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Angel FAQ
ANGEL F.A.Q.
Part of the information post, this post is devoted entirely to dem Angels you might have all sorts of questions about. Because you know, there's a lot of things here and there that are good to remember. Please read the information post first if you are staring at this with a complete blank look as this is more....bonus material than the actual meat.
I'm too lazy to click on that link, what are angels?
Jerks. :|
An artificially created race that is made when a person fully activates and syncs with a Cruxis Crystal through a long process. They received the name angels for the wings they receive and their powerful light based magic. Their strength, reflexes, eyesight, sense of smell and hearing far surpasses human or elven senses, but without a properly made keycrest they can have little to no sense of touch or taste. Angels may also lose the ability to eat, sleep, feel emotions or talk - but these things can be fixed if the angel uses a keycrest that allows them to remain more human/whatever race you are. The Cruxis Crystal freezes a person's aging - rendering them immortal unless killed. Angels come in two flavors: Lifeless Beings and Seraphims.
Oh Really? What's the difference?
Lifeless Beings: The more common angel during the age of Mithos made out of crappier Cruxis Crystals. A Lifeless Being Angel has the more traditional white or black feathery wings that can't be hidden. They receive their name from the dead look in their eyes and their suppressed free will/conscious. When they are without a keycrest, their minds and souls are completely numbed - they have barely any awareness of what is going on. When a keycrest is applied, they sure will remember everything though.
Examples of wings and outfits: 1 2 3 4
Seraphim: The more powerful sort of angel. Seraphim possess specialfairy wings that are colored and shaped uniquely to the person and can be hidden. They also have more extensive use of the light spells than the lifeless. Without a keycrest, their souls and minds are fully aware of what's going on as it happens, but they have absolutely no control over their bodies and situation. Sort of think of it like they are trapped in a cage in their own body and can't get out. Yeah. It sucks.
Example of Wings: 1 2 3 4 5 6
GENERAL ABILITIES
Enhanced Senses? How enhanced are we talking?
Very. I'll go down the list.
Vision: Is best described as probably pretty close to hawk vision. Zelos was able to tell when someone gained a pound or two, and they can also see extremely far away if nothing blocks the view. Not only this, but they seem capable of seeing through things like cloaking spells. You might be able to trick them with an illusion, but it's got to be an extremely good one, especially if it's an angel well practiced with their senses.
Hearing: Probably their most useful and most hindering ability. Angels are said to be able to hear the faintest of sounds. Colette was able to hear a key dropped amongst a building falling over. She could also hear people walking from incredibly far away. It's sort of like someone took the volume on the world and cranked it up high. It's very useful and makes it hard to sneak up on one paying attention, but on the flip side it's also pretty painful if there's a lot of noise. For former angels, there might be a bit of an adjustment period here.
Smell: The one that's left the vaguest, but pretty much compare it with a canine's sense of smell. You know, minus the urge to sniff people's crotches.
Well shit, how are they supposed to fight against that?
Well consider this- even if they all have enhanced senses? All that sensory information is pretty much useless if you don't have enough of a mind to process it. So if you're in the hearing range of an angel, it's very possible you can sneak up or hide from them simply because they are too mindless to notice anything is weird. It's when they are actively looking that you should worry.
Not only this, but even with former angels it would take time for them to fully get a good handle on their enhanced senses. Depending on the character, it might take them a bit of time to even start learning how to single out and process the infodump much like children have to do with regular human senses. And of course, there will always variance of how well someone can fully utilize their abilities.
What about the physical strength? How strong are they?
Pretty strong! They aren't Superman strength, but they are able to lift a large grown man easily with one hand and call that "light". So yeah. Be careful not to break anything while getting used to your newfound strength.
What about reflexes, dexterity and all that other jazz?
I would say their reflexes and dexterity becomes twice or three times better than typical human ones. However this one is highly dependent on how they were before the change. For example, Zelos who was agile and pretty acrobatic as a human is now crazy so as an angel and can do stuff like crazy flips in the air no problem. Meanwhile Colette who was clumsy...well she somehow trips on air and is much slower than Zelos.
They aren't like immune to bullets or anything are they?
Nope! They can take two to three times more hits than regular humans, but they are totally capable of being brought down by any means you can bring down a human. You just have to hit much harder and longer. Though something like blowing them to smithereens, decapitation or ripping them in half would still be instant death much like people.
Any other perks?
Gravity and heights isn't much of a problem for them. They can jump/fall from extremely high heights and land with no injury. They can jump up really high without needing to bring out their wings, though this again has to depend on what their physical capabilities were before they transformed.
Oh that's cool. Any real difference between Lifeless and Seraphim on all this above stuff?
Not that I know of since most of the major angel characters in Symphonia are Seraphim so poor Lifeless don't get much info on this front. It's safe to assume the Seraph are probably stronger and much harder to take down than the Lifeless, but the Lifeless are not pushovers in the slightest.
