Gabriel is a god of ice and the god of Raphael, one of the Malverand Empire's guardians. Raphael draws his power through an ice shard.
After Eliona revived Raphael, Gabriel supplied memories of the ancient battle that Raphael could not recover himself. He remembered Raphael freezing their opponents before the abyss undid their victory. Gabriel also helped Raphael recognize Thalena as the girl they had fought in the past.
Raphael later unleashed an immense wall of ice during the fighting near Varnhallow, freezing land, air and seawater until Aldar countered it with fire. Gabriel guided many of Raphael's plans as they worked to rebuild Malverand. Eliona noticed Raphael's dependence on the shard and questioned whether Gabriel was influencing his behavior.
Gabriel was a god of snow and ice allied with Raphael and the effort to rebuild the Malverand Empire. He empowered Raphael through an ice shard, strengthened other mages through crystals made from his own body and later formed a pact with Azarion. Azarion ultimately unmade him during the fighting in Ulzathir.
Appearance
Gabriel's human form was a small man with a smooth face, icy blue eyes and long white and golden hair. His finely woven robes incorporated frost crystals.
Magic
Gabriel raised immense walls of ice and blizzards that froze the air and concealed entire battlefields. He could manifest a human body, return to the God Realm when it was destroyed and descend again near people who believed in him. His available power was limited during each descent, even after he accumulated enormous reserves of essence. Fighting beside a wielder allowed him to bring more of that power into the world.
Gabriel absorbed essence from the source beneath Zarephon while his body remained submerged in its lake. He offered himself for an experiment lasting centuries. Raphael later retrieved parts of that body, which crumbled into dust to reveal charged crystals. Mages absorbed these crystals into their bodies, gaining immense supplies of essence and stronger spells. The crystals were unstable and could turn their recipients into essence bombs.
Hurricane Shard
Gabriel's pact with Raphael produced an ice shard. When he joined Azarion, the shard instead resembled a spinning tornado of ice, combining Gabriel's cold with Azarion's air magic. Gabriel could communicate through it and manifest separately while Azarion carried it. Azarion used its power to create a hurricane that continued spreading after he lost control.
History
Raphael and the source
Gabriel was born alongside Kharvos, Khauren and Nerissa. He became the god of Raphael, one of Malverand's guardians. After the empire's fall and Raphael's eventual revival by Eliona, Gabriel supplied memories that Raphael could no longer recover himself. He remembered their victory before the abyss undid it and helped Raphael identify their surviving enemies.
Gabriel exchanged information with the entity accompanying Alistair. Their shared opposition to Isandriel and the Order led to an alliance with Raphael. The entity passed on discoveries from Alistair's intelligence network, including the Order's activities. At Gabriel's request, it attempted to enter Varnhallow, where Horol’Khai forced it to retreat. Gabriel apologized afterward.
Following Rahmavir's capture of Zarephon, Raphael investigated the source with Gabriel. He eventually placed Gabriel's body at the breach beneath the lake, where it absorbed the incoming essence. Gabriel and Raphael also encouraged Alistair's network to exploit Ozaith's hostility toward Thalassai, hoping the ensuing conflict would weaken their opponents.
War in Valrindor
Gabriel appeared in Ishtanûr and taught Ishqari to strengthen her ice magic. He helped prepare Zain's campaign against Rimvold, then defended the captured city with Ishqari. A snowflake crystal he gave her dissolved into her body, leaving white lines across her skin and amplifying her blizzards.
When the allied army attacked Rimvold, Gabriel and Ishqari drew Virel into their storm. Gabriel offered to spare him if he helped kill the remaining Order members and submitted Haverloch to Raphael. Nahm prolonged the negotiation until Maric arrived. Maric countered Gabriel's ice with fire and water, then destroyed his manifested body in close combat. Gabriel returned to the God Realm.
After Zarephon's mountain was destroyed, Gabriel praised Eliona and Azarion for supposedly eliminating Thalena, Eira and Kaelion. He presented the disaster as their victory despite their denial of responsibility. He then descended in Pelagia, using a snowstorm to pressure its consuls into hearing his terms. He promised that Raphael would leave Thiravos and Theryssa alone if they attacked Xalmyrra and shared their gate knowledge. He accepted Nerissa's condition that Garrik be kept alive.
Gabriel and Raphael had agreed to end their pact so Gabriel could choose a stronger wielder. He selected Azarion after observing his attempts at unmaking for centuries. Azarion accepted, and the hurricane shard formed in his palm. Gabriel withheld a crystal from him because he needed him alive.
While the Order besieged Cyndarel, Gabriel repeatedly descended to fight the attackers and seek outside help. He arranged Ravira's return and sent Nero's forces toward Erenmyr to draw attention away from the siege. He also gave Qadir a crystal for Zain's attack on Pyrenis. Qadir became an essence bomb; Gabriel later told Zain that the detonation had been unintended.
As Azarion's uncontrolled hurricane swept across central Valrindor, Lythariel tore apart another of Gabriel's manifested bodies during the battle on Erenmyr's shore. Gabriel found surviving allies, helped Azarion locate Eliona and ordered Rahmavir skyships to retrieve them from Therendros. Following Raphael's death, he named Eliona and Ravira to lead their forces.
Final defeat
Gabriel gathered reinforcements and prepared to support Zain against Haverloch and Thalassai. During the final battle, Azarion drew immense quantities of essence through their pact before severing his own shard hand. Cassian stabbed the falling hand with his golden sword and used unmaking to cut Gabriel's connections to the God Realm. Kaelion warmed Cassian's freezing hands, but recoil from the unmaking struck Cassian down.
Garrik took the sword and continued unmaking Gabriel with Eira, while Kaelion countered the cold. Azarion returned and finished the weakened god. The shard and severed hand disappeared, and no trace of Gabriel remained there.
His crystals survived him. Myrelia became an essence bomb soon afterward, forcing the survivors to flee. At the Valrindor Council, Torukhan and Ravira confirmed that others still carried crystals. Ravira agreed to examinations where the recipients consented.
Relationships
- Raphael: His former wielder and ally. Gabriel supplied memories Raphael had lost. They agreed to end the pact so Gabriel could bind himself to a stronger mage while Raphael continued their shared campaign.
- Azarion: His later wielder, chosen for his strength and developing unmaking. Their pact gave Azarion the hurricane shard; Azarion eventually severed it and destroyed Gabriel.
- Eliona: Raphael's deputy and Gabriel's ally. Gabriel helped save her after the hurricane and appointed her to lead their surviving forces with Ravira.
- Nerissa: A god born alongside him. Gabriel negotiated her nations' participation in the attack on Xalmyrra and accepted her demand to preserve Garrik's life.