Deva

A deva was a category of aasimon or angel. There were three types of devas: astral devas, monadic devas, and movanic devas.

Description
Devas appeared as human-like men and women of extraordinary beauty or handsomeness with two magnificent feathered wings emerging from their shoulders. Monadic and movanic devas stood around 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, while astral devas were around 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall. Their coloration varied: astral devas were golden-hued with fair hair and amber eyes; monadic devas were dark-skinned with black hair and green eyes; and movanic devas were milky-white-skinned with silvery hair and eyes.

Devas were averse to clothing; when they must adhere to mortal custom, they donned simple loincloths or other coverings.

When a deva died, all parts of their body, what clothes they wore, their weapons, and their other possessions vanished completely, and thus none were ever examined closely.

Personality
No deva would negotiate with beings known to be evil, but those of non-lawful inclination sometimes dealt with neutral beings.

Society
There were three varieties or orders of devas: the astral devas, the monadic devas, and the movanic devas. Though the orders differed in might and magical power, they were of equal political status and saw no rivalry between them. Nevertheless, the orders might sometimes bicker over differences in personality, but they always cooperated. Each had a different role in the grand scheme of the Upper Planes. Astral devas chiefly existed to battle fiends in the Lower Planes. They also traveled to the Astral Plane to rescue lost or stranded mortals of good alignment. Monadic devas existed to watch over the Elemental Planes; they could survive any elemental environment without ill effect. The privileged movanic devas traveled to the Prime Material Plane to aid prominent followers of the gods of good in times of great need. While they more often appeared disguised as humanoids or animals, they could manifest in their winged angelic form if this suited their needs.

Activities
Devas were messengers of the good gods, able to go wherever in the planes they were ordered. However, they often had to be proactive and deliver their messages at the points of their swords, and, indeed, preferred it. Thus, they were also mighty warriors in the battle against evil, wherever in the multiverse it appeared. They almost always acted on the orders of the gods, but were often summoned by powerful spellcasters to do good work, via a high-level summon monster, gate, or planar ally spell. Only rarely did they act on their own, but when they did, it invariably involved righteous violence.

Homes
Within the Great Wheel cosmology, the devas were known to dwell in the Upper Planes, those Outer Planes that were aligned with good, namely Arborea, Arcadia, the Beastlands, Bytopia, Elysium, Mount Celestia, and Ysgard.

Relations
The devas served the gods of good as their proxies and served the cause of goodness itself. They were classed among the "celestial stewards", the most mighty and just of angels who directly served the gods of the Upper Planes, and included devas, lights, planetars, and solars. Devas were known to serve the deities Azuth, Deneir, Ilmater, Lliira, Milil, and Mystra.

They served as the common soldiery in the armies of good in the eternal war against evil. They were a fundamental component of the forces of good, forming a reliable and strong vanguard of the Upper Planes, alongside the agathinon. They dwelled and worked in total harmony with the other beings of the Upper Planes, and had a close relationship with other aasimon, especially planetars. On occasion, when the need was great, a planetar would lead a band of devas on a mission for a good deity.

Powers
Devas had all the core powers and abilities of the aasimon or angel.

After the Time of Troubles of 1358 DR, all devas were reported to use the spells cure disease thrice a day; cure light wounds, detect snares and pits, and dispel magic each seven times a day; heal once a day; and detect lie, invisibility 10-foot radius, light, polymorph self, protection from evil, remove curse, remove fear, and tongues as often as they willed. They also a constant infravision.

After 1358 DR, they were known to be immune to injury from cold, electricity, gases, natural fire, non-magical weapons, and magic missile. They could not be petrified or poisoned. Astral and movanic devas were resistant to magical fires, while monadic devas were completely immune. From 1372 DR, they were immune to acid, cold, petrification, and resistance to electricity and fire, and monadic devas were also still immune to fire.