The Crown Archons (Archangels, Glorious Bright Ones, Watchers, Authorities)
Greater Powers (as a whole) of Mt. Celestia, LG
The Crown Archons are the legendary rulers of Mt. Celestia. Related to the Tome Archons in the same way that the Lords of the Nine and Baatezu Nobles are to the Dark Eight, they are said to include Azrael, Raguel and Israfel (and Gabriel, Raphael, Michael and Uriel if you so choose). Their devotees claim that they are all the forerunners of a coming power called 'Wisdom' who will show all races how to live with good sense and in true harmony.
They are depicted in art as being vast, beautiful angelic creatures. Each carries an emblem of their field of interest, ie: A trumpet for Israfel, a scythe for Azrael, and a crown of shining stars for Raguel. Saraqael, the Angel of Repentance, is depicted with a long shield, with which he turns sinners around and defends the repentant from temptation. The Crowns are worshipped by many races, but have particular popularity amongst humans, bariaurs, dwarves, aasimar, (peculiarly) tieflings, and any Lawful Good races peculiar to your campaign who may be interested too.
Their spheres of interest are specifically:
Other Manifestations
The Crowns sometimes send prophets to tell their chosen people (or sometimes others) of their will, although such an event has not occured outside the prime for some hundreds of years. They also manifest their pleasure or displeasure in natural forces such as fire and the wind. And an especially lucky mortal may sprout wings for a short time to rescue them from danger.
The Church
All priests of the Archonite faith may choose one of the following bonus proficiencies: Languages (Classical common); Planar survival (Mt. Celestia). In the Realms, these may be replaced by Languages (Thorass) and Religion (Any LN or good faith).
Dogma: The Archonites teach that the archons are the purest and truest beings in the Multiverse, and that they epitomise a wisdom that is beneficial to all. The full Archonite creed is reproduced here.
Day-to-Day Activities: All Archonites are expected to adopt the sect of the same name if they can. Archonites worship once a standard week, in their temples, which are usually called churches. No physical sacrifices are required of Archonites, although charity is encouraged strongly. Archonite services usually involve eight or more sung hymns or canticles, and a special blessing administered by the priest.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The two most important feasts of the Archonite calendar occur at exactly opposite ends of the year. Hopetide is the time when all Archonites celebrate the hope they have, through revelation in their holy scriptures, that Wisdom, Sophia herself, will one day come and restore the world to its senses. The first day of Hopetide, Esperance, is preceded by the Quiet Eve, a night of meditation and fasting. The actual feast of Hopetide, which lasts for two weeks from Esperance, is spent praying, attending celebratory services, with much singing of hymns and canticles, and eating traditional foods such as chicken and fhorge. The other great feast of the year, Culpabilitie, is a time for worshippers to call to mind their sins and failings in the past year and to pray for forgiveness and guidance. During the principal service of Culpabilitie, the priest magically marks the back of each supplicant with the sign of a pair of wings. The mark is red or purple, and covers the whole back, lasting for at least two weeks, and vanishing when, after two weeks, the worshipper receives a weekly blessing. The imposition of the mark requires the back to be bared, and the worshipper usually kneels and leans forward while this is done. Culpabilitie is the prinicpal feast of the Penitent tradition, while Hopetide is favoured by the Sapient and Militant branches of the church. (In the Realms, a single tenday is observed instead of two Sigilian weeks. Esperance falls on 15 Hammer, and Culpabilitie on 15 Flamerule. Most Faerunian Archonites worship at home.)
Major Centers of Worship: The main churches of the Archonites are the cathedrals at Excelsior (actually at Monks Higher, two miles outside the city) and at Yetsirah, and the pro-cathedral of St. Azrael in the Rue Morgue in Sigil. Other churches are found throughout Arcadia, Mt. Celestia, K'un Lun, Avalon, Bytopia, Elysium, Arborea and the Outlands. (In the Realms, there are very few established Archonite churches. A prophet, one Loranna Tekutem (hef/P5 Archonite Sapient/LG) has been preaching at the Plinth in Waterdeep since the Time of Troubles, but has no real congregation. A small shrine to Azrael is attached to one of the cemeteries in Suzail.)
Affiliated Orders: The only military order officially associated with the Archonites are the Order of the Stars, based at Fortitude. They accept only human members, and are not really well-regarded by the rest of the church. They cooperate closely with the Harmonium.
Priestly Vestments: An Archonite priest traditionally only wears
full vestments when celebrating services in church. Among the Sapient tradition,
all priests tend to wear white robes with gold or silver trim, consisting
of a white cassock, a cream or white amice and surplice, a cope, chasuble
or tunical of some seasonal colour (see below) and a white stole with the
ends marked out in the colour of the season. The Penitents tend to substitute
grey or black for white, and do not use metallic trim outside of Hopetide.
They also forego the over-robes (cope, etc.) much of the time, and see
nothing wrong with celebrating a blessing service robed only in a cassock
and stole. The Militants wear the same as the Sapients, but never wear
over-robes, always have a red girdle on over everything except their stole,
and sometimes wear red cassocks, particularly on the feast days of martyrs.
The seasonal colours are as follows:
Adventuring Garb: All priests of the Archonite faith wear one or more of the listed holy symbols about their person at all times, usually on a ring or around the neck on a chain or cord. When adventuring, they may choose to wear a tabard with a picture of an archon on if they wish, but this is not compulsory. There are no hard-and-fast regulations here, but priests of the Militant tradition make sure they have a red girdle or armband on if at all possible.
Speciality Priests
The experience progression table for all priest types is found in Faiths and Avatars: Appendix 1: Priest Group Classes, and the speciality priest table is equivalent to that for druids.
Granted Powers
Second level spell
This spell is only usually employed when a member of an Archonite church has made a special confession, or during Culpabilitie. The subjects (who must be willing) are touched on the back (which must be bare) by the priest at the end of ten minutes of solemn prayers and canticles. A mark like a pair of archons' wings appears on the recipient's back, usually in red. If the recipient is not a faithful Archonite or devotee of some other good religion, the wings are batlike instead. They remain for two weeks, and then disappear as soon as the recipient receives a blessing from an Archonite priest (of any kind). The mark stings slightly, but has no detrimental game effects, and is worn mainly as a sign of penitence.
This spell is identical to the above spell Mark of the Angels except for its level, and the fact that the area of effect is ten people per level. Note that this spell's level restricts it to the Penitent tradition.