alright, because i am absolutely going to forget if i don't post it anywhere and i should probably put it up for your approval or tweaking, here's an angel lore dump!
- existence has its rules in order to keep its balance, and the angels are the ones put on it to enforce those rules. the magic they have is basically the power of the universe put at their fingertips so that they can ensure things don't tip out of place. their job is not necessarily to keep the peace. it's just to make sure that nobody puts things out of order. people can kill each other all they want as long as they don't fuck shit up while doing it.
- angels are not naturally all that powerful. while they each have natural reserves of magic they can use freely, the actual power the realms have come to fear them for come from borrowed magic they take from the highest-ranking angels, called the guard. these guys are the ones given the magic of the universe and it's basically their job to decide who gets it and when. whenever an angel is in a situation they believe calls for more power than what they naturally have, they'll call upon the power of the Guard, at which point one of them will look over their situation, decide whether it deserves the power, and lend as much as needed if deemed necessary. this rule is put in place in order to ensure lower-ranked angels do not abuse the power of the realms.
- the more natural power an angel has in their reserve, the closer of an eye the Guard will put on them in order to make sure they don't abuse it. angels with power close to that of the Guard are basically on 24/7 watch. it's pretty inconvenient.
- angels are sorted into four rankings. low-level, mid-level, high level, and the Guard. rankings are given based on how many tasks they've taken on in the past and how well they perform them. the higher the ranking, the less close of an eye is put on them; lower rankings are typically under higher scrutiny all the time, while high ranks are basically allowed to do whatever they want unless actively requesting power from the Guard.
- rankings are discerned by wing count. low-level only has one pair of wings, mid- has two, and high- has the classic archangel three. the Guard also has three and is instead differentiated by a quill they carry somewhere easily seen and accessible on their person. the quill is symbolically supposed to represent how they sign off on the actions of the angels to lend them their power. the quill does not actually do anything and is purely symbolic. they do not literally have to sign off with a quill on every request, as they get hundreds of requests a minute, and that would be incredibly inconvenient.
- angels' natural form is one of pure, divine light. it's blinding to look at to the average mortal and also kind of inconvenient, though, so to make their jobs easier, they can take any form. they have default forms for each species for going undercover with little thought, but they can take any other form as well. typically, whenever a mortal looks at them, they'll just see the default form for their own species. this is so that people don't get blinded when looking at an angel that's been caught off-guard and hasn't had the chance to transform.
- when their divine magic is in use, the light from their natural form will seep through their skin and cause them to glow.
- hybrids cannot shapeshift and are permanently stuck as the species of their non-angel parent.
- an angel is created when a mortal dies heroically, similar to norse mythology. the only difference is that they don't necessarily have to go down in battle or any sort of violent situation; all they have to do is die selflessly somehow, and they'll live again as an angel. this offer extends to any species. if a worm dies heroically, it will live to be an angel.
- angels can also create via the reproduction of whatever form they take. this, however, is incredibly taboo, as it risks the balance of the universe. angels can also create with one another, which is generally considered fine as long as they get permission beforehand. they have to take a non-light form in order to do this and carry out the pregnancy to term, though, so angels usually opt out of this.
- each member of the Guard specializes in a certain role. for example, one may be a battle angel, the other takes care of documentation, another is security, another monitors mortals if need be, etc. these roles make up the departments. every angel has a department and can change departments by request (though their rank will reset if they do so). it's like a normal job, but you work for God.
- the Guard only approves the power requests for angels under their department.
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i might have come up with more but if i did i forgot so i'll tell you later
EDIT: FORGOT SOME SHIT BUT I REMEMBERED alright here we go
- as wings are the way ranks are differentiated within the angel species, when one is exiled, their wings will typically turn pure black to tell people who see them "hey, this angel fucked up". their access to the Guard's power will be cut off entirely, as well as access to talk to any angel in general.
- angels with naturally low reserves of power will usually be left completely alone after exile. angels with higher ones will be watched closely to make sure they don't pull anything.
- if an angel fucks up too badly in exile, they'll typically be forced to kill a human, as that's the only true way to kill an angel.