Angel of the Abyss
Also known as: The Protector
GUARDIAN"Do what you must and bring forth justice to save what is good for mankind." — His father's final command, now his operating code.
Overview
Angel of the Abyss is the last survivor of a destroyed people—a martial lineage systematically betrayed and eradicated by patient infiltrators and his own brother's treachery. He escaped only because his father saw the betrayal coming and sacrificed everything to send him away.
Now he waits, trains, and prepares—not for revenge, but for the day when the forces that destroyed his people come for this world too. He carries his father's pendant as a reminder of sacrifice and purpose.
He is GG's trainer, the source of her discipline and technique. He shares spiritual common ground with The Seeker, grounded in Scripture and prayer. He is a warrior who wants to be a redeemer, a killer who chooses mercy, a man carrying enough rage to burn the Sprawl down who instead channels it into protection.
They call him Angel of the Abyss—one who has descended into darkness and returned as a force for light.
The Name
The name carries biblical weight—Apollyon, Abaddon, the angel of the bottomless pit. But he wears it differently. He is not destruction incarnate. He is the one who goes into the abyss to pull others out.
Those who know him understand: the abyss is where he came from. The destruction of his people, the betrayal by his brother, the loss of everything—that was the pit. He climbed out. Now he reaches back for others.
The Survivor's Burden
Angel comes from a community that was destroyed by betrayal. For over a hundred years, an enemy bloodline infiltrated his people, learning their ways, gaining trust. When they struck, they struck from within—aided by his own brother, who fed them tactics, weaknesses, everything they needed.
His father saw it coming. Not soon enough to save their people, but soon enough to save his son. As the end approached, his father gave him two things: the information to escape, and a pendant—a physical token of everything their lineage stood for.
The Debt to His Father
He must be worthy of the sacrifice that saved him.
The Hunt for His Brother
Justice, not revenge, but justice nonetheless.
The Preparation for Return
The enemy will come here eventually. He'll be ready.
The Faith
Angel's spirituality is grounded in Scripture—what he calls "the source of code which is the source of God." In a world of fragments and neural interfaces, he finds truth in ancient text.
The Bible survived the Cascade. Digital copies persisted in hardened archives. Physical copies survived in the hands of believers. For Angel, this persistence is itself proof—the Word endures when civilizations don't.
Deep Meditation
Stillness that balances the violence of his purpose
Scripture Reading
The source code, the divine instruction set
Prayer and Ritual
Not passive hope, but active communion
Divine Guidance
He enters battle having sought direction
Angel keeps a journal—a physical book in a world of neural interfaces. He calls it "The Chronicle." It's his understanding of holy text, written out in his own hand.
The Sanctuary
The Sanctuary exists outside normal space—a dimensional pocket accessible only through a secret code that Angel alone knows fully. The technology that enables this is unclear—pre-Cascade remnants, fragment-derived engineering, or something his people developed before the end.
Variable Gravity Zones
From crushing weight to near-weightlessness, forcing the body to adapt to any environment.
Environmental Extremes
Ice chambers, heat rooms, toxic atmosphere simulation—discomfort becomes familiar.
Temporal Flexibility
Time moves differently inside. Hours of training can pass while minutes elapse outside.
Combat Scenarios
Opponents that don't hold back, simulations of every threat Angel has faced or imagined.
"You don't rise to the level of your hopes. You fall to the level of your training. So we train until falling still means victory."
Combat Philosophy
Angel doesn't fight to win. He fights to create space—to put his body between danger and those he's protecting, to give others time to escape or recover. His stance is defensive. His movements create distance. He takes hits that weren't meant for him.
Offer Mercy First
Every enemy gets one chance to stop
Incapacitate When Possible
Broken bones heal. Death doesn't.
Kill Only When Necessary
When innocents would die otherwise, the calculus changes
Carry the Weight
Every life taken is remembered. No kill is casual.
In the Sanctuary, there's a set of drums—old, physical, analog. Angel uses them for meditation, for training timing, for finding the rhythm that underlies all movement. His combat style reflects this—rhythmic, percussive, each strike landing on a beat that only he can hear.
Relationship: GG
GG came to Angel as raw talent without structure. She could fight—she'd been fighting her whole life—but she fought angry, desperate, without discipline.
He saw something in her. Not just potential, but a kindred spirit. Someone who'd lost things. Someone who could go either way—toward destruction or toward purpose.
Discipline
She was wild. He gave her control over herself.
Control
Power without control is just destruction.
Persistence
She wanted to quit. He wouldn't let her.
Resilience
How to take a hit and keep moving.
Inner Peace
The stillness at the center of violence.
Technique for Good
The choice of what to fight FOR, not just against.
GG is the daughter Angel never had. He's protective of her in ways that transcend teacher and student. When she's in danger, his higher tiers unlock easier—the keys of meaning and purpose align around her safety.
Sample Dialogue
On his purpose:
"My father died so I could live. I live so others don't have to die."
On his enemies:
"The enemy trained with us for a hundred years. They learned everything. Everything except why we fight. That's why I'm still here and they're still afraid."
On mercy:
"GG asked me once why I don't just kill them all. I told her: because then there's nothing left worth protecting. Including myself."
On training:
"I don't train to fight. I train so that when I fight, I don't have to think. Thinking is for before. Action is for during. Grief is for after."
On his name:
"They call me Angel of the Abyss. I've been to the bottom. I know what lives there. And I know the way back up."
Flaws and Vulnerabilities
Too Lenient
His mercy has cost him. Enemies he spared have returned. People he could have stopped permanently have hurt others. He knows this, struggles with it, and still chooses mercy when he can.
Fights Alone
He doesn't trust others to handle the danger. When combat begins, he moves to take everything on himself—even when allies could help, even when shared burden would be smarter.
The Rage Beneath
Under all the discipline, all the mercy, all the spiritual practice—there's a furnace of rage. For his people. For his father. For his brother's betrayal. He touches his father's pendant when he feels it rising.
He's terrified of becoming the thing he fights. The pendant, the prayer, the constant discipline—transcendence without these anchors is just another word for losing yourself.
Connections
GG
His student, his greatest success. The daughter he never had. He taught her everything—discipline, control, technique. When she's in danger, his power unlocks.
The Seeker
Fellow travelers on different paths up the same mountain. They share faith but express it differently—The Seeker through contemplation, Angel through action.
The Brother
His personal antagonist, still at large. The one who betrayed their people. When they meet, it will test everything Angel believes about justice versus revenge.
Mysteries
Questions surrounding Angel of the Abyss:
- Where did his people come from? What was their full history?
- What is the Sanctuary's true origin and technology?
- Where is his brother now? What is he planning?
- What exactly did Angel see when he died and returned?
- What is his father's pendant? Just a memento, or something more?
- Who else has trained in the Sanctuary?
- When will the patient enemy finally come to the Sprawl?