Wait what was that about lack of taste?
Hahaha oh yes...angels can't taste anything. This might be changed with a really good keycrest, but we'll save that for another section.
Can they still eat?
NOPE. Unless once again you have a very good keycrest, an angel will throw up anything they try to eat. They don't require food to survive, so think of it as their stomachs have kinda shut down.
What about drinking? What about alcohol?
....Sorry dudes. Sober living for you. You'd throw up it up before you even felt the effects.
What about sleep? You mentioned no sleep.
Angels don't require sleep! And without a really good keycrest, they won't be able to fall asleep either. On the bright side, they never show any signs of sleep deprivation unless you want to argue it sure isn't helping Mithos's mental state. If your character prefers, they can still meditate.
And what about touch?
Without a keycrest, they can't feel anything. Pain, heat, cold, someone touching you- you name it you can't feel it. With a keycrest, it depends on the level of quality and I'll leave it up to mun discretion about how much level of feeling they want their character to have since that part is left pretty vague.
So if you don't have sense of feeling, sex might be pretty pointless huh?
A-yup.
No food, no booze, no naps and no sex. I kind of want to cry.
Unfortunately, angel tear ducts don't work properly without a good keycrest. Sucks to be you!
WINGS
It took you this long to get to wings?
Shut up.
Let's start with the Lifeless- what do their wings look like?
Lifeless angel wings look like the stereotypical feathery wings. They are shown to be white and black, but they could probably also be grays or other neutral bird like colors. Some might seem bright enough to have a slight glow, while others are dull dull dull. They are also attached to their bodies, so have fun with that clothing wise. If you injured their wings, there'd be blood.
Can they hide their wings?
No. They can't will them away like Seraphim, no. But maybe they can invest in a big coat?
What about Seraphim? What do their wings look like?
Like bright fairy wings with feathers. The colors and shapes vary from person to person as seen in the above photos. They can be one color, multi-color- you name it. There isn't some clear answer for how and why wings look a certain color- you can probably think of it as the color of their aura. They can bright as a human sized tinkerbell or just have a small glow. Feel free to design them however you want. Also they are not connected to a person's skin, so no clothes are ruined.
Do Seraphim still have feathers?
Yep. They still moult and if someone touched their wings it would still feel feathery. I don't know how it works okay. Magic.
If Seraphim wings aren't connected to their bodies- can they still feel in them?
If they have a sense of touch at all? Yes! They very much feel like extra appendages that somehow just are disconnected from their bodies. Again, magic. Doing stuff like shooting a wing would probably hurt a lot.
If I injured a Seraphim's wing, would it bleed?
Probably not typical blood, since it's not connected to their body. Instead it would more likely bleed out their mana, which is a person's life energy. So it hurts. a lot.
How does one fly with these wings?
Part of it is typical motor skills, especially for the Lifeless. The more you practice, the better you can get. The wings have no problem holding up weight especially if it's an experienced flyer.
However an angel's wings and special abilities are deeply tied with their emotional and mental state, since part of flying is about thinking "fly there" and trusting your wings to do the work. So a person who loves flying and their wings will have next to no trouble figuring out how to fly. Meanwhile those who dislike flying or their wings will have much more trouble, possibly to the point of having a complete mental block that stops them from using their powers what so ever. This will go on until they figure out how to at the very least, separate their negative emotions about being an angel from their flying. Which you know, really sucks when most of you are horribly traumatized by your experiences.
Are wings tied to their emotions in ways beyond flying?
Yep! If you startle a Seraphim or make them fall, their wings will pop out automatically. Some might also give away any emotions they are feeling (think of how birds feathers get ruffled up sometimes when they are unhappy) unless they practice...hiding wing emotional expressions. Feel free to play with this how you want.
LIGHT SPELL ABILITIES
So we get magic?
Yep! One of the perks of angels is that they receive the ability to wield magic that is of the holy/light element. Which for those who are not RPG savvy, this means the element of magic that is super effective on things such as demons and the undead. Their biggest signature is that they tend to have a lot to do with feathers and holy symbolism. Yay.
Cool! What kind of spells are there?
It actually varies from angel to angel! Magic in Tales of Symphonia is highly dependent on a person's natural skill level and their personalities in a fight. If your character is the fighting/offensive sort, the spells tend to be more destructive in nature. If your character is more the healer/helper sort, the spells tend to lean more towards healing or things to help your friends. If your character is somewhere in between, well you have a mix of both but you don't excel in either. And so on.
There is no definite set of spells for Angels as all the Angel characters have different spells even if there's the occasional overlap. This list depicts all the angel-specific ones that are seen in the game.
So what does that mean for me?
