Agathinon (singular and plural, pronounced: /ɑːˈgɑːθənɒn/ a-GATH-uh-non[1]; also singular agathion, pronounced: /ɑːˈgeɪθiɒn/ a-GAY-thee-on[5] 
listen, and plural agathia[note 1]) were good-natured spiritual messengers and warriors from the Upper Planes.[3]
The Netherese goddess of magic, Mystryl, employed these angels as messengers, along with many other noble beings.[6]
Description
In their natural form, agathinon were somewhat elfish in form,[1][2][3][4] standing between five and seven feet and weighing between 130 and 190 pounds.[4] They had multicolored skin that shimmered like opals and eyes that glowed.[1][2][3][4] Male and female agathinon had the same height and weight.[1][2][3]
However, agathinon never appeared in their natural forms when on missions to other planes; they were always in disguise as something else. That something could be just about anything, humanoid, animal, or other creature, or even an inanimate object or weapon.[1][2][3] In any form, agathinon radiated a magical aura.[4]
Abilities
An agathinon healing a fallen mortal.
When in the form of another creature, agathinon had could mimic both the physical and the magical abilities of the forms they took.[1][2][3][4] Additionally, when in the form of a human, agathinon were known to be able to cast divine spells like moderately advanced clerics.[1][2][3][4] In any living form, the agathinon could turn undead.[1][3][4]
If in the form of an inanimate object, they were able to grant any good person using the object with the power to cast low-powered clerical spells and the ability to turn undead.[1][2][3][4] If an evil person were to touch an agathinon in object form, he or she would be harmed by magical energy.[1][2][4]
Besides their powerful ability to change form at will to something roughly their size—with the associated qualities and powers[4]—and besides the inherent magical abilities common to all angels, agathinon could use clairaudience, clairvoyance,[1][2][3] or extra-sensory perception[1][2] to observe others at will, and they could hold others from moving.[1][2] They were able to become ethereal[1][2][3] or travel the Astral Plane[3] whenever they desired.
An agathinon was immune to magic spells that would drain life or cause instant death, to disintegration, and to positive energy.[1][2][4] They could not be harmed by mundane weapons.[1][2][3][4]
Agathinon could communicate to any creature in any language using their telepathy.[1][2][3][4]
Like other angels, an agathinon could not be slain if not on its home plane; instead, its spirit would reform on its home plane over a period of between ten and sixty years.[3]
Personality
Agathinon were stoic and uncompromising. As warriors, they were fearless unto death.[1][2] On missions to the Material Plane, they were benevolent and kind.[3] They were utterly devoted to the cause of good.[1]
Combat
Despite being warriors of the celestial realms, agathinon never fought in their natural forms; they always either transformed into a powerful creature to fight in that form or else they turned into a weapon for another warrior to wield.[1][2][4] If somehow forced to fight in its natural form, an agathinon's touch inflicted damage from positive energy.[3]
If in the form of a human, agathinon favored typical clerical blunt weapons.[1][2][3][4] They did not wear armor; as shapeshifters, they felt hindered by such an outer "shell". They did sometimes use shields.[4]
Society
Agathinon were the warriors of the aasimar.[1][2] If the Blood War ever spilled into the Upper Planes, the agathinon were the ones to respond.[4] There were great multitudes of them in the Upper Planes,[3] yet they almost always worked alone when sent to the Prime[1][2][3] by a celestial stewards or one of gods or goddesses directly.[1][2] In this role, their purpose was to aid mortals against evil.[1][2]
When taking a form on the Material Plane, they most often chose a human form. A little more than a quarter of the time, they but appear as some other creature, and only one in ten times would they take the form of a magic object.[1][3]
When serving as warriors, they were the elite troops of the celestial armies, found in the vanguard in numbers as much as a hundred strong. They usually fought in human form but would take the forms of more powerful creatures as needed.[1][2]
Appendix
Notes
- ↑ The original spelling in 1st edition was "agathion", a real-world term for a familiar spirit. 2nd edition changed the spelling to "agathinon". Whether this was a misspelling, an attempt to distinguish the angel type from the planar layer of the same name, or a distancing from occultic terminology is not known.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 J. Paul LaFountain (1991). Monstrous Compendium: Outer Planes Appendix. Edited by Timothy B. Brown. (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 1-56076-055-9.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 Allen Varney, ed. (June 1994). Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix. (TSR, Inc.), p. 5. ISBN 978-1560768623.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 Gary Gygax (August 1983). Monster Manual II 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 9. ISBN 0-88038-031-4.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 Christopher Perkins (April 1999). Warriors of Heaven. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 37–39. ISBN 0-7869-1361-4.
- ↑ Frank Mentzer (January 1985). “Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #93 (TSR, Inc.), p. 25.
- ↑ slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 49. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
Connections
Celestial Stewards: Deva (Astral deva • Monadic deva • Movanic deva) • Light • Planetar • Solar