Warden archon

Warden archons were the watchers of the Seven Heavens of Celestia and the ever-vigilant guardians of its gates. Powerful summoners could call on warden archons for extraplanar aid.

Description
Warden archons were large, bear-like archons with dexterous hands instead of paws,  but these furry hands ended in razor-sharp, black claws. They were about the size of an ogre, standing between eight and ten feet tall. Their thick fur was colored white or like silver or gold. When one looked into their tiny, clear, black eyes, their intelligence was obvious.

Wardens were often garbed in plate mail engraved with holy and virtuous symbols. They were always observed wearing metal collars about their necks and bracers about their arms. These ornaments were not actual metal; they were mystical representations of the archon's rank within the hierarchy of Celestia and could not be removed.

Personality
Hating battle, warden archons were gentle giants by nature, to the extent that they came across to the ignorant as lazy. Such misconceptions were proven severely wrong if these archons were forced to defend their realm. Similarly, despite their great intelligence, they sometimes "played stupid" if it might give them an advantage.

Warden archons had a better understanding of life on the Prime Material plane than any of the other archons, because of the time they spent observing those worlds. For the same reason, they were more likely than other celestials to fall, as they were exposed to so many more temptations.

Wardens rarely ever spoke with their lips, preferring instead to rely on their telepathic powers of communication, though some said that they often communicated vocally with ursine animals.

Abilities
Like all archons, wardens could speak and understand any language they desired. They were also telepathic. They could teleport anywhere that they wanted without a chance of failure. They could also create a source of continual flame whenever they desired. Warden archons and anyone close to them were magically protected from evil at all times.

They were resistant to many magical spells, immune to petrification and electricity, and could not be affected by mundane weapons. They could see in darkness  and had a strong sense of smell. They were easily as strong as a grizzly bear.

Warden archons were masters of divinatory magic and could innately cast most such spells. In fact, a warden archon could accurately sense the alignment of any being in its presence. It was said to be impossible to surprise a warden archon; they were perpetually aware of their surroundings,  thanks to their keen senses of hearing, sight, and smell and their assaying of alignment. They could not be tricked by spells such as nondetection or misdirection.

Combat
If driven to combat, wardens were said to fight like bears, using their sharp claws and powerful bites  and crushing their foes in a powerful "hug".

Like other archons, when engaged in battle, a warden archon produced a menacing aura of righteousness that negatively affected its foes' ability to fight against it.

Society
Warden archons were rarely ever encountered outside their home plane. Because of this, there was great confusion among the sages of the Prime as to the true purpose of warden archons in the hierarchy of Celestia. Some suggested that these "Watchers" had the dual task of protecting the gates of the heavens&mdash;that is, the portals between Celestia's layers &mdash;and observing the Material Plane through great scrying pools. They seemed to report the findings of their observations directly to the tome archons.

The celestial paragon Sealtiel was the patron of the warden archons. They would travel to his fortress of Pax Exaltea to receive new assignments.

Promotion
Warden archons were created from the promotion of hound archons who had obtained platinum collars. As the warden progressed along a path of goodness, the metal of its collar and bracers appeared to change from lead to tin to brass to bronze to silver to gold and at last to platinum. When a warden archon with platinum accoutrements was promoted, it was transformed into a sword archon wearing lead.

Ecology
Warden archons never slept. Unlike true bears, wardens were herbivores. They devoured large amounts of roots, shrubs&mdash;even trees&mdash;but only for one hour at the end of their day.