It means if your character is not too horribly traumatized to ever learn how to use your powers, you get to pick a small number (1 to 5 depending on your characters skill levels) of spells/abilities that they can use or learn to use. If none of the list suits your tastes, there is nothing stopping you from designing your own skills so long as they aren't too gamebreaking or godmoddy. Though should all be holy/light element based though. I can link other canon spell lists if you wish to get more ideas on this front.
Oh that's cool, about how strong are these spells?
If you train well enough and have enough talent? Very very strong.
...What are the downsides?
All spells take time to cast, in which they need absolute concentration. The stronger the spell, the longer it takes to cast. During this time? You are left completely open for attacks unless someone is defending you. You can shorten this time the more skilled and practiced you become, but that's awhile off for most of you.
Not only that, but these spells can be extremely energy consuming, especially if your character doesn't have the endurance training to handle this sort of power. Of course, the strong the spell the more energy it takes up. If you go beyond your energy limit, you will either pass out or temporarily revert to a soulless state until your body and crystal can replenish energy. The more you train, the more you can handle - but it might be more efficient for some to simply stick to less energy consuming ways of fighting and save this stuff as a last ditch attempt.
Anything else to keep in mind?
Cruxis Crystals are deeply interlinked with it's wearer's emotions. So your emotional and mental state will have a great amount of influence on the strength of these powers, especially when you're first learning. A person who is more accepting of this stuff will have an easier time, while a person who constantly try to rejects it will suck until it gets sorted out.
On the plus side of emotions, if the angel feels scared as in they are in a great amount of danger? Their abilities here will go much higher since it's sort of like their last ditch defense. Though some of you more unstable people might want to be careful to make sure this survival mechanism doesn't go out of control and you know, accidentally blow things up w h o op s.
Do ones without keycrests have these abilities?
They can, but they probably are even less likely to use them because they are so interlinked with emotions and individual thought.
KEYCRESTS
So what is a keycrest made out of?
A keycrest is carefully crafted from a type of ore called "inhibitor ore" that is native to Aselia. They have Angelic runes carved into them that work as a magical seal on the cruxis crystal. Angelic is like Aselia's verison of Latin or Hebrew or Aramaic where as it's the ancient language of the church that's no longer used in every day language. It is not necessary to be fluent in Angelic to be able to carve the runes, though it probably helps.
Where do we get the Inhibitor Ore?
You can wish for it from the castle? Yeah. Gotta have people sneak in and not get killed/captured by angels.
What do they look like?
They can take all sorts of shapes! Necklaces, brooches, chokers, bracelets- it varies based on the crafter and the person. As long as it's attached directly to the skin somehow, the shape doesn't matter too much. Though keep in mind, some shapes are easier to remove or break than others.
So are they easy to make?
HAHAHAHAHAHAH no.
Okay, so maybe for someone who has the skill level to do so, it's not too hard. However keycrests are a special dwarven craft that normally requires vast knowledge in their style of craftsmanship to be able to produce a quality one. And unfortunately, this is a set of skills that takes years of practice and learning to master.
Does it matter if my character is a genius engineer/inventor/crafter?
It definitely helps! At the starting point of Cruxisa, the crafters in the Resistance have been able to obtain the skill level to make keycrests that at the very least, get the person's humanity back and feelings of touch! Which is pretty good! However keep in mind keycrests require a set of skills that are different from what your character are used to. It's much like a linguist learning a language that have few similarities to the ones they already know: they are able to pick it up faster than other people without a linguistic background but it will take awhile for them to become fluent. Especially if you don't have a teacher.
What do you mean especially if you don't have a teacher?
Well there is one character in Cruxisa that has the skills required to make a quality keycrest: Lloyd.
Unfortunately for you guys? Right now...he's kinda a zombie. So you guys are very much starting from scratch.
Will it be possible for my character to become a keycrest master?
Sure! It's fully possible! It's just gonna take time since we don't want to make things too easy for you. :)
Can we wish for keycrests from the castle?
Nope. You have to keep in mind every keycrest brought into the castle is taken from presumably from some poor person on Aselia that needs a keycrest to live. So much like wishing for a fresh new liver - it's a no.
So the fastest way to get good keycrests would be get Lloyd unzombified?
Maybe! However that's very much easier said than done since he's been kind...brainwashed on top of everything w h o o o p s.
Do you people hate us?
Not at all! But where's the fun in making things super simple for you crafter guys?
Say in theory that my character becomes a keycrest master or somehow they get Lloyd back or whatever. Either way, my angel gets a super great quality keycrest. What happens then?
Then they go to a state to how the angel characters in Paradisa currently are: They can eat, sleep, taste things, fully feel things and maybe cry if that's their thing. Essentially you get all the cool perks without any of the horrible side effects. :)
Well except the hearing still hurts. And you still can't take the keycrest or cruxis crystal off. And you still have wings. But. Details.
