Arbiter

The Arbiter heeded the Call on January 8, 2011.

Canon Information
By far and large, he had a standard Sangheili childhood: Obsessive combat training, obsessive study of the proud history of his bloodline, obsessive equipping of pride +20, obsessive-- you get the (obsessive) picture. Privileged and skilled, he entered the military and took up the name Thel 'Vadamee, the double 'e' an indicator those that serve in this role. He performed admirably and to the epitome of Sangheili pride! Not only that, but he survived the traditional sending of assassins the first night that he was made Kaidon by slaughtering them all and the weak councillor that sent them. Innit he all growed up?

Within the ranks of the Covenant, Thel was regarded as a Zealot and was subject to the will of the Hierarchs. They sent him into direct combat against Humans and, as in the Battle of the Rubble, against traitorous Kig-Yar. These forays were designed to cement the fervency of his loyalty, but it was the intervention of a Jiralhanae traitor that first questioned his devout belief in the Hierarchs by claiming to act against him at the bidding of another.

This did not prevent Thel from returning to the Prophet that sent him to crusade alongside a friend and warrior, only to kill that friend and warrior for slandering and threatening the life of the Prophet. WELL, that made him even more popular with the Hierarchs and Thel went from Zealot Shipmaster to Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. Whatever seed of doubt sowed became an afterthought as he lead the fleet against the Humans in order to complete the genocide necessary to punish a race that had desecrated holy objects of the Forerunners and risked the very Great Journey that the entire Covenant sought to take.

Busy little bee, ain't he?

And so it was that Thel stood as the Supreme Commander of the fleet that claimed the final victories in the fall of Reach. That's right! After combating humans and having his first direct exposure to the Spartans - human warriors that Covenant infantry called Demons for their unexpected ferocity - he managed to slaughter millions of one and, well. No Spartan is ever officially noted as killed in action, but Thel can be indirectly blamed for his share of the entries on the missing in action list due to the Reach campaign.

At the conclusion of Reach, Thel ordered his entire surviving fleet to pursue the UNSC Pillar of Autumn through slipspace, determined to eliminate the fleeing humans and prove the supremacy of the Covenant. And this, kiddies, is what we call a bad life choice.

Things started great! One human ship outnumbered by a Covenant fleet could stand no chance, and what's that? The discovery of Halo, one of the great rings that the Forerunners left behind and key to the Great Journey. Thel must have been quivering in his armour with glee. All he had to do was give a few orders, slaughter the Humans, and bring the Hierarchs news of this discovery.

Only, he'd missed a Spartan.

Not just any Spartan, but Sierra-117. Hyper lethal, and equipped with an enhanced AI that put a great deal to shame, including he. Life went downhill from there. The Humans put up an unexpected level of resistance and, supported by their Spartan, they withstood attack after attack. Then, to make it worse, one of the creatures went and unleashed the very parasite that caused the Forerunners to build the Halo rings in the first place: The Flood.

This parasite decimated his forces and infested one of his ships, tossing a wrench in the engine of his honourable victory. Thel watched, raged, et al as Sierra-117 went so far as to destroy Halo. DESTROY IT! What an uncultured, faithless heathen!

Remember that Sangheili pride and honour? Well, Thel returned with regret for his actions to the Holy City of High Charity, stripped of both and put to trial as a heretic that failed the Covenant. The Mark of Shame was burned into his skin as a mark of his heresy and his sentence was to be hung by his entrails, corpse paraded about the city. Thel accepted it, though he refused to beg when they dealt the initial punishment and stripped his gold armour from him. Society can take the pride from a Sangheili's bloodline, but they cannot take the pride from a Sangheili.

Life, frankly, sucked.

When brought before two of the Prophets, it was Thel who stated that even on his knees, he did not deserve to be in their presence. He had no honour and no life expectancy, but the Prophets knew his skill and needed a holy warrior to see the darkest parts of their crusade succeed. Lo, he was offered the role of Arbiter: To serve the will of the Prophets in the search for the Great Journey. To accept would be to restore honour to his bloodline and to still meet his execution, for no Arbiter lived beyond the purpose they were selected to fulfil.

Thel accepted.

Revived as the Arbiter and accompanied by the Sangheili Rtas 'Vadumee and the Jiralhanae Tartarus, he did as the Prophets bade and sought out the voice of heretics to extinguish their heresy. It was in doing this that he learned the Prophets moved to replace the Sangheili with the brutish Jiralhanae by removing them from power and seeing the race dead. This he did NOT like, but circumstance and bad luck had him lose that battle before it ever begun.

Then, while we are adding insult to injury, might as well mention that the Gravemind of the Flood not only saved him from death, but had him work in conjunction with Demon that destroyed Halo in order to see the truth - that the Prophets' Great Journey was the destruction of all sentient life. This lead him to a great deal of discovery and the business end of a Scarab, but ended with the Arbiter taking the Prophets' words for the lies they were.

