The Angiris Council

The Angiris Council is a protagonist faction in the Diablo franchise. It is the ruling body of Heaven and consists of the most powerful archangels in existence. Though their numbers have declined, it remains Heavens ruling body and a powerful force of light.

History
After the death of the God Anu, his spine became the Crystal Arch, which allowed the High Heavens to be born. And from the Arch, was born the Angels. Malthael was the first born of them, but soon the angels Imperius, Auriel, Ithereal and Tyrael were born. The became the Angiris Council and became the rulers of Heaven. Eventually the discovered the Burning Hells and the demons that inhabited it, and thus the Eternal Conflict began.

For countless millennia, the Angiris Council lead the Heavenly hosts against the Infernal Hosts lead by the 4 lesser evils, Andariel, Duriel, Belial and Azmodan, and the 3 prime evils, Diablo, Bael, and Mephisto. Across the cosmos angels and demons clashed again and again with both claiming equal numbers of victories and defeats. When the Council fought together, they were nigh unstoppable. But they were not always unified. On one such battlefield, Imperius entered the demons lair without the consent of the others and confronted Diablo. The rest of the Council arrived just in time and defeated Diablo. Auriel suggested he be imprisoned, but Imperius inistsed that "Against his kind, there can only be blood for blood!" and slew Diablo. As he died, Diablo mocked the Council's "Unity".

Discovering Sanctuary
"I say that the renegade must be forever imprisoned and his nest of demon-spawn eradicated!"

- Imperius casting his vote "I did call them abominations...and I was wrong! My vote is for them...For I would see what they might become...and marvel in it."

- Tyrael casting his vote "Let their potential be developed...for in them I think there is a chance that we may see the end of our struggle at last!""

- Auriel casting her vote "But they also have the greatest potential to serve the Light...A potential that could surpass our own roles...And so I vote that they be given their chance."

- Ithereal casting his vote "Whatever the choice in the end, it does not matter for me...I abstain."

- Malthael abstaining

As time went on, certain Angels and Demons grew tired of the never ending violence and banded together to create a world where they hoped Angels and Demons could coexist. The new world was named Sanctuary, and from Angels and Demons were born the Nephalem. It was not long before the Council discovered Sanctuary. At first they decided that Sanctuary should be destroyed as the Nephalem had powers that rivaled those of Demons and Angels, and had demonic blood in their veins. However, when one of the Nephalem, Uldyssian sacrificed himself to save Sanctuary from the Prime Evils, the Council began to have a change of thought and decided to vote for Sanctuary's survival or destruction. Auriel and Itherael voted that Sanctuary be spared. Malthael abstained, while Tyrael made the final vote for humanity.

The Council's fracture
During the years following Sanctuary being spared, the Council faced internal problems. Imperius felt betrayed by Tyrael for voting to spare Sanctuary. Tyrael even went to Sanctuary sometimes to help humans against the Prime Evils when the threatened them. Auriel tried to break up the arguments for the two archangels, while Malthael's mood darkened. After the destruction of the Worldstone, Malthael vanished. When Belial and Azmodan invaded Sanctuary, Tyrael and Imperius came into a violent conflict which ended with Tyrael sacrificing his immortality and descending to Sanctuary to help a new hero who would eventually be discovered as a Nephalem. Shortly afterwords, Diablo, as the new Prime Evil invaded Heaven and bested Imperius. None of the Angels could withstand Diablo, but the Nephalem came, rescued the Council and defeated Diablo, imprisoning him inside the Black Soulstone.

The Council at first decided to keep the Soulstone in Heaven, but it's evil energy continued to spread discord and eventually Tyrael left Heaven for the final time and hid the stone on Sanctuary. But Malthael, now the Archangel of Death decided to use the stone to eradicate humanity. Malthael even turned against the Angiris Council to achieve his goals. Ultimatly the Council once again sided with the Nephalem and defeated Malthael. But the Nephalem grew bitter and resentful towards the angels, believing them no different from the demons, and with their power growing and still having the flaws of a normal human, the Angiris Council fears that one day the Nephalem and Sanctuart will become an even greater threat to the universe then the Burning Hells.