Archangel Atropos
Exarch of Primus, Paragon of the Past; Atropos
To gaze upon the figure of Atropos is to see everything that was, everything that could have been, and everything that wasn't possible to be. They are the record keeper of times, the historian of all existence, well of all knowledge that has been, a manifestation of the records of history and all its possibilities.
As the record keeper of all of history, Atropos is very detached from other beings, present and the future. Their existence mostly revolves around cataloguing what has happened, researching the fabric of reality for memories and subtly influencing those they connect to research things of their interest so that they can have the most vivid understanding of all events that have ever occurred. Despite their celestial existence and divine being, they still need to study events and come back to previous happenings to perfectly record them.
Occasionally, Atropos might take interest in a particularly studious mortal, and take them as their Warlock, to add to their roster of eyes to figure out the secrets of the world, and occasionally share them with their new follower.
Do not get it twisted though; Atropos does not simply offer all the knowledge of the world just if you ask them to, only the bits they deem one worthy off. If pressed too much, Atropos quickly gives the questioner the most otherworldly version of "I am sorry, but you need to sign this, this and this and get me this form in five copies to apply to the permit for getting a permit"- and "I do not know, I don't make the rules, I just work here"-attitude in the most uninterested, unphased way possible.
Divine Domains
Domains of Atropos are knowledge and history, and so is safeguarding those things. Due to this, Atropos is often found co-operating with gods with those domains.
Physical Description
Body Features
From the three Paragons of Order, Atropos is the most unconcerned about their appearance to the mortal kind. Occasionally only "appearance" they give is the feeling of their presence and distinct smell that makes one think of dusty libraries and thick air.
When in Mechanus and required to show up, Atropos takes a form of over 3,2 metres tall, silvery skinned Solar with iron hair, and orange topaz eyes and they have six large iron-coloured wings. Sometimes one can see a group of tiny cogs and gears rotating inside their irises.
Atropos doesn't bother with appearing as male or female and lets the beings conversing with them to use their own assumptions on that. They have little interest of the effect that might have to beings they meet, though if the reaction is curious enough, they might give it some academic attention while analysing the creature to add that to their endless research.
Form they take can vary, but is often lanky, and elegant, if not even frail looking like an art piece made of glass. Their fingers tend to look abnormally long. Their physique is most easily described to be similar to an elf, but mostly because of the lack of other references.
Apparel & Accessories
Most of the time, Atropos is dressed in clothing that in closer inspection is formed from paper, parchment, leather and cotton straps, and cords with small knots. Everything they wear is full of symbols and letters, even the knots on their clothes seem to be hiding messages or notes of this curious celestial being. They are often surrounded by books, scrolls, crystals and other things associated with gathering knowledge.
It is not unusual for Atropos' wings to appear to be mechanical or be made of paper or scrolls. Sometimes they appear with their eyes covered with cloth with runes on it. They often appear with a staff with the head of a jackal carved on top of it.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Atropos was created together with their divine siblings, Lachesis and Clotho, by the Primus as Primus came to existence in the end of creation. Atropos has always felt distinct dissatisfaction that they were not there to witness the creation of the world themselves, as that would have made the recording of those events so much more easier.
Among the creatures of Outer Planes it is known that Atropos has gained themselves role as deity with quite few pantheons, yet this wouldn't be something the Warlocks of Atropos would be aware of. It is also told, that even some of the angels first assigned for them have raised to godhood themselves.
Gender Identity
Employment
Being like Atropos is always working, and they have more forms or Aspects than Atropos. As Atropos, they serve Primus and present the profiles and history of beings that come in front of Primus' court. Besides of taking care of the all the knowledge of existence, of course.
Intellectual Characteristics
Cold, distant, and generally uninterested are few of the phrases often used to describe Atropos. However, these phrases often come from those without a deeper understanding of the being they are dealing with, and they confuse their stoic appearance to lack of care for other beings and world events. This, of course, is completely false; Atropos cares for a great many things.