GENERAL RANDOM QUESTIONS
My character had special abilities before they became an angel, will they still have them?
Yep! Most of that stuff should be completely unaffected unless it's some special case scenario. :)
Are there any characters who CAN'T be changed into angels?
Already dead characters (i mean like currently walking corpses) and characters that have a huge weakness to light/holy powered stuff would probably not be able to go through the transformation (aka demons). Also if your soul is already trapped into something else, the Cruxis Crystal would have too hard a time synching with you.
Non-humanoid characters...it's a case by case scenario. Robots are a definite no. Build your own wings.
Cruxis Crystals are the cause of all this it sounds like. Can I just remove it and make it all go away?
No. The consequences of removing a Cruxis Crystal ranges from mild to really effing terrible, depending on the circumstances in which you take it off. The circumstances are as followed:
Person hasn't gone through the Angel Transformation and HAS a keycrest: This is the only non-harmful way to remove a Cruxis Crystal. If you are able to reach a person whose had a Cruxis Crystal applied but haven't started the transformation, so long as you put a keycrest on them first you'll be able to remove it without any harm to the person! They will lose any benefits the crystal brought them, but will be able to live out their lives as a normal human/whatever they were. The catch of course is reaching them before the transformation happens.
Person hasn't gone through the Angel Transformation and DOES NOT have a keycrest: This is a terrible plan. Removal of the Cruxis Crystal without the keycrest to exert a stabilizing influence will cause the person's energy to go out of whack and turn into a monster. This monster will be terribly strong and the person whose been turned into the monster will only have sporadic short-term periods of control. But when those moments pass, they will attack even their own children. The only way to heal them from such a state is for an advanced magical healer to use a spell that requires a unicorn's horn.
But unfortunately, Mithos kinda took Martel's unicorn horn and Raine is a zombie. Oh, and you probably shouldn't kill Twilight Sparkle.
Person who has gone through the Angel Transformation and HAS a keycrest: Well you won't turn into a monster and your powers will go away! Exceeeept your body has been changed so much that it kinda depends on the crystal. So if you have it off for too long? Your organs will all start to fail and you will die. Maybe with super advance medicine this fate can be prevented if the person is put on life support until their organs learn to function again but uh, you guys live in a cave. Don't hold your breath.
Person who has gone through the Angel Transformation and DOES NOT have a keycrest: Weirdly considering how deadly a person is as an angel? No one has been stupid enough to try this in canon after seeing what happens when non-angels lose their crystals. Assuming, they turn into an even MORE powerful monster and everything around them dies. So really. don't.
In summary, keep your crystal and keycrest on and don't mess with it, kay?
What if we go to the Dead Zone? What happens then?
If you get a really good keycrest, you should be able to cross in and out of the Dead Zone with little trouble, though it will probably make you feel disoriented and sick.
With the quality of keycrest you guys have right now? It's not known what will happen, but you prooobably shouldn't risk it.
You keep mentioning the Angel Transformation, what's that like?
PAINFUL AS HELL.
Essentially what happens when a person turns into an angel is that it's a multi-step process in which bits of you are changed at a time as your Cruxis Crystal slowly synches with you. The first time, you gain wings but you also lose your ability to eat. The second time, you gain some advanced senses and light powers but lose your ability to sleep. Third time is more light powers but your ability to touch. Fourth is more light powers and but you lose your voice and finally the fifth is your mind and free will.
Every time your Crystal synches more, shortly afterwards your character will be overcome with feverish like symptoms and overall exhaustion. This will pass after a few hours or so...until it's time for you to synch more.
To make it even worse, the transformation goes more smoothly if the subject feels intense feelings like fear and a fighting instinct. So. Yeah. It's not done under nice conditions.
And to top it ALL of for Lifeless beings, while gaining your wings is pretty painless for Seraphims...you guys probably aren't so lucky since they are a permanent part of your body. So while this isn't the same canon, it probably doesn't look too different from this video here. (WARNING: It's bloody and gross as hell)
Oh wow. That's terrible. Is there anything else horrible I should know?
Well if you decide to kill your angel character- there is one thing to know. You see Cruxis Crystals are soul sucking rocks. Your soul is kinda tied to it when you are an angel (thus why people who can sense trapped souls can see detect them) and when you die your soul gets completely sucked into the rock and you kinda keep on ticking...but now you're just a rock. Wonderful.
This messes with Paradisa's two week revival rule a bit, since if a soul is trapped somewhere- it can't be resurrected by the castle. So if your angel dies and you want them to come back - make sure the cruxis crystal gets destroyed and the soul released. They then will return about 2 weeks from the time the crystal was destroyed. If no one destroys the crystal? Well, they stay dead. Yes. It sucks.
