Angels / Sera-im

Angels? Angels? You still call them angels? They are no angels. They don't help anyone, and they're more interested in punishing those who break the law -- any law mind you, even wicked laws -- than in giving succor. And... look at them. Every nightmare I've had in the last 30 years has had those things in it. If you ask me, Eziareal got it backwards. Who helped free the feren? Jahannan did. That's who is here to make things better. Sera-im are just here to torment us.

— Millok the Exiled, shortly before being stripped of his priestly office.

Sera-im (singular serai) are known by humans as angels primarily because no one was harmed in the first encounter between the two species. Even though their primary virtue is never engaging in violent conflict with humans, a substantial number of humans extended that to benevolence, and the moniker "angel" spread widely. Naturally, the dissemination of this name was not impeded by the similarity of appearance between many depictions of angels in Nogibozan art and sera-im appearance.
Sera-im are vaguely amused by the misnomer, and most believe the humans are steering themselves for trouble, but also have a laissez faire attitude so long as it doesn't violate any treaties or laws.

Basic Information

Anatomy

More or less humanoid, sera-im are slightly taller than humans, averaging 2-2.2 meters. By human standards, they appear extremely slender, bordering on emaciated. Their anatomy is not really understood by humans, however, and their visible muscle mass is apparently unrelated to physical strength. Sera-im are less physically powerful than jahannan , but are more powerful than humans .
Sera-im appear just a little off to many hunabs and feren. Their limbs seem just a little too long for their frames, they have 3-4 long, slender fingers on each hand, with a similar number of toes, which also seem abnormally long.
The skin of sera-im is white or yellow -- not jaundiced but a true yellow. More often than not they have metallic tones, being compared to gold, brass, silver, or platinum. Their eyes are blue or green, and each eye has two pupils set in a figure-8 shaped iris. The pupils dilate independently.
Sera-im boast large, powerful, feathered wings. Compared to sera-im skin, the feathers of their wings are riotous, with bright red, blue, yellow, and green feathers. Each serai's wings have a unique color pattern, but it is not easily distinguished by those not familiar with the individual serai, or with sera-im as a species. The color pattern is copied in their hair, which most sera-im wear long, past their shoulders.
Sera-im lives are extremely long. There is no record of a serai dying of "old age" on Caldonia. Fortunately, they also appear to reproduce very rarely. It is unclear whether sera-im even reproduce sexually. What they would do otherwise remains unclear.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Near as I can reckon, angels eat nothin'. Not that they don't eat, but they eat nothin'. If you got some nothin' around, they can eat it for ya, ye ken?

Like jahannan, seara-im do not consume and digest matter to sustain themselves. Unlike jahannan, sera-im do not need to get their life force from living creatures.
Instead, sera-im absorb the ambient energy around them. Heat if they need to, but the sustenance is improved if the energy is released quickly and in immediate proximity, such as a chemical reaction. Any release of energy is useful, be it magical expulsion, friction, geo-tectonic forces, etc. Strangely, this does not appear to grant any sort of additional resistance to the consequences of violently applied energy. Sera-im will still bruise or break when hit with a solid object with enough force; yes, they will be "fed" by the transfer of kinetic energy, but they will still suffer fractured bones.
The practical upshot is that angels don't really eat. Ever. They do very little for pleasure or experience, and that is the only attraction eating could possibly have for them.

Civilization and Culture

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Nearly all angels are followers of apparaxi-im -- a spiritual philosophy focused on peace through obedience to rules and structures. Order brings calm and peace. It is through the lens of apparaxi-im that communal behavior of angels manifests. Official laws are held in reverence, so long as the governing body that created the laws can be considered legitimate. Written laws and rules are likewise sacrosanct. No proper angel will violate these laws, and if it's not against those laws, they will do what they can to help enforce them.
Angels do not appear to develop many significant individual relationships with peers. Their most significant personal relationships are mentor/student relationships.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Demons like feren and cerebreks, but they don't like humans. But that's ok, because humans don't like demons either. And no one likes the elves. But even elves are never sure what angels are up to.

Foremost in otherworlder law is not to harm others. Though they acknowledge the first contact incident between the jahannan and Eziareal was an accident, to this day they still disapprove of the events, believing the jahannan should have been more careful. Jahannan and sera-im were not a particularly close pair of species in their home world, but since their immigration to Caldonia, the relationship has only grown more strained.
Angels interact with other species in much the same way. Aloof diffidence is the mood of most interactions. The exception are feren. Angels steadfastly refused to participate in the feren rebellion. The established law was that feren were slaves, and that satisfied most sera-im. The inherent cruelty of slavery bothered some, but not enough to violate the law. Now that the law has changed, many sera-im have a less judgemental attitude toward feren, though there is a nontrivial amount of resentment among sera-im that feren dared change the rules.

Lifespan

unknown, but very long

Average Height

2-2.2 meters, with a wingspan slightly longer

Average Weight

55-90 kg

Average Physique

alarmingly thin and uncannily tall