Arbiter

Of all the figures throughout the history of Teleria, none loom larger than the Arbiter. The wilder, older histories say that she was the most beloved of Lumaya, that she was the template on which the Elves were created, and that she is and was a warrior of incomparable power and skill. Legends paint her as the immortal protector of all of Teleria, fighting an endless war against Siroth down the centuries – a sentinel with an eternal vigil, and with endless vigilance to match. None of that is wrong. But the full truth is in short supply, and what little is known has been distorted by time, error, and cruel intention. And so, when one speaks of the Arbiter, one might speak of three different people: the Arbiter of the ancient tales, the Arbiter that the Sacred Order tries to forget, and the Arbiter of the world today. The Arbiter of long ago, spoken of in hidden texts and painted on crumbling ruins, was a warrior – that much can be held in certainty. She fought to protect Teleria, and even the most cautious scholars agree that the Arbiter was the ultimate leader of the Telerians during the First and Second Great Wars — wars in which the existence of Teleria itself was threatened by Siroth’s mighty hordes of Undead and Demonspawn. This Arbiter was a hero, and she called herself the ‘Herald of Lumaya’. Little else is known. Among the knights of the Sacred Order, the Arbiter is not spoken of at all. She is not unknown to them, precisely — she is a vacuum, a void, an empty hole in their faith and doctrines. She has been carefully cut out of the Order, her statues toppled and her commands erased. The Arbiter of the Sacred Order is a mark of shame, or perhaps a mark of betrayal. Whose betrayal? Whose shame? That knowledge has been lost – or, it has been destroyed outright. Today, precious few alive have met the Arbiter, or even recognize her. If the tales of her power and leadership were ever true, she has now long since faded – gone is the Herald of Lumaya, commander of the armies of Teleria, destroyer of Siroth and smiter of the Demonspawn legions. All that is left is visions of an Elf-like woman, wandering the roads of the kingdoms that only exist because of what she has done. If one were to ask her who she is, she will say she is one of the Firstborn — whoever they are — that she oversaw the Great Divorce — whatever that is — and that she is the last protector of Lumaya’s True Will — whatever that might be. She will talk of how much the world seems to be slipping between her fingers. Where once entire nations raised their armies at her command, she now compels only beggars and saints — the truly desperate, or the mad. Where once her gratitude was coveted by kings and emperors alike, now she is ignored or shunned, bringing hard truths to ears which do not wish to listen. Where once she was a symbol of order and stability, now she is forgotten, and useless wars cripple the only powers capable of defying the shadow that she sees seeping into the world with every passing day. But the Arbiter fights on, regardless of all this, for at least part of the myths is true indeed: she has an eternal vigil, matched with endless vigilance. And while her power may be spent, her word largely ignored, and her strength broken, she still has her Shards. She still has her Champions. Most of Teleria may have given up on the Arbiter, but she will never give up on Teleria.