I'll be kind and saying that simply smashing the crystal with any sort of weapon that isn't meant to be soul sucking or destroying will suffice with releasing souls from Cruxis Crystals. Pray we do not alter it further.
What the hell is wrong with this canon!?Your guess is as good as mine!
Part of the information post, this post is devoted entirely to dem Angels you might have all sorts of questions about. Because you know, there's a lot of things here and there that are good to remember. Please read the information post first if you are staring at this with a complete blank look as this is more....bonus material than the actual meat.
I'm too lazy to click on that link, what are angels?
Jerks. :|
An artificially created race that is made when a person fully activates and syncs with a Cruxis Crystal through a long process. They received the name angels for the wings they receive and their powerful light based magic. Their strength, reflexes, eyesight, sense of smell and hearing far surpasses human or elven senses, but without a properly made keycrest they can have little to no sense of touch or taste. Angels may also lose the ability to eat, sleep, feel emotions or talk - but these things can be fixed if the angel uses a keycrest that allows them to remain more human/whatever race you are. The Cruxis Crystal freezes a person's aging - rendering them immortal unless killed. Angels come in two flavors: Lifeless Beings and Seraphims.
Oh Really? What's the difference?
Lifeless Beings: The more common angel during the age of Mithos made out of crappier Cruxis Crystals. A Lifeless Being Angel has the more traditional white or black feathery wings that can't be hidden. They receive their name from the dead look in their eyes and their suppressed free will/conscious. When they are without a keycrest, their minds and souls are completely numbed - they have barely any awareness of what is going on. When a keycrest is applied, they sure will remember everything though.
Examples of wings and outfits: 1 2 3 4
Seraphim: The more powerful sort of angel. Seraphim possess special
Example of Wings: 1 2 3 4 5 6
GENERAL ABILITIES
Enhanced Senses? How enhanced are we talking?
Very. I'll go down the list.
Vision: Is best described as probably pretty close to hawk vision. Zelos was able to tell when someone gained a pound or two, and they can also see extremely far away if nothing blocks the view. Not only this, but they seem capable of seeing through things like cloaking spells. You might be able to trick them with an illusion, but it's got to be an extremely good one, especially if it's an angel well practiced with their senses.
Hearing: Probably their most useful and most hindering ability. Angels are said to be able to hear the faintest of sounds. Colette was able to hear a key dropped amongst a building falling over. She could also hear people walking from incredibly far away. It's sort of like someone took the volume on the world and cranked it up high. It's very useful and makes it hard to sneak up on one paying attention, but on the flip side it's also pretty painful if there's a lot of noise. For former angels, there might be a bit of an adjustment period here.
Smell: The one that's left the vaguest, but pretty much compare it with a canine's sense of smell. You know, minus the urge to sniff people's crotches.
Well shit, how are they supposed to fight against that?
Well consider this- even if they all have enhanced senses? All that sensory information is pretty much useless if you don't have enough of a mind to process it. So if you're in the hearing range of an angel, it's very possible you can sneak up or hide from them simply because they are too mindless to notice anything is weird. It's when they are actively looking that you should worry.
Not only this, but even with former angels it would take time for them to fully get a good handle on their enhanced senses. Depending on the character, it might take them a bit of time to even start learning how to single out and process the infodump much like children have to do with regular human senses. And of course, there will always variance of how well someone can fully utilize their abilities.
What about the physical strength? How strong are they?
Pretty strong! They aren't Superman strength, but they are able to lift a large grown man easily with one hand and call that "light". So yeah. Be careful not to break anything while getting used to your newfound strength.
What about reflexes, dexterity and all that other jazz?
I would say their reflexes and dexterity becomes twice or three times better than typical human ones. However this one is highly dependent on how they were before the change. For example, Zelos who was agile and pretty acrobatic as a human is now crazy so as an angel and can do stuff like crazy flips in the air no problem. Meanwhile Colette who was clumsy...well she somehow trips on air and is much slower than Zelos.
They aren't like immune to bullets or anything are they?
Nope! They can take two to three times more hits than regular humans, but they are totally capable of being brought down by any means you can bring down a human. You just have to hit much harder and longer. Though something like blowing them to smithereens, decapitation or ripping them in half would still be instant death much like people.
Any other perks?
Gravity and heights isn't much of a problem for them. They can jump/fall from extremely high heights and land with no injury. They can jump up really high without needing to bring out their wings, though this again has to depend on what their physical capabilities were before they transformed.
Oh that's cool. Any real difference between Lifeless and Seraphim on all this above stuff?
Not that I know of since most of the major angel characters in Symphonia are Seraphim so poor Lifeless don't get much info on this front. It's safe to assume the Seraph are probably stronger and much harder to take down than the Lifeless, but the Lifeless are not pushovers in the slightest.
Wait what was that about lack of taste?
