| creature_tl=3
| creature_cat=Angelics
| creature_disp=[[Factions|Faction:]] [[Heaven, Ltd.]]
| creature_ac=C1
| creature_ps=100%
* Upon casting the shield, the creature becomes engulfed in a protective shield, which will block all incoming damage. It will break after sustaining a certain amount of limb damage. If a light shield is already active, the technique can be used again to refill the existing shield's HP back to full.
** The light shield counts as '''Armored''', with '''40 HP''' and '''LDV-0'''.
** The light shield engulfs the user, which means it takes priority over personal body armor and/or shields, but will not engulf counts as a '''special shield''' (behind [[Covercover]]. The order but in front of priority is as follows: [[Covershields]] > ''Light shield'' > Physical shields > Target creature (AC/body armor)in the [[Shields#Defensive order of priority|defensive order of priority]].
** The light shield is fully impenetrable until broken - there is no pass-through of damage until the shield is broken, which makes it possible to survive powerful hits without taking damage (other than the casting costs), even if they would destroy the shield in one hit.
* This technique is an '''Angelic power''' which requires '''2 AE''' to cast.
* This technique can be aimed at self, or at any other creature in the room. It requires no accuracy check; the technique always succeeds.
* Upon casting the spell, the targeted creature will instantly heal 30% [[Pain]], [[Limb health|4 HP per limb]] on all limbs, and close 2 random open [[wounds]] (prioritizes DWs first), and heal 2 random [[fracture|fractures]].
=== Light ball ===
* Inflicts no [[Pain]] or [[Limb Damage]].
* This technique is an '''Angelic power'''. The creature must be equipped with a [[gohei]] to use this technique.
* This technique's sole purpose is to charge the [[gohei]] with Charge points; at a rate of '''1 AE for 1 Charge point'''. Any amount of available AE can be converted into Charge points, up to the Goheigohei's maximum amount.
=== Divine-gating ===
Equipped weapons:
* Holster 1: [[Beretta 8045 Cougar]] (8+1 /8, 9x [[.45 ACP]], Standard JHP)- IS 3** Combined effects: 1.8x damage against unarmored ACs, 0.5x damage against armored ACs, FT +1* Holster 2: [[Gohei]]- IS 1
Inventory:
* Pistol mag rig, Ammunition: 3x [[Cougar magazines|Cougar 8-round magazine]] (Each: 8 /8, 8x [[.45 ACP]], Standard JHP)
Creature traits:
* '''Angelic''': This creature is angelic, and therefore has access to certain '''[[Angelic powers]]''' (listed above as techniques), and the resource needed to cast them, '''Angelic Energy'''. See this page for more details.
* '''FlightCannot be butchered''': This creature is capable of flying using its '''wings'''. As a free actionOn death, this creature may toggle Flight on or off once per turn. If Flight is on's body quickly fades then disappears, this creature receives the following effects:** Primed [[Explosives#Directional mines|directional mines]] will not be set off by a flying creature on the same Side.** Opponents attacking a flying creature suffer from a [[FT]] malus: FT+2 with melee attacks, FT+1 with ranged attacks.** Flying creatures cannot take [[cover]].** Flying creatures suffer from certain maluses: [[Recoil]] +1 dropping any equipment it carried (if any) and [[FT]]+1.** If at least half of their wings is '''[[limb damage|disabled]]''', making it impossible to butcher this creature is forced off Flight and can no longer toggle it back on until healed.
A shrine maiden is, in short, a formerly human angelic creature, devoted to serving Heaven and spreading angelic values.
Within the angelic hierarchy, they are '''C-rank''', above [[angel|angels]] and [[pterolykos|pterolykoi]], placing them at the same level as [[guardian angel|guardian angels]] and [[feathered serpent|feathered serpents]], and under [[seraph|seraphsseraphim]] and [[colossus|colossi]].
The process on of how humans someone can become a shrine maidens maiden is explained in the [[Shrine maiden#Becoming a shrine maiden|section below]].
