Zoaem

These endlessly curious archons are formed from spinning wheels of golden light given corporeal shape. They serve as lookouts and mobile support troops for the archon legions, at times uniting to form powerful warriors of light called gestalts. Larger collectives of zoaems can even temporarily fuse into greater archons, approaching the power of the first zoaem, which broke itself apart to serve Heaven more efficiently.

Archons are guardians of Heaven and enemies of corruption. Before gods and their servants set foot in the celestial planes, archons already resided in Heaven, the original inhabitants of the realm. Upon meeting, the archons and divine angels quickly discovered they were of a kind, holding justice and righteousness in their hearts. An alliance was formed, and archons now serve as stalwart allies to all celestials and mortals they find worthy.

While the first archons coalesced from the immense seven-tiered mountain of Heaven, they choose willing and worthy Heaven-bound souls to join their ranks. These mortals hear and answer the call of a mysterious voice, manifesting in the Garden at the mountain's peak. There they swear to forever serve the cause of justice and transform into their new archon forms.

Though deeply concerned with defending mortal life and willing to sacrifice themselves in battle against fiends, archons often feel rote and inscrutable to others, and their forms can border on frightening and bizarre. For this reason, they often have issues with interacting with mortals, or with the free spirited azatas. Despite this, archons draw great strength from others, especially those who exemplify virtue.

Beyond their celestial allies, archons also maintain ancient ties with aeons. The inscrutable factions can still be seen working together to defend longforgotten secrets and enforce rules that predate mortal life. Archons explain these missions as necessary without further elaboration, leaving even their angelic allies frustrated with archons' obstinance.