Superior improves the chances threefold; a roll of 112 or 113 still counts as acceptance in that case.) Servitors who Redeem without becoming Malakim are released from the Oaths and treated as new members of their "expected" Choir (Balseraph to Seraph, Djinn to Cherub and so forth).

[tHEhERETIC]

I've always run with the God-is-MIA concept, so let me fit the general gist of all of the above into that universe:

Going with the Malakim were created at the Fall idea, and that they seemed to come out spontaneously....I'm going to say that the taking of Oaths did it. I like to consider words as well as Words having power. It wasn't the outrage that created the change, though that certainly helped. It was the act of taking an Oath, a geas to the cause so to speak. "I shall not suffer Evil to live, Thy will be done (when it is my choice)." With the collective force of hundreds of angels, including at least two Archangels, making this pledge, the word became manifest.

I think of it this way--an oath is an act of commitment, but it's not inherently Good. There's coercion implicit behind it. The 'Heaven is fascist' rumor that the demons spread has that grain of truth in it. The Oaths made them incorruptible--not to be confused with Good. Good is often best served through compromise.

I know, I'm a cynic.

[Whitelaughter]

Redeeming a demon is a dangerous, expensive business...perhaps becoming a Malakite is God's improved "Redeem Demon" ability?

That would mean that Uriel - the AA of Purity - Fell when Heaven was sullied by 1/3rd of the Host becoming demons. I don't have a problem with that.

That David Fell when Heaven fractured. Again, NP.

Malakim would be the demons where God said NO, you *don't* get to Fall, you're MINE - which fits with their personalities.

That would also suggest that there's Redeeming as a Malakite is not only possible, but the smart choice....

[tanksoldier]

Malakim are actually demons. They can't Fall because they've already fallen.

They are following a code of honor rather than God's will. The fact that their code and the cause of Heaven coincide is just that... a coincidence.

[Archangel Beth]

Originally Posted by Matthias Wasser

3) 4) God saw which angels would be psychologically capable of existing apart from Her; those which could not, but were about to Fall anyway, were transformed into Malakim.

A variation of this might be that the Malakite state change happened to angels who were angry/grieved enough to break -- but who did not lose their faith in the Almighty or try to reject the Symphony. The less-nuanced form is, "A bunch of angels put their fists in the air, and found themselves Something Else," but if you postulate Falling as including a rejection (or, in the case of Habbalah, a twisting...) of God/the Symphony, then... Falling without rejection of Truth equals... Malakim?

If one takes this route, then perhaps the assumption becomes that never after was there a situation where angel fought angel in such a way that such fury could be turned against each other, and the defining characteristic
was whether love of the Symphony became hatred or not. If one assumes that, then one opens the possibility for Plot Macguffins such as a lone angel reappearing... as a Malakite.

Oh, and then there's...

8) Lucifer, outmatched by Michael, attempted to gain allies by telling them that they were HIS. Invoking Balseraphic resonance for the first time... in Heaven... in an attempt to twist the Free Will of Archangels and angels... was perhaps not the wisest choice. As Fate and Destiny have learned many a time since then, the Symphony objects to celestials trying to force it, and usually punishes the attempt by going back the other direction, harder.

On the other hand, it does mean that Lucifer gets to do the, "No, I am your father" line on any Malakite he feels like annoying.