Shrine maiden work is classified into one of two three broad categories; shrine management , store duty, and missionary duties. Any shrine maiden can be reassigned to one or the other at any given time, and personnel are is constantly rotated to keep them moving between assignments. Each shrine maiden is assigned to a 'home' shrine, which in turn means that the corresponding town becomes their town of residence.
When assigned to shrine management, the shrine maiden's duties involve the operation and management of the shrine. These include tasks such as keeping the shrine clean and orderly, giving sermons about Angelic faith and values, collecting and counting financial donations to keep the shrine running, and providing help and guidance to visitors and followers in exchange for donations, offering either general guidance and tasks on how to live under Angelic rules, physical healing (through the use of the ''healing beam'') or psychological counseling, acting as the Mazes' equivalent of psychiatrists and therapists.
When assigned to store duty, the shrine maiden's role is to run one of the ''Angelstop'' [[convenience store|convenience stores]]. These duties are largely the same as those of a [[trader|regular convenience store manager]]; however, all ''Angelstop'' stores possess the same donation boxes as shrines. Customers of ''Angelstop'' stores are regularly encouraged to donate their spare change.
When assigned to missionary duties, shrine maidens perform the more traditional angelic work of roaming across the Mazes, offering to help and assist people they come across, like [[angel|angels]]. They generally walk on predefined routes and circuits which circle back to their hometown, though certain shrine maidens have engaged in extended missions spanning the entire known world.
==== Becoming a shrine maiden ====
To become a shrine maiden, the candidate must be a [[human ]] or a [[halfling]], and they must first be recognized by a shrine or an angelic creature as truly pious and devoted to Angelic values. Sufficient piousness is defined by the amount number of years spent practicing and upholding the faction's core tenets and values, and staying out of Demonic influence, or committing acts considered impure or harmful to Angelics. The background or upbringing of the human does not actually matter - only their devotion to Heaven does. Contrary to popular belief, being female is not part of the requirements.
If the candidate human is considered to meet the requirements, they must officially state their wish to abandon their humanity in the service of Heaven. This process is known as ''ascension'', as it is implied that becoming angelic is to be above being human. The process is extensive and deeply changing, transforming the humancandidate's body, mind, and capabilities to such a point that they are no longer recognizable as humans. All potential candidates are informed of the exact changes that will occur should they ascend.
The first changes are physical ; regardless of the age , species, and biological sex of the applicant, their body will be transformed, taking on into the general shape of a young, female human, regardless of what they previously were (. If they happened to already were young and femalematch that description, their physiological traits will be modified anyway, so they resemble a different person)to make them unrecognizable. Smaller details, such as skin tone, eye and hair color , and other miscellanea are usually retained. The new body is what Heaven refers to as ''"permanent purity"''; shrine maidens become permanently sterile, but in exchange, they also cease visibly agingbecome ageless, permanently young creatures. The life expectancy of a shrine maiden is not unlimited, but is over double that of an average human, at roughly 150 years. This, however, only explains half of the meaning behind the word ''maiden''.
The second set of changes are is mental; shrine maidens partially lose their sense of self, and are hardwired to see themselves as an extension of Heaven as an entity more than as individuals. Some have debated whether this constituted losing free will, but this question is considered taboo; bringing the subject up is a great way to be thrown out of an Angelic town. As part of this loss of "sense of self", there is also a sense that their identity is "Angelic". Though it is customary and polite to refer to all shrine maidens as female, using female pronouns, evidence suggests that they may really be neither male, female, nor anything in between, and that their "true" gender is some Angelic form of non-binary; thus explaining the other half of the meaning behind the word ''maiden''.
The last, and by far the most visible and recognizable changes, are the bestowing of Angelic powers. Shrine maidens can perform no less than five powers; the three abilities that can be performed by [[guardian angel|guardian angels]] (''light shield'', ''healing beam'' and ''light ball''), an exclusive ''Charge gohei'' ability which does exactly what it says on the tin, and by far the most powerful of all angelic powers, ''divine-gating'', which instantly summons a small squad of angelic creatures by the shrine maiden's side, to assist in her defense and duties.