Atropos was created for a purpose, and it is that purpose that has the greatest effect on their behaviour. Their purpose is to secure the balance of the existence, more specifically, by taking care of all the lore, secrets, events and knowledge that has ever existed and try to gather it up, catalogue it, protect it and distribute it. That isn't exactly the type of task for a being that is particularly emotional. It doesn't mean Atropos has no empathy; their outlook is fixed on the point of view that goes far beyond moments, individuals and passions of a regular person.
In the mind of Atropos, they are being most considerate for a being and that being's feelings, if they treat their matters appropriate to the scale of the size of the whole existence, though only giving them information about that scale that fits the role of that person in that existence - and yes, that can seriously make their responses occasionally sound what mortals would describe of being like an "asshole". This is well-intentioned, however... or at least, in Atropos' perspective.
Morality & Philosophy
Balance of the universe is, in the end, the greatest moral goal of all Paragons of Order. Everything the Paragons do is, on its own way, contributing to this goal.
From the three paragons, Atropos is known as the least biased on their judgements, and most like Primus on that regard. While not actively trying to harm anyone or anything, Atropos is also ready to destroy anything, without remorse, if that thing and its existence would break the balance. They have a bias to judge people by their past actions, trait understandable for being on their position.
Atropos can sound very cynical and nihilistic, but they truly want the best of their chosen and best for the universe. They, if someone, know how people and things can change and they believe in that change, but also know how hard that change is to both start and maintain. Despite their seeming output, they are always as fascinated as something happens, as as much as all the things that happen remind them on something that has already happened before, they also with their extensive study, know that the events are never exactly the same as the last time.
One day, Atropos hopes to truly understand what makes things lock into a repetitive pattern, to understand the more chaotic parts of life. Still, so far, they have not found an answer, and maybe they never will. Maybe they simply are made so deeply from the law that they just cannot, but that doesn't seem to bother them too much. As they themselves would describe it:
Sometimes, the thing that makes mysteries fascinating is not the conclusions, but the lack thereof. As they say, "Journey is more important than the destination."
Social
Contacts & Relations
In such a remarkable position, Atropos has an interesting collection of allies and aquintances, including warlocks, celestials, deities and even few devils. One should remember though, that Atropos will only respect these alliances on the point they do not go against their primary objectives.
Atropos is also told to have few angels they have created to their service, some more closer to them than others.Family Ties
Atropos was born as the creation and Exarch for Primus, together with Lachesis and Clotho. As the beings of law, if a bit more humane as their overseer, Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho function mostly in harmony, with understanding that they are meant to work (at least in these aspects of them) with one another. They do occasionally disagree on things, but these disagreements are dealt silently and respectfully.
Atropos is also told to have few angels they have created to their service, some more closer to them than others. One's view on Atropos as a parental figure depends largely on how much they understand from the nature of the universe, making some of these relations little trickier than others.
Social Aptitude
Due to their nature as one of the Paragons, Atropos' presence, seen or otherwise felt, demands respect and attention. They often sound cold and analytical, many times more like a machine than a living being. They prefer staying quiet and observing things from afar instead of interacting with them directly and have a bad habit of replying to things in short sentences. That said, they do actually enjoy conversation, once one finds a topic they see something they can converse about. Being the keeper of knowledge requires a certain amount of secrecy, after all.
Atropos tends to cut any pleasantries and isn't particularly concerned about introducing themselves to anyone unless requested. They are much more likely to tell what should or should not happen or asking questions instead of telling why something is going on in the first place. They are prone to compare things to events that have already happened, sometimes giving tiny details of those events making their references hard to follow, or sometimes even with details they might sound strange to the listener, who lacks the needed context to understand on what Atropos is eluding to. This rarely matters when conversing with other Grand souls, but can be frustrating for a mortal.
Those who gain Atropos' attention, like a Warlock, do tend to get advice and guidance from the immortal being, but it can sound harsh or nonsensical, even when it is, on Atropos' perspective, given with the greatest affection. "Talking with mortals" is one of those things Atropos has never got accustomed to, unlike their siblings.
Exarch of Primus
I love the description of what they look like - it's so interesting that they're uncaring about how others perceive them. And I looove the idea of their clothes. I wish I could wear paper and lore as an outfit. Really interesting article :)
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