(art by Maricu-Mana on DeviantArt)

We’ve covered a lot of these mythic destiny archetypes so far, everything from fiendish demigods to avatars of raw magic to even nacent gods themselves, but while we’ve covered fiendish demigods in training, we haven’t yet talked about the celestial equivalent, the ones who would be new empyreal lords and the like.

These are those who are born to ascend to celestial power before they die. It may be destiny, or it may be a reward and empowerment from some god. No matter the source, however, these beings represent mortality elevated to something greater, and an inspiration to all with good in their hearts, and a terror to those of unrepentant evil.

However, while they are paragons of good, don’t think that these individuals lack personal struggle. After all, it is often true that the greatest paragons are the ones tested the most, and even angels must struggle with dilemmas.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of ascended celestials are celestial nephilim/aasimar, but it’s not a requirement, and even tieflings count among their number sometimes. What’s more, they can be of any clade of celestial, be it angel, archon, agathion, azata, or something else.

So let’s see what ascending in such a way means!

The base dedication for this archetype comes with a will like iron, able to better resist mental effects, and even stubbornly refuse to move when they would otherwise behave erratically. What’s more, they can emit an aura of light that sooths the fears of those within it, and allows the would-be celestial to bless allies with a measure of their own tremendous willpower.

By transferring some of their divine essence to an ally, they can shield them in a protective barrier that not only helps protect them from attacks, but also sears the senses of the wicked and potentially pushes them back when they attempt to attack the recipient.

Blessed as they are, these holy beings leave the ground behind, gaining the ability to fly. For many, this manifests as a permanent set of angelic wings, marking them as something more than mortal.

Drawing upon the power within, some ascended celestials can cause their divine spark to flare up, not only broadening the area of it’s light, but also invigorating them and hardening their flesh against physical assault, while their own blows carry the weight of their will, knocking back foes with each swing.

While many walk the path to ascension alone, some are lucky enough to have a celestial advisor they can meditate to contact for advice. When doing so, such mentors can offer information about a topic, as well as guidance for near and distant future events so they might make the most with what portents are available.

Some celestials are able to transcend all language barriers, and so the ascended sometimes manifest this ability as well. Additionally, with a bit of mythic power they can gain supernatural insight into how to best ingratiate themselves to anyone, even enemies.

While still mortal, the celestial power of these being can sometimes manifest in an aura of otherworldliness that turns would-be lethal blows into barely noticeable strikes, disheartening the foe as they come to understand how beyond them the celestial has become.

Each day, the more warrior-like among them can bless a single favorite weapon with celestial power, letting it strike not just the body but the soul as well, blind attackers, and even leap back to the wielder’s hand with a command. With an expenditure of mythic power, they can even extend a lesser version of these benefits to allied weapons for a short time too.

Those with healing magic often find their healing arts to be even more potent, able to even cleanse diseases and poisons with basic healing magic, to say nothing of the potency of the healing itself.

An ascended celestial is truly an army of one, and with a gesture they can send out their blessed weaponry to lash out at every foe within the light of their nimbus, rendering their number’s advantage moot.

With senses unclouded, many of the ascended emulate the truesight seen in many celestials. What’s more, their association with truth makes most lies rankle their senses instinctively, making it very difficult indeed to deceive them.

Eventually, unleashing their spark doesn’t just blind foes, it actually turns the ascended celestial into a being of divine fire that burns on contact and even enhances their fire magic. This flame is especially harmful to undead, fiends, and aberrations as it cleanses their taint on contact.

Their aura can also be used to greatly inspire allies and frighten foes with a flare of mythic power as well.

Finally, the most powerful of these beings truly ascend to a celestial status, transforming into their idealized form as a celestial of the type they strove to become. In this state, their healing magic heals themselves even as they heal others, and they can revive the recently slain with a touch or use mythic power to resurrect the deceased who have been dead longer. Additionally, for these celestials death is not the end. They instead are reborn elsewhere as a celestial Nephilim to grow up under the watchful gaze of guardian celestials until they come of age and regain their power and their memories, albeit distantly so as not to overwrite their new identity.

This archetype has some fun abilities like blessing their weapons and gaining flight, but I think the core of the archetype is their holy nimbus aura and the way various feats enhance it. Divine classes are perhaps the most obvious choice here, but really any class can be an ascended celestial. In fact, many of the feats available are multipurpose. For example, turning oneself briefly into a holy fire is equally good for both monks and for spellcasters since that also improves their fire spells too. No matter what your build is, I imagine that at least some of it is dedicated to buffing nearby allies within the protective aura of their nimbus.

Being a would-be celestial comes with a lot of baggage, as you might imagine. Much like being born and aasimar or the like, it comes with a lot of expectations, but also the hope that they will rise to the challenge.Sadly we’ve seen in the Pathfinder setting how some folks are not up to the challenge, but how they choose to handle that can vary a lot, as can how they choose to behave when they can handle it as well.

Half a century ago, Saint Amelia ascended to the state of a celestial being for her effort during the Gemstone Wars. However, what few realize is that this was not a reward for services rendered, but a preparation for what was to come.

Most would consider the protoceratops to be quite the unassuming animal, but the humble courage and charming form of the dinosaur captured the heart of Velin the Brave when he was a mortal, and so it became his symbol when he became an empyreal azata lord.