Position
Raphael belongs to the ancient Guardians of Malverand, becomes Michael's personal hand and enforcer after Barachiel's disappearance, and tries to restore imperial rule after the Malverand Empire fractures. He fights to restore Malverand's authority, first from Maraveth and later through Rahmavir, Zarephon, and allied chosen.
After his revival, Raphael directs Eliona, Azarion, Zorath, Ravira, Alice, and Rahmavir-aligned forces through Rahmavir, Zarephon, the source, Rimvold, and the Battle for Cyndarel against Isandriel, Thalion, Thalena, Aldar, Garrik, and the returned Order of Thalion Zenith.
Appearance
Raphael has white hair, blue eyes, and a cold aura that people around him feel physically. He commonly wears pristine white robes with pale silver or ice-blue accents, and he later wears sleek silver armor during the Battle for Cyndarel.
Personality
Raphael is commanding, intelligent, proud, nostalgic, and ruthless. He pursues source closure, restored imperial order, and protection for civilization through coercion, proxy forces, military occupation, hidden plans, and overwhelming force.
After his revival, Raphael's memory and stability are damaged. He relies on Gabriel for guidance, speaks of missing memories from the Fall of Malverand, and shifts between strategic clarity, grief for Malverand's lost past, and grand imperial ambition.
Abilities, Skills & Magic
Raphael is a guardian-level ice mage with divine defenses and fusion-magic applications. His strongest attacks create golden ice, monolithic hailstorms, battlefield snowstorms, freezing weather, and attempted ice-age effects over fleets, cities, and open battlefields.
His divine shields withstand massive bombardment, and his Malverand heart lets him regenerate until his reserves are exhausted. Jin, Ignatius, and later Aldar survive against him by sustaining extreme heat, lightning, plasma, air, and fire pressure long enough to overwhelm that regeneration.
Raphael is also a powerful commander and investigator. He coordinates fleets and shielded cities, reads unfamiliar essence signatures, studies the source as a breach to another world, distributes Gabriel's source-charged crystals, and uses old Malverand artifacts and second-generation god cores as strategic assets.
History
Raphael serves in Malverand's ruling guardian circle after Barachiel disappears through the Vireen gate. He enforces Michael's authority in Maraveth, keeps pressure on rebellious territories, and gathers the guardians as the empire struggles with the loss of the spiral shards, spreading darkness, and the failure to choose a successor.
As the guardians split, Raphael pushes for restored imperial order. He argues for humanity under Malverand rule, opposes secession and disorder, and eventually allies with Eremion to divide Malverand, monitor Isandriel, and fight Thalion's Order.
During the Fall of Malverand, Raphael attacks Jazarel, battles Eremion and the Order's forces, and later fights in the destruction around Maraveth. Jin and Ignatius finally burn through his regeneration after Raphael spends much of his power trying to freeze the battlefield, leaving only his Malverand heart to survive.
Eliona revives Raphael from that heart centuries later. The restored Raphael returns with missing memories and a deep dependence on Gabriel. He rebuilds power through Rahmavir and Zarephon, argues that the source is a breach that must be closed, and uses Rahmavir's chosen, Alistair's network, and old Malverand technology to fight the returned Order.
Raphael later fights over Zarephon and Cyndarel. After Alistair destroys Zarephon in Alice's guise, Raphael publicly credits Eliona and Azarion. He privately rewards Alice. He then becomes trapped in Cyndarel when Aldar recreates a Xalmyrran-style darkness cycle around the city.
Aldar defeats Raphael at Cyndarel by countering his golden ice with fire and air until the Malverand heart's regeneration slows. Gabriel descends in a failed attempt to save him, and Alistair detonates another hidden object after the Battle for Cyndarel, takes Raphael's Malverand heart, and presses it into his own body while claiming Aldar's spiral shard. Afterward, Gabriel can no longer detect Raphael, and the surviving faction moves forward without him.
Relationships
- Gabriel: Raphael's god and long-term partner after his revival. Gabriel gives Raphael memory, guidance, ice power, and later source-charged crystal artifacts. Raphael's damaged memory and unstable revival leave him dependent on Gabriel.
- Michael: Raphael is Michael's personal hand and enforcer after Barachiel disappears from Malverand.
- Eremion: Raphael makes a temporary alliance with Eremion to divide Malverand and fight the Order.
- Eliona and Azarion: Eliona revives Raphael and later follows his orders through Zarephon, the source descent, and the Battle for Cyndarel. Azarion follows Eliona and fights as a Raphael-aligned guardian before Gabriel chooses him as the hurricane shard's wielder.
- Alice: Alistair infiltrates Raphael's faction as Alice, engineers Zarephon's destruction, and later takes Raphael's heart after Cyndarel.
- The Order: Raphael's enemies include Isandriel, Thalion, Thalena, Aldar, Jin, Ignatius, Garrik, Zhang, Khoradyn, Eira, Kaelion, and the returned Order of Thalion Zenith.
Return and Death
At Cyndarel, Gabriel breaks his pact with Raphael before choosing Azarion.