Angels

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Gabriel, an angel of high rank

Angels are Higher Beings best described as the servants and messengers of God.

Magicians of today do not generally invoke their aid, or involve them in any way in their procedures; and though there is evidence that in the past their help, like that of saints, may on occasion have been sought, we do not know for sure if such exalted Beings obliged. Certainly the Raven King seems to have maintained cordial relations with them, as he did with Demons: though we are told that at one troubled part of his long reign he quarrelled both with the archangel Zadkiel and with the she-demon Alrinach[31]. How or why such an ill-assorted trio first became acquainted however is something that - as with so much of the Raven King's history - we do not know.

Visions of Angels

Jonathan Strange had rather a taste for creating dramatic visions of angels, which he first sent to intimidate the French troops fleeing from Salamanca. The appearance of winged celestial warriors swooping down vengefully from above and brandishing their lances with heavenly fury quite naturally caused many of the French to flee in terror. At last one stout fellow, more sceptical than the rest, tried the mettle of the apparitions by experimentally prodding one with his sabre. Finding the angel was both unharmed and indifferent (for after all it was but thin air) he shouted to his companions that they were mere illusions and so the 'angels' were shortly ignored[31].

Strange tried the same strategem during the Battle of Quatre Bras, menacing the enemy with visions both of angels and fiery dragons. But he was soundly rebuked for it by the Duke of Wellington, who disparaged such displays as "Vauxhall-Gardens magic". The Duke had observed with vexation that the French soldiers, having encountered such apparitions before, were quite unperturbed by them: the men of the Allied armies however were unaccustomed to them and so much alarmed[40].

For Fallen Angels see Demons