From this point, he quietly allied with the humans to see that the Great Journey was never taken, coming to terms with fighting alongside the Spartan that disgraced him - even coming to accept him as equal. Well, as equal as a human can be. He is held as the figurehead of a Covenant Separatist movement and, with the Flood and Prophets finally dealt with intended to return home to see how the civil war there fared.

That really worked out for him, huh?

Abilities/Powers:

Sangheili are raised to be warriors and the Arbiter is considered a most skilled one among them. Proficient in the use of Covenant (and some Human) weapons, he is equally adept at learning the nuances of a new one. This and his tactical ability are the skills upon which he built his legacy - and let's all ignore the part where he dishonoured himself and his bloodline with the whole Installation 04 thing. With his size and skill, he is an example of what can give the ever demonic Spartans a challenge in hand-to-hand combat.

(This does not make him a warmonger. In contrast, the appropriate application of force is the hallmark of a Sangheili, unlike the brutal rampaging that earned the Jiralhanae their appropriate title of "Brutes" by the Humans.  The Arbiter exercises the tactical advantage, but is not above pressing his physical one when his honour is threatened or his beliefs insulted - grievous insult demands equal penalty in his code.)

Beyond that, his skills are not unremarkable, but not godly. He is capable of piloting Covenant technology and has the ability to learn as required. The Arbiter has the potential to equip +100 belief and +100 loyalty to the end, but a generous casting of reason and example can sway even a Zealot's mind.

Strength:

Weakness:

Personality:

Fire-scarred angry teenage exiles with an obsession about their honour have nothing on a Sangheili raised by their traditions, of which the Arbiter is fine example. Combat and honour are tightly woven together into the fabric of his existence, with a solid moral code emerging from that cocoon. Contravening this code is considered VERY BAD MOJO and generally results in the offending Sangheili being dishonoured and encouraged to find a shiny object to end his life on.

This code he still abides by, and holds dear certain key elements:  To draw a blade is to draw blood; no Sangheili may sheathe a blade without first bloodying it. In this, the Arbiter will not draw a weapon to threaten, only to use. To bleed outside battle is to be weak; no Sangheili shall wilfully submit to a doctor’s scalpel. The Arbiter has faced this disgrace before and speaks not of it. If an injury cannot be mended by bandages and rest, then it shall become a scar to bear. Honour is not found in lies to equals; a Sangheili may withhold information from lesser creatures, but those that have his respect will learn what they will, if they ask of it. (Most really wouldn’t ask, because he’s 7’10” and has a menacing posture at the best of times.) The Sangheili are a great race and one of the founders of the Covenant. They do not bow to lesser creatures. The Arbiter will not acknowledge that which he does not feel worthy of his attention, but nor does he demand the attention of the scarce ones that crown his personal hierarchy.  Faith questioned time and again, the Arbiter has lead the life of a Sangheili warrior and branded heretic both and that, somehow, did not lead to an identity crisis. That gives you an idea as to how hardy his mental state is, to withstand that and still embrace a code that shares roots with his now shed devotion to the Prophets.

Time and experience has mellowed the Arbiter to some degree, his zealous temperament learned to be placed in check lest it overshadow his pride. This does not make him docile, for though his devotion to the Covenant has been shaken and stripped, the Arbiter retains confidence that he has taken the path best intended. To challenge it or he is not to prance down the yellow-brick road, but to be made aware that he is quite capable of breaking many things, possibly you.

The Arbiter has long sought to achieve the Great Journey, but with that proven a lie, he stands at a crossroads. The path that he has treaded earned him honour once more, but it ends with the war between the Humans and the Covenant. His intent to return to Sanghelios and address the Covenant civil war with his brothers is suspended and, once more, his belief and ability to adapt will be challenged. He is not made to be flexible in mind quite so much as body, so new ideals are slower to take and worth the consideration that he puts into them.

He is an observant alien and made a point to study Human weaponry when he was expected to battle them. This serves a curiosity stymied by protocol, but not abandoned. When there is time and reason to learn, he will do so. The application is the challenge of adaptability, but once something has been proven or reasoned to him, the Arbiter will not stand against it for pride alone.

By all these standards, you can sure bet it’s hard to gain respect from the Arbiter. He will not speak down on you and slander your line, but he isn’t about to wave at you from the street corner and invite you for ice cream. Though, as John-117 is aware, when he does bear you respect, it comes with loyalty and support unmatched. There is no better day to face than one where you have the Arbiter standing at your side.

Being observant and patient, he is also a Sangheili of few words. Waste not the breath you have been given, lest the Forerunners find reason to snatch it away. And he’s not a dour old coot, but the sense of humour that he displays tends to be very dry reflection of situation and not your ol’ knock-knock jokes – those are a territory for Spartan 1337.

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