Pheidi Tealcrest

To be the high courier of the Dragonkin Empire was a position accorded great honor proportionate to its great importance. By personally delivering the most important directives and decrees to far-flung regional suzerains, the high courier was the voice of the Dragon Emperor, ensuring that the realm remained centralized under his guidance. Pheidi Tealcrest was the last and most famous of these couriers, whose story of persistence in the face of doom brought pride and solace to the Dragonkin as they grappled with their own downfall. Pheidi was a young cousin of Ramantu Drakesblood and, like Ramantu and other noble Dragonkin, was born with wings, a sign of divine favor and oneness with the blood of dragons. Often these wings were merely vestigial ornaments of prestige. But Pheidi was a strong and swift flier, which recommended him to the position of messenger. His favored tactic was to streak at high speed through the clouds, his aerodynamic envelope dragging a haze of mist with him, concealing his form from prying eyes seeking to track or intercept the Emperor’s communiques. As part of his initiation, as was a tradition for senior Imperial messengers, Pheidi was trained to destroy what he was carrying if at risk of capture and was ritually blinded so that he could not read a single word of the vital information he carried, and thus was impossible to extract any secrets from. The process was painful but yielded lasting renown, and thanks to long natural practice as well as golden sensory instruments implanted into his sightless eyes, Pheidi could travel the world without difficulty, sensing everything around him through hearing and smell. The vibrations transmitted through his feathers and namesake teal crest further enhanced his ability to navigate his environment. With a flick of his tongue he could even taste danger on the wind. After years of obedient, incorruptible service, Pheidi’s greatest trial came with the fall of the Brimstone Gate during the Sin of Dragons. The stench of blood and smoke and the sounds of wet chopping and dying wails filled Pheidi’s senses. He raced to the capital Allreach and then onward to the metropole of Twinrift to warn their leadership of the unfolding disaster. Had it been anyone but Pheidi, the most trustworthy Dragonkin, it was very possible that his warnings would have been laughed off. Thanks to Pheidi’s efforts, thousands of Dragonkin were evacuated. Many, in their hubris, did not act sufficiently on Pheidi’s information, but at least the possibility had been laid before them. For his efforts and his steadfast service, Pheidi gained the admiration of many important Dragonkin, including Ramantu and the sage of Twinrift, Lazarius, who heeded Pheidi’s warning but stayed behind with the errant Emperor Undrakar to fight to the last against the invaders. Others, however, despised him, erroneously blaming him for the doom that he warned of. Legate Teox, the lost commander who fought alone throughout the Demonic invasion, came to hate Pheidi for his relation to Ramantu and the Emperor, whom he held responsible for the disaster due to their ‘blind, catastrophic ambition’. Little did these luminaries of the Dragonkin know that their struggle and squabbles had been observed by the Arbiter, and that their talents and wisdom were valuable commodities to her. To bind these, and other, exceptional souls to her cause, she created Shards capable of housing them in eternal life and endless service. This way, Pheidi and other great Dragonkin could atone for their empire’s disastrous mistake and fight the evils their kind had unleashed. She was glad to see that Pheidi fought valiantly in the First Great War that followed the Sin; she was even more pleased when he agreed to serve her. The exalted Tealcrest was adrift and morose with the fall of the Empire and the end of his service, and longed to continue his freewheeling flights across the breadth of Teleria. But he would not accept life as a vagabond nomad, wandering without purpose. The Arbiter offered him one, more noble than he could have ever imagined. Pheidi’s speed, stealth, and discretion meant his role in the Arbiter’s service was similar to the one he previously held, delivering messages at top speed and soaring over Teleria monitoring the outcomes of the Arbiter’s unfolding plans. He is reserved for the most vital of the Arbiter’s missions, and so is rarely seen. Still, every now and then, a blurry, clouded streak in the sky heralds Pheidi’s presence as he speeds onward to a new engagement.