Hahaha oh yes...angels can't taste anything. This might be changed with a really good keycrest, but we'll save that for another section.
Can they still eat?
NOPE. Unless once again you have a very good keycrest, an angel will throw up anything they try to eat. They don't require food to survive, so think of it as their stomachs have kinda shut down.
What about drinking? What about alcohol?
....Sorry dudes. Sober living for you. You'd throw up it up before you even felt the effects.
What about sleep? You mentioned no sleep.
Angels don't require sleep! And without a really good keycrest, they won't be able to fall asleep either. On the bright side, they never show any signs of sleep deprivation unless you want to argue it sure isn't helping Mithos's mental state. If your character prefers, they can still meditate.
And what about touch?
Without a keycrest, they can't feel anything. Pain, heat, cold, someone touching you- you name it you can't feel it. With a keycrest, it depends on the level of quality and I'll leave it up to mun discretion about how much level of feeling they want their character to have since that part is left pretty vague.
So if you don't have sense of feeling, sex might be pretty pointless huh?
A-yup.
No food, no booze, no naps and no sex. I kind of want to cry.
Unfortunately, angel tear ducts don't work properly without a good keycrest. Sucks to be you!
WINGS
It took you this long to get to wings?
Shut up.
Let's start with the Lifeless- what do their wings look like?
Lifeless angel wings look like the stereotypical feathery wings. They are shown to be white and black, but they could probably also be grays or other neutral bird like colors. Some might seem bright enough to have a slight glow, while others are dull dull dull. They are also attached to their bodies, so have fun with that clothing wise. If you injured their wings, there'd be blood.
Can they hide their wings?
No. They can't will them away like Seraphim, no. But maybe they can invest in a big coat?
What about Seraphim? What do their wings look like?
Like bright fairy wings with feathers. The colors and shapes vary from person to person as seen in the above photos. They can be one color, multi-color- you name it. There isn't some clear answer for how and why wings look a certain color- you can probably think of it as the color of their aura. They can bright as a human sized tinkerbell or just have a small glow. Feel free to design them however you want. Also they are not connected to a person's skin, so no clothes are ruined.
Do Seraphim still have feathers?
Yep. They still moult and if someone touched their wings it would still feel feathery. I don't know how it works okay. Magic.
If Seraphim wings aren't connected to their bodies- can they still feel in them?
If they have a sense of touch at all? Yes! They very much feel like extra appendages that somehow just are disconnected from their bodies. Again, magic. Doing stuff like shooting a wing would probably hurt a lot.
If I injured a Seraphim's wing, would it bleed?
Probably not typical blood, since it's not connected to their body. Instead it would more likely bleed out their mana, which is a person's life energy. So it hurts. a lot.
How does one fly with these wings?
Part of it is typical motor skills, especially for the Lifeless. The more you practice, the better you can get. The wings have no problem holding up weight especially if it's an experienced flyer.
However an angel's wings and special abilities are deeply tied with their emotional and mental state, since part of flying is about thinking "fly there" and trusting your wings to do the work. So a person who loves flying and their wings will have next to no trouble figuring out how to fly. Meanwhile those who dislike flying or their wings will have much more trouble, possibly to the point of having a complete mental block that stops them from using their powers what so ever. This will go on until they figure out how to at the very least, separate their negative emotions about being an angel from their flying. Which you know, really sucks when most of you are horribly traumatized by your experiences.
Are wings tied to their emotions in ways beyond flying?
Yep! If you startle a Seraphim or make them fall, their wings will pop out automatically. Some might also give away any emotions they are feeling (think of how birds feathers get ruffled up sometimes when they are unhappy) unless they practice...hiding wing emotional expressions. Feel free to play with this how you want.
LIGHT SPELL ABILITIES
So we get magic?
Yep! One of the perks of angels is that they receive the ability to wield magic that is of the holy/light element. Which for those who are not RPG savvy, this means the element of magic that is super effective on things such as demons and the undead. Their biggest signature is that they tend to have a lot to do with feathers and holy symbolism. Yay.
Cool! What kind of spells are there?
It actually varies from angel to angel! Magic in Tales of Symphonia is highly dependent on a person's natural skill level and their personalities in a fight. If your character is the fighting/offensive sort, the spells tend to be more destructive in nature. If your character is more the healer/helper sort, the spells tend to lean more towards healing or things to help your friends. If your character is somewhere in between, well you have a mix of both but you don't excel in either. And so on.
There is no definite set of spells for Angels as all the Angel characters have different spells even if there's the occasional overlap. This list depicts all the angel-specific ones that are seen in the game.
So what does that mean for me?
It means if your character is not too horribly traumatized to ever learn how to use your powers, you get to pick a small number (1 to 5 depending on your characters skill levels) of spells/abilities that they can use or learn to use. If none of the list suits your tastes, there is nothing stopping you from designing your own skills so long as they aren't too gamebreaking or godmoddy. Though should all be holy/light element based though. I can link other canon spell lists if you wish to get more ideas on this front.
Oh that's cool, about how strong are these spells?
If you train well enough and have enough talent? Very very strong.
...What are the downsides?
All spells take time to cast, in which they need absolute concentration. The stronger the spell, the longer it takes to cast. During this time? You are left completely open for attacks unless someone is defending you. You can shorten this time the more skilled and practiced you become, but that's awhile off for most of you.
Not only that, but these spells can be extremely energy consuming, especially if your character doesn't have the endurance training to handle this sort of power. Of course, the strong the spell the more energy it takes up. If you go beyond your energy limit, you will either pass out or temporarily revert to a soulless state until your body and crystal can replenish energy. The more you train, the more you can handle - but it might be more efficient for some to simply stick to less energy consuming ways of fighting and save this stuff as a last ditch attempt.
Anything else to keep in mind?
Cruxis Crystals are deeply interlinked with it's wearer's emotions. So your emotional and mental state will have a great amount of influence on the strength of these powers, especially when you're first learning. A person who is more accepting of this stuff will have an easier time, while a person who constantly try to rejects it will suck until it gets sorted out.
On the plus side of emotions, if the angel feels scared as in they are in a great amount of danger? Their abilities here will go much higher since it's sort of like their last ditch defense. Though some of you more unstable people might want to be careful to make sure this survival mechanism doesn't go out of control and you know, accidentally blow things up w h o op s.
Do ones without keycrests have these abilities?
They can, but they probably are even less likely to use them because they are so interlinked with emotions and individual thought.
KEYCRESTS
So what is a keycrest made out of?
A keycrest is carefully crafted from a type of ore called "inhibitor ore" that is native to Aselia. They have Angelic runes carved into them that work as a magical seal on the cruxis crystal. Angelic is like Aselia's verison of Latin or Hebrew or Aramaic where as it's the ancient language of the church that's no longer used in every day language. It is not necessary to be fluent in Angelic to be able to carve the runes, though it probably helps.
Where do we get the Inhibitor Ore?
You can wish for it from the castle? Yeah. Gotta have people sneak in and not get killed/captured by angels.
What do they look like?
They can take all sorts of shapes! Necklaces, brooches, chokers, bracelets- it varies based on the crafter and the person. As long as it's attached directly to the skin somehow, the shape doesn't matter too much. Though keep in mind, some shapes are easier to remove or break than others.
So are they easy to make?
HAHAHAHAHAHAH no.
Okay, so maybe for someone who has the skill level to do so, it's not too hard. However keycrests are a special dwarven craft that normally requires vast knowledge in their style of craftsmanship to be able to produce a quality one. And unfortunately, this is a set of skills that takes years of practice and learning to master.
Does it matter if my character is a genius engineer/inventor/crafter?
It definitely helps! At the starting point of Cruxisa, the crafters in the Resistance have been able to obtain the skill level to make keycrests that at the very least, get the person's humanity back and feelings of touch! Which is pretty good! However keep in mind keycrests require a set of skills that are different from what your character are used to. It's much like a linguist learning a language that have few similarities to the ones they already know: they are able to pick it up faster than other people without a linguistic background but it will take awhile for them to become fluent. Especially if you don't have a teacher.
What do you mean especially if you don't have a teacher?
Well there is one character in Cruxisa that has the skills required to make a quality keycrest: Lloyd.
Unfortunately for you guys? Right now...he's kinda a zombie. So you guys are very much starting from scratch.
Will it be possible for my character to become a keycrest master?
Sure! It's fully possible! It's just gonna take time since we don't want to make things too easy for you. :)
Can we wish for keycrests from the castle?
Nope. You have to keep in mind every keycrest brought into the castle is taken from presumably from some poor person on Aselia that needs a keycrest to live. So much like wishing for a fresh new liver - it's a no.
So the fastest way to get good keycrests would be get Lloyd unzombified?
Maybe! However that's very much easier said than done since he's been kind...brainwashed on top of everything w h o o o p s.
Do you people hate us?
Not at all! But where's the fun in making things super simple for you crafter guys?
Say in theory that my character becomes a keycrest master or somehow they get Lloyd back or whatever. Either way, my angel gets a super great quality keycrest. What happens then?
Then they go to a state to how the angel characters in Paradisa currently are: They can eat, sleep, taste things, fully feel things and maybe cry if that's their thing. Essentially you get all the cool perks without any of the horrible side effects. :)
Well except the hearing still hurts. And you still can't take the keycrest or cruxis crystal off. And you still have wings. But. Details.
GENERAL RANDOM QUESTIONS
My character had special abilities before they became an angel, will they still have them?
Yep! Most of that stuff should be completely unaffected unless it's some special case scenario. :)
Are there any characters who CAN'T be changed into angels?
Already dead characters (i mean like currently walking corpses) and characters that have a huge weakness to light/holy powered stuff would probably not be able to go through the transformation (aka demons). Also if your soul is already trapped into something else, the Cruxis Crystal would have too hard a time synching with you.
Non-humanoid characters...it's a case by case scenario. Robots are a definite no. Build your own wings.
Cruxis Crystals are the cause of all this it sounds like. Can I just remove it and make it all go away?
No. The consequences of removing a Cruxis Crystal ranges from mild to really effing terrible, depending on the circumstances in which you take it off. The circumstances are as followed:
Person hasn't gone through the Angel Transformation and HAS a keycrest: This is the only non-harmful way to remove a Cruxis Crystal. If you are able to reach a person whose had a Cruxis Crystal applied but haven't started the transformation, so long as you put a keycrest on them first you'll be able to remove it without any harm to the person! They will lose any benefits the crystal brought them, but will be able to live out their lives as a normal human/whatever they were. The catch of course is reaching them before the transformation happens.
Person hasn't gone through the Angel Transformation and DOES NOT have a keycrest: This is a terrible plan. Removal of the Cruxis Crystal without the keycrest to exert a stabilizing influence will cause the person's energy to go out of whack and turn into a monster. This monster will be terribly strong and the person whose been turned into the monster will only have sporadic short-term periods of control. But when those moments pass, they will attack even their own children. The only way to heal them from such a state is for an advanced magical healer to use a spell that requires a unicorn's horn.
But unfortunately, Mithos kinda took Martel's unicorn horn and Raine is a zombie. Oh, and you probably shouldn't kill Twilight Sparkle.
Person who has gone through the Angel Transformation and HAS a keycrest: Well you won't turn into a monster and your powers will go away! Exceeeept your body has been changed so much that it kinda depends on the crystal. So if you have it off for too long? Your organs will all start to fail and you will die. Maybe with super advance medicine this fate can be prevented if the person is put on life support until their organs learn to function again but uh, you guys live in a cave. Don't hold your breath.
Person who has gone through the Angel Transformation and DOES NOT have a keycrest: Weirdly considering how deadly a person is as an angel? No one has been stupid enough to try this in canon after seeing what happens when non-angels lose their crystals. Assuming, they turn into an even MORE powerful monster and everything around them dies. So really. don't.
In summary, keep your crystal and keycrest on and don't mess with it, kay?
What if we go to the Dead Zone? What happens then?
If you get a really good keycrest, you should be able to cross in and out of the Dead Zone with little trouble, though it will probably make you feel disoriented and sick.
With the quality of keycrest you guys have right now? It's not known what will happen, but you prooobably shouldn't risk it.
You keep mentioning the Angel Transformation, what's that like?
PAINFUL AS HELL.
Essentially what happens when a person turns into an angel is that it's a multi-step process in which bits of you are changed at a time as your Cruxis Crystal slowly synches with you. The first time, you gain wings but you also lose your ability to eat. The second time, you gain some advanced senses and light powers but lose your ability to sleep. Third time is more light powers but your ability to touch. Fourth is more light powers and but you lose your voice and finally the fifth is your mind and free will.
Every time your Crystal synches more, shortly afterwards your character will be overcome with feverish like symptoms and overall exhaustion. This will pass after a few hours or so...until it's time for you to synch more.
To make it even worse, the transformation goes more smoothly if the subject feels intense feelings like fear and a fighting instinct. So. Yeah. It's not done under nice conditions.
And to top it ALL of for Lifeless beings, while gaining your wings is pretty painless for Seraphims...you guys probably aren't so lucky since they are a permanent part of your body. So while this isn't the same canon, it probably doesn't look too different from this video here. (WARNING: It's bloody and gross as hell)
Oh wow. That's terrible. Is there anything else horrible I should know?
Well if you decide to kill your angel character- there is one thing to know. You see Cruxis Crystals are soul sucking rocks. Your soul is kinda tied to it when you are an angel (thus why people who can sense trapped souls can see detect them) and when you die your soul gets completely sucked into the rock and you kinda keep on ticking...but now you're just a rock. Wonderful.
This messes with Paradisa's two week revival rule a bit, since if a soul is trapped somewhere- it can't be resurrected by the castle. So if your angel dies and you want them to come back - make sure the cruxis crystal gets destroyed and the soul released. They then will return about 2 weeks from the time the crystal was destroyed. If no one destroys the crystal? Well, they stay dead. Yes. It sucks.
I'll be kind and saying that simply smashing the crystal with any sort of weapon that isn't meant to be soul sucking or destroying will suffice with releasing souls from Cruxis Crystals. Pray we do not alter it further.
What the hell is wrong with this canon!?Your guess